The guy who ripped his season ticket in front of the Kippax

Those old season ticket books were great, pristine at the start of the season and a dog-eared tatty mess by the end.

Woe-betide you if you ripped out the wrong number or a couple by mistake you had to use a paper clip to get them back in the book.

The numbers at the stadium were random so no way could you forge a few extras for mates, and it forced you to take the whole book to every match.

They were the days.
 
John Tague from Marple was the pitch invader v Bury and he later ran the Marple Tavern.

"Taguey" was in my school year at Marple Ridge and it would be an understatement to suggest that he was a funny character bordering on daft lunacy.

As a footnote, I was contacted around 7-8 years ago by a Bury supporter who was writing a book about the 97-98 season, (coincidentally their highest finish in years).

He wanted to interview the infamous pitch invader and had been given my name as somebody who might be able to help.

So where was Taguey now that the Theatre of Base Comedy had finally got their act together and were now a seriously professional organisation winning trophies on a regular basis

Unbelievably he'd moved to Southport and was now a Season Ticket Holder at Haig Avenue
 
Gareth Barry Conlon said:
I remember being at this game, that said I remember being in the car and listening to the gmr phone in where people were talking about it.

Don't remember the actual game at all.

Was that how it became such an iconic thing as who actually saw him do it. Most places on the Kippax you couldn't see much of the rest of it and if your in the main stand you're not going to know what's going on.
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I was for some reason in the new Umbro stand for this, I may have said this earlier in the thread...2 guys on our row were churning out splifs to pass along and we fucking needed them.
 
Scaring Europe to Death said:
John Tague from Marple was the pitch invader v Bury and he later ran the Marple Tavern.

"Taguey" was in my school year at Marple Ridge and it would be an understatement to suggest that he was a funny character bordering on daft lunacy.

As a footnote, I was contacted around 7-8 years ago by a Bury supporter who was writing a book about the 97-98 season, (coincidentally their highest finish in years).

He wanted to interview the infamous pitch invader and had been given my name as somebody who might be able to help.

So where was Taguey now that the Theatre of Base Comedy had finally got their act together and were now a seriously professional organisation winning trophies on a regular basis

Unbelievably he'd moved to Southport and was now a Season Ticket Holder at Haig Avenue
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Why??? That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's not like Southport is a million miles from Manchester is it?
 
Gray said:
Those old season ticket books were great, pristine at the start of the season and a dog-eared tatty mess by the end.

Woe-betide you if you ripped out the wrong number or a couple by mistake you had to use a paper clip to get them back in the book.

The numbers at the stadium were random so no way could you forge a few extras for mates, and it forced you to take the whole book to every match.

They were the days.
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I kept all my old books for a while after they were phased out. Then I stuck one ticket from each book in a scrap book. Sadly that too met it's demise. In the dark days the only excitement was guessing what number the ticket would be.
 
Scaring Europe to Death said:
John Tague from Marple was the pitch invader v Bury and he later ran the Marple Tavern.

"Taguey" was in my school year at Marple Ridge and it would be an understatement to suggest that he was a funny character bordering on daft lunacy.

As a footnote, I was contacted around 7-8 years ago by a Bury supporter who was writing a book about the 97-98 season, (coincidentally their highest finish in years).

He wanted to interview the infamous pitch invader and had been given my name as somebody who might be able to help.

So where was Taguey now that the Theatre of Base Comedy had finally got their act together and were now a seriously professional organisation winning trophies on a regular basis

Unbelievably he'd moved to Southport and was now a Season Ticket Holder at Haig Avenue
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Had gone to a club where they still have paper tickets?
 
Those old season ticket books were used for my first ever side hustle, as a young ‘entrepreneur’

Me and my mate would keep all the old books from previous years and as he lived local, he’d nip down to the ground a few hours before each match to see which number they were using. We’d go through all the old books to see if that number was unused from previous years and if not sell them outside the ticket office.

