Posted September 18, 20168 yr I know this one's been done before, but not for some time, during which a whole host of new members have joined, with a whole host of stories to tell. So here's mine. Division 1: Chelsea 2-2 Man City August 21th 1971. Attendance: 38,425 Chelsea: Philips. Dempsey, Harris, Webb. Boyle, McCreadie, Cooke. Hollins, Weller, Baldwin, Osgood Goals: Weller, Baldwin Man City: Corrigan, Book, Connor, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Young, Heslop, Davies, Lee, Mellor Goals. Lee (2) Including a Frannie Lee trademark dodgy penalty. I'd been calling myself a Chelsea fan since 1967, before the FA Cup Final against you know who, but prior to the Man City game, my experience of live football had been confined to non-league and schoolboy internationals at Wembley. I'd even got a friend from school to buy me programmes but had never actually made it. Then in August, my uncle, who as it happens lived in Hayes, next door to the Wilkins', asked if I'd like to go along to the Bridge. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. Sitting in the benches, I was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. Gutted that we didn't hang on to the lead, but enthralled by the sights and sounds, particularly from the Shed, to my not so distant right/. Next home game against Coventry (unfortunately I couldn't make it to the midweek game against West Brom), I went on my own, and headed straight for the Shed. From then it wasn't too long (never one to do things the traditional way, before I teamed up with some of my mates, local Chelsea fans, and was a regular at the Bridge. The next season I started going away. Apart from the London derbies, my first out of London away was at Norwich, and to this day I remember the thrill of coming out after the game, being confronted with a mob of Norwich (not so many old bill around in those days) and my mates telling me "don't run, don't run!, and feeling proud of standing my ground. The following season was my first full season going home and away, barely missing a match, and from then on I was a regular, home and away, until the late '80s when I moved away from London. So that (with a major digression or two along the way) is the story of my first match at the Bridge. And here are the highlights:
September 19, 20168 yr Home vs West Ham. Think it was 1972, I was 11. Remember it as Clyde Best scored for the pikeys, and there weren't that many black players back then
September 19, 20168 yr The first Chelsea game I ever saw was at the Dell in Southampton in September 1966. On the terraces, pouring rain, and surrounded by men who were much taller than me! But Chelsea won 3 - 0. Peter Osgood, Bobby Tambling and ? (memory failing me here) scored the goals.
September 19, 20168 yr On 18/09/2016 at 10:49, Upsetter said: I know this one's been done before, but not for some time, during which a whole host of new members have joined, with a whole host of stories to tell. So here's mine. Division 1: Chelsea 2-2 Man City August 21th 1971. Attendance: 38,425 Chelsea: Philips. Dempsey, Harris, Webb. Boyle, McCreadie, Cooke. Hollins, Weller, Baldwin, Osgood Goals: Weller, Baldwin Man City: Corrigan, Book, Connor, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Young, Heslop, Davies, Lee, Mellor Goals. Lee (2) Including a Frannie Lee trademark dodgy penalty. I'd been calling myself a Chelsea fan since 1967, before the FA Cup Final against you know who, but prior to the Man City game, my experience of live football had been confined to non-league and schoolboy internationals at Wembley. I'd even got a friend from school to buy me programmes but had never actually made it. Then in August, my uncle, who as it happens lived in Hayes, next door to the Wilkins', asked if I'd like to go along to the Bridge. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. Sitting in the benches, I was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. Gutted that we didn't hang on to the lead, but enthralled by the sights and sounds, particularly from the Shed, to my not so distant right/. Next home game against Coventry (unfortunately I couldn't make it to the midweek game against West Brom), I went on my own, and headed straight for the Shed. From then it wasn't too long (never one to do things the traditional way, before I teamed up with some of my mates, local Chelsea fans, and was a regular at the Bridge. The next season I started going away. Apart from the London derbies, my first out of London away was at Norwich, and to this day I remember the thrill of coming out after the game, being confronted with a mob of Norwich (not so many old bill around in those days) and my mates telling me "don't run, don't run!, and feeling proud of standing my ground. The following season was my first full season going home and away, barely missing a match, and from then on I was a regular, home and away, until the late '80s when I moved away from London. So that (with a major digression or two along the way) is the story of my first match at the Bridge. And here are the highlights: Two beautiful Chelsea goals I'd never seen before. Thanks for posting that clip. The idea that foreign players brought diving into the English game is a myth that can be dispelled by watching that fat cheating bar steward Franny Lee. My first Chelsea game was later that season, away at Leicester. Ossie scored a late equaliser, and I banged my head celebrating. Edited September 19, 20168 yr by Backbiter
September 20, 20168 yr I was 16yo when I went to my first Chelsea game. 3-0 down at half-time.............
