The olden days

[whelk]

Try and do this nowadays and the health and safety mob will kick up a helluva fuss.

Proper fans Millwall

 

 

[John Boy Saint]

15 hours ago, whelk said:

Try and do this nowadays and the health and safety mob will kick up a helluva fuss.

Proper fans Millwall

 

 

Saints fans were doing just that at Readings Elm Park when we played them in the League Cup 1978. As the second half wore on they were getting higher and higher until they reached the barbed wire. The PA announcer tried in vain to politely ask them to come down, and the Coppers weren't going in to get them down, as back then that would have been asking for trouble.

[Toadhall Saint]

Saints at the goldstone ground

[OttawaSaint]

I remember watching Saints at Elland road the year they won the league. We scored at the death to make at 3-3 (Think it was Dowie) and the crowd surge on the terraces during the celebration was crazy. My Dad, brother and I were sent in different directions, people were screaming and hugging total strangers. My Dad lost his keys in the mayhem and we had to come back to the ground past a lot of really disgruntled Leeds fans to see if they'd been picked up. They had.

Great memory but also tinged with sadness, I'm the only surviving member of that trio.

Edited 7 October, 2021 by OttawaSaint

[Badger]

Remember the Dockers Enclosure, under the old East Stand, the bar open till the start of the second half; most people drinking ( a lot) and those who weren't didn't object to those who were. Some choice language not for the sensitive little flowers  of today, and often a hearty sing-song in the second half after a skin full of drink. Happy days.

[kyle04]

6 hours ago, OttawaSaint said:

I remember watching Saints at Elland road the year they won the league. We scored at the death to make at 3-3 (Think it was Dowie) and the crowd surge on the terraces during the celebration was crazy. My Dad, brother and I were sent in different directions, people were screaming and hugging total strangers. My Dad lost his keys in the mayhem and we had to come back to the ground past a lot of really disgruntled Leeds fans to see if they'd been picked up. They had.

Great memory but also tinged with sadness, I'm the only surviving member of that trio.

I had a thing about crowd surges as a small boy, I think the Spion Kop generally had the best, just a sea of people going mental, most ending up nowhere near where they were stood, but then again you had the rivers of piss cascading down the terraces apparently. Happy days.

[Fan The Flames]

15 hours ago, Toadhall Saint said:

Saints at the goldstone ground

FA Cup 86. I went to school in Hove so I was in the Brighton end that day with my mates. The part of the east stand next to the north stand at the Goldstone was empty, they must have opened it up to relieve the congestion as suddendly there was this loud roar as the Saints fans came over the top, running down the terrace and quickly filling it up and rattling the fences next to us. It was like something out of Zulu Dawn.

2 nil win and I had to scrap a couple of kids from my school outside after the game.

[Toadhall Saint]

On 08/10/2021 at 06:00, Fan The Flames said:

FA Cup 86. I went to school in Hove so I was in the Brighton end that day with my mates. The part of the east stand next to the north stand at the Goldstone was empty, they must have opened it up to relieve the congestion as suddendly there was this loud roar as the Saints fans came over the top, running down the terrace and quickly filling it up and rattling the fences next to us. It was like something out of Zulu Dawn.

2 nil win and I had to scrap a couple of kids from my school outside after the game.

👏👍

[adrian lord]

On 07/10/2021 at 11:55, John Boy Saint said:

Saints fans were doing just that at Readings Elm Park when we played them in the League Cup 1978. As the second half wore on they were getting higher and higher until they reached the barbed wire. The PA announcer tried in vain to politely ask them to come down, and the Coppers weren't going in to get them down, as back then that would have been asking for trouble.

Night game. Lots of missiles thrown between opposing fans, excellent, proper old-school atmosphere with proper fans. Dad and I could only get tickets in the Reading section for some reason, had to suppress our urge to celebrate. 

[John Boy Saint]

12 hours ago, adrian lord said:

Night game. Lots of missiles thrown between opposing fans, excellent, proper old-school atmosphere with proper fans. Dad and I could only get tickets in the Reading section for some reason, had to suppress our urge to celebrate. 

Me too - I was 14 stood on their notorious South Bank - I got a ticket from a Reading supporting School mate who couldn’t go. One of couple of other lads Dads took us to the game,  and I was pointed in the right direction to get in, with “we’ll met you at the players entrance after the match”. 
Looking back those were the dark days of football fans - as a teenager it certainly got you street smart going to games with a 2-3 mates without an adult. We were catching the train from Basingstoke to Southampton, going down was fine, coming home there was a chance of Neanderthal away fans on the same train to London to transfer north!

[Pilchards]

On 08/10/2021 at 06:00, Fan The Flames said:

FA Cup 86. I went to school in Hove so I was in the Brighton end that day with my mates. The part of the east stand next to the north stand at the Goldstone was empty, they must have opened it up to relieve the congestion as suddendly there was this loud roar as the Saints fans came over the top, running down the terrace and quickly filling it up and rattling the fences next to us. It was like something out of Zulu Dawn.

2 nil win and I had to scrap a couple of kids from my school outside after the game.

I witnessed that too.

Within seconds it was full and from that 

momemt we never stopped singing.

Think I recalled Cockerill scoring

one of the goals.

 

[Fan The Flames]

7 hours ago, Pilchards said:

I witnessed that too.

Within seconds it was full and from that 

momemt we never stopped singing.

Think I recalled Cockerill scoring

one of the goals.

Yes, Glen Cockeril got the first and Steve Moran. It was a straightforward win. Our fans were impressive.

