Greatest Atmosphere ever at Maine Road

[Adidas Sharston]

I found myself in the open corner between the North Stand and Kippax, and couldn't move an inch... God knows what it was like in the middle of the Kippax

We was the other side next to the away end. There was more GM bus drivers than away fans who got in free. I remember getting crushed at half time while some bloke was playing a trombone. Like the band on the Titanic, scary stuff as a kid.

 

[Bill the Blue]

The games that stick in my mind, in no particular order are..

League Cup semi against the dippers in 81 when Kevin Reeves had 1 chalked off..

FA Cup quarter final replay against Everton in 81..

Sunderland when we won 3-2 in 91?
I spent most of the game with my feet off the ground it was that packed..

I was at the Forest, Spuds FA Cup (l miss police horses on the pitch.. Ha) and Charlton games that have been mentioned, they were special too..

What a great stand the Kippax was.

It felt and sounded like the whole stand was singing and chanting at times..

Lost my voice and gone home with many a headache back in the day..

Great days, win or lose, I'm glad I experienced them..!

 

[Platt Lane 59]

I ripped my kecks climbing over the fence when we played spurs in the cup, not my finest hour. Cant recall a game at Maine Rd that was rammed like it was for the Charlton game. Brilliant atmosphere that day.

The Charlton promotion game was mad. Three of us were told no more allowed into the ground as the Kippax was full, so we were gutted.
Thought we would try and join the Charlton fans queue and blagged our way into their section. Plenty of room and their fans didn't seem to mind quite a few City fans in with them.
But, I think the last Maine Road Derby was personally the most euphoric game with a superb atmosphere (Gary Neville is a Blue), as was there with my 2 young sons who at the time were used to the Trafford Tinkers regularly beating us.
How times have changed...

 

[dennishasdoneit]

Bit younger than some posting but stand out games included most Manchester derbies, in particular the 1-1 or 0-0 circa 92/93 when the big city flag was passed over the Kippax.

Spurs in the Cup was great especially the 5/10 minutes after Sheron had opened the scoring.

When it became all seater Stoke (with the second half comeback) 98/99, Wigan play offs 98/99, Newcastle in the carabao cup 94/95? when Rosler equalised and Boro in the Fa cup (Juninho v Kinkladze) 96/97.

One last one and worth watching is City v West Ham in the Fa Cup when Kinkladze scored that memorable goal.

When kinky started that run the front of the North Stand literally jumped out of their seats as he slalomed his way to goal. Would love to see that excitement again.

Great post.great memories.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

You can see/hear the passion/tension in this one. As mentioned by many. We were a bit fortunate to win this game.

Brilliant.that atmosphere is incredible. I was there,but i still feel tense watching the footage now.

 

[dennishasdoneit]

Quick flick through the whole thread and there are some magnificent moments in here. Agree on the "Colin The King" comeback but for me (not seen it mentioned) the noise when David White slotted in the 10th goal was something I will remember for the rest of my days.

Proud to say i was there.The elation at the 10th goal was unreal.Happy Days

 

[BlueMoonRisin’]

It wasn't my first ever game but it was the first one I went to without my Dad and first one on The Kippax. What a baptism of fire! We started off in the top singer's corner, moved/got swept down by the tunnel and ended up climbing over the fence in the bottom away fan's pen.

That was the thing about the Kippax. When it was packed and we scored it was often a human tsunami that swept fans far out of their previous standing position. Even with the barriers in place the crowd pressure was immense.

 

[petrusha]

Not sure I agree with your analysis on the attendance [for the 10-1 win against Huddersfield], which I will hazard is in the lowest ten in a league game since we got promoted in ‘66.

The attendance against Huddersfield was around the average for that season. With that average of 19,472 being 12th best in the country in a campaign when we finished mid-table in the second tier (we were 30th in the league structure as a whole), I'd argue it was reasonably creditable. You have to see it in the context of the time, where crowds were low across the whole country.

Spurs and Arsenal dropped below 20K several times for individual games in the mid and late 1980s; would they have matched our crowds if they'd slid to mid-table in the division below? We can't know for sure but I suspect not. Everton, as reigning champions, averaged a little under 28K in 1987/8 but drew an average of only 19,343 in the season before Howard Kendall's side really reached its potential. Villa, meanwhile, were in our division that 1987/8 season and won automatic promotion - and their average gate was over 1K per game less than ours. Forest finished third that year in the top flight and reached a Cup semi-final; they averaged 19,670, less than 200 more than we did. In that context, I don't think our crowds that season were actually anything to reproach ourselves for.

Not so after relegation in 1963, on the other hand. The averages of 18K and 14K in 1963/4 and 1964/5 (28th and 33rd in the Football League respectively in the seasons in question), which entailed a fair number of individual four-figure gates, were drastically poor however you try and look at it.

EDIT.

To go back on topic, the standout atmospheres I remember with my first full season attending matches being 1976/7 would be: Bell's comeback, Everton in the '81 Cup QF replay, the Charlton promotion game and the 5-1 derby win.

After it went all-seater it would be: the Wigan play-off, the vital Brum game as we went for promotion in 2000, and the last ever Maine Road derby.

All very predictable, I'm afraid.

 

[franksinatra]

The games that stick in my mind, in no particular order are..

League Cup semi against the dippers in 81 when Kevin Reeves had 1 chalked off..

FA Cup quarter final replay against Everton in 81..

Sunderland when we won 3-2 in 91?
I spent most of the game with my feet off the ground it was that packed..

I was at the Forest, Spuds FA Cup (l miss police horses on the pitch.. Ha) and Charlton games that have been mentioned, they were special too..

What a great stand the Kippax was.

It felt and sounded like the whole stand was singing and chanting at times..

Lost my voice and gone home with many a headache back in the day..

Great days, win or lose, I'm glad I experienced them..!

The Sunderland match was incredible and the Mackems more than played their part.

When we got into the Kippax, it was so packed we tried to make our way to the area (which was usually empty) adjacent to the Platt Lane stand, only to find it given over to the away fans. We were not the only ones who thought this and so for a spell there were a few frightening crushes as some tried to move to this area of the ground and others wanted to get away from the segregation fence.

I can still hear the roar of the Sunderland fans when they got a corner after their equaliser and the chants of Barcelona and were the Pride of Manchester when it was confirmed we were going to finish 5th.

Great day and fantastic way to finish the season.

 

[gordondaviesmoustache]

The attendance against Huddersfield was around the average for that season. With that average of 19,472 being 12th best in the country in a campaign when we finished mid-table in the second tier (we were 30th in the league structure as a whole), I'd argue it was reasonably creditable. You have to see it in the context of the time, where crowds were low across the whole country.

.

Yeah, I’ve already corrected myself about that post. Thought it was circa 17k for the Huddersfield game for some strange reason, hence my post.