Build A Bonfire

[Nemesis]

I've read it. Unbelievable. I'm so thankful to the people who managed to keep this club alive. But in a strange way, I cant help but feel envious of what you lot went through and eventually achieved. Remarkable stuff.

You wouldn't have liked the experience-they were awful days. The truly great thing about those days was the camaraderie amongst fans which now, sadly, seems a thing of the past when you look at the bitch fests on here of late. The unity was amazing-without it there wouldn't be an Albion to have the endless moan-a-thons that are a mainstay of NSC these days. Shame we seem to have lost that-the unity that is.

 

[Billy Mays]

Were they awful days though? The football was dire and the club was headed for oblivion but the passion at the ground was unsurpassed. I remember the pure hatred that poured down on Bellotti's head every home game. "You're scum and your wife's a slag" is still one of the most genius football chants of all time in my book! Why the hell he turned up every week is beyond me but part of me thinks it's because he was a nothing. What Ben Elton in his pomp would have called a "farty". I believe in some perverse way he got off on all the attention.
The relief at the final whistle at Hereford is something that everyone who was there will never forget and for the young and hip NSC posters who didn't make it will never be able to imagine. I said at the time that it's the closest most of us will ever get to knowing what winning the league feels like. Actually at the time I probably babbled nonsense incoherently. On the way home we were asked to leave a pub somewhere in Wiltshire as we were disturbing the half a dozen regulars who had been nursing the same half of bitter , Ken Barlow style , for the past half hour. We did try to point out the historic nature of the day but I knew the argument was lost when our driver uttered the immortal question "Excuse me but are you Welsh"? At this point I made like a News of the World reporter fleeing an offer of illicit sex and waited patiently on the minibus for the remainder of our happy crew to join me with the dubious punishment of a ban from one of Wessex's less memorable pubs in the bag.
Wouldn't want to go through it all again but it lives longer in the memory than a turgid afternoon at Withdean. Not that I've been near the place in more than 2 years of course. Hats off to those that still put themselves through it.

 

[Playing On The Grit]

Were they awful days though? The football was dire and the club was headed for oblivion but the passion at the ground was unsurpassed. I remember the pure hatred that poured down on Bellotti's head every home game. "You're scum and your wife's a slag" is still one of the most genius football chants of all time in my book! Why the hell he turned up every week is beyond me but part of me thinks it's because he was a nothing. What Ben Elton in his pomp would have called a "farty". I believe in some perverse way he got off on all the attention.
The relief at the final whistle at Hereford is something that everyone who was there will never forget and for the young and hip NSC posters who didn't make it will never be able to imagine. I said at the time that it's the closest most of us will ever get to knowing what winning the league feels like. Actually at the time I probably babbled nonsense incoherently. On the way home we were asked to leave a pub somewhere in Wiltshire as we were disturbing the half a dozen regulars who had been nursing the same half of bitter , Ken Barlow style , for the past half hour. We did try to point out the historic nature of the day but I knew the argument was lost when our driver uttered the immortal question "Excuse me but are you Welsh"? At this point I made like a News of the World reporter fleeing an offer of illicit sex and waited patiently on the minibus for the remainder of our happy crew to join me with the dubious punishment of a ban from one of Wessex's less memorable pubs in the bag.
Wouldn't want to go through it all again but it lives longer in the memory than a turgid afternoon at Withdean. Not that I've been near the place in more than 2 years of course. Hats off to those that still put themselves through it.

I had forgotten the "You're scum and your wife's a slag" chant. Absolute quality.

Bellotti's son who used to go to school with my sister and lived near to us used to stand near us in the North stand at the start of the troubles but after a couple of games we never saw him there again. Felt quite sorry for the son as he was a nice lad. He didn't deserve being saddled with Bellotti as a dad

 

[bullshit detector]

You wouldn't have liked the experience-they were awful days. The truly great thing about those days was the camaraderie amongst fans which now, sadly, seems a thing of the past when you look at the bitch fests on here of late. The unity was amazing-without it there wouldn't be an Albion to have the endless moan-a-thons that are a mainstay of NSC these days. Shame we seem to have lost that-the unity that is.

I believe that this is the best post I have ever seen on NSC.
Even given that I can't believe the authors themselves believe 70% of what they write on here, the infighting, insults, ignorant nonsense and occasional downright bigotry makes me think "Are these the same people who, together, saved the Albion?' It certainly puts me off, because I simply don't want to think of (some of) my fellow Albion fans as being like that. I do wonder what outsiders looking at this site sometimes must think though, let alone Dick, the board and the players....

My conclusion is that most of the rubbish is posted by people who did bugger all in the war years, and most of the sensible stuff by people who did.
And those who were too young seem to fall on both sides of that divide.
NSC is a fantastic campaigning tool: it's far easier getting stuff done here than it was at the Concorde meetings. But we should be standing together, not slagging off each other and the club. Unlike the old days everyone is doing their best for the Albion. I'd like to see the slag offs reserved for Palace. But I know that's not going to happen, sadly.

 

[Superphil]

I believe that this is the best post I have ever seen on NSC.
Even given that I can't believe the authors themselves believe 70% of what they write on here, the infighting, insults, ignorant nonsense and occasional downright bigotry makes me think "Are these the same people who, together, saved the Albion?' .

Don't be so worried about those posters you refer to.

Think of it objectively, there are perhaps 10, maybe 20, certainly not as many as 30 posters who spout the bile, drivel and nonsense to which you refer.

Imagine if they all got together to form a demonstration against whatever it is they so hate.

Then imagine how many of us there would be on the other side.

They really are a tiny, tiny minority, who use their keyboards to make a noise. The trouble is, we read thier crap, but in reality, they are nothing, absolutly nothing compared to the hoards who broke into the ground that day, or who walked out, or those who laid out in the middle of the road stopping traffic, or those who rammed Edgar Street on the last day of that season. Those of us who are truely grateful to have a team to support, those of us who can accept the boards position, and that they are not doing anything to destroy the club (unlike the previous), Those of us who would love to see a billionaire on the horizon, but can cope with the fact that no such person is there just now. Bear in mind, we can still be totally pissed off with the teams perfomance, we had high hopes this season, don't let that minority grind you down.

 

[Southy]

I believe that this is the best post I have ever seen on NSC.
Even given that I can't believe the authors themselves believe 70% of what they write on here, the infighting, insults, ignorant nonsense and occasional downright bigotry makes me think "Are these the same people who, together, saved the Albion?' It certainly puts me off, because I simply don't want to think of (some of) my fellow Albion fans as being like that. I do wonder what outsiders looking at this site sometimes must think though, let alone Dick, the board and the players....

My conclusion is that most of the rubbish is posted by people who did bugger all in the war years, and most of the sensible stuff by people who did.
And those who were too young seem to fall on both sides of that divide.
NSC is a fantastic campaigning tool: it's far easier getting stuff done here than it was at the Concorde meetings. But we should be standing together, not slagging off each other and the club. Unlike the old days everyone is doing their best for the Albion. I'd like to see the slag offs reserved for Palace. But I know that's not going to happen, sadly.

Great user name, great post. Best Clash song ever btw.

 

[bullshit detector]

Great user name, great post. Best Clash song ever btw.

Cheers, Steve. Great book. And great play.
Backslapping over...
What happened to your band?

 

[Southy]

We just did it as a one off for the gig at Albert for the anniversary of Joe's death. Not doing one this year, but maybe next one.