Full Members Cup final

went to both games as a 16 year old lad,my first derby at Old Trafford also! I don't know how but I ended up being sat in the K stand with about 100 city lads! I remember Arthur Albistons own goal and we all went mental and it kicked off all around us! Mayhem getting out of Old Trafford and fun and games getting back into town! I remember me and my pals going back to Whitefield to get scrubbed up meet a few of the lads who hadn't been to Old Trafford with us and head into town! we got the bus into town but as we were about to enter Piccadilly a big mob of United recognised us outside the Imperial boozer and tried to storm the bus,fortunately they got held off and the driver kept on going down towards the approach! We ended up saying we will get to Stockport and get the midnight rattler from there as town was full of United,the rattler was a mixture of City lads we knew and a few cockney reds,the inevitable happened and it kicked off and the United lads had to pull the cord for the train to stop,sure it was near Stafford! I remember we settled down and ended up playing cards with some chaps who were en-route to Thailand,off shagging brass! we could see their cards in the reflection of the window and we were playing chase the ace so we won a few quid! I remember a lot of the City lads met up in Swiss Cottage and drank around that area! I seem to remember it being cold that day,maybe I was tired from being up all night! I also left the game at 5-1 and heard cheers as we left and remember finding out we had nearly pulled it back! All in all a memorable weekend,nothing will ever come close to that experience!
 
Chelsea
blue b4 the moon said:
Link it to the way we're treated now with always getting the short straw on TV/turn around times.

The 24 hour thing for this game if I remember correctly didn't effect Chelsea, add in the Peli FA Cup match and obviously as a journalist you can dig many more out...
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Chelsea played Saints if I remember rightly the day before.
 
Left at 5-1 with my uncle to get away early, we turned the radio on to find out we had lost 5-4, I said that cant be right it was 5-1 when we left, I was going to ask someone and he bollocked me not wanting anyone to know we had left early.
 
Went to both, lively outside after both games, well outnumbered at Wembley. windows smashed everywhere. Saw it through to the end of the game but there werent many blues still in the ground
 
I was 18 and in the Army based at Arborfield near Reading. I got the train into Paddington and found an almost empty overground train awaiting departure for Wembley Central. Great I thought as I settled down to enjoy the ride. That was of course until a connecting tube arrived from Earls Court and the once empty train became completely heaving with Chelsea lunatics. The half hour that followed was the longest of my life, and I've been in war zones, as around 200 in my carriage alone jumped up and down on the tables and seats, threw beer at each other and even managed to activate the emergency brake. Thank God I was not wearing any football colours and I even pretended to sleep to avoid any possibility of having to speak. Falling 5-1 down was almost quite relaxing in comparison to the stress of that train journey.
 
Another who went to both.
After the United game and feeling great had a large session in the Stonemasons Timperley and then had to drive in my little Fiesta 0800 the following morning.
All game at Wembley fighting in the concourses as quite a few Chelsea had tickets in our end.
Left at 5-1 and found out the result in Sandbach services on the way back.
I think most of us were happy with the draw at the time at the swamp.
 
Outside both grounds was like comparing Switzerland with Beirut.
Wembley being the latter
 
Went to both. Don't remember much about the derby but remember leaving town the following morning on one of three luxury double decker coaches organised by Donald Francis - was it called Selecta Travel?? Arrived at Wembley late and as we ran up steps to the terraces the teams were lined up for kick off so we had missed all the pre match fighting. Remember it kicking off at the front of our end although didn't we run Chelsea out of our end or did I make that up. Stayed till the end and plenty of scrapping in the coach parks although I am pretty sure all our windows were intact. Happy days.
 
Also went to both games and to be honest the derby was very tame afterwards compared to the Wembley game.
Went with loads of blues from Fallowfield and before we got to Wembley we ended up in this pub that was full of Chelsea fans but it was OK and no trouble.
Got on coach to Wembley and we ended up stuck in the middle of loads of Chelsea coaches and cars plus their fans who were walking nearer the ground kept attacking our coach.
Got inside Wembley and it was kicking off like crazy.. It was a case of fight or get smacked.
After the game our coach was attacked and loads of windows put in.. Plus we were teargassed by the chavs fans.. We all had to get off coach to breathe and we were fighting again.
The coach was pulled up on way home as the back windows had been put through and lads were pissing out of the windows.
It was a very interesting day out to say the least.
 
I was 17 and thought London was just a Spurs and Arsenal town until that day. The size of the Chelsea support was a reality check for me. We got off the coach early and ended up running the gauntlet all the way to the turnstiles. One daft member of our group said he was going to walk around the Chelsea end of Wembley and back on a solo suicide mission. He got badly slapped and had his City sun hat and half his clothes robbed.Also remember a giant Chelsea fan in a salmon pink sweatshirt fighting in our end. He got taken out by the OB then he was back in the second half fighting again in the same spot. Plus every window on one side of our coach got totaled as we were heading back towards the M1.Ahhhhhhh the good old days
 
went with my bother and my mate

couple of things really 1st was we had to fudge a token from the season ticket book ? i think city had issued the 03 or 08 token for 2 tickets and we only had one season ticket hahaah. so i spent all night thinking up ideas or buying a ticket of get one of a tout ? anyway i flicked through the season ticket book and come up with the idea of changing the 8 to a 3 or the other way round. so got a rubber and bleach and ear bud and a pen and somehow i got the token to look pretty good and i worked hahaha bingo 3 tickets

