[Albion] Spurs v Brighton 1978

[allystrat]

I was aged 13 and with my dad in the North Stand. I remember the crush and men around me yelling 'stand your ground'. Being fairly short, I had someone's arm across my neck and for a moment I was gasping for breath. I ended up down at the front and being hauled onto the pitch by a copper. My dad had a massive bruise across one side of his chest. A very frightening experience.

 

[Weststander]

I was in the NS, age 13, with my best friend. A Spurs fan brought up literally by WHL.

25 year old thugs wanted to smash our faces in, asked for proof we were Spurs to not do so. He calmly recited his old street name and a couple of adjoining roads.

Why did adults want to attack kids?

I remember the game well. Loved the goals and MacAllister? getting sent off. The NS and stadium went mad with elation. Perhaps the police partitioned groups by later stages?

 

[heathgate]

Being pedantic, why not Brighton v Spurs... as we were the home team...

Carnage, I was in the NS, girl in front of me was hit in the face with something heavy... they poured over from the East, we legged it to be honest.... fences came in shortly after this incident.

 

[ewe2]

In the Norty stand,I remember it heaving and dangerous……..

 

[timbha]

I think it was that season when Spurs, Arsenal, West Ham, Chelsea etc used to come down on the Friday evening and cause havoc in the town. West Ham fans launched fishing boats from the beaches.

Once the Police had wised up they would march them down West Street and through the Kingswest subway, having locked the gates at the other end! What civil liberties?

 

[Weststander]

Where was @Pretty Plnk Fairy did he save the day?

Wasn’t he a Manure plastic?

 

[carlzeiss]

I was in the North stand and getting crushed , loads of Spurs behind , struggling to breath was pulled out of the crowd on to the pitch and If there had been fences would most probably have died along with many others . Watched the rest of the game sitting in front of the South stand behind the touchline . Next Home game if I recall correctly was Millwall with fences all around being erected by then . Didn't stop me going though and still hate Spurs to this day more than all other clubs I have a dislike for combined .

 

[veuve]

Totally outnumbered,local spurs fans brought tickets for the north and it kicked off big time.I was 15 lost my ticket outside gave the turnstile bloke a fiver and got in.

 

[cjd]

I think in 1978 we were in 2nd Division, not the first.

I was at the game and remember the frightening scenes.

 

[Uh_huh_him]

I think it was that season when Spurs, Arsenal, West Ham, Chelsea etc used to come down on the Friday evening and cause havoc in the town. West Ham fans launched fishing boats from the beaches.

Once the Police had wised up they would march them down West Street and through the Kingswest subway, having locked the gates at the other end! What civil liberties?

Arsenal West Ham and Chelsea were in the league above us, that season.
But yes it was that era.

I remember my Uncle Dave saying that Spurs had made a weekend of it and there had been a lot of trouble.
(possibly a bank holiday weekend?)

 

[studio150]

Being pedantic, why not Brighton v Spurs... as we were the home team...

Or change the date to 1977 or 1979 given we didn't play at White Hart Lane in 1978.

It's almost as if the Americanisation of soccer is complete, it won't be long with all the PL American owners that this fixture will be listed as Spurs at Brighton.

 

[BLOCK F]

I had a season ticket and was in the West Stand above the halfway line.
It really kicked off down below, nasty atmosphere that got worse.
Not the most enjoyable game I watched at the dear old Goldstone.

 

[Official Old Man]

I was there, 100% certain as I had a ST in the west standing area on the south side. But don't remember this game. West Ham and Man Utd (when they wet down) are the worst I remember.

 

[Questions]

That’s about the time I got punched on the side the head by one of the twats. He got his head smashed against the side window of the security van that sometimes parked there by some lads… “The Siege of the Tea hut, in years to come many men will tell you that they were there but if you meet them you will know there truth when you see that glint in there eye”

Ok it’s not Shakespeare

I can even remember what I wearing that day. A nice brown leather box jacket.

 

[allystrat]

I was in the North stand and getting crushed , loads of Spurs behind , struggling to breath was pulled out of the crowd on to the pitch and If there had been fences would most probably have died along with many others . Watched the rest of the game sitting in front of the South stand behind the touchline . Next Home game if I recall correctly was Millwall with fences all around being erected by then . Didn't stop me going though and still hate Spurs to this day more than all other clubs I have a dislike for combined .

Very similar experience to mine.

 

[timbha]

Arsenal West Ham and Chelsea were in the league above us, that season.
But yes it was that era.

I remember my Uncle Dave saying that Spurs had made a weekend of it and there had been a lot of trouble.
(possibly a bank holiday weekend?)

Thanks. Correct, it must have been a couple of seasons later when we were in Div 1.

 

[m20gull]

I, then 16, was in the North right at the front with a friend. When it all started Spurs fans piled in from the East. We hung on for a while but gave up and went to check on my Dad and younger sister. They were in their usual place, the little walkway on the west side of the North stand. They were pinned against the fence by some Spurs fans so I jumped on the fence and gave them enough abuse to get Dad and sister over the fence. We spent the rest of the game on the East terrace.

Still hate Spurs. For this and several other reasons.

 

[el punal]

This was probably the game when my loathing of Spurs fans went up to 11. I went to White Hart Lane earlier on in the season and we drew 0-0. Their fans were complete knobs that day as well - horrible ground, horrible journey to get there as well. The return game at the Goldstone was something else - probably the second worst for crowd trouble, the worst was when Chelsea came down in 1983.

As many have alluded to Spurs fans came down en masse on Friday and caused mayhem in the town. There was a report of a girl having her jaw broken when a brick was thrown at her. Things didn’t improve on Saturday. I was on the terrace between the North and West stand. Spurs fans were penned in the East terrace corner next to the North. Just before kickoff they all charged the fencing, knocked it down and attacked anyone and everyone in the North stand. That was when Tony Millard made his urgent request for the police to come from outside the ground to deal with the trouble inside.
After that things calmed down a bit - joke! Spurs fans trying to invade the pitch every now and then, their players trying to get them to calm down - joke!

As for the match we outplayed them and won comfortably 3-1. The result actually kickstarted our push for promotion only to lose out on goal difference on the last day of the season - to Tottenham. Somehow they connived with Southampton to manufacture a draw so both got promoted, but that’s another story.

 

[Jeremiah]

If this is the home game we won 3-1 I was there and standing on the mini terrace that was to the right of the West Stand as you view it from the Chicken run. I can't remember any trouble in that part of the ground which is close to the picture. I was also at the 0-0 game at White Hart Lane where there was trouble , we were moved from behind the goal as Spurs fans behind us were showering us with all sorts. The bad old days but people just accepted it as normal.

 

[BN9 BHA]

I was in the South Stand terrace thankfully as I was only 13 and went with mates to this match.
All sorts of rumours going about that Spurs fans had broken into the Goldstone the night before and cut the fence between the North and NE Corner.
Seem to remember the wire fence going down and Spurs fans invading the North