FARMER Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 The demographic of football supporters has changed. Back then, there were far more young males in the crowds, with all the attendant testosterone running wild. When you went away, it felt that all of you were in the "mob". Most wouldn't really get involved in trouble beyond chanting, pointing or surging, but let's not pretend that violence wasn't condoned by the majority, because it was. Any fighting taking place in the ground would be met with chants of 'gerrin to 'em' or "Wednesday aggro" etc. We're not talking about little groups of 50yr old men here, you could have hundreds/thousands of youths running backwards and forwards. Oldham has to be seen in that context. There was some fighting on their end and down the right hand side of the ground. On the away end, the "riot" consisted of some chanting, fence shaking and bits of rubble being chucked. Usually, it would have been snuffed out immediately. The police didn't tend to stand off holding cameras like they do today... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southernblues Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 (edited) Remember it well, unfortunately the ammunition was all too readily available Went to Grimsby, Derby & Swansea We took a coach from the Burgoyne Arms to the Luton game, we all had fancy dress ( Weenie went as Friar Tuck ) Edited October 11, 2015 by Southernblues Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weshallovercome Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Great reading this and seeing people's different personal views of what happened that day. You can start to put together a different perspective on it. We'd progressed from going by coach to going by car which so weren't in any main group. We were stood on the side opposite the main stand with the building site to the left. There's was no trouble where we were. We really just stood there and watched it all unfold. If you'd gone on the Oldham end, on the away end or on the terrace in front of the stand you'd obviously see it completely differently. I said, previously, I didn't understand why it all kicked off like it did and people responded by telling me about the Curran incident which was the catalyst. What I was trying to say that, I personally have never been to a match where Owls fans had reacted to some incident on the pitch like that. Come on guys. What other match have you been to where we try to get on the pitch, throw stuff, have the match stopped for over 30 mins and our manager goes to make a plea to the fans? Never. Yes there was all sorts of aggro at other matches.You could say it was blown out upof all proportion. At the end of the day it was still pretty unique. If an idiot of a ref ridiculously stopped a match for 30 mins today it would go global and you all know it Wednesday v Arsenal in the cup 1979:) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorian gray Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 (edited) Didn't the ref have an absolute mare in the game and the sending off of TC was the final straw. Remember reading at the time he didn't come out of it at all well. the ref was havin' a shit game, n' givin' 'em everythin'... looked like some 'buildings' had been knocked down on this kop thing we were stood on, and only about 90% of the rubble removed (quarter and half building bricks, plus handy size lumps of cement on the terraces, what could possibly go wrong)... the ref went from bad to worse, and we weren't happy, when... tc and that cnut had a gettin' together on the touchline, and the ref was in and tc off like a shot... now we're gettin' diddled on every decision, and a decent part of our main strikeforce has just been 'cheated' off... not sure how it kicked off tbh... it might be something was thrown by some young un's (and perhaps some mentally young un's)... but it got a bit hostile, fast... i figure the players were withdrawn, and the coppers threw a line across the half way line and advanced to the edge of the 18 yard box... remember thinkin' at the time, i wouldn't stand there, this has got all the plannin' of the french at agincourt... from memory big jack came out to 'appeal' for peace (there was an 'element' amongst our support that didn't like bj, i never knew why)... anyway enough wern't for listening, and he got nowhere... the front of the terrace was fenced off, with several gates (the only way on, and off the field)... the coppers fetched out a couple of dogs, and one mounted the other and started shaggin' it (to great amusement)... the thin blue line was takin' casualties from the 'artillery barrage'... lookin' over to the right side terracing, some wednesdayites were in 'pursuit' of some 'fleeing' oldham fans (with something like a goalden goal ticket hut burning in the background), remember thinking, there might be 'a few' repercussions here... just about now someone took the monumental decision for the police to have a strong presence on the terrace by forcing they're way through these gates, not sure how many gates were attempted, but... they advanced/attacked/charged, but the one man at a time gate was a bottleneck, a solid hail of missiles firstly stopped them, then forced their retreat, on more than one occasion, figure thay may have made half a dozen charges, they were magnificent, just like 'the light brigade' at balaclava... it was my birthday, n' i'd gone in the car, remember thinkin' i'll be home late t'day... can't really recall how it ended, (but i'd guess the standoff was around half an hour or more) guess it must have been 'arm ache', more likely they went around and gained entry from the turnstyles... remember goin' the followin' year, they had a very strong presence on there, as you'd expect... one or two of 'em lookin' for a bit of 'revenge'... don't know what this kid (early 20's) had been doin' think he was a hoylander, anyway this 'thug' hits him 'full on' with his truncheon, the kid went down on both knees, and his head slumped forward, a split of about 4 inch opened up and blood was gushin out, i was stood about 4 yards away and was 'stunned'... a space had open up around the copper and 'the kid' on his knees, when to my horror the copped took his truncheon fully back a second time to strike a second blow to already disabled 'prey', time seemed to go in slow motion now... as somebody shouted "GET THE CUNT"... he was quickly engulfed, and over powered, (i'm gonna be careful what i write here) you couldn't get near him for the number of people attacking him, there was at least a dozen, he was on the ground and had an undeniable taste for dm's by the look of it... he had managed to prop himself up against a goalden goal ticket hut, but the 'shoein' he took was so bad it flattened the hut with the coppers body laid on top of it... i remember thinkin' that might be it for him, if he ain't dead, he's in a coma, but heard nothin' from it, but it was very, very nasty on both sides... some proper 70's style policing, and some were sick of 70's style policing in reply... Edited October 11, 2015 by dnhc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbo48 Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Wednesday v Arsenal in the cup 1979:)Yep. Snowballs preferable to half house bricks !Just remembered when Bronco got sent off against Villa and the infamous cushion incident ( early 60s?). Think the ref had to stop the match for cushions to be cleared off pitch. Got our asses kicked by the FL over that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weshallovercome Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 I just missed the lino with mine, was it really the early 60's?......god time flies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dorian gray Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 What a brilliant response. Cheers. Wish I'd realised you were on the top tier, because I would have taught you how silly it was to call people you don't know, silly, childish names. Too old to teach people the error of their ways now, but then I'd have loved to educate you. We have a good subject matter, with lots of people sharing their memories of the time, and somebody like you, whoever you are, chimes in with childish comments. Well played that man how old do you think he is if he was there with you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weshallovercome Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 aye, love you Wolfie, but when you get it wrong it can be spectacularly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkfieldowl14 Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 And to think this was my first ever away game that i went to with along with my Uncle and he didn't half show me up by effing and blinding at the police. