The Dark Side Of Football Culture

[stevenqoz]

Wasn't the idea to basically do a kamikaze mission? Asin you get into their end and then announce yourself in what ever way seems appropriate .

Yes I suppose so. Went at to Selhurst Park one season and met up with one of the tough nuts from my school....he said just come along with us. Anyway we end up just before kick off down the stairs at the Palace end. I kept saying to my big mate John I think we are at the wrong end....Tottenham are behind the other goal. After a few minutes the rest of his mates arrive so there are about fifty of us. What we do? Run up from the back....start shouting Tottenham and manage to clear about 1000 Palace supporters away from behind the goal right along the terrace and towards the turnstiles at the bottom. I am in a state of shock standing looking down at what we had just happened. Just then the Palace fans looked back up and realised how few of us there were and came charging back up the stairs and chasing us along toward the goal. Fortunately the police got in between and chucked us on the pitch leading us down to the Spurs end. As I say I was never a hooligan but just a small snotty nosed 15 year old....it was all very lively in the 70s

 

[Cornpattbuck]

Been reading up on it all, as never been fussed previously. Eye-opening...!

 

[Lighty64]

scariest time I ever had at an away game was Feynoord in 84. all dressed in our colours and singing away as we left the coach, after a small walk through an alleyway which we were having coins thrown at us and being gobbed at through fencing. we then walked into the main stretch and there were thousands of Feynoord fans, and we had no fucking escort. a few of them tried to start something off, but luckily not any nutters

 

[riggi]

Been reading up on it all, as never been fussed previously. Eye-opening...!

You'd be amazed by the sorts that get involved!

 

[Bus-Conductor]

scariest time I ever had at an away game was Feynoord in 84. all dressed in our colours and singing away as we left the coach, after a small walk through an alleyway which we were having coins thrown at us and being gobbed at through fencing. we then walked into the main stretch and there were thousands of Feynoord fans, and we had no fucking escort. a few of them tried to start something off, but luckily not any nutters

I was at that game (and Ajax the year before). It was kicking off the night before in Rotterdam. This was before they put a cover on the ground, two tiers, virtually zero segregation and 60 coppers in the whole ground to deal with it, it was a fucking free for all and they were well up for it. A bloke from our lot (called Grizzly) got stabbed with a sword. I also heard that someone got chucked off a flyover not far from the ground, I think one of their lot.

Ajax the year before was just as lively. First time we'd been in Europe for ages and everyone who was anyone was there. That was three days of almost constant mayhem in Amsterdam.

 

[riggi]

I was at that game (and Ajax the year before). It was kicking off the night before in Rotterdam. This was before they put a cover on the ground, two tiers, virtually zero segregation and 60 coppers in the whole ground to deal with it, it was a fucking free for all and they were well up for it. A bloke from our lot (called Grizzly) got stabbed with a sword. I also heard that someone got chucked off a flyover not far from the ground, I think one of their lot.

Ajax the year before was just as lively. First time we'd been in Europe for ages and everyone who was anyone was there. That was three days of almost constant mayhem in Amsterdam.

Ye my dad said the ferry over was messy aswell!

 

[Cornpattbuck]

You'd be amazed by the sorts that get involved!

I don't doubt that at all. Been working my way through articles/Youtube vids... unreal. Fight Club in full view, basically...

 

[Geyzer Soze]

Ye my dad said the ferry over was messy aswell!

Pretty sure there's a poster on here who was in that ferry & recounted the story

 

[Lighty64]

I was at that game (and Ajax the year before). It was kicking off the night before in Rotterdam. This was before they put a cover on the ground, two tiers, virtually zero segregation and 60 coppers in the whole ground to deal with it, it was a fucking free for all and they were well up for it. A bloke from our lot (called Grizzly) got stabbed with a sword. I also heard that someone got chucked off a flyover not far from the ground, I think one of their lot.