September 20, 20168 yr 1 hour ago, coco said: I was 16yo when I went to my first Chelsea game. 3-0 down at half-time............. Epic comeback. And loads of trouble.
September 20, 20168 yr 1998 - Chelsea came and played Omagh Town after the Omagh bomb, and won 8-0 The entire first time was there basically. JT was playing, 5th appearance. A special moment for me in the time spent following the blues.
September 20, 20168 yr We won 3-0 at White Hart Lane sometime around the turn of the millennium, I think Flo, Jimmy and Zola were the scorers could be wrong. Was sitting in with the Spurs lot so I had to be on my best behavior which for a 5/6 year old is not that easy. First game at the Bridge I think we lost 4-2 to Southampton. I do recall going to the game against Middlesborough where Cudicini got sent off in a clash with Dean Windass and joining in with 'the referee's a w**ker' chant without knowing what it meant!
September 20, 20168 yr 9 hours ago, coco said: I was 16yo when I went to my first Chelsea game. 3-0 down at half-time............. Great day. Cardiff sold seats at the side twice!! There were some helpful ejections going on. Great footage on you tube in 3 sections. Shows Chelsea moving down to the home end and emptying it! Look at the difference from the first half and at the end.
September 20, 20168 yr Do you remember the Welsh flag being strung up at the back of the seated main home stand and set fire to by our lot? I was very close to that.
September 20, 20168 yr 34 minutes ago, coco said: Do you remember the Welsh flag being strung up at the back of the seated main home stand and set fire to by our lot? I was very close to that. Don't remember that. I was in the seats at the side with the paddock in front, was near their covered home end.
September 21, 20168 yr Looks like Cardiff remember it well too: http://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93441
September 21, 20168 yr 13 hours ago, Cobham said: Looks like Cardiff remember it well too: http://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93441 Two 13 carriage BR specials rolled into Cardiff station minutes apart. Thousands piled off and headed down to Ninian park. The walk went past the old arms park stadium and down a straight long road, either side of the road all the shops/premises were open and doing some good trade, I remember walking on the road and I could see a line of fans stretching beyond sight, with 99% of them wearing trainers and frayed jeans. Get's to the ground without seeing hardly any trouble at all, but thousands of Chelsea were all around the ground, the singing was non stop. At half time i overheard this copper speaking to some Chelsea fans about Leeds visit the week before and how good we were compared to them. We were 3-0 down at the time and things were pretty quiet in the stands, this was to change dramatically in the last 5 minutes of the game. We scored three times and the place literally erupted like I have never seen since. Fighting broke out everywhere. The Welsh flag was strung on the roof girders at the back of their main seating stand and set alight. That same copper who was having a laugh with the fans at HT was now fighting for his life. Outside the ground it was even worse, Chelsea in every direction i looked, a big surge towards a high gate that blocked their way to the back of the Cardiff end. Within a few seconds dozens were scaling the gate, with dozens more at the bottom of the gate shaking it until it just collapsed. If you have ever seen a mass surge of thousands of football fans charging you will know what I mean when I say the place was like a middle ages battlefield. That long street we travelled down on the way to the match now resembled Beruit.
September 21, 20168 yr Can't seem to post YouTube clip but there is clip pt1 and 2. And also an 18 min clip. Just type Cardiff vs Chelsea 3-3 enjoy
September 22, 20168 yr Huddersfield Town away. My Dad was a Huddersfield fan as a lad, I had chosen Chelsea to follow after we won 4-0 at Old Trafford in the late sixties. We won 1-0, think it was Sponge who scored for us.
September 28, 20168 yr European Cup Winners Cup Semi-Final 1971 Home against Man. City Ill never forget the sights, sounds and smells of my first game. Shed End behind the goal with my dad. I think I spent half the time watching the bigger lads behind me (Middle of The Shed) having a great time singing, jumping up and down. It was where I wanted to be. The night games were so exciting for a ten year old. A hot dog and an Alan Hudson poster on the way out. Fantastic. Edited September 28, 20168 yr by zinc alloy
September 28, 20168 yr 1983 div 2 v QPR lost 0-2 It was the season we nearly went down to the old div 3, we played at Fulham on easter saturday and drew 1-1 canoville scored a volley, then Easter Monday we played QPR at home and off I went to the bridge for my first game. They were going up and we were nearly going down. Me and my dad sat high up in the east stand. I remember looking across to the shed and like many thinking thats where I want to be. Opposite were the benches where during the game they had a scuffle between themselves. Below me in the East stand I could hear loads of noise but couldn't see anyone. It was Gate 13 giving it loads to QPR players especially their big black centre Back Bob Hazell (times have changed). QPR had one poxy little paddock on the North terrace and didnt pack that out, pathetic for a promotion winning team who are only down the road. There were 4 or 5 of them in the East upper behind us who my old man got in an argument with, I suppose they went up there for safety. The game itself was pretty crap, but remember on way out my dad still arguing with these guys, and as we went out on to the East stand concourse, Gate 13 in all their glory came surging and singing out of the exit, me and the dad stepped back and let them out but our QPR friends weren't so lucky as they got caught in the middle and got swept along the concourse towards the Fulham road, the only way to describe it would be a Tornado going through a town in the deepest south of the USA. When we got to the end of the East stand concourse, Gate 13 had dissappeared as soon as they had appeared and so had our QPR friends. The following season we went more regularly and it was the famous 83/84 season.