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roaminowl Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 And to think this was my first ever away game that i went to with along with my Uncle and he didn't half show me up by effing and blinding at the police. It's nowt new. Uncles have been embarrassing their nieces since the stone age. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkfieldowl14 Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 It's nowt new. Uncles have been embarrassing their nieces since the stone age. that's perfectly true my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bradowl Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Yep. Snowballs preferable to half house bricks ! Just remembered when Bronco got sent off against Villa and the infamous cushion incident ( early 60s?). Think the ref had to stop the match for cushions to be cleared off pitch. Got our asses kicked by the FL over that as well. It happened with cushions against Liverpool in 69-70 season, I was only 6 but I recall game being stopped when we had a goal disallowed near end, think it ended 0-0. We did away with cushions not long after this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Theboylangers Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Love these type of threads. I was around 9 at the time and remember the Kop being closed in the aftermath. Wonder if anyone will come on here and admit to throwing some lumps of concrete! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ibbo48 Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 It happened with cushions against Liverpool in 69-70 season, I was only 6 but I recall game being stopped when we had a goal disallowed near end, think it ended 0-0. We did away with cushions not long after this. Yes that was the second great cushion incident. I remember it well. Think we just got a sternly worded letter from the FL this time but it was decided the whole cushion thing wasn't worth the hassle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mkowl Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Cushions were still in action well into the 70's. One of my early memories cica 76 / 77 was them being lobbed onto the pitch. Certainly a very famous picture of hundreds on the pitch at the end of an apparently dreary League Cup Final replay held at the ground end of that season (Villa v Everton 0-0). Seem to remember they put a deposit of a quid on each one not long after before eventually withdrawing them and supplying Anusol instead Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mkowl Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Linking this to the Oldham game with the terraces closed the cheapest seats in the house were the lower south uncovered seats. It was still a fair hike in price and I know I only went to a couple of the 4 games as a result, though at least one was a night match. I still look back with amazement that my Mum let me go to games at all back then with the trouble surrounding games. I was 12 and just used to go with my mates. The downside of the uncovered seats was if it rained. Sticking your arse on a damp seat was great fun not, but sitting in the rain was a grim experience Reminds me of an old tradition that the last game of the season the gates were opened early at the end and you could move without grief from the stewards from the Kop to the stands for the last 15. Certainly remember doing it when there was a massive downpour v Palace I think. Slightly more embarrassing was when we won promotion in 80 we decided to go in the seats so we could invade the pitch at the end. Great idea apart from we managed to go in the South upper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PortlandOwl Posted October 11, 2015 Share Posted October 11, 2015 Went with Rotherham Owls.There was aggro throughout the match and just got worse when Curran went.One of our crowd got nicked.We went on the wee wee in Blackpool afterwards.Happy days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teddy Chucker Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I was on the terrace behind the net. There was some trouble on the away end prior to kickoff (fairly standard for that time!!) and it all then got a bit boisterous when Curran got sent off. The kid who got on the pitch & started chasing the ref was stood with his mates next to us before being grabbed by the cops. The more the police on the pitch "faced up" to the crowd, the more the Owls fans played up!! Stopping the game IMO wasn't necessary - if it'd have carried on, everything would've died down. The Owls fans should've respected Big Jack though when he appealed for calm - to carry on was out of order. A bit into the "delay" the kid who chased the ref was back on the terrace - the cops had chucked him in a van, taken him up on the moors, taken his shoes & left him!! He legged it back & jumped the turnstiles back into the away end. At the time it seemed a "good laugh"!!! I got home that night & heard on news all about a "riot" somewhere - I though it sounded really bad ............................ then realised I had been there!!! It wasn't anything like what had been reported though!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
York_Owl Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 one time at Villa Park there was serious fighting, not just handbags & people milling about but real violence, some bad injuries, shop windows put through etc etc, again not a word in the papers or on radio, this was 'normal' back then...some of the stuff Owls & Blades have done at Millmoor over the years was worse than Oldham, demolishing walls, running their end all over the place, damge in town....if Oldham is the yardstick then all I'm saying is that clubs should have their stands shut game after game after game, it WAS bad back then but Oldham is nothing out of the ordinary. When was the incident at Villa? I remember they ran into us after the game where we sent them down 86-87 season. Then shortly after hearing the OCS chants go up from further down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atabor Posted October 12, 2015 Share Posted October 12, 2015 I went to that match. I remember Big Jack walking across the pitch up to the away end and asking the supporters to calm down. We had hired a van, but, unfortunately, down the side it said 'Sheffield Auto Hire' and we had coins and stones thrown at us as we drove slowly away from the ground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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