Ajax the year before was just as lively. First time we'd been in Europe for ages and everyone who was anyone was there. That was three days of almost constant mayhem in Amsterdam.

we only travelled over in the morning and went straight to Rotterdam, and our Ferry was buzzing.

when we went into our entrance, it did look like we could of walked anywhere in the ground. Also in the 1st leg a Spurs fan was stabbed with an umbrella, and as we entered the area before we went in, there was 3 blokes sharpening the ends of their umbrella's.

once in we were getting coins coming over the whole game. we had a group of 6 lads next to us, only 1 was a Spurs lad. a couple of QPR, a couple of Millwall fan and a Wet Spam (which is even weirder 2 friends supporting those 2 clubs). in front we had some dutch, when we questioned them they said they were Ajax fans that hated Feynoord, and we were their English club.

we could see fighting everywhere and 1 guy that got back on our coach had to have his ear stitched up

 

[Lighty64]

Pretty sure there's a poster on here who was in that ferry & recounted the story

the ferry we travelled over in the morning of the game was trouble free from what I saw, just a ferry full of Spurs fans singing all the way to Ostend

 

[Bus-Conductor]

we only travelled over in the morning and went straight to Rotterdam, and our Ferry was buzzing.

when we went into our entrance, it did look like we could of walked anywhere in the ground. Also in the 1st leg a Spurs fan was stabbed with an umbrella, and as we entered the area before we went in, there was 3 blokes sharpening the ends of their umbrella's.

once in we were getting coins coming over the whole game. we had a group of 6 lads next to us, only 1 was a Spurs lad. a couple of QPR, a couple of Millwall fan and a Wet Spam (which is even weirder 2 friends supporting those 2 clubs). in front we had some dutch, when we questioned them they said they were Ajax fans that hated Feynoord, and we were their English club.

we could see fighting everywhere and 1 guy that got back on our coach had to have his ear stitched up

Not unusual at all. In Amsterdam the year before I got nicked and one of the geezers I was locked up with for two nights was Chelsea. I was from south London/north surrey and had quite a few Cheslea mates. There were loads of us from round the area Richmond, Addlestone, Walton, Staines, Wraysbury etc etc and this was also a big area for Cheslea. Sometimes it was a problem (Top Chelsea boys like Mugsy and Lordy were from round the same way and I remember it all kicked off big time once at a club in New Malden whose name I forget now) but a lot of the time we'd team up for the crack of away days. I don't know if you remember that infamous game when Chelsea played at Brighton and it went right off, the copper getting jiffed etc (that's what we used to call it - it was basically a vics synex squirter filled with olbas oil) but there was about 35 Spurs in the Chelsea mob that day.

We also used to get the odd Hammer knocking around with us. One of them was called Jimmy Noble and I swear he actually looked the spitting image of Mark Noble the West Ham player and to this day I wonder if he was his dad or something.

I was 15/16 when most of this started going on and was never one of the fearless fuckers, like the majority of us, just happen to grow up with a few that were and found myself amongst it. 95% of the time it was bravado and bollocks.

 

[riggi]

Not unusual at all. In Amsterdam the year before I got nicked and one of the geezers I was locked up with for two nights was Chelsea. I was from south London/north surrey and had quite a few Cheslea mates. There were loads of us from round the area Richmond, Addlestone, Walton, Staines, Wraysbury etc etc and this was also a big area for Cheslea. Sometimes it was a problem (Top Chelsea boys like Mugsy and Lordy were from round the same way and I remember it all kicked off big time once at a club in New Malden whose name I forget now) but a lot of the time we'd team up for the crack of away days. I don't know if you remember that infamous game when Chelsea played at Brighton and it went right off, the copper getting jiffed etc (that's what we used to call it - it was basically a vics synex squirter filled with olbas oil) but there was about 35 Spurs in the Chelsea mob that day.

We also used to get the odd Hammer knocking around with us. One of them was called Jimmy Noble and I swear he actually looked the spitting image of Mark Noble the West Ham player and to this day I wonder if he was his dad or something.

I was 15/16 when most of this started going on and was never one of the fearless fuckers, like the majority of us, just happen to grow up with a few that were and found myself amongst it. 95% of the time it was bravado and bollocks.

Cant imagine that happening these days. The hared and vitriol seems worse even if the violence isn't.

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Cant imagine that happening these days. The hared and vitriol seems worse even if the violence isn't.

