Away support

[Tookz]

Coming a younger generation I get all the normal abuse for supporting Chelsea but anyway I love looking a pictures and watching videos of our support back in the day and just wondering when people think it was best 70s, 80, 90s, 2000s

[chi blue]

6 hours ago, Tookz said:

Coming a younger generation I get all the normal abuse for supporting Chelsea but anyway I love looking a pictures and watching videos of our support back in the day and just wondering when people think it was best 70s, 80, 90s, 2000s

In my experience the 1980's, I wasn't going in the 70's, and after Hillsborough in 89, more games became all ticket and grounds started to become all seater, so all teams had less away support in the 90's, the early to mid 2000's away supports in general were poor, I can remember spurs and West ham only taking 1500 allocation to bridge, and we would have smaller away support than now, in the last few years away support has really increased again, it's so hard to get away tickets now, I believe a few factors are, people only get a feeling of proper football when away and not the Disney land experience of home games, younger lads go away because they are older enough to go on own like their dads did in the 80's and also the many hooligan books and films around and the old skool casual look is back for the younger ones, so it's become fashionable again.

[Ewell CFC]

Agree with all the above. Come the 90's on average we were taking away the usual 3000, but when we went to places like Forest and Sheff Wednesday in the Cup we were taking 5000 plus because we received bigger allocations.

Going back to the early 80's, most of our big turn outs - Derby Cup 83, Leeds a few years on the spin, Cardifff, Man City, Pompey, Brighton etc were games where there was a chance of a big punch up. There were 'sleeper' Chelsea fans who'd turn up maybe 4 games a year. A cousin of mine who ended up in Broadmoor and had zero interest in football, went to Brighton away in 83 because all his nutty mates were going and he thought it would go off.

Special mention should go when we first qualified for Europe again in 94/95. We took thousands to places like Bruges, Vienna and Zaragoza.

 

[strider6004]

Yes re the 90's I went to Vienna and there was a lot there also up at Hillsborough for a semi talking to a fan from Mansfield, met Welsh chaps supporting Chelsea at Villa after my brother took a swing at a Villa fan trying to pull a Chelsea fan out of the carriage. 

Other matches recall meeting Chelsea from Isle of Man that just went to Chelsea matches up North and a sizeable group of Rangers fans at Everton away.

I also recall in the 90s when Arsenal away was surprisingly ticket on the day with huge queues to get in and so got tickets off a tout and found ourselves in the Arsenal seats with hundreds of other Chelsea and could also sing along with the Chelsea in the North Bank. We went 2-0 up only to lose 3-2, think that was the last time Arsenal did tickets on the day.

[chi blue]

11 hours ago, Strider6003 said:

Yes re the 90's I went to Vienna and there was a lot there also up at Hillsborough for a semi talking to a fan from Mansfield, met Welsh chaps supporting Chelsea at Villa after my brother took a swing at a Villa fan trying to pull a Chelsea fan out of the carriage. 

Other matches recall meeting Chelsea from Isle of Man that just went to Chelsea matches up North and a sizeable group of Rangers fans at Everton away.

I also recall in the 90s when Arsenal away was surprisingly ticket on the day with huge queues to get in and so got tickets off a tout and found ourselves in the Arsenal seats with hundreds of other Chelsea and could also sing along with the Chelsea in the North Bank. We went 2-0 up only to lose 3-2, think that was the last time Arsenal did tickets on the day.

Had a gooner mate that went to that Arsenal game in the 90's and he said from the north bank it looked pretty impressive all the Chelsea in the Arsenal seats, heaven only knows what he would of thought if he'd been at Highbury in 84

[fillerywhereru]

I was also in their seats for that game to the right of the North Bank, was surprised at how many of us jumped up when we scored and that there was no resistance at all from them. We always seemed to have a presence in the North Bank back in those days too. Never really thought of it as a dangerous away game and yet they did have a pretty handy firm. I remember being in the West Stand in the early 90s and they had 100 or so of them in there, not for too long but the point was they had been there.

