Leaving a football ground

[Guinness Boy]

Gillingham away in 1987. Got bricked and bottled as we left the ground, then we had the Police at Victoria station waiting with dogs - I was towards the front and as everyone pushed forward the nice snarling, growling police dog got closer and closer! The highlight was one of the Pikeys throwing bricks at us got run over - oh how we laughed!

I just checked the order of games that season. That was my second ever away game (first was Southend). Missed the bricks (and therefore the running over) but not a fair amount of handbags down to the station and certainly had fun with the doggies at Victoria. Later the same season I came within about a foot of being trampled by a charging Police Horse away at Brentford. Still went to about double the number of aways the next season.

Leaving the Old Den for the first time was pretty scary, definitely a mouth closed, head down experience. Got followed in Stockport before a game but luckily never after.

 

[Official Old Man]

How times change. I was one of the 'Seagull Special' train passengers way back in the mid 70's going to just about every game. Most games we were met and herded to the ground and then herded back again to catch our diesel train. I recall with horror Cardiff where we were left to return to the station alone, in my case very alone, without any police at all. Shuddering just to think about it. Scarf hidden and head down. Sheffield, not sure which one, where we got practically stripped searched by the police at the station gate. Nearly missed the game. And with Watford coming up I recall the cup game of '84. Police inside the ground giving it a lot of heavy stuff and banning our Wembley flags. But any talk of violence must include Millwall and the old den. Getting in and out was easy with no scarfs or give-away idents, but inside the opposition fans took apart a TV gantry and started throwing the scaffold poles at us.

 

[rippleman]

Sheesh! I was with you on the "Seagull Special" train to Cardiff. Still the scariest match I have experienced. They didn't open the Ninian Park station so we had that long...verrrrrrrrry long...walk with no police escort from central Cardiff to the ground. And the constant stream of Welsh tw*ts asking you the time to try to catch you out.

Then we were all put in a pen which, at some point, the OB opened up so the Cardiff fans could get in too.

I've not been back to Wales since that day. Horrible, nasty creatures.

One thing that has stuck in my mind though is that I had friends in Brixton at that time and I remember that many properties in that area had newspapers over their windows instead of curtains. In Cardiff they had newspaper -instead- of windows.

Funniest moment was returning to the station from a game at Peterborough. Just me and my mate, being good as gold, walking through a small shopping mall. No singing or shouting. Just wearing our scarves. OB (a big lumbering thing he was) stops us and tells us we must cover our scarves up. We ask why, expecting to be told that their boys were laying in ambush around the corner. "Oh no" says OB, "you are scaring the locals".

Then a special inter-city train with at least 10 carriages (are you listening Southern?) was waiting for us. Nearly as many OB on the train as there was fans.

Crazy days - happy days!

 

[Mr Blobby]

I didnt go on many of the seagull specials but I remember doing one to Hull in the FA Cup in 1986 (we won 3-2). As the train pulled away from Boothferry Park station we were met by a hail of bricks and it resulted in a very draughty train trip home! I think that after several incidents that season they stopped using that station!

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

nice to see some good/not so good stories chaps
regards
DR

 

[sod1]

I didnt go on many of the seagull specials but I remember doing one to Hull in the FA Cup in 1986 (we won 3-2). As the train pulled away from Boothferry Park station we were met by a hail of bricks and it resulted in a very draughty train trip home! I think that after several incidents that season they stopped using that station!

remember that well , i met a Hull fan on holiday that summer and he reckoned there were around 2000 "lads" waiting outside the away end which is why we were kept in so long

 

[jevs]

Reading away, circa 1994. maybe last game of the season at Elm Park. BHA fans getting arrested all over the place, think nearly 50 locked up in the end. Lost the game possibly 3-1 but had a brilliant laugh outside Reading nick waiting for mates to be released

 

[sod1]

nice to see some good/not so good stories chaps
regards
DR

i remember a small group of us getting attacked by Fulham fans carrying what seemed like the contents of a rubbish skip early 1985, turned out to be not a good day at all

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Reading away, circa 1994. maybe last game of the season at Elm Park. BHA fans getting arrested all over the place, think nearly 50 locked up in the end. Lost the game possibly 3-1 but had a brilliant laugh outside Reading nick waiting for mates to be released

were your mates laughing when they were released
regards
DR

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

i remember a small group of us getting attacked by Fulham fans carrying what seemed like the contents of a rubbish skip early 1985, turned out to be not a good day at all

i thought we were on the front foot into that one
regards
DR

 

[sod1]

i thought we were on the front foot into that one
regards
DR

some were , some weren't

 

[BBassic]

One time coming out of the Goldstone I tripped and scraped my knee. I was four. It hurt a lot.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

One time coming out of the Goldstone I tripped and scraped my knee. I was four. It hurt a lot.

blame your old man
regards
DR

 

[jevs]

were your mates laughing when they were released
regards
DR

Dunno mate, it got so late that we left without them and caught the last train back to brighton !!!!!!!

 

[melias shoes]

i remember a small group of us getting attacked by Fulham fans carrying what seemed like the contents of a rubbish skip early 1985, turned out to be not a good day at all

Similar incident with west Ham only it was us with the contents of a skip!

 

[Ernest]

I got BATTERED (not like a PEACE of COD) at Grimsby in 1985, Everton in 1979 was HARE raising on the bus back to Lime St, Oldham in 1983 when ME and Beach Hut had to FLEE for our lives and Wolves in 1980 where we got RAN so much throughout the day I would have beaten Steve Ovett in a RACE

 

[melias shoes]

One time coming out of the Goldstone I tripped and scraped my knee. I was four. It hurt a lot.

Plaster?

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

Similar incident with west Ham only it was us with the contents of a skip!

you must know Brighton fella then who got recently banned from NSC
regards
DR

 

[catfish]

I got BATTERED (not like a PEACE of COD) at Grimsby in 1985, Everton in 1979 was HARE raising on the bus back to Lime St, Oldham in 1983 when ME and Beach Hut had to FLEE for our lives and Wolves in 1980 where we got RAN so much throughout the day I would have beaten Steve Ovett in a RACE

Got my kicking up at Grimsby in '83 after the 5-0 defeat. Then we bumped into a Millwall mob when we got back to London...

 

[The Modfather]

Few hairy moments at Wolves, Swansea and Millwall (even the pre-season friendly got the heart pumping)