[OldNick]

On 07/10/2021 at 14:07, Toadhall Saint said:

Saints at the goldstone ground

Yep some up the pylons that day. I recall the scramble to get out after to meet the Brighton fans in the parks and train station

[spyinthesky]

On 07/10/2021 at 23:47, kyle04 said:

I had a thing about crowd surges as a small boy, I think the Spion Kop generally had the best, just a sea of people going mental, most ending up nowhere near where they were stood, but then again you had the rivers of piss cascading down the terraces apparently. Happy days.

As a kid I used to go to Anfield or Goodison Park if games were on when visiting relatives in Liverpool.

One of my older cousins was a keen Liverpool supporter and we used to go in the one of the stands at the side of the pitch.

However as a 12 year old I went to the wrong gate and found myself in the Kop for a European Tie v Juventus.

As I was late in, I could only find a space at the top part of the terracing in a capacity crowd.

It was frightening and enjoyable in equal measures.

I dont remember seeing much of the game which I think Liverpool won.

Certainly recollect people pissing in rolled up newspapers and one, fairly bevvied up supporter pissing in someones pocket without him knowing.

The crowd bayed and swayed so much that at the end of the game I found myself about 4 rows from the front of the terrace.

 

[Nordic Saint]

1 hour ago, spyinthesky said:

As a kid I used to go to Anfield or Goodison Park if games were on when visiting relatives in Liverpool.

One of my older cousins was a keen Liverpool supporter and we used to go in the one of the stands at the side of the pitch.

However as a 12 year old I went to the wrong gate and found myself in the Kop for a European Tie v Juventus.

As I was late in, I could only find a space at the top part of the terracing in a capacity crowd.

It was frightening and enjoyable in equal measures.

I dont remember seeing much of the game which I think Liverpool won.

Certainly recollect people pissing in rolled up newspapers and one, fairly bevvied up supporter pissing in someones pocket without him knowing.

The crowd bayed and swayed so much that at the end of the game I found myself about 4 rows from the front of the terrace.

 

My first away game was at Crystal Palace in 1965 when Selhurst Park was one of the last grounds to have the new luxury of concrete terracing covering all sides. The top half of the away end was still just a grass bank which turned to mud when it rained.  Before my time, a lot of grounds just used natural slopes because concrete terracing was too expensive, and so were roofs, which meant away ends were nearly always uncovered.

This was Barcelona's Nou Camp:

e8289a513d129cca256c0695a1b62e28.jpg (600×338) (pinimg.com)

My first trip to Anfield wasn't until 1971, on a football special train. On the route to the ground, we walked through a narrow alleyway with high walls, and the local kids lobbed house bricks over the walls at us. When we got inside the ground, I started to sing OWTS. I'm quite tall and so stood out. Immediately 2 local coppers dived in, grabbed me and told me to "shut up." They only wanted to hear Liverpool fans sing. One of the other Saints fans I went up with went in the Kop because he wanted to experience it. He came back after the game quite excited by it all.

(182) Liverpool FC - The Kop Crowd - YouTube

Edited 14 October, 2021 by Nordic Saint

[Piran]

2 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

As a kid I used to go to Anfield or Goodison Park if games were on when visiting relatives in Liverpool.

One of my older cousins was a keen Liverpool supporter and we used to go in the one of the stands at the side of the pitch.

However as a 12 year old I went to the wrong gate and found myself in the Kop for a European Tie v Juventus.

As I was late in, I could only find a space at the top part of the terracing in a capacity crowd.

It was frightening and enjoyable in equal measures.

I dont remember seeing much of the game which I think Liverpool won.

Certainly recollect people pissing in rolled up newspapers and one, fairly bevvied up supporter pissing in someones pocket without him knowing.

The crowd bayed and swayed so much that at the end of the game I found myself about 4 rows from the front of the terrace.

 

My first trip to Anfield was in 1971, Liverpool vs Leeds in a European tie. I was on a ship in Cammell Laird's yard in Birkenhead, (now THERE'S a shit-hole, per the other thread) and 3 of us decided to go along, and ended up on the Kop. I fully agree with Spyinthesky's comments above, particularly the frightening bit!

[Miltonaggro]

On 07/10/2021 at 14:07, Toadhall Saint said:

Saints at the goldstone ground

My first thought too! A fun day out by the seaside :)

[CAH61]

On 07/10/2021 at 14:07, Toadhall Saint said:

Saints at the goldstone ground

My sister's boyfriend got knicked for doing that in '79 (I got down in time!) and I had to explain why he wasn't there for sunday dinner the next day!

[Saint Keef]

It's sad I guess that we're all old enough to remember the pylons. Are there any left?.....probably still some in the lower leagues, but I don't remember seeing a pylon at a ground for a long time.

[alehouseboys]

On 07/10/2021 at 14:07, Toadhall Saint said:

Saints at the goldstone ground

Yeah, my first thought on seeing that photo. A mate of mine was up on the pylon, he stood out a bit as had (bizarrely) a couple of green stripes in his hair. All those trips down to Brighton back then were...entertaining.

Was at the Reading cup games at Elm Park too, late 70s. We were packed onto an open terrace behind the goal, their rowdier fans to our left on the covered terrace down the side, made quite a bit of noise tbf. Then again some years later when (think it was Souness era) when someone their end tricked SFC into believing the game had been called off and announced it to everyone. Eventually realised it was a hoax but too late for fans to all get there by kick-off and the players only arrived moments before.