Our away support in my opinion started to slowly decrease after the 88/89 last hurrah by the mid 90s it was still decent but not as big as it had been. But of course it wasnt pay on the day anymore by then. But with the cup win I think the away support went up again and I thiink has stayed constant right to the present day. We take pretty decent numbers to Europe as well.

 

Edited December 14, 2017 by fillerywhereru

[Sapper245]

Being from the older generation imo in the 70's our away support was above average but the mob was very vicious and a handful where in the 80's it was sheer numbers. The away support was massive in numbers. I stopped going in the 90's due to work and family commitments. Been going again for the last 5 years with mates and notice how the support has changed with more females going and people wearing colours which was a death wish in the early days.

[Larky Blue]

On ?12?/?12?/?2017 at 11:38, Strider6003 said:

Yes re the 90's I went to Vienna and there was a lot there also up at Hillsborough for a semi talking to a fan from Mansfield, met Welsh chaps supporting Chelsea at Villa after my brother took a swing at a Villa fan trying to pull a Chelsea fan out of the carriage. 

Other matches recall meeting Chelsea from Isle of Man that just went to Chelsea matches up North and a sizeable group of Rangers fans at Everton away.

I also recall in the 90s when Arsenal away was surprisingly ticket on the day with huge queues to get in and so got tickets off a tout and found ourselves in the Arsenal seats with hundreds of other Chelsea and could also sing along with the Chelsea in the North Bank. We went 2-0 up only to lose 3-2, think that was the last time Arsenal did tickets on the day.

Me and a few mates try to get to away matches up North,we live 20 minutes from Glasgow so easier to get to,over the years we've seen Chelsea at Liverpool,Everton ,Blackburn,Sunderland and Newcastle,also the friendlies at Ibrox,been to The Bridge for museum and stadium tour but never a game,coming down in March for West Brom game so hopefully get ticket for that.

[Cobham]

When it as good it was very, very good and when it was poor... it was average, no better or worse than anyone else. Most of the big teams have gone through phases of good and bad support. We had ours too.

I wasn't there in the 70s but the support held up well despite some hard times. Take a look at the average attendances at home, they were very good all things considered. 

In the 80s it was poor at home (in an era where everyone's support dropped too) but pretty incredible away. There was no other team taking the numbers away that we did given how small our home support was at that time. We could get 12-15k at home one week and yet regularly take 3-5k away the next weekend, sometimes more. The fact is it was fairly sh*t watching football at the Bridge unless it was a big game. Honestly you could often not hear the Shed from the far end of the Benches. I loved the place in a way and really miss it now but it wasn't a good place to watch a Div 2 match against Cambridge with their 50 fans in an away end that could hold 10k. Add to that the whole football violence culture and the fact that a lot of our young fans who became supporters in the 70s cup winning era coming of age around that time and away days were way more fun.

I know it was Leeds so there was obviously the rivalry to take into account but taking 5-6k there in 82/83 off the back of an average 12.5k at home is madness. This was the problem at Brighton in 83. Batesy told them that we'd bring 5k down there but they simply didn't believe him. I was 20 mins late inside the ground because there were only two turnstiles open outside the away end and it was absolute mayhem. Still got to see both goals though. :)))

Sometimes we had truly awesome away support. Aston Villa in Sept 84 springs to mind, no great rivals of ours but the whole of the away end was full as was the side stand (Centenary?) all the way to the half way line. I believe it was officially 7-7.5k. There was a piece in the next home programme where Doug Ellis said it was the best support he'd seen in his time at Villa Park. Bear in mind that Villa, who won the European Cup in 1982 would only bring a few hundred to Chelsea in those days. As I said it wasn't always like that. Either the next season or the one after I went again and we didn't even fill the away end. I was in the seats above the terracing and there were not that many in there. 

