How racist were albion fans in the 70's

[Behind Enemy Lines]

How old are you?

During the 80s I marched and even raised fists against the NF. I was at Uni (York St John not THE Uni) in York and confrontations with our very red student union was pretty much a regular occurence

BUT

I remember the monkey chants, zigger zagger and brown girl in the ring (though I really didnt know the racist bits as I was about 12 at the time) amd although I felt uncomforable (again this was when I was 10-14) I was the one who was different.

And lets be honest for a good shag you didnt really have political discussions. At least I didnt.

I wouldve thought if youd have been around then youd have known that.

But then again, maybe you were different too.

I was a young teenager back then but knew who the NF were (in later years we fought and drove them out of a local pub after they attacked some friends who were Jewish). Call me old fashioned but I've made it a policy of mine not to go out with active members of racist political parties.

 

[The Spanish]

I was a young teenager back then but knew who the NF were (in later years we fought and drove them out of a local pub after they attacked some friends who were Jewish). Call me old fashioned but I've made it a policy of mine not to go out with active members of racist political parties.

you use the phrase call me old fashioned a lot, but seem to not accept it when people on here are genuinely admitting to have been so!

 

[Hillian1]

By hysterically asking CS if his post was a "sick joke" , and following up by asking if it was " ok to date racists" in an obviously disapproving way , with the inference that any answer that didnt meet with your approval would be wrong.

This

you use the phrase call me old fashioned a lot, but seem to not accept it when people on here are genuinely admitting to have been so!

And this.

 

[Don Tmatter]

I remember poor old Justin Fashanu getting choruses of 'roots,roots,roots' from a group of 3/4 middle aged STH & their sons every time he touched the ball at the Goldstone in the 79/80 season and this was in the south west terracing below the west stand.
I don't know how many of today's black players would have been able to cope with that type of shit back then?

 

[Charlies Shinpad]

I was a young teenager back then but knew who the NF were (in later years we fought and drove them out of a local pub after they attacked some friends who were Jewish). Call me old fashioned but I've made it a policy of mine not to go out with active members of racist political parties.[/QUOTE)

Don't worry mate I don't fancy you anyway, you sound far to violent to me !!

 

[Peter Grummit]

In the late 70s and early '80s there was a very active anti-racist movement, of which 2-Tone was a big part, that stood up to NF and racist skinhead culture. Not all skinheads were racist, 2-Tone and reggae had a fair few skinhead followers - still does, when I saw The Beat in Brighton in 2011 there were plenty of skins there skanking away.

I started going in the North Stand around 1980 (chicken runner before that) and although you did hear racist comments I don't recall there being a general culture of racism. I remember Justin Fashanu getting a very hard time, but that was because he broke Andy Rollings' nose - that he was black was secondary. Other visiting fans were generally worse, Millwall and West Ham, Birmingham and Leeds especially. I am not being an apologist - I was part of the anti-racism movement - just trying to tell it as I remember it.

Black people were very rare in Brighton. It was a very different place -much more insular and 'small-town' than it is now. We had one lad in our year at Patcham Fawcett and he got terrible abuse and bullying. I remember giving 'evidence' on his behalf when he stood up to a bully and there was a bad fight.

Things have thankfully moved on for the better, but zero tolerance is the right approach.

PG

 

[User removed 4]

In the late 70s and early '80s there was a very active anti-racist movement, of which 2-Tone was a big part, that stood up to NF and racist skinhead culture. Not all skinheads were racist, 2-Tone and reggae had a fair few skinhead followers - still does, when I saw The Beat in Brighton in 2011 there were plenty of skins there skanking away.

I started going in the North Stand around 1980 (chicken runner before that) and although you did hear racist comments I don't recall there being a general culture of racism. I remember Justin Fashanu getting a very hard time, but that was because he broke Andy Rollings' nose - that he was black was secondary. Other visiting fans were generally worse, Millwall and West Ham, Birmingham and Leeds especially. I am not being an apologist - I was part of the anti-racism movement - just trying to tell it as I remember it.

