Leyton Lundekvam

Thanks for the heads up - this is the kind of thing that makes the forum worthwhile IMO. Just bought tickets in P4. A trip to Putney awaits...

I also remember, around the same time we beat Spurs at 3-1 at WHL (Horne, Le Tiss & Wallace). All three of those goals sparked the most mental of mental celebrations!

How about Ruddock's last minute penalty against Newcastle at the Dell in (I think) 1989, which gave us our first win in about 20 odd games.

Brilliant!!! Thanks mate, much appreciated.

I took my daughter to her first match at age 7 months. I think we can say a tad too early...

Football has always been about the day out. This involves the camaradarie, the pub, the match, the whole thing. This is what "going to football" involves for me personally (and my Dad & mates too) and has not changed since the mid/late 80s. After a few lunchtime pints, by half time I am bursting for a ****, so I go for one - and I prefer not to have to queue. Plus I like having a pint at half time, so I get one, although I prefer not to queue up for 15 mins for it, so I go down a few minutes early. Others may prefer to stay in their seat till the ref blows up. I don't. Each to their own.

True, I'll be going in the home end too.

Ooh, I forgot... Romario.

Paul Gascoigne. Kenny Dalglish.

Turkish, those intimidating places you mention like Millwall, West Ham, etc are inner city clubs, in tougher urban areas. Elements of their support reflect that. I agree that St Mary's is probably far more pleasant to visit on the whole - i notice it every time i come down from london for games. However, as Gemmel points out it doesn't necessarily mean we can't be a fortress from a footballing perspective like we were at The Dell. In terms of our fan base we should just accept that really are more akin to the likes of Norwich etc and derive considerable support from more middle class towns in the area like Winchester etc. Realistically we're never gonna have a rep as a fan base for being particularly intimadating i'm afraid even if we wanted one. On the flip side, nor is the perception of us from the outside world that we are a bunch of c***s, which i for one am happy with as I don't like the aggro of being turned away from away pubs, treated like sh*t by the old bill and kept in behind after matches like a naughty school boy.

To suggest Pardew wasn't backed in the market is actually a plausable explanation for why we didn't secure Waigo and or Antonio. It is also plausible that Pardew was not solely responsible for deciding on transers, hence ructions behind the scenes. Neither of us know but i'd suggest it's worth considering both sides.

Not necessarily Pardew's fault at all. Have you considered that he wanted to buy one or both but Cortese disagreed as has been suggested a few times elsewhere?

Without doubt? I would say events recently are casting doubt upon this claim...

If it was a plan then stick to it, don't ditch the "plan" after 1 year. Otherwise it is just a hope.

What you state is very true. So why would Cortese seem to be placing what I would regard as a disproportionate amount of faith in Les Reed, who worked closely with the shockingly poor Kevin Kegan England regime, and was involved in the implementation of a coaching structure at the FA that has produced the outcome you described?

Yes I agree. Looks like a recipe for disaster, and dare I say it somewhat Lowesque. Is it just me or is les Reed's CV not actually very impressive at all. Pardew's is actually better in my opinion.

Fantastic. prefer this to the morris dancer home kit.

Sorry to be pedantic but Vasco have a black sash. This kit is actually the same as the Peru national team!

Agreed.