So it's true it wasn't always good, some seasons there were special reasons for our following. 83/84 was large because of the great football and success starved fans, 84/85 was large because of the previous season's success, the feelgood factor and the fact that for many of us it was our first time visiting many of the big grounds like Anfield and Old Trafford. Let's face it a Saturday afternoon at Anfield is a bigger drawer than a Wednesday night in Rotherham. Everyone wanted to go to all these new grounds or revisit ones they'd last been to in the 70s so we had some great turnouts.

It wasn't just turnouts though, it was quality as well as quantity. Away games were just one long sing-song most times I went. I can remember so many games where it was constant throughout the match. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say we had a great deal of passion as a set of fans/ Allied to that we had a lot of young supporters (16-25) who were there for the crack as much as the football. That made for some pretty amazing support. 

In the 90s it stagnated a bit in terms of numbers home and away until the successes at the end of the decade. We could still draw a crowd but I would say the away numbers weren't always as impressive as they had been in the mid 80s. Still had some big ones though, Utd away in the cup in 99 (?) also the semi against them in 96 at Villa Park. They were totally and utterly outsung that day until they finally took the lead. There was a very memorable One Man Went To Mow where our entire support managed to stay in time for once, half the ground rising in unison together, it was the best I ever heard and the Utd fans were stunned. 

2000s started out much as the 90s ended and then came the consistent success. Now the home crowds are large but often perhaps quieter than than those in the past and with aways it's hard to tell since there are limits on numbers now.

 

[fillerywhereru]

great post that's pretty much how i remember it good numbers late 70s early 80s then 83/4 a high point. Tailed off a little towards the end of the decade then good numbers again in the promotion season (novelty factor? new grounds etc) before a gradual dip into the 90s til the cup runs. That said there were occasions when we pulled in a big away crowd again even during the early 90s, Sheff Weds and Spurs in the league cup games and Sunderland FA Cup replay. For me the last hurrahs were two or three end of season away days where for whatever reason (fanzine thing?) there was fancy dress Sheff Utd and particularly Villa (2-2 draw) bobby campbells last game were the end of that era in my opinion.

 

By the time of the FA Cup finals/runs of the mid 90s we had begun to attract a different clientele and Bates had priced out/driven out a percentage of the old school support. But there was the odd match when it seemed a bit like the old days every now and then. The modern era with its all ticket crowds and controlled capacities makes it hard to tell what our natural level now is for away crowds. We always seem to sell out but its hard to get tickets, but is there an element of the same faces going or is there a turnover? hard to tell. I was back in the Uk for a few months in 2015/ 16 and managed to get to QPR, west Ham, sunderland (saturday night on TV) through using mates tickets but with my membership Id have no chance of a ticket. Also we seem to take good numbers in Europe but again the tickets are a pain for me as an ex pat, you have to collect them from the club or did a few seasons back, not practical and had to send passport copies etc...

[chi blue]

On 14/12/2017 at 17:37, Sapper245 said:

Being from the older generation imo in the 70's our away support was above average but the mob was very vicious and a handful where in the 80's it was sheer numbers. The away support was massive in numbers. I stopped going in the 90's due to work and family commitments. Been going again for the last 5 years with mates and notice how the support has changed with more females going and people wearing colours which was a death wish in the early days.

I think the wearing of colours is starting to fade out from the high of the mid 90's to early 2000's, the younger lads in there 20's probably being influenced by their dads who would now be in their 40's and 50's and can remember the old days, when going to football in the 80's you would wear your best clobber. My two lads in their early 20's now, will always wear the latest fashion to games, which is how it should be. My Mrs reckons I dress up smarter to go to games than when I take her out!!!. Of the big clubs Arsenal's away support is the most cringe worthy to me, it's all scarfes, replica shirts etc

[Ewell CFC]

It's part of the ritual deciding what clothes to wear to the game- get it wrong and have the piss taken out of you all day by your mates!

The only time I've worn a replica shirt to a game was the Pompey Cup final when we one the double- it was a retro 1970 one which tend to be worn at Cup Finals, but at the time thinking it was a bit sheep like and naff and that I'd made a bad move.

