Couple of good write ups from Bolton lads:

 

http://www.wanderersways.com/forum/topic/77873-30-years-ago-this-week-clive-walker/

 

"Their fans made up around 2500 and of the 8500 gate - though few of them were in the Embankment away section. The match was basically played against a backdrop of one long riot. I was sitting in the last block of seats in the Manny Road North, which Chelsea fans invaded with all sorts of trouble ensuing. They also invaded the Burnden stand with seats being ripped out and hurled in to the paddock. Bolton fans ended up occupying the bottom rather than the top half of the terrace though many of those seats were chucked back. It was a dour game played in pissing rain and cloying Burnden mud. Clive Walker, who always scored against Bolton, got the winner with a spectacular volley very late in the game and it meant Bolton needed to win the following week at Charlton to stay up, we didn't. Chelsea did stay up and never looked back with the likes of Kerry Dixon and Pat Nevin arriving soon after to lift them to the top division. Can remember the Chelsea fans singing "one man went to mow a meadow" all the way through the game, which Bolton fans then adopted and used for the remainder of the 80s. Thirty years ago this week - anyone else have powerful memories of this day?" 2500, NONEOF YOU NORTHERN FKRS CAN COUNT I SEE

 

"Chelsea didn't exactly invade the Burnden Stand, that implies going in the away section and breaking the police line into the home section.
Several hundred Chelsea fans paid at the gate of the home section of the Burnden Stand and there were so many of them the police didn't have the resources to move them.Leeds had done the same a few weeks before.Leeds were bullying Bolton families and pensioners but there was none of that with Chelsea.They were only interested in battling with Bolton's lads in the Paddock.
I can't remember much of the game but being in the Burnden Stand surrounded by Chelsea was an experience.It wasn't scary, they only wanted to scrap with Bolton fans who were up for it although it did cross our minds that it might not be advisable to celebrate if we scored.There were far more Chelsea fans than Bolton in the Burnden Stand".   GOOD TO SEE CFC DIDN'T SINK TO LEEDS LEVEL      
 

"really naughty atmosphere that day,moody as hell. there was trouble before and after all the way up manchester road. Bolton seemed to hold their after the match especially on Bradshwgate,where loads had mobbed up"  YEAH RIGHT

fantastic day out  cant  remember if Becky lost he's trainer while jumping the turnstile or was that the Sheffield Wednesday game  but any day in Chelsea agro paradise

Edited February 4, 201412 yr by rumpole

Cheers for that mate.

An historic "i was there day" I was 17 at the time,in that burnden stand and got in for kids price which everybody did!f**king cats and dogs all day. I didnt envy the terrace boys out in the open, but do remember some kind soul kicking the roof in so we could also enjoy the rain! Atmosphere was immense, sang all game. Walkers goal prompted the sort of delirium that is so very rare at football, people went bonkers.Falling over the seats that remained lol.Proper crazy out of breath stuff. Would have loved to see it televised but tbh without tv the legend gets stronger in the memory as the years go by.If you ask people if they went we had 10000 there. In reality 3000 is near the mark. But what a day out, and what support for a sh*t team!

Lost my virginity that day, so to speak. 16 years old and it was my first away game 'oop north'.

 

I was on the terracing and yes we were absolutely drenched. I'm pretty sure that I remember checking the half time results against the league table in the programme and if the scores in the relevant games had stayed the same for the second half we were down. Maybe not mathematically but as good as certain. I could be wrong but that's always been my memory. It was tense beyond belief.

 

Couple of other memories: Micky Droy was immense that day and then the Chelsea crowd holding their collective breath when Bolton pumped a high one into our area in the last minute and Steve Francis actually came and held it. Everyone was expecting him to drop it.

 

Oh and one more, there were seats flying out of the stand to our left (seats on top, terracing below?) and all the Bolton scattered except for this one big biker/greaser/heavy metal type who tried acting cool and ignoring it. He was the only one left in firing range, leaning against a crash barrier trying to look nonchalant and I think he was taking some stick from us lot on the terraces. Next thing this single wooden seat comes frisbeeing out of the upper tier in a very wide slow arc, almost like a boomerang, and clocks him right on the back of the head. He took off after his mates like a rabbit much to the merriment of all around me. Not condoning smacking someone on the back of the head with a wooden seat but.... it really was a f***king great shot.

Still got the back Of me broken Seat from that stand with date scribbed into it ,from that game