September 28, 20168 yr Chelsea 0 Sunderland 0, sat in the west stand, its hard to explain but just seeing this programme & the way the font was done takes me right back to that time, its almost like a time machine i can almost still smell the programme, horsesh*t & hamburgers, cigarette smoke & alcohol.
September 28, 20168 yr 3 hours ago, Carshalton Blue said: Chelsea 0 Sunderland 0, sat in the west stand, its hard to explain but just seeing this programme & the way the font was done takes me right back to that time, its almost like a time machine i can almost still smell the programme, horsesh*t & hamburgers, cigarette smoke & alcohol. Like many when you're younger, the difference between 3pm Saturday or 7:45pm night games. The smells like mobile burger trucks, bovril, monkey nuts, horse s*^t, amongst others!! Things I don't even think of now. Makes you realise that we should cherish our time of going when younger. I started 77/78 Scousers at home FA cup not a bad start!! For me queuing from the pavement all the way to the turnstiles, listening to my brother and others wondering if we were going to get in! That queue just to get in, would not happen in the modern game, but for a nine year old it was quite scary with the surges, knees up mother brown. Not to mention keep an I on the horses, if a tail comes up its a sh@t!! And if the truncheon comes out the Pi@s is going everywhere!!Happy days.
September 28, 20168 yr I went to Chelsea 4 Everton 1 in the Worthington Cup 4th round in 2002 - I would have been 8 at the time. JT, Frank, Jimmy Floyd, Eidur , Zola, Gallas, Carlo Cuda in goal , Petit all played. Cuda saved a young Wayne Rooney's penalty. Claudio was our manager. Good times. That was the first Chelsea match I had been to. In terms of watching Chelsea on TV for the first time the main 2 that stick out (and I had to google them tonight to check the specific dates) Chelsea v Fulham in the FA cup semi final in April 2002 - cant remember much from the game apart from the names of the Chelsea players (JT, Descailly, etc) and JT was automatically my favourite player - at the time he had to wear a headband around his forehead because he ran into a goalpost I believe. The only other thing I can remember from that match is that Fulham were sponsored by Pizza Hut on their shirt. The other early Chelsea match I remember watching on tv (again I had to google it tonight) was October 2002 against Viking Stavanger in the UEFA cup. All I can remember is seeing JT score the opener - scrappy goal from a corner. From looking it up tonight it appears we were knocked out that night by Norwegian minnows in the first round but at the time I was an 8 year old who didn't understand the complexities of football. Edited September 28, 20168 yr by londonblue
September 30, 20168 yr I had just turned 9 years old and I went to Tin pot lane with my older brother, my mum and my dad. My brother supported that shower of sh*te, still does but his son, now 15 is to my amusement a loyal blue !My brother ,to his credit now takes him to the Bridge which makes me laugh. In fact he goes more than I do! Back to my first game we sat in seats, behind the goal and below us we had the terrace where their lot stood. To be honest I can’t remember too much of the game, I guess when you get stuffed 3-0, 44 years ago you’re not going to. I do though remember the blue of our shirts, that beautiful rich deep blue, boy I love that kit as much today as I did then. I also loved that team Osgood, Peter blooming Osgood, Peter Bonetti, Charlie Cooke, a team full of legends In hindsight though that Chelsea team was just beginning to lose that aura that made them FA Cup and European winners but I didn’t know that at the time and to be fair the Spurts team was full of household names but we got well and truly stuffed.. I do remember even having lost feeling so happy to have seen the team live .I lived out of town in a small West Sussex village and having travelled up to London and seen Chelsea play made me a real novelty at school. I was at 9 totally obsessed with Chelsea, hats scarfs where your colours was my mantra and it is all tucked away in the loft along with my many scrapbooks full of cuttings. The cuttings are funny as they start in 1969 and finish in the mid 1990’s and they change from being cut out’s from Shoot and Match and newspaper reports of the game to newspaper cut outs of the many off the field activities that took place through the late 