Regarding the whole replica shirt issue, a few years back there was an article in one of the papers about whether fans were being ripped off by the constant changing of kits etc.

Some Manc postman was saying he liked to buy new replica shirts because to him it was staying in fashion.

Entirely a personal thing but to me they are the complete opposite of fashion. Horrible, shiny, just awful.

ps no disrespect intended to Chelsea fans that do wear them, just not for me

[chi blue]

On 03/01/2018 at 08:57, Ewell CFC said:

It's part of the ritual deciding what clothes to wear to the game- get it wrong and have the piss taken out of you all day by your mates!

The only time I've worn a replica shirt to a game was the Pompey Cup final when we one the double- it was a retro 1970 one which tend to be worn at Cup Finals, but at the time thinking it was a bit sheep like and naff and that I'd made a bad move.

Regarding the whole replica shirt issue, a few years back there was an article in one of the papers about whether fans were being ripped off by the constant changing of kits etc.

Some Manc postman was saying he liked to buy new replica shirts because to him it was staying in fashion.

Entirely a personal thing but to me they are the complete opposite of fashion. Horrible, shiny, just awful.

ps no disrespect intended to Chelsea fans that do wear them, just not for me

It's a funny thing replica shirts, same as you Ewell, I wouldn't be seen dead in a replica shirt going to a game, although I did wear one when we went to Wembley in 97, but that was a cup final thing. it's all part of a pre match routine deciding what clothes come out the wardrobe, I have got some retro shirts that come out when at home in the summer, worn when washing the car, walking the dog, sitting in garden, doing a BBQ or going for a run. I use to love buying the kids replica shirts when they were young, but grown men wearing replica shirts to games is not for me, but each to their own

Edited January 8, 2018 by chi blue
Spelling

[BumsteadCFC]

On 12/12/2017 at 03:38, Strider6003 said:

I also recall in the 90s when Arsenal away was surprisingly ticket on the day with huge queues to get in and so got tickets off a tout and found ourselves in the Arsenal seats with hundreds of other Chelsea and could also sing along with the Chelsea in the North Bank. We went 2-0 up only to lose 3-2, think that was the last time Arsenal did tickets on the day.

Remember that game well.  We were up 2-0 and Dixon had a chance to make it 3 with a one on one but shot straight at the keeper (Lukic?).  

Like you we got there too late to get in the Chelsea so ended up in the Arsenal side of the Clock end.        

[cfcblue]

The best times for travelling were the late 70s and 80s... during the terrace years...

Chelsea used to flood many grounds and our numbers were phenomenal, at times...

It was easy to double up going through the turnstiles... so there were always more in the ground than the official gate.

i would guesstimate that Chelsea took near to or 10,000 plus to the likes of Man City, Pompey, Brighton, Sunderland cup, Arsenal best ever!, Leeds away...

I’m confident that our turnouts at virtually all the Midlands clubs, at times were as good as it got.

We had v. impressive numbers at Man Utd, Liverpool, Newcastle and the likes, at times.

And we often flooded little grounds... Luton, Cambridge, Palace, Fulham, Charlton, etc.

I’m confident that during those years we took more away 95% of the time than was ever reciprocated back at the Bridge.

West Ham, Liverpool, Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal after they won the FA cup had good turn outs back at the Bridge.

i honestly think that we underestimate the numbers because the official attendances never seemed to reflect the actual numbers in the grounds, at times...

 

[Ewell CFC]

16 hours ago, cfcblue said:

The best times for travelling were the late 70s and 80s... during the terrace years...

Chelsea used to flood many grounds and our numbers were phenomenal, at times...

It was easy to double up going through the turnstiles... so there were always more in the ground than the official gate.

i would guesstimate that Chelsea took near to or 10,000 plus to the likes of Man City, Pompey, Brighton, Sunderland cup, Arsenal best ever!, Leeds away...

