Hooliganism and Violence Maine Road 80's/early 90's

Eds said:
Does anyone have any recollection of playing Sheffield Wednesday in a midweek league cup tie around the late 70’s or early 80’s. Have a vague memory of a large group of Wednesday fans marching up Platt Lane singing, to the tune of Hersham Boys by Sham 69, ‘Wednesday boys, Wednesday boys…
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Yes, I do. I was on my own, winding my way down the alleyways round the ground and, somehow, emerged right into the middle of them with no eacape route. I was about 19 at the time and had no option but to brazen it out walking amongst them with my City scarf on.

The real hard men amongst them gave me one look of disdain and then ignored me, but one little twat, aged about 14, ran up and kicked me up the arse. Of course, I couldn't retaliate as I'd have been set upon by the main body of Wednesday fans, so I just gave him my most withering stare. At that point we came out of the alley so i courageously legged it into a side road.
 
One of the away-day incidents that I experienced in the ‘70s was pretty bizarre. Five us had travelled to Stoke by car (it was ‘75 or ‘76). Presumably because most other City supporters had travelled by coach or train, we hadn’t a clue where where the main group of City fans were/would be sitting: as a result we ended up in some random section of the stadium, though with plenty of Blues around us. At the end of the game, for some reason we decided to hang around outside the ground for a while. We soon heard chants of “City, City …” and assumed it was Blues making their way round the ground on their way to the station. We joined in the chorus but, as the source of the noise appeared from around the corner, we saw the ‘City’ fans were, in fact, Stoke supporters (I’d guess 100 - 200) running at a fair speed towards us: we hadn’t thought for a moment that Stoke fans might have the nerve to copy OUR chant!

Anyway, as we steeled ourselves for a good kicking (all of our group except myself were wearing our colours) a small miracle occurred: instead of mowing us down, they split and ran (only a yard or two) either side of us, rejoining as a single mass once they’d passed by. The sole exception to this was one guy who threw a punch at me, catching me a glancing blow that did no damage. I responded by giving him a shove, putting him on his backside. He looked up at me, stood up, turned away and rejoined the ongoing Stoke stampede as if nothing had happened.

Although I realise that something much worse could have happened to us that day, the incident did go some way to confirming to me that much of the aggression that was regularly observed at football games (and still is, of course) is simply macho posturing. In fact, while I was threatened pretty regularly at away games during the ‘70’s, this never amounted to anything serious.
 
Newman Noggs said:
Yes, I do. I was on my own, winding my way down the alleyways round the ground and, somehow, emerged right into the middle of them with no eacape route. I was about 19 at the time and had no option but to brazen it out walking amongst them with my City scarf on.

The real hard men amongst them gave me one look of disdain and then ignored me, but one little twat, aged about 14, ran up and kicked me up the arse. Of course, I couldn't retaliate as I'd have been set upon by the main body of Wednesday fans, so I just gave him my most withering stare. At that point we came out of the alley so i courageously legged it into a side road.
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They got bricked as they came out. It was 1979 I think. Remember it.
 
Kippax77 said:
Yeah probably.
I found myself going to Shelley's in Stoke, Hard Times in Huddersfield, Eclipse in Coventry etc etc as well as following City everywhere.
So probably too fooked to fight in the 90s.
The 80s were raw, undiluted terrace/club warfare.
Looking back at 55 now I'm still glad I lived through so much
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Loved Shelleys, then Knutsford on way home
 
I still maintain there were not many fair fights, and if you didn't want it, you could avoid it. The only people who really fight take up a martial art or boxing as I did albeit it rather badly. It was exciting being young but football in England is so much better without hooliganism.
 
JASR said:
CCTV, banning orders, passport surrendering, all seaters, no drink on terraces, less jibbing in (unless Liverpool fans) due to better turnstiles, ‘gentrification’ of fan demographics … spring to mind
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All those things were certainly factors in countering it. But I think the one single biggest factor in changing people’s attitude was Hillsborough.

I think a lot of people lost their appetite for causing trouble at football, overnight after watching that.
 
Eds said:
Does anyone have any recollection of playing Sheffield Wednesday in a midweek league cup tie around the late 70’s or early 80’s. Have a vague memory of a large group of Wednesday fans marching up Platt Lane singing, to the tune of Hersham Boys by Sham 69, ‘Wednesday boys, Wednesday boys…
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Were they wearing laced up boots and corduroys
 
jrb said:
Leeds at West Brom, 80’s.

Just one example of how mad football hooliganism or the English disease as it became to be known across Europe.

Look at the male demographics of that Leeds away end. All lads/men. No women. No kids.

Just hundreds, or thousands of lads/men looking for a fight and trouble either with opposing fans, or in many cases, also with the Police.

View attachment 123641
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This one was notorious, a young lad died.

 
What always puzzled me was the how the " background noise" always went eerily quiet seconds before it kicked off. The "background noise" could be chanting, singing, goading, fans gobbing off, or just general chatter between fellow fans. It could be inside or outside the ground, before or after the game, in a pub, on the terraces, walking to the ground, wherever. I called it a mix of experience, being street wise and a 6th sense. Whenever the background noise went eerily quiet, you had a choice......get away asap or be in the thick of it within seconds. Can anyone else relate to this or was it just me?
 
OffertonBlue said:
What always puzzled me was the how the " background noise" always went eerily quiet seconds before it kicked off. The "background noise" could be chanting, singing, goading, fans gobbing off, or just general chatter between fellow fans. It could be inside or outside the ground, before or after the game, in a pub, on the terraces, walking to the ground, wherever. I called it a mix of experience, being street wise and a 6th sense. Whenever the background noise went eerily quiet, you had a choice......get away asap or be in the thick of it within seconds. Can anyone else relate to this or was it just me?
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Think it’s the same anywhere. Not just football.

I’ve walked in pubs and can just tell within seconds that there’s a ‘it’s about to kick off’ vibe about the place.
 
Eds said:
Does anyone have any recollection of playing Sheffield Wednesday in a midweek league cup tie around the late 70’s or early 80’s. Have a vague memory of a large group of Wednesday fans marching up Platt Lane singing, to the tune of Hersham Boys by Sham 69, ‘Wednesday boys, Wednesday boys…
Click to expand...
Went to Sheffield Wednesday in 1979 for a league cup game and there was alot of fighting in the City end that night.
 
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