Memory Lane Down Memory Lane..............

[Lowestoft Shrimper]

On the way to Newport getting off the coach at the service station and walking across the severn bridge singing into Wales, got to the ground and we were on benches on a muddy slope in the rain, ending up all sliding down onto the pitch during the game with the local old bill not knowing what to do with us..

Ginger taking on the whole of the Brentford home end all you saw was a big white T-Shirt thrashing about Ginger got thrown out then appeared in the away end minus T-Shirt and just said all right lads..classic.
Or chasing Wimbledon around the white pickett fence at Plough lane Going back abit now..Sheffield Wednesday away with two coaches was always a bit hairy too.:)

 

[Benfleet A1]

Andy Bowen, the Merrin brothers (Brentford springs to mind) Tommo still alive and kicking around Benfleet, Gary and Micky Levy sometimes show there faces but not for a while. Spotter was always good fun to be with and although you might not like his ramblings is still a rather nice chap really. Saw Paul Chandler a while back, still got that cheeky smile and couldn't give a f*ck attitude.

Im sure the memory of arriving back at Paddington and being told that the platform opposite 500 deep with horrors from Millwall waiting for Chelsea to pull in from Cardiff is still fresh in the mind. The silence was deafening from us.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

Tom White. There was the bloke who used to go at times as well who never opened his mouth, and no-one knew his name. He was Mystery Man. I named one of your mates The Man with No Shoulders - because he didn't have any. Don't know his name.

Tom !!!! of course :o i still see him about now, the old memory banks let me down big style there... i remember a guy had a nickname of Shoulders around that time, but he wasn't one of my crowd, though i think he may have been mates with Rob or Richard Fox, or maybe one of Toms mates, though a couple of them didn't like me for some reason :confused:

I just thought of another from back then.. Kevin Hogg, i think he moved to the states or something

 

[Ipshrimp]

Was this the game when Ginger and his mates took on about 500 burnley fans on South Stand West corner.... O/B in them days where really like dixon of doc green... Ginger laid out about 4 on his own...

The blokes a true Southend legend

And Steve Waller walked on the pitch holding a Southend flag aloft in front of the Burnley hoardes.[/quote]

All of which pretty much explains why crowds fell to two thousand something at the Hall... Taking my boy tomorrow, but I wouldn't be if it were like 'the good old days'.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Amen to that Ipshrimp.......

 

[canada shrimper]

what about,
Slim
Andy Hill
Damian
This is bringing back some memories.

 

[BLUEBLOOD]

what about,
Slim
Andy Hill
Damian
This is bringing back some memories.

Slim ... of course
Andy Hill... another top boy, and still seen down The Railway on a matchday
Damian... was he an 80s boy ?? apologies if so

What about that bloke who p!ssed off abroad years ago, i seem to recall him taking about 8 people in an Escort 55 to Luton for a cup game once :p :p

 

[WickfordShrimper]

And Steve Waller walked on the pitch holding a Southend flag aloft in front of the Burnley hoardes.

All of which pretty much explains why crowds fell to two thousand something at the Hall... Taking my boy tomorrow, but I wouldn't be if it were like 'the good old days'.[/quote]

I have to agree... Southend support dropped drastically in the 80s cos all the fighting... nationally all clubs crowds dropped.. Teams like Southend where hit the hardest in my eyes…. It was still safe to watch top football without been punched in the face walking home….. like it use to be like at lower league clubs

I agree thank god its all in the past now…

 

[rowhst101rhall]

Oddball with the brown leather jacket was really named Steve who came from Ingatestone and used to knock around with QPR, skinny another skinny guy with greasy hair.

 

[* ORM *]

And Steve Waller walked on the pitch holding a Southend flag aloft in front of the Burnley hoardes.

All of which pretty much explains why crowds fell to two thousand something at the Hall... Taking my boy tomorrow, but I wouldn't be if it were like 'the good old days'.[/QUOTE]

The reason we had 2,000 fans had more to do with the heap of sheite we had on the pitch in front of us with a club with seemingly no ambition, no money, no future talk of going to Basildon and Anton Johnson. THAT's what kept people away.

If you wanted to get involved in aggro you got involved, if you didn't it wasn't hard to give it a wide berth. I've had many a great, and peaceful, awayday with some of the names mentioned in this thread.

 

[Ipshrimp]

All of which pretty much explains why crowds fell to two thousand something at the Hall... Taking my boy tomorrow, but I wouldn't be if it were like 'the good old days'.

The reason we had 2,000 fans had more to do with the heap of sheite we had on the pitch in front of us with a club with seemingly no ambition, no money, no future talk of going to Basildon and Anton Johnson. THAT's what kept people away.