Don't get me wrong, it could get very naughty with West Ham and Chelsea on match days. But the rest of the time you were often knocking about with kids you'd grown up with and they were often of other footballing dominations. For us lot from south/surrey it was mostly Chelsea. I also had good mates who were faces at Fulham, QPR, Arsenal. I personally (and most of us from round south london and surrey) didn't have much to do with any West Ham boys apart from the odd one who'd show up with north/east london spurs lads that they were mates with. Not until the late eighties and we all started hanging round the same warehouses and clubs (Echoes for example was run by ex-ICF boys) around hackney (Twighlights) The Dungeon, The Labrynth. Even then I never liked or trusted those ****s, they always seemed like a different type of **** to the rest of us.

 

[riggi]

Don't get me wrong, it could get very naughty with West Ham and Chelsea on match days. But the rest of the time you were often knocking about with kids you'd grown up with and they were often of other footballing dominations. For us lot from south/surrey it was mostly Chelsea. I also had good mates who were faces at Fulham, QPR, Arsenal. I personally (and most of us from round south london and surrey) didn't have much to do with any West Ham boys apart from the odd one who'd show up with north/east london spurs lads that they were mates with. Not until the late eighties and we all started hanging round the same warehouses and clubs (Echoes for example was run by ex-ICF boys) around hackney (Twighlights) The Dungeon, The Labrynth. Even then I never liked or trusted those ****s, they always seemed like a different type of **** to the rest of us.

Ha everyones ex icf around here. One family friend said he gave it up when he saw a blokes back get opened up with a machete at a west ham millwall match.

Have you seen Rise of the footsoldier?

 

[Bus-Conductor]

Ha everyones ex icf around here. One family friend said he gave it up when he saw a blokes back get opened up with a machete at a west ham millwall match.

Have you seen Rise of the footsoldier?

Yeah.

 

[riggi]

Yeah.

You find it was like that (hooliganism turned into raving) at the time?

 

[riggi]

Which ones bc?

 

[Bus-Conductor]

You find it was like that (hooliganism turned into raving) at the time?

Yeah pretty much. Like I said all the good stuff was happening in warehouses around East and North London. Apart from the big Energy, Sunrise stuff.

 

[riggi]

Yeah pretty much. Like I said all the good stuff was happening in warehouses around East and North London. Apart from the big Energy, Sunrise stuff.

I stayed in a hostel in an area of tel aviv that was all warehouses. Bloke who ran the hostel said that the area was based on east London in the sense that they had started to convert them into all sorts. Some shit goes down in those few blocks..

 

[EastLondonYid]

Not unusual at all. In Amsterdam the year before I got nicked and one of the geezers I was locked up with for two nights was Chelsea. I was from south London/north surrey and had quite a few Cheslea mates. There were loads of us from round the area Richmond, Addlestone, Walton, Staines, Wraysbury etc etc and this was also a big area for Cheslea. Sometimes it was a problem (Top Chelsea boys like Mugsy and Lordy were from round the same way and I remember it all kicked off big time once at a club in New Malden whose name I forget now) but a lot of the time we'd team up for the crack of away days. I don't know if you remember that infamous game when Chelsea played at Brighton and it went right off, the copper getting jiffed etc (that's what we used to call it - it was basically a vics synex squirter filled with olbas oil) but there was about 35 Spurs in the Chelsea mob that day.

We also used to get the odd Hammer knocking around with us. One of them was called Jimmy Noble and I swear he actually looked the spitting image of Mark Noble the West Ham player and to this day I wonder if he was his dad or something.

I was 15/16 when most of this started going on and was never one of the fearless fuckers, like the majority of us, just happen to grow up with a few that were and found myself amongst it. 95% of the time it was bravado and bollocks.

The bravado bit your spot on, most of us never really got proper invloved, we were the 2nd line giving it large
But one year when the North Bank put segregated fences for the first time, hardly any yids to be seen, we got sussed by the gooners and we ended up actually having a row, 5 of us against what seemed like the whole North bank....

End result , nicked , 200 pound fine...year to keep the peace suspended.......best thing to happen to me, after that i bought myself a suit and sat in the lower west stand.