I’m confident that our turnouts at virtually all the Midlands clubs, at times were as good as it got.

We had v. impressive numbers at Man Utd, Liverpool, Newcastle and the likes, at times.

And we often flooded little grounds... Luton, Cambridge, Palace, Fulham, Charlton, etc.

I’m confident that during those years we took more away 95% of the time than was ever reciprocated back at the Bridge.

West Ham, Liverpool, Man Utd, Spurs, Arsenal after they won the FA cup had good turn outs back at the Bridge.

i honestly think that we underestimate the numbers because the official attendances never seemed to reflect the actual numbers in the grounds, at times...

 

I always wished that with attendance figures they'd include the amount of away fans- this would only have been practical for those in the away terrace however, and come 82'ish it became fashionable to go in the seats ( also as stated above, we sometimes flooded grounds so there was no telling I guess)

I always thought that late 70s/ early to mid 80s us and Spurs took more up and down the country than Arsenal and West Ham.

 

 

[bluehaze]

1 hour ago, Ewell CFC said:

I always wished that with attendance figures they'd include the amount of away fans- this would only have been practical for those in the away terrace however, and come 82'ish it became fashionable to go in the seats ( also as stated above, we sometimes flooded grounds so there was no telling I guess)

I always thought that late 70s/ early to mid 80s us and Spurs took more up and down the country than Arsenal and West Ham.

 

 

When Liverpool played away the home team would usually get their best attendance of the season because the home fans would turn up in numbers to see the league's best team. When Chelsea played away especially in 79-80 the home team would get their best attendance of the season because the ground would be full of Chelsea.

[chi blue]

9 hours ago, bluehaze said:

When Liverpool played away the home team would usually get their best attendance of the season because the home fans would turn up in numbers to see the league's best team. When Chelsea played away especially in 79-80 the home team would get their best attendance of the season because the ground would be full of Chelsea.

Yes and the video that's been put on this forum before of a police chief in the early 80's saying that Chelsea had the third biggest away support in the country after Liverpool and Utd, we were in the lower reaches of the old div 2 at time, scousers and Utd were too of div 1

[fillerywhereru]

On 12/12/2017 at 12:38, Strider6003 said:

Yes re the 90's I went to Vienna and there was a lot there also up at Hillsborough for a semi talking to a fan from Mansfield, met Welsh chaps supporting Chelsea at Villa after my brother took a swing at a Villa fan trying to pull a Chelsea fan out of the carriage. 

Other matches recall meeting Chelsea from Isle of Man that just went to Chelsea matches up North and a sizeable group of Rangers fans at Everton away.

I also recall in the 90s when Arsenal away was surprisingly ticket on the day with huge queues to get in and so got tickets off a tout and found ourselves in the Arsenal seats with hundreds of other Chelsea and could also sing along with the Chelsea in the North Bank. We went 2-0 up only to lose 3-2, think that was the last time Arsenal did tickets on the day.

Thats right I was at that Arsenal game (probably suspended from playing again) we were in the seats just to the right of the North Bank where there was also a group of Chelsea. Used to love going to Highbury. Do you remember Coventry away where it was just the two of us that decided to go last minute on the train, 0-1 defeat Micky Ginn scored.

[strider6004]

12 hours ago, fillerywhereru said:

Thats right I was at that Arsenal game (probably suspended from playing again) we were in the seats just to the right of the North Bank where there was also a group of Chelsea. Used to love going to Highbury. Do you remember Coventry away where it was just the two of us that decided to go last minute on the train, 0-1 defeat Micky Ginn scored.

Yes I do and that was probably the worst Chelsea match I went to, poor attendance from our normally top support, a dour match and the only player I remember was an aging Alan Dicks putting in a midfield shift for us.

[fillerywhereru]

It was a poor turnout for us probably not even 2000, not the best performance either in that red and white kit we wore at Sheff Weds in the league cup semi. we were sh*t that night too.