If you wanted to get involved in aggro you got involved, if you didn't it wasn't hard to give it a wide berth. I've had many a great, and peaceful, awayday with some of the names mentioned in this thread.[/quote]

Clearly, no one factor was responsible for the low crowds, and you're right about those things affecting them. Nonetheless, the atmosphere at grounds at the time put many people off going and it was the key factor in low attendances across the professional divisions.

If people want to fight each other then I guess that's up to them. The problem is when others get caught up in it who don't want to be - and that did happen quite often. One of the reasons I'm proud of Southend United is because it's the sort of club where you can take your children without having to fear for their safety.

 

[seves]

Ginger taking on the whole of the Brentford home end all you saw was a big white T-Shirt thrashing about Ginger got thrown out then appeared in the away end minus T-Shirt and just said all right lads..classic.
[/quote]

remember the ginger brentford incident well!

also getting chased at places like Exeter & Wigan. just made it onto the coach at Wigan before a boot came flying at me, id already hid in a garden to escape the idiots.
God, if my mum knew what was going on back then as a 17 year old.

 

[TMWLT]

oh my god the memories come flooding back, what about the imfamous coach to chester in 1986 !!! remember that prestatyn and rhyl had never seen such an invasion, i remember when they run across the pitch at the final whistle expecting us to **** ourselves, only for us to start hurling concrete at them and the police trying to stop us get on the pitch happy happy days, i miss them so much, but hey we try to keep them going aka brighton this season

and we will prbly run one somewhere to somewhere obscure like fa cup 1st round.

 

[Cricko]

oh my god the memories come flooding back, what about the imfamous coach to chester in 1986 !!! remember that prestatyn and rhyl had never seen such an invasion, i remember when they run across the pitch at the final whistle expecting us to **** ourselves, only for us to start hurling concrete at them and the police trying to stop us get on the pitch happy happy days, i miss them so much, but hey we try to keep them going aka brighton this season

and we will prbly run one somewhere to somewhere obscure like fa cup 1st round.

I often wonder if it is the Football you enjoy, or the trouble you like to get involved with?

Please enlighten me ?

 

[Ipshrimp]

oh my god the memories come flooding back, what about the imfamous coach to chester in 1986 !!! remember that prestatyn and rhyl had never seen such an invasion, i remember when they run across the pitch at the final whistle expecting us to **** ourselves, only for us to start hurling concrete at them and the police trying to stop us get on the pitch happy happy days, i miss them so much, but hey we try to keep them going aka brighton this season

and we will prbly run one somewhere to somewhere obscure like fa cup 1st round.

Agree with Cricko - what the hell is that about? Chucking concrete at people? What does that have to do with supporting a football club? I'm just glad that the people I meet whenever I go to the Hall are friendly and there for the football.

 

[TMWLT]

i suppose you could ask the question to many of the posters on here, of a certain age, but will you??? if you hadnt been there, then your not qualified to have a view, I wouldnt swap those days for anything, its still possible you know, come on, relax a little, unbend a bit , come on one of coaches, you may enjoy yourself

 

[Cricko]

i suppose you could ask the question to many of the posters on here, of a certain age, but will you??? if you hadnt been there, then your not qualified to have a view, I wouldnt swap those days for anything, its still possible you know, come on, relax a little, unbend a bit , come on one of coaches, you may enjoy yourself

You didn't answer the question ..but no matter...I was there many times on the old North Bank in the 60's onwards...Mixing with the likes of Millwall in Vic Avenue etc.. They are bygone days and I thank God times have moved on since then.

But I guess as you did not attend the game today, you live for your Halcyon days of your youth when Football meant having a ruck.

Life is about moving forward not just being stuck in the past.

 

[TMWLT]

thank you for your touching concern at my absence from todays game,

could have done with you coming round, and helping me finish off the patio,
new drains, new pipes, new alleyway and levelling the garden, but hey i should have dropped everything for a punch up with the donny fans!!!


fool

 

[callan]

Theres definately a place for nostalgia, and sadly if you were a supporter in the 70/80's the violence at football was part of the matchaday experience.
I do understand where Crickos coming from, its dead and long may it remain that way, but also for those too young to remember to have people who were prepared to meet fire with fire back in the day (many mentioned in this thread and a lot more in others) should not be forgotten.

 

[Csboy]

Reading this thread brought back memories.
I remember when I first started going max(paul Bygrave) used to run the coaches. Guy had the worst dress sense ever but was a good organizer of away coaches.
Who remembers the cach back from Millwall probably about 1983? There was a traffic jam and Ginger and a few of his mates including Steve Waller got out of the emergency door, Steve Waller got into someones car. The poor driver nearly had a heart attack. For some reason Ginger didnt have his trousers on and eventually the coach drove off and left them there with Ginger trouserless.