70’s and onwards. Do I go anymore? no, not been there since the pre-season not so friendly with that lot north of the border. Has the game changed? Oh yes, for the better, um no, I think not but heh i don’t want to come across as an everything was better in my day type as im sure it probably wasn’t, with age like a lot of things it just seem that way. Do I love this Vintage thread oh yes! Chelsea have given me so much over the years ,they have cost so much in money ,time and energy, girlfriends and the like BUT I wouldn’t change it for the world. UTC Tottenham Hotspur (3) 3 Chelsea (0) 0 Date: Saturday, 15th April 1972 Competition: Football League Division 1 Venue: White Hart Lane Attendance: 45,799 Referee: RB Lee (Cheadle) Tottenham Hotspur Jennings, Kinnear, Knowles (Pearce), Mullery, England, Collins, Gilzean, Perryman, Chivers, Peters, Coates Scorers Chivers 2, Coates 17, Chivers 22 Manager Bill Nicholson Chelsea 1 Peter Bonetti, 2 Paddy Mulligan, 3 John Boyle, 4 John Hollins, 5 John Dempsey, 6 Ron Harris, 7 Chris Garland, 8 David Webb, 9 Peter Osgood (12 Steve Kember 25), 10 Alan Hudson, 11 Charlie Cooke Manager Dave Sexton
September 30, 20168 yr 6 hours ago, F1905 said: I had just turned 9 years old and I went to Tin pot lane with my older brother, my mum and my dad. My brother supported that shower of sh*te, still does but his son, now 15 is to my amusement a loyal blue !My brother ,to his credit now takes him to the Bridge which makes me laugh. In fact he goes more than I do! Back to my first game we sat in seats, behind the goal and below us we had the terrace where their lot stood. To be honest I can’t remember too much of the game, I guess when you get stuffed 3-0, 44 years ago you’re not going to. I do though remember the blue of our shirts, that beautiful rich deep blue, boy I love that kit as much today as I did then. I also loved that team Osgood, Peter blooming Osgood, Peter Bonetti, Charlie Cooke, a team full of legends In hindsight though that Chelsea team was just beginning to lose that aura that made them FA Cup and European winners but I didn’t know that at the time and to be fair the Spurts team was full of household names but we got well and truly stuffed.. I do remember even having lost feeling so happy to have seen the team live .I lived out of town in a small West Sussex village and having travelled up to London and seen Chelsea play made me a real novelty at school. I was at 9 totally obsessed with Chelsea, hats scarfs where your colours was my mantra and it is all tucked away in the loft along with my many scrapbooks full of cuttings. The cuttings are funny as they start in 1969 and finish in the mid 1990’s and they change from being cut out’s from Shoot and Match and newspaper reports of the game to newspaper cut outs of the many off the field activities that took place through the late 70’s and onwards. Do I go anymore? no, not been there since the pre-season not so friendly with that lot north of the border. Has the game changed? Oh yes, for the better, um no, I think not but heh i don’t want to come across as an everything was better in my day type as im sure it probably wasn’t, with age like a lot of things it just seem that way. Do I love this Vintage thread oh yes! Chelsea have given me so much over the years ,they have cost so much in money ,time and energy, girlfriends and the like BUT I wouldn’t change it for the world. UTC Tottenham Hotspur (3) 3 Chelsea (0) 0 Date: Saturday, 15th April 1972 Competition: Football League Division 1 Venue: White Hart Lane Attendance: 45,799 Referee: RB Lee (Cheadle) Tottenham Hotspur Jennings, Kinnear, Knowles (Pearce), Mullery, England, Collins, Gilzean, Perryman, Chivers, Peters, Coates Scorers Chivers 2, Coates 17, Chivers 22 Manager Bill Nicholson Chelsea 1 Peter Bonetti, 2 Paddy Mulligan, 3 John Boyle, 4 John Hollins, 5 John Dempsey, 6 Ron Harris, 7 Chris Garland, 8 David Webb, 9 Peter Osgood (12 Steve Kember 25), 10 Alan Hudson, 11 Charlie Cooke Manager Dave Sexton Fast forward 10 years or so, and similar to me, living in deepest west sussex, I was a bit of a novelty at school, as all the other match going kids were off to watch brighton, while I was the only one going to Chelsea, and with our fans reputation at the time and going in the shed they were jealous, the non match going kids were Liverpool or utd fans, I bet they still haven't seen them play 30 odd years later
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