[Mike Carefree]

It was a FAN tastic time for me as a kid in the late 60s going to away games for the first time to each ground.....The new experiences from going to spuds , then ipswich and then further and further was exciting to the max........Thru the 70s it was a joy to get up uber early knowing youd meet your mates then get coaches or trains or drive to away games feeling safe ( most of the time) around the bigger gangs and slowly progressing to speaking to the hierarchy with maybe a few bumps and knocks on the way.......Most of my awaydays were in this period and believe me never to be forgotten.....Wonderful chelsea fans  both male and female ere there and damn well everywhere.....All the ends that were allowing us to join in with them...The 80s for me was a darker epoch ...I got injured too many times ....Became more cowardly of the many dangerous groups about......Was more cautious after being slashed by wall.......90s saw a petering off of away days and not too many homes either........Once seating arrived i was totally disenchanted with it all .....From then to now i go sporadically......Spurs a few times.....YAWN.......Home to spam...YAWNish.........Wembley ill go to if up to it.......Now ive finally had my op it looks like wemb here we come v manx........BUT.....Im generally bored with it all....im still blue blooded and pleased my girl chelsea knows a few of the chaps and meets up with them .......TURN back the clock please and let me start all over

[strider6004]

On 03/05/2018 at 15:29, Mike Carefree said:

It was a FAN tastic time for me as a kid in the late 60s going to away games for the first time to each ground.....The new experiences from going to spuds , then ipswich and then further and further was exciting to the max........Thru the 70s it was a joy to get up uber early knowing youd meet your mates then get coaches or trains or drive to away games feeling safe ( most of the time) around the bigger gangs and slowly progressing to speaking to the hierarchy with maybe a few bumps and knocks on the way.......Most of my awaydays were in this period and believe me never to be forgotten.....Wonderful chelsea fans  both male and female ere there and damn well everywhere.....All the ends that were allowing us to join in with them...The 80s for me was a darker epoch ...I got injured too many times ....Became more cowardly of the many dangerous groups about......Was more cautious after being slashed by wall.......90s saw a petering off of away days and not too many homes either........Once seating arrived i was totally disenchanted with it all .....From then to now i go sporadically......Spurs a few times.....YAWN.......Home to spam...YAWNish.........Wembley ill go to if up to it.......Now ive finally had my op it looks like wemb here we come v manx........BUT.....Im generally bored with it all....im still blue blooded and pleased my girl chelsea knows a few of the chaps and meets up with them .......TURN back the clock please and let me start all over

Good to see you posting again Mike, I notice Garrison hasn't posted for a while I hope he is ok.

I've enjoyed both your stories from the old times and they've helped me understand some of the hatred between clubs.

[Shug]

80s by miles.

As others have said, Leeds away in 82 (I think) where a cop tried to take the keys to my new XR2, as I might throw them at someone. He wasn’t impressed when I said the car cost more than he earnt in a year.

Arse on first day of the season, jammed in clock end, and some fun on the way back to the tube with some of their lads

Brighton away, loads of lads out, great laugh

Southampton in the cup a couple of years before (memory fading, can’t recall which year) went down without tickets and a tout came into the pub and was relieved of a large bundle of tickets and dished out to a load having a beer.

Cambridge away, chaps on the roof of the stand, and on the way there we stopped to ask a cop where the ground was, his reply “United or city.” Followed by “avoid it, all those Chelsea holigans heading there today”

 

Same group of lads most weeks, we used to drive up, park about 20 mins walk to ground, find a pub, and then have some fun. Always good getting back to the pub in Fulham late on Saturday evening and sharing stories about the day.

[strider6004]

15 hours ago, Shug said:

Cambridge away, chaps on the roof of the stand, and on the way there we stopped to ask a cop where the ground was, his reply “United or city.” Followed by “avoid it, all those Chelsea holigans heading there today”

 

Funny you mention Cambridge like that as I remember Oxford during our last venture in the second tier with chaps on the roof, people climbing through garden fences and general mayhem as Chelsea overwhelmed the town.