40 years ago today

My first visit to Oakwell. We beat Worksop 5-1 in the FA Cup.

Where have all those years gone?

 

I remember it well. We won 5-1, a youngster who didn't make it called Graham Reed scored two and the Worksop fans released loads of yellow balloons.

 

It was bloody freezing and I didn't have a coat on.

 

If memory serves John Saunders our Captain that day was from Worksop. Didn’t he go on to manage them?

 

Just looked him up. Passed away aged 47 in 1998.

 

Remember going to the game.

RIP John Saunders, saw most of his appearances for the Reds

 

Didn’t he come from Huddersfield as part of the Micky Butler Deal?

 

yes

 

Re John Saunders, they did a feature on him in the match programme, headed something like "our Johns a bread and butter man". His favourite food being fish and chips and a couple of slices.

 

We were talking about then v now on Saturday. Obviously the ground has changed but we both agreed that the smell of a football match is now totally different, even sanitised.

Back then there was the smell of ale pies and Bovril mixed with snuff, cigar, pipe and cig smoke.

I would love to step back in time and revisit some of those early games.

 

Yep. Glad we are still at Oakwell though and there have been some good times between then and now.

 

Just posted something similar on another thread. The ground had a different smell in those days, especially the Brewery Stand as I remember. I've never smoked myself but I must have had the equivalent of a fair few from the hours spent at Oakwell in those days.

 

For many years I stood in the Brewery stand. Not too far from where my mates still sit, which is coincidental. For a few years my mum used to come to games and we sat in the West Stand then. I particularly remember the Grimsby promotion game being in there. The Exeter 3-4 me and dad were in the Brewery stand though.

 

I seem to remember being either on one half of the kop or the kop end of the Brewery for the Exeter game then in the Ponty for the second half. There's too much of that game that I've failed to block from my memory.

 

It was totally sickening and hard to explain. Anyone that was there would know that, like us. I suspect crowd was just sub 5k.

 

We always went in the Brewery stand for half a game until they stopped it. Thought it was a bit warmer on the feet on the wooden bit at the back.

 

Crucial end of season promotion six pointer. Crowd...5141.

 

It was a lot warmer in the Brewery Stand.

 

You forgot the smell of p*ss wafting up as steam at the back/under the Brewery stand from fans relieving themselves making the trek at halftime swapping from the Ponty End to the Kop (and vice-versa) to get behind the opponents goal. I remember there being little or no segregation in those 4th Division days, except for 'big' games like the FA Cup against 2nd Division opposition like Leicester or Cardiff, as home and away fans often...err.... 'mingled'. I vaguely remember a few 'fisticuff' incidents going off at the back of the Brewery stand - might have been when Blades were in town - but might have imagined that one. I DO clearly remember the kiosk where the Disabled stand is now and the smell of Bovril wafting from that direction.

 

I remember that in the seventies.