Never had any comeback, so can only assume the gatemen either didn’t notice or didn’t care that they were old tickets.
 
paulchapo said:
Why??? That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's not like Southport is a million miles from Manchester is it?
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Don't shoot the messenger mate.

Only Taguey could explain why the personification for all our 1990s frustration now prefers to watch Southport.

The last time I saw him was at Newcastle when Goater scored the winner in the snow.
However the last time I actually spoke to him was in the Goyt Inn in Whaley Bridge immediately after Goater had scored the winner at Macclesfield
It was only a few months after the Bury game and he was definitely still banned from Maine Road
 
paulchapo said:
Why??? That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's not like Southport is a million miles from Manchester is it?
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I’ve no knowledge of this guy’s motivations but I know three separate people who were decades long, season ticket holders at City, who’ve all switched to watching non league live and just watching City on the TV these days.
 
Stephen230 said:
I’ve no knowledge of this guy’s motivations but I know three separate people who were decades long, season ticket holders at City, who’ve all switched to watching non league live and just watching City on the TV these days.
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These days after winning everything and due to the rising costs of watching us I can understand it. At the start of our success or even a couple of years into it though,no, it's bizarre. If you were at Maine Road on that dark day, voted quite rightly in my opinion as the worst match in our long history, then cared deeply enough to go onto the pitch and rip your season ticket up in sheer exasperation, it's strange. Of course he may have recently stopped attending, who knows?

I remember asking a guy who sits next to me in the South stand if he was going to Wembley to watch us in the league cup final, one of our early ones. He said no he couldn't be bothered. I was incredulous. After bloody 35 years of mediocrity I was determined to soak up every single minute of the good times.
 
Philbo said:
This for me was an iconic moment for City fans. The guy did what everyone was thinking at the time and couldn't handle watching anymore of our performances.

Does anyone remember it? Does anyone know the guy? Where is he now?
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Was he Geoff Capes ( RIP), cos those fuckers were thick back in the day like a telephone book ;)

I remember when you had coupons in the back you could use towards certain sort after away tickets. I remeber I needed a number 8 voucher to get a Backpool away ticket in the FA cup but for some reason it was missing, so I forged the no 3 ..turning it into an 8, the lass behind the counter at the ticket office sussed it straight off, but taking pity on me let me buy one anyway, giving me a sly smile and a knowing wink. Cue last minute scrambled goal and some mad limbs in the crumbling away kop end they had at that shithole. Possibly the worst ground I've been to ( before the new incarnation of Bloomfield Road was built). Ah, halcyon days indeed
.
 
paulchapo said:
Why??? That has to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. It's not like Southport is a million miles from Manchester is it?
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He was told by the club that he could only renew if he produced his previous ticket suitably sellotaped together.
 
paulchapo said:
These days after winning everything and due to the rising costs of watching us I can understand it. At the start of our success or even a couple of years into it though,no, it's bizarre. If you were at Maine Road on that dark day, voted quite rightly in my opinion as the worst match in our long history, then cared deeply enough to go onto the pitch and rip your season ticket up in sheer exasperation, it's strange. Of course he may have recently stopped attending, who knows?

I remember asking a guy who sits next to me in the South stand if he was going to Wembley to watch us in the league cup final, one of our early ones. He said no he couldn't be bothered. I was incredulous. After bloody 35 years of mediocrity I was determined to soak up every single minute of the good times.
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One of our early League Cup Finals.
1970/1974/1976 ??
 
Stephen230 said:
Those old season ticket books were used for my first ever side hustle, as a young ‘entrepreneur’

Me and my mate would keep all the old books from previous years and as he lived local, he’d nip down to the ground a few hours before each match to see which number they were using. We’d go through all the old books to see if that number was unused from previous years and if not sell them outside the ticket office.

Never had any comeback, so can only assume the gatemen either didn’t notice or didn’t care that they were old tickets.
Click to expand...
good hustle, I seem to recall the colour of the books changed each season??
 
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