Black people were very rare in Brighton. It was a very different place -much more insular and 'small-town' than it is now. We had one lad in our year at Patcham Fawcett and he got terrible abuse and bullying. I remember giving 'evidence' on his behalf when he stood up to a bully and there was a bad fight.

Things have thankfully moved on for the better, but zero tolerance is the right approach.

PG

which anybody with even a smidgen of compassion would despise.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

I remember being 15 and going to Norwich to watch the Albion (lose 3 – 1) in Feb 1981 and feeling a mixture of loathing and resentment at a group of about 20 ‘fans’ as they Nazi saluted and chanted ‘Sieg Heil’ rather than ‘Sea-gulls’ directly to the nearest Norwich fans. They also burned a couple of Norwich scarves they’d managed to get their hands on.

I was gutted that, as this was the time of the Anti-Nazi League and Rock Against Racism, there wasn’t a rival crew to shout them down. I felt so depressed on the journey home and not just because of the result.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

British bulldog paper openly sold at the bottom of Goldstone lane most home games so i was told , NF campaigner used to live in lewes .................. so i was told , wasn't uncommon to see NF stickers in train carriages, pub toilets back in those days .................. so i was told .

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Is this some kind of sick joke? You went out with someone who was a racist then tell everyone about it on here, saying you used to play football with them. And then if that was not bad enough you then say they still go to the Albion?

Says a lot about you.

he's not alone

 

[Hillian1]

he's not alone

Difference is Das, most of us grew up.

 

[WildWood]

In the late 70s and early '80s there was a very active anti-racist movement, of which 2-Tone was a big part, that stood up to NF and racist skinhead culture. Not all skinheads were racist, 2-Tone and reggae had a fair few skinhead followers - still does, when I saw The Beat in Brighton in 2011 there were plenty of skins there skanking away.

I started going in the North Stand around 1980 (chicken runner before that) and although you did hear racist comments I don't recall there being a general culture of racism. I remember Justin Fashanu getting a very hard time, but that was because he broke Andy Rollings' nose - that he was black was secondary. Other visiting fans were generally worse, Millwall and West Ham, Birmingham and Leeds especially. I am not being an apologist - I was part of the anti-racism movement - just trying to tell it as I remember it.

Black people were very rare in Brighton. It was a very different place -much more insular and 'small-town' than it is now. We had one lad in our year at Patcham Fawcett and he got terrible abuse and bullying. I remember giving 'evidence' on his behalf when he stood up to a bully and there was a bad fight.

Things have thankfully moved on for the better, but zero tolerance is the right approach.

PG

THANK YOU!!! I was about to bore people with paragraphs of "not all skinheads are racist & not all racists are skinheads" but you saved me the job!! Having been a (non-political) skinhead for the last 20 years, the skinhead image has changed massively from the original skinheads of 1968/1969 who embraced the Jamacain immigrants, their style & music, through the ska/mod revival 10 years later, where the likes of BNP/C18/NF recruited young impressionable skinheads as footsoldiers upto now, where most skinheads have gone full circle, back to the Skinhead Reggae roots & the racists have distanced themselves from the skinhead movement as its old news & "unfashionable". Of course there will always be exceptions to the rule, but as a whole, skinheads now are nothing like the media portray.

So basically, if you see a skinhead in the North Stand - its probably me!

