70's awaydays

[kippaxwarrior]

Currently reading a couple of books about Britain in the 70's and although there mostly about the politics of that era a couple of chapters do talk about football and in particular about fans and what they got upto going away. The violence and football special trains and they also talk about a lot of the rags mob the Stretford enders. Just wondering if anyone has any funny or scary stories about going to away games to watch City

 

[horlock_was_super]

Main memory was that everywhere seemed miles away and took ages to get too, even on the train, mind you I was just in my teens then. Leeds was horrible every time a proper bunch of knuckle draggers the yaarkshur bastards. Still can't fathom why we went (& usually got a smack at some point!) every year!? The coppers at both the bin dippers were a total shower of shite proper thugs

 

[Bbc spokesman]

Sheffield United supporters did a nice line in ball bearings as I recall

 

[Mike N]

My first away with game was Leeds in the late 70's when I was 12. I was absolutely terrified!

 

[Barcon]

Me and my mate went to Leeds on a Finglands coach in the 70's when we were about 13. Mt Mum went mental when I told her (about five years ago).We took a load of cans of Skol lager and pissed in crisp packets and chucked them out the window on the motorway. Good times.
My first away game was Blackpool in the 70's with my Dad, Grandad and a load of their mates. We got a bollocking off the coppers for pissing on a wall outside the ground. Actually, Wolves at Wembley might have been before Blackpool.

 

[remember arthur mann]

Me and my mate went to Leeds on a Finglands coach in the 70's when we were about 13. Mt Mum went mental when I told her (about five years ago).We took a load of cans of Skol lager and pissed in crisp packets and chucked them out the window on the motorway. Good times.
My first away game was Blackpool in the 70's with my Dad, Grandad and a load of their mates. We got a bollocking off the coppers for pissing on a wall outside the ground. Actually, Wolves at Wembley might have been before Blackpool.

So big Ted was a blue ?

 

[Barcon]

So big Ted was a blue ?

Ted Barker? Certainly was a Blue mate. He's the reason I'm a Blue.

 

[hydemainecoms]

Me and a schoolmate got seats on a coach booked it at the travel desk they had in Lewis's
Away v Derby 74 or 75.

When we met up on the day of the travel from piccadilly bus station us two were clearly the youngest... 14yrs old and on the coach that morning was a selection of some of the hardest looking scrappers from Langley and Blackley none we had ever met before... they were from a different part of Manchester and all in their 20's
They took us under their wing and looked after us two kids...until the Driver decided to stop for a piss break in Leek(no pun intended) this was obviously the signal for the whole coach load of Lads to wade into a little corner shop and rape it of all it's sweets in jars and packets of fags and leg it back onto the coach which continued on it's way to Derby.
Cops stopped the coach as it had been I.D'd by the shopkeeper and the whole coach load was arrested and driven still on the coach with a cop riding shotgun to down town Derby cop shop.

Anyway a few of the Lads who where wiseguys voluntered for their mates to take the rap so the rest could be sent on there way to the match I never did meet them to thank them as they were left behind but thanks for doing this if your on here (you must be in your early 60's now)

Frog marched by cops to the away end which was side on to the home fans who we were paraded past 15mins into the match....soaked with Gob as we passed them coins flying by our ears...happy days!

 

[remember arthur mann]

Ted Barker? Certainly was a Blue mate. He's the reason I'm a Blue.

Never knew that, gone up even higher in my estimation ! Anyhow, Leeds in the 70s FA Cup I think, kicking off with the Leeds fans, said to my older brother who was slightly concerned, "No problem, the police have this under control" only to watch one be dragged off his horse, mayhem !! Leeds fans were complete nutters, saying that so were their players, check out Hayley's dad at 1 min in.

 

[Prestwich_Blue]

West Ham. Got the football special down and got into Upton Park early thinking we'd be safer inside the ground. No chance. The ICF were all over the place and it was a choice between getting a good kicking or getting out. So we took the latter option and fucked off back to Euston before the game had even kicked off.

Leeds. Horrible place to visit at any time but this one time (December 1977) I was staying over with a mate who was a City fan who lived there. Had a shoulder bag with my overnight stuff in and my City scarf was buried well out of sight. They were also doing the 3rd round FA Cup draw that evening straight after the games so I had a little transistor radio with me to listen to it. We's lost 2-0 and were walking back into Leeds surrounded by thousands of Leeds fans who were occasionally rushing off and having a go at City fans going back to the station.

Then the draw came on and I've got a hundred of the fuckers round me listening to it, with me doing a running commentary in my best Yorkshire accent. Then came "Leeds United. Will play........Manchester City". I nearly forgot myself and was about to say "We've got to come back here" then remembered where I was and said "We've got...er City again lads. Great."

So three weeks later we're back for the FA Cup game and the two of us met up with another mate (we'd all been student flatmates) who was a Leeds fan. So we had seats in the stand and that was the game they invaded the pitch and tried to get the game called off when they were losing. I'd gone over in the car with some mates who were in the City end and they were kept in for a while after the game as a precaution, hweareas we got out OK. Unfortunately all that did was give the Leeds fans plenty of time to get round to that end of the ground and there was all sorts of things being lobbed into and out of the ground. My scarf was tied round my waist, under my coat and jumper, and I walked past all this to get back to the car. I got past the main Leeds mob without problems but a few minutes later they let the City fans out who came charging out en masse to have it out with the Leeds fans. They all legged it and I'm there on my own in no man's land with a couple of thousand Blues heading my way. Then it suddenly occurred to me that they don't know I'm a Blue and they're going to do me. So I quickly had to whip my coat and jumper up, grab my scarf and stood there waving it around.