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Football violence of the 1970's and 80's


uttoxram75

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One for the owd un's...

What's your favourite, most scary or most exciting memory of hooliganism, crowd trouble, fighting in the streets etc back in the Baseball ground days?

As a youngster I used to travel into town by train so most games were somewhat tribal....if not downright violent.

As a 15 year old I will never forget one game against Man Utd in 1976 at the BBG when war broke out on the pitch at the end of the match. Older lads told me it was worse in '73!

We are talking maybe 2,000 - 3,000 lads and blokes fighting on the pitch, can you imagine that happening nowadays.

The most scary moment I can recall was on the corner of Midland Road/London road outside the Crown & Cushion after one game back in the mid 70's when Derby and Stoke went head to head, even the police stood back and let them get on with it. We stood on Derby station after waiting for our train with these Stokies who had ripped shirts, black eyes, cut heads and blood all over them, saying they'd won...:blink:

Derby station was a bit of a nightmare in those days. you never knew who was changing trains there. We got chased by some Wolves fans once only for them to get battered by Chelsea who just happened to be passing through.....

No intention of glorifying violence, just reminiscing of how it was back then.

Your gonna get your fookin heads kicked in...

 

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2 minutes ago, Inglorius said:

Stoke away at the Victoria Ground was quite frightening for a teenager dodging half bricks outside the ground and coins inside of it

Mel Morris told me he was thrown in the river at Stoke as a young Derby boot boy. ......

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1 minute ago, uttoxram75 said:

Mel Morris told me he was thrown in the river at Stoke as a young Derby boot boy. ......

Obviously did him the power of good. West Ham away when we got to the quarter finals of the Littlewoods Cup was also very scary walking past pubs on the way to the ground where the police were stood outside physically holding the doors shut to stop the locals charging out.

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What a disgraceful thread. To romanticise any form of violence casts a long shadow on all Derby fans. Football thankfully is a family game now. I hope this thread gets locked before too long otherwise I worry how it might reflect on users of this platform. Let's get back to discussing the usual malarkey of how everything is terrible.

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10 minutes ago, Dubiousmagoo said:

What a disgraceful thread. To romanticise any form of violence casts a long shadow on all Derby fans. Football thankfully is a family game now. I hope this thread gets locked before too long otherwise I worry how it might reflect on users of this platform. Let's get back to discussing the usual malarkey of how everything is terrible.

U want some?

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1 hour ago, Dubiousmagoo said:

What a disgraceful thread. To romanticise any form of violence casts a long shadow on all Derby fans. Football thankfully is a family game now. I hope this thread gets locked before too long otherwise I worry how it might reflect on users of this platform. Let's get back to discussing the usual malarkey of how everything is terrible.

Humanity is pretty depraved a lot of the time, life will never be all sunshine and flowers no matter how much you wish it so. Some people enjoy anarchy, the rush of adrenaline and feeling alive away from your meaningless day to day. People aren't advocating a return to a different era, they can reminisce over a bygone less sanitised mundane time if they wish.

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2 hours ago, Dubiousmagoo said:

What a disgraceful thread. To romanticise any form of violence casts a long shadow on all Derby fans. Football thankfully is a family game now. I hope this thread gets locked before too long otherwise I worry how it might reflect on users of this platform. Let's get back to discussing the usual malarkey of how everything is terrible.

Seeing as a Moderator started the thread I think there is little chance of it being locked

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Thinking of trains. Spurs away late 80's, walking up the Seven sisters road after the game, I thought I was hard enough but was in a small group which somehow got sussed; came to my senses after the first skirmish, as felt like there was a few hundred heading towards us, my best Alan Wells impression followed.

Generally I kept out of trouble, over romanticised and never liked innocent people getting caught up, Millwall in the play off semi's proved this, their louts would have lumped, bottled, bricked anyone, kids or women included in Derby colours, that was a pretty crazy trip leaving south London.

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Football violence is not big and not clever.

I remember going to the Baseball Ground early on in my supporting the Rams, must have been around 1988-1990, and we were playing Millwall. Two incidents I distinctly recall -

1. A stoppage because the Millwall away fans chucked a massive king edward spud at Shilton with nails pushed through it.

2. On the way out of the ground we saw a mounted policeman had arrested a Millwall fan and was holding him up by his collar, while the shire horse he was on appeared to be trying to stamp on the bloke's feet.

Worst thing I have ever seen actually had nothing to do with Derby. While working in London I stupidly decided to catch the tube one Saturday early evening at 'Seven Sisters.' I arrived just as the Police had stopped Spurs and Arsenal fans battering each other ..... aftermath looked like a scene from Saving Private Ryan. I decided to walk for a bit and then catch the bus.

 

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Interesting thread. I don't think anyone is glorifying the act of footy hooliganism on here but just remembering a time when it was commonplace. I've had some scrapes in the late 80's early 90's when following Hull around the country during my YTS days and after. Thankfully the face of football has changed and it's more convivial shall we say. Plus I've got older and can't run anymore.

Look, if groups of hoolies want to kick off against other hoolies than that's entirely up to them. My gripe is when they attack random fans walking alone or even cause trouble around families. That's well out of order. If you're gonna stove some rival fans head in then make sure they are up for retaliatory action and do it with discretion and consideration of other fans around who don't wish to get sucked in please. ;)

I've known some lads well from clubs such as Rotherham and Scunny and they are actually quite intelligent blokes. They are respectful around kids, families and normal fans just going about their matchday business and they pride themselves on it. They know what they are looking for and by and large who would be looking for them and nobody else need know or care.  It's the drunken aggressive idiots that just want to fight anything that moves that are the issue nowadays IMO.

Just for the record I have never been involved in any unsavoury battles but just really dodging and avoiding ambushes and pub skirmishes and stuff but that was well over 20 odd years back now.

 

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14 hours ago, reveldevil said:

Just think, while the football fans of the time were being condemned as animals, the real villains were hosting primetime TV shows, or coming in your ears through the wireless!

And I thought I'd tried just about everything, each to their own I spoze

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Too young for the 70s and 80s but saw plenty of bother in the early 90s. 

Had some scary train trips, especially having to travel in and out of Stoke. Used to be a good number of Stoke Rams that used to meet at the back of The North Staffs and plan our route onto platform one without bumping into various teams, most of the Stoke lads knew we were Derby they'd give us stick but wouldn't let us have it from anyone else, can only assume the main lads thought we were alright and knew we just wanted to get to Derby.

Remember being surrounded by West Ham, getting kicked to bits in the concourse and one of our lot getting thrown onto the tracks. Stoke hammered them and we slid onto the train.

The other was having to run from Newcastle down the tracks at Blyth Bridge, they were trying to get to Leicester, somehow got back on the train with them, never been so happy to stop at Uttoxeter!

Just did a lot of running really...

 

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23 hours ago, reveldevil said:

Just think, while the football fans of the time were being condemned as animals, the real villains were hosting primetime TV shows, or coming in your ears through the wireless!

and to think how Maggie treated any football fan with utter contempt whilst covering for a gang a raging predators.

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