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Away Days in the 80's


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Guest WESTENDOWL

Preston away..dunno if it was the late 70's early 80's...2 of us were getting chased through that park opposite Deepdale...We had been the first coach in parked next to the ground and it all kicked off as soon as we got off...Ran over a little hill....biggest mob of Owls ive ever seen...The Preston lads stopped dead...queue a massive about turn with me and me mate in the lead for 2 minutes...ended up in the biggest football game ever...about 500 a side in the park...We were all a bit miffed when we had to go to the game

Mentioned this earlier we were on one of the first coaches to get there i am sure it was with the Swalllownest S.C ( We went to Blackpool after the game ).

We got chased all over they had some big black lads with TON in white on their foreheads i thought wtf is all that about,There were some TV vans parked outside spent about 10 mins underneath one then we got chased into the park  and then the cavalry came as you said

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Guest WESTENDOWL

Reading some of these stories depresses me.

 

Would've loved to have been around when football was for the working class man on the street.

 

Cheap tickets, full stadiums and having a foooking laugh.

It was FKN brilliant everywhere we went it was ott once saw a bloke in a pub in Bury sit still while people put pint pots on his head one after one there must have been a yard of pots on his head when a song came on the juke box he wanted to dance to i have never seen as much broken glass since

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Mentioned this earlier we were on one of the first coaches to get there i am sure it was with the Swalllownest S.C ( We went to Blackpool after the game ).

We got chased all over they had some big black lads with TON in white on their foreheads i thought wtf is all that about,There were some TV vans parked outside spent about 10 mins underneath one then we got chased into the park  and then the cavalry came as you said

Was that the match when our fans set fire to the Preston kop which we,d trespassed on? If you remember the floor was built of wooden sleepers with gaps in. Lighted things somehow were accidently dropped through the floor and all the rubbish under the stand caught fire. Daft as owt our fans started singing "Preston,s kop,s on fire na na na na" whilst still stood in the middle of it.

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Was that the match when our fans set fire to the Preston kop which we,d trespassed on? If you remember the floor was built of wooden sleepers with gaps in. Lighted things somehow were accidently dropped through the floor and all the rubbish under the stand caught fire. Daft as owt our fans started singing "Preston,s kop,s on fire na na na na" whilst still stood in the middle of it.

 

Same happened at Chester in 79-80 season when we drew 2-2.

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Guest WESTENDOWL

Was that the match when our fans set fire to the Preston kop which we,d trespassed on? If you remember the floor was built of wooden sleepers with gaps in. Lighted things somehow were accidently dropped through the floor and all the rubbish under the stand caught fire. Daft as owt our fans started singing "Preston,s kop,s on fire na na na na" whilst still stood in the middle of it.

I was at that match but i seem to remember it being a night match. Maybe wrong just could have been in winter and dark before the match ended, but how bad could that have been Bradford comes to mind

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The trains were brilliant. All the way to an away game in a carriage with your mates, usually playing cards. If you got bored you could have a wander up and down the carriages to the shop where they were selling drinks and stuff, seeing mates you only saw at football up and down the train. You could spend an entire journey on your feet just wandering and chatting Wednesday to people.

I remember Burnley away (I think it was the drawn game before we beat em 5-0 at Hillsbro in the replay). The away end (which was the side of the ground) was absolutely packed, we'd sold out weeks in advance. But back in those days they didn't really do all ticket, so there were Wednesday fans all over their standing area behind the goal. There were minor scuffles kicking off all over the place, and fans getting brought along the side of the pitch and put in with us.

When we scored it was absolute bedlam, it seemed like most of their standing area was jumping around, and then the fighting kicked off.

By the time all the Wednesday fans had been moved into the away section their section looked bare, and we couldn't move.

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The trains were brilliant. All the way to an away game in a carriage with your mates, usually playing cards. If you got bored you could have a wander up and down the carriages to the shop where they were selling drinks and stuff, seeing mates you only saw at football up and down the train. You could spend an entire journey on your feet just wandering and chatting Wednesday to people.

I remember Burnley away (I think it was the drawn game before we beat em 5-0 at Hillsbro in the replay). The away end (which was the side of the ground) was absolutely packed, we'd sold out weeks in advance. But back in those days they didn't really do all ticket, so there were Wednesday fans all over their standing area behind the goal. There were minor scuffles kicking off all over the place, and fans getting brought along the side of the pitch and put in with us.

When we scored it was absolute bedlam, it seemed like most of their standing area was jumping around, and then the fighting kicked off.

By the time all the Wednesday fans had been moved into the away section their section looked bare, and we couldn't move.

I'd nearly forgotten about that day the away end was a big side terrace,would it have been where the main stand is now ?.
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I was at that match but i seem to remember it being a night match. Maybe wrong just could have been in winter and dark before the match ended, but how bad could that have been Bradford comes to mind

It was a night match

Wednesday fans ended up leaving the ground early and doing a " pincer" movement on the home end around each side of the ground

Ended up fighting each other in the dark cos the Preston fans stayed put. It was only when some recognised each other it stopped

Some of the old grounds you could walk right round on the inside orient was one

Think it was orient where an owls fan climbed the flag pole and had the police trying to talk him down for ages

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Guest mkowl

The trains were brilliant. All the way to an away game in a carriage with your mates, usually playing cards. If you got bored you could have a wander up and down the carriages to the shop where they were selling drinks and stuff, seeing mates you only saw at football up and down the train. You could spend an entire journey on your feet just wandering and chatting Wednesday to people.

I remember Burnley away (I think it was the drawn game before we beat em 5-0 at Hillsbro in the replay). The away end (which was the side of the ground) was absolutely packed, we'd sold out weeks in advance. But back in those days they didn't really do all ticket, so there were Wednesday fans all over their standing area behind the goal. There were minor scuffles kicking off all over the place, and fans getting brought along the side of the pitch and put in with us.

