Worst away days you've had?

I must say I remember it looking worse than that. Bad as it is.

Back to away days, two that spring to mind are letting 6 in at Grimsby with Isiah Rankin playing for them, on loan from us. it was a cold winters day and we walked along the front looking for a drink. We were turned away from every pub in Cleethorpes pre match and arrived at the ground frozen. Only to witness that.

West ham away in the prem was awful too. Some hammers supporting mates took us (briefly) to a staunch WHU pub called the Earl of Wakefield. I was busting for a pee and made a beeline at speed to the gents on arrival. I threw the door open and would've run in, except for the departing west ham fan, who'd just leant forward to open the door from the other side. The door had hit him in the face and bust his nose.

I apologized, had my pee then helped him get cleaned up. We left the loo into the main bar just in time to see my brother bringing our drinks from the bar. He tripped up, spilling our pints and a shower of broken glass over some seated home supporters.

One of our mates looked at him, looked at me and my new bloodied buddy, and shouted, "RUN!"

We didn't need asking twice. We made it safely into Upton Park, in time to watch the worst display of the season and a 6-0 reverse. Happy days!

 

I lived at Shotton at the time, and went in the home end for that one. I think I jumped up when we scored then remembered where I was! Luckily they all just laughed

 

Ayresome Park early 80s, the sun pub in Monk Bretton put a bus on, went with my uncle, pelted with bricks stood inside the ground behind the big red gates, that bad we had to walk around the pitch and leave via a different exit, also sheff utd away, night game, early eighties and once a gain being pelted by missiles.

 

Sunderland away 1992 I think? Was a student in Newcastle at the time. Old Roker Park away end. Absolute **** hole, treat like scum by the local pigs, herded into a dangerous open air stand, over capacity with metal pens and concrete barriers.

Seriously looney fans, we lost, played **** and got rained on. Never seen raindrops so big.

Had to walk through the Mackems to get back to Seaham Station to get the train home.

Every ****** knew I wasn't one of them. Talk about a hostile **** myself experience. Had PTSD for weeks. Oh and my placement was on a building site full of Makems and Geordies bickering!!

Happy days!!

 

I was there that day. Also a student at Newcastle. Didn't have a bad experience with the fans but the coppers were scum. Sunderland had given the tickets for what should've been the away seating to local schools and crammed us all onto the terracing. Some friends of ours paid at the turnstile and were penned in the concourse under the stand by the police because it was too full in sight of the pitch.

We lost 2-1 if memory serves but John Pearson (I think) had an "equaliser" disallowed. There had been a surge of fans who'd broke rank in the concourse and got up onto the terracing moments before. It was absolute carnage until we realised it hadn't stood but as soon as things calmed down a bit, the police piled in and started chucking people out at random to get the overcrowding down.

 

All these years later and that's the first time I've known about that! Cheers, this all makes sense now!

Were you at Northumbria or Newcastle Uni?

 

Was at Newcastle University 91-96.
Spent most of it living in Fenham. There was a lad I sometimes saw knocking about that bit of town wearing the blue and black Hayselden away shirt. Didn't know him beyond to say howdo in passing but he was the only other red I was aware of locally round that time.

 

I was at Northumbria, living in Jesmond and Heaton. I used to wear a red Hayselden top and had the piss taken everywhere I went!!

I ended up with a placement in Sunderland in the middle of a civil war between Mackems and Geordies!! Brilliant ruthless banter though. Could have kicked off at any moment.

Happy days

Come to think of it, I did have the away kit!!

Small world!!

 

I actually went on that open end in a derby game with Newcastle - f**kin rammed.

 

Mental mate, one of the most hostile Derby games in football. Very under reported. I seem to remember a least 3 stabbings between the fans on Central Station during my time up there.

It's proper hatred between the two of them, it's a religion.

 

Did you see the queues at midnight around the block on Percy Street for the new kit one year!! Crazy people!!

 

I had the misfortune to end up in the Newcastle end wearing a Barnsley shirt once, the local nutters couldn’t work out it wasn’t a Sunderland top they literally just saw red! That was a bit fruity

I was serving onboard HMS Newcastle and we’d been invited up to the ground, they were playing Leicester I think October 1991, 20,000 there (shït fans) Our onboard football team had a few pictures in our own clubs team strip before they presented us with a full black and white strip In the boardroom, sort of before and after photo. Most of us didn’t think to take something different to change into afterwards!

we’d marched around Newcastle city centre the day before for a freedom of the city, I still remember the reception we got from the locals, was absolutely off the scale and the piss up in the Lord Mayors chambers on completion wasn't bad

 

Stockport away under Bassett think it was Bassett’s last game in charge lost 2-0 absolutely freezing on the terrace behind the net, think we had the likes of Stuart Ripley, Mitch Ward and Mateo Corbo playing for us.

Absolutely garbage that day and we where favourites for promotion that season after losing in the playoff final the season before.

 

Oldham away 1990. Officially the coldest it’s ever been

 

Bromsgrove

 

Oooooooooh, no thanks.

 

September 86 double whammy.

Broke down en route to Shrewsbury, got there at half time and lost 1-0. Hitch hiked and walked miles through the night and got home Sunday afternoon.

Sunderland away the following Tuesday in full members, Sunderland fans counted all 20 odd reds fans in and we lost on pens - broke down again on way back.

 

Doncaster Rovers at Belle Vue during the Paul Hart era. Open terrace and all it did was snow and snow the coldest I have ever felt at a match at the time ( I was 14 at the time). Struggled to see anything further than 25 yards away and the most entertaining moment was the half time raffle sponsored by Carlsberg. Think we got beat 4-0 with Tony Vaughan getting sent off.

 

hillsborough. All of them.

 

Mine was largely due to teenage self-infliction.

• 21st of December 2007 was Mad Friday. I was in Ice Bar at 7pm prompt, