Which English grounds are still intimidating

[Pretty pink fairy]

swansea's old vetch field ground was grim with fencing up at the front. The west terrace was very near the away fans so if you wanted to hurl sharp, lethal things like coins and lighters, it wasn't too difficult. The area round the ground was terrible with a prison nearby.

went down there with Chelsea years ago,walked straight through the turnstile before the game seemed fine
regards
DR

 

[Black Rod]

Luton is a horrible place full of horrible people.

 

[Buzzer]

went down there with Chelsea years ago,walked straight through the turnstile before the game seemed fine
regards
DR

A mate of mine went to Swansea a few years back and was at the bar of a pub ordering a drink when a bloke stood next to him asked if he was from Worthing. My mate said how do you know that and the Swansea fan said that he recognised him from having a ruck with him at Chapmans in Worthing on the train back from the game. They spent the rest of the time in the pub reminiscing about old times!


Actually - might have been a Cardiff fan but still a cracking story.

 

[Buzzer]

Luton is a horrible place full of horrible people.

Ah but it makes for a great atmosphere though. No-one bothers to remember about those away matches at Northampton or Cheltenham but everyone has stories about Luton away.

 

[Pretty pink fairy]

A mate of mine went to Swansea a few years back and was at the bar of a pub ordering a drink when a bloke stood next to him asked if he was from Worthing. My mate said how do you know that and the Swansea fan said that he recognised him from having a ruck with him at Chapmans in Worthing on the train back from the game. They spent the rest of the time in the pub reminiscing about old times!


Actually - might have been a Cardiff fan but still a cracking story.

could have been Swansea ,last game promotion for them at the WITHDEAN ,some came by train and were in the Worthing area so i heard
regards
DR

 

[Buzzer]

could have been Swansea ,last game promotion for them at the WITHDEAN ,some came by train and were in the Worthing area so i heard
regards
DR

Those two and Pompey always used to try it at Worthing. Pompey came unstuck big time a few years back when they tried to take the Merry Monk in Lancing. Bad move.

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

ha! anyone saying the molineux just no.....

There was certainly an air of tension last season in the upper tier , the only segregation being the handrail running down the middle of the aisle and a single line of stewards. After the game on the walk back to the train station it was quite apparent our "top boys" had put in an appearance for the day.

 

[Bolton va va]

At Birmingham & Wolves, apart from the locals, there used to be as much danger from the unpredictable behaviour of the police.

 

[Buzzer]

At Birmingham & Wolves, apart from the locals, there used to be as much danger from the unpredictable behaviour of the police.

South Yorkshire's finest are still a trigger happy bunch. We played Barnsley at midday in April last game of the season last year and took maybe 5 or 600 fans, many in fancy dress. They brought along 6 mounted police. Just in case....



The Met are no slouches either. Brighton v Palace has seen metal fences built across roads to keep fans apart and in the play-offs last season we had to take ID with us as well as our ticket.

 

[Bolton va va]

South Yorkshire's finest are still a trigger happy bunch. We played Barnsley at midday in April last game of the season last year and took maybe 5 or 600 fans, many in fancy dress. They brought along 6 mounted police. Just in case....



The Met are no slouches either. Brighton v Palace has seen metal fences built across roads to keep fans apart and in the play-offs last season we had to take ID with us as well as our ticket.

Aye, we had one particularly violent cup game at Barnsley not too long after the miner's strike, when there was all sorts of trouble with the over agressive South Yorkshire police, but over the years we had the most problems with West Midlands police.

 

[LU7 RED]

30th Jan 1993 Isthmian League Div 3 ,rumour has it Leighton fans were mainly Luton Fans that went under the name of the idiots .Was the worst trouble i've seen at a Game.Thankfully our paths never crossed again as a lot of people got hurt that day and if they'd come back to Aldershot there would of been serious disorder.We played at Tring later on in the season and The Idiots turned up ,but were moved on by The Police.Tooting and Billericay were always mind your back days aswell.

Yes the 'Wild Idiots', had a flag up at Havant & Waterlooville, we went to watch Leighton there in the 1st qualifying round a few years back (when H&W went on that cup run ending at Anfield)..true to form it hicked off in the club house after (not seriously). St Neots fans were moaning on their forum season before last that they didn't like the atmosphere at Bell Close and thought they would get a slap at any minute (bit OTT tbh, I went and it seemed ok..)

 

[Lord Bracknell]

I suppose it also depends what you mean by "intimidating". Pompey can bang their little drum & ring their bell, Palace can do lots of their copyrighted, all-their-own-invention ooooohing, and Millwall can sing "Miiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii..." etc, but I honestly don't think any of that makes a player think "Jesus, what am I going into?"

Maybe Millwall was scary in the 1980s. But not now. It's just the way football has gone

Fratton Park was far from intimidating last Satdi - but we are talking about a club and supporters who seem to have all but given up on any success that they might dream of. Newport County fans spent much of the game simply mocking a once mighty club that was doing no more than coming to terms with what has gone so horribly wrong.

In many ways, it was a very entertaining afternoon.

 

[Zesh Rehman]

I don't think any grounds are intimidating now. The odd one might be noisier at times than others, but really, every ground has exactly the same scenario going on.

The home fans don't make much of a racket unless it's a big game or something controversial/exciting has happened, and the away fans cluster together and sing, incorrectly, "your support is ****ing shit" and " worst support we've ever seen". Every. Single. Time.

This is the correct answer. Dull isn't it!

There's the odd ground where the walk to the station can be intimidating. But that entirely depends whether you're walking near a bunch of dick heads or not