When we scored it was absolute bedlam, it seemed like most of their standing area was jumping around, and then the fighting kicked off.

By the time all the Wednesday fans had been moved into the away section their section looked bare, and we couldn't move.

This thread reminds me of why my Mum wouldn't let me go to away games, though she relented for the Burnley game. Me and and couple of schoolmates got tickets but were a bit naive about the travel as it was our first trip, so managed to book tickets for the Supporters Club bus not the ICO. Probably a bit gentler on this but full of their regulars and we spent the entire trip scared we would get thrown off for not being official members as one of the guys said it would happen.

The game itself and that packed side terrace, it all kicking off behind the goal and several hundred extra fans being rammed in.

But always remember the bloke in front of us being our deputy head from Ecco school (Mr Judge for anyone from that era) and us standing quietly all game

The cup semi was the next trip but again anyone from the High Green area will remember Furness's buses. So we got there about 2.45pm and we ended up on that side terrace with the Brighton fans sat behind

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Guest Leapylee11

Bit of nostalgia... And a ramble. But share your own memories too...

I first started travelling to away games without my parents in the 80s. I was still at school and there was a good collection of Wednesdayites then, invariably this meant there was always somebody to travel with. My first ever season of being ever present home and away came when I was about 15. Funded almost entirely out of saved up school dinner money, my part time job proceeds and a generous, Wednesday mad Grandad... I remember being gutted when we drew Arsenal away in the Cup, midweek, and thinking there was no way I could make it, due to school. About 5 of us travelled, and all used the same excuse at school, dentists appointment. We were called to our year tutor at lunch time, and as we all stood outside his office we knew what it was about. We all stuck to our stories though, and as we left he said 'enjoy the match lads' with a big smile on his face (he was a Wednesdayite as well)

Newcastle away was always a great day out, and I vividly remember my first trip to St James, when Shelts scored the only goal of the day with his overhead kick... Mostly I remember the walk back to the station, when some idiot Geordie rolled a wooden cable drum off the roof of some shops down onto the Wednesday fans walking below...

Liverpool away, again in the Cup, and singing 'We'll be back', and we were the following season.... I hated Liverpool trips, always bother, and usually involving Stanley knives. The amount of sheepskin coats you'd see in those days with long strips slashed out of the back of them. I still hate Scousers to this day for that, saw a bloke get slashed in the face. He must have been in his late 60s, and his crime was to be wearing aWednesday scarf. He'd only just stepped off the (Maxfields) coach...

Cardiff away when we got promoted will live long in the memory. Went in the car with Mum and Dad and my girlfriend that day. We'd pulled into a lay by about 20 miles outside Cardiff for sandwiches on the way down, it was packed with blue and white. On the picnic table we were sat at was an American couple who were over here touring. He asked us where we were all going. When we told him what it was all about, he said to his wife 'fancy it?'... We saw them after the game, he came up to us absolutely buzzing, the best sporting experience of his life...

I remember Leicester away, at Filbert Street. Although we won 4-2, I remember it more for the continual chanting of 'Yeeeeeeeellllloooooooows' interspersed with a song here or there throughout the match. Standing up always generated a better atmosphere...

Grimsby away one Boxing Day was another brilliant atmosphere, when we finally got in, Grimsby having only opened a couple of turnstiles for a whole away end.

Of course there was the semi finals too, Highbury against Brighton and Villa Park against Everton... I still remember what I was wearing for the Highbury game, I'd bought myself some 'Wednesday' jeans from the Owls Shop, I'd got my yellow away shirt on, and my blue and white peaked Wednesday cap, they were brilliant....

The best thing back then for me was arriving en-masse, on trains. The sight of railway platforms absolutely full of Wednesday fans, all singing, was amazing.made you feel hugely proud to belong to that.

Anyway, just a few memories, would love to hear some of yours...

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Guest Leapylee11

Although it was 91 beating man Utd in the cup final was amazing, especially not turning up to school the next day till dinner! As a 13yr old, my teacher was called Mrs Bradbury and had Wednesday ribbons in her hair! She said lee why are you late? I said well I went to wembley yesterday miss, she said so did I but I managed to get to school on time! My response was yes but was you in the pub with your dad in London till 5am this morning??? She said fair enough and sit down lol!!! Class I'm now almost 37!!! Wawaw!!!

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Although it was 91 beating man Utd in the cup final was amazing, especially not turning up to school the next day till dinner! As a 13yr old, my teacher was called Mrs Bradbury and had Wednesday ribbons in her hair! She said lee why are you late? I said well I went to wembley yesterday miss, she said so did I but I managed to get to school on time! My response was yes but was you in the pub with your dad in London till 5am this morning??? She said fair enough and sit down lol!!! Class I'm now almost 37!!! Wawaw!!!

Was at Man Utd when owls fans did the dambusters....nearly got f.ookin' killed...........

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I was at that game, I'd taken me Mum (she's 77 and still sits in the Kop with my Dad who's 79 in July)

Got a reyt clout on the way back to the car, and my Mum started having a go at the lad who'd done it... lol

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I was at that game, I'd taken me Mum (she's 77 and still sits in the Kop with my Dad who's 79 in July)

Got a reyt clout on the way back to the car, and my Mum started having a go at the lad who'd done it... lol

We ended up in a bleedin' multi storey car park..it was like Fort Apache the Bronx...

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Guest Deleted member

Was it the one near Lou Macaris chippy?

We ended up in there after the game against them when it was one of Big Rons last in charge, we were singing "Atkinson out" when we went 1-0 up...

Think they won 2-1 in the end

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