2nd was coming out we got rushed by chelsea fans going back to the coach and we legged it through the empty market stalls outside and my bother was not the fastest or smallest ? next thing i ducked and my mate ducked under a bar between the stalls and our kid must have not see us duck and BANG smashed right into the bar head first ? took him right off his feet and smashing his nose

its funny now but chelsea fans was crazy fuckers back then. maybe a bloody nose was the best thing we got away with as for the result crazy ? also little david speedie must have had a pogo stick in his boots boy he could jump for a small guy
 
It was surreal. Standing at Wembley on a hot sunny day watching Chelsea put 5 against us then the big come back.

It was like an exhibition match that couldnt be taken seriously and ended in a carnival atmosphere where we stood.

Living in London, we stayed till the end. I recall thinking the future for City was looking brighter. How wrong I was?

Chelsea fans were at their worst around this time. A long time Chelsea supporter friend gave up his season ticket at Stamford Bridge because gangs rampaging around the ground were even assaulting their own fans making it unsafe for anyone. I believe the Shed End was still all standing and the Bridge very open with much of the old dog track still apparent. A local Wembley Final, sun, beer. What could go wrong? City fans an easy target although I never saw trouble, living local and not wearing any colours. Too many Chelsea fans in my then area using the same tube lines.
 
I seem to remember some controversy over City's smaller than usual allocation, especially as United hadn't even sold all their own tickets.
4 of us from Whaley Bridge played the old "we'll go in their end and keep quiet" card, which lasted all of 90 seconds, until United opened the scoring with a Gibson Free Kick.
I must confess to being a tad drunk, and after climbing over a fence, I found myself about 2 yards from United's dugout, and was greeted by a couple of Policeman

"Any chance of us going in the City end mate?"
"How many of you are there?"
"4"
Okay, hurry up!"
I gestured to my.mates, whereupon about 70 City fans came over the fence

The following day we had a coach from Whaley to Wembley. It was a weird kind of typical mid 80s blokey type of day, and it certainly wasn't for the faint hearted.
 
Two games in two days. Went to both as a 15 year old standing in the Stretford End on Saturday and then train to Wembley on Sunday.

David Speedie was always a thorn in our side and was that day as well.

Never at that point did I think it would take so long to return to Wembley.
 
eyalluvitt said:
I was 17 and thought London was just a Spurs and Arsenal town until that day. The size of the Chelsea support was a reality check for me. We got off the coach early and ended up running the gauntlet all the way to the turnstiles. One daft member of our group said he was going to walk around the Chelsea end of Wembley and back on a solo suicide mission. He got badly slapped and had his City sun hat and half his clothes robbed.Also remember a giant Chelsea fan in a salmon pink sweatshirt fighting in our end. He got taken out by the OB then he was back in the second half fighting again in the same spot. Plus every window on one side of our coach got totaled as we were heading back towards the M1.Ahhhhhhh the good old days
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Chelsea numbers were huge that day which considering their numbers in the 80’s hitting a low of around 8000 when away fans were banned was quite a surprise. It was an interesting couple of days that’s for sure.
 
DTKOAG said:
Another who went to both.
After the United game and feeling great had a large session in the Stonemasons Timperley and then had to drive in my little Fiesta 0800 the following morning.
All game at Wembley fighting in the concourses as quite a few Chelsea had tickets in our end.
Left at 5-1 and found out the result in Sandbach services on the way back.
I think most of us were happy with the draw at the time at the swamp.
Click to expand...
I went to both too
 
Very strange couple of days, scored 6 times over the 2 games and won neither.
United game was first derby at The Swamp since we'd got promoted. They scored really early but we came from 2 down to get a draw (which felt a bit like a morale victory at the time.) Remember City fans also singing Arthur Albistons name after his heroic own goal!!
Knew of quite a few City fans who refused to go to Full Members Cup final the following day due to it being such a Mickey Mouse trophy (which in all honesty it was !).
Good piss up in central London with my brother before Chelsea game. Game itself was a bit like a very well attended, entertaining pre season friendly. Scored early, got battered but nearly pulled off a great comeback. Don't recall being massively gutted about result, certainly nothing like after the 81 FA Cup final replay, our previous visit there.
As others have said, there was a huge about of bad blood between City and Chelsea fans in those days. Chelsea had a big racist element amongst what was largely a very unpleasant fan base.
Going back to the football side of it, 2 games in 24 hours....these days the managers moan if they have to play Wednesday night and Saturday lunchtime,!
 
I went to both. Managed to get derby tickets in their main stand for me and my mate, both blues, both 15 years old. After a dodgy start it turned out alright - we both had City tops on and were as noisy as you can get away with when you're a daft 15 year old and you've watched us come back from 2 down with your striker playing centre back, via an own goal.
Can't remember too much about the final to be honest, other than a load of us went together on one of the coaches put on by the club, we went 1 up early on and it was a good laugh. We were expecting to see some of the trouble already mentioned on here, but we didn't see a thing I do remember thinking we'd have nicked it if the game had gone on another few minutes.
 
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