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Not really, listen to yourself , imposing YOUR standards and views as gospel , what do you class as racist , someone like me who is pissed off at the 800,000 odd illegal immigrants that they have today admitted they've lost track of, god knows how many are really here , someone like me who sees absolutely no benefit whatsoever in the huge amount of african immigration into this country in the last 15 years ? Someone like me who sees large parts of our inner cities and mill towns turned into mini versions of pakistan or bangladesh ? I'm just sick of people like you decreeing what we are allowed to think and say and woe betide anyone , such as charlies shinpad who stray from the accepted doctrine of such experts as yourself no-one in their right mind condones racist attacks and all the rest of it , but i'm not going to be bullied into keeping silent about my views because peopl,e like you deem them unnaceptable , we've even had posters on this thread declaring " what a wanker i was back then " , no he wasnt , he behaved by what was acceptable as the standards of the time .

their blinkered to that sort of evidence bushy ,tart it up as much as you want but what you've posted is the truth.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Difference is Das, most of us grew up.

i know

 

[Hove Seagull]

I'm sure I remember hearing chants of "The National Front is a white man's front, join the National Front" in the North Stand in the late 70's / early 80's.
So, definitely recruitment attempts going on.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

THANK YOU!!! I was about to bore people with paragraphs of "not all skinheads are racist & not all racists are skinheads" but you saved me the job!! Having been a (non-political) skinhead for the last 20 years, the skinhead image has changed massively from the original skinheads of 1968/1969 who embraced the Jamacain immigrants, their style & music, through the ska/mod revival 10 years later, where the likes of BNP/C18/NF recruited young impressionable skinheads as footsoldiers upto now, where most skinheads have gone full circle, back to the Skinhead Reggae roots & the racists have distanced themselves from the skinhead movement as its old news & "unfashionable". Of course there will always be exceptions to the rule, but as a whole, skinheads now are nothing like the media portray.

So basically, if you see a skinhead in the North Stand - its probably me!

problem wildwood is that the gays took the look as well, didn't do proper skins any favours , agree?

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Jesus Christ, some of the stuff on this thread is genuinely quite shocking.

not at the time it wasn't

 

[Return of the Rev]

i'm sure i remember hearing chants of "the national front is a white man's front, join the national front" in the north stand in the late 70's / early 80's.
So, definitely recruitment attempts going on.

i heard it outside woodside road before an albion friendly a few years ago,thats why mrs rev is not allowed a season ticket

 

[WildWood]

problem wildwood is that the gays took the look as well, didn't do proper skins any favours , agree?

I remember in the early 90's, a hell of a lot of straight Skinheads beating up gay skinheads for distributing flyers promoting gay/lesbian events at Skinhead gigs. Similar to the situation that skinhead was a culture that right wing parties latched onto for a short while, some that got into the meaning of Skinhead remained but most have drifted off. The same could be said for any gay people who became skinheads at the time. Some became Skinheads because it was fashoinable at the time & didn't have a clue about the culture & drifted off, others joined for the same reasons & stayed loyal to the Skinhead scene. Me, I couldn't care less if you were straight, gay, black, white, racist, left wing etc - as long as your turn-ups are the right width & your shirt is buttoned down!

 

[Pavilionaire]

No point getting all unneccessary about the 70 s though..everyone was racist in those days. Schools were full of it and there was a fair bit of it put on as entertainment on the TV. Love thy neighbour, til death do us part, rising damp etc. also comedians of the day used racist language all the time.

Those last 3 shows portrayed the racist white people as the idiots and these shows helped to turn the tide against racism in this country.

I can remember watching the Albion in the East Terrace in the early 80s, standing behind an old guy who kept on shouting "Give it to the darkie!" in reference to Terry Connor - one of our best players of the time.

I also remember John Barnes of Watford make a box-to-box run and three separate bananas being thrown from the East Terrace - one in his half, one on halfway and one in our half.

I think the East Terrace was fairly representative of Albion fans at the time. The racism thing that existed then was more motivated by (poor) humour than any hatred. The guys who deserve particular praise are the black full-backs and wingers who had to play close to opposition fans and who could hear all of the comments. I remember John Chiedozie of Notts County / Spurs, Mark Chamberlain of Stoke, Danny Wallace of Southampton all copping racist abuse at the Goldstone, but there were many more. I'm glad the racism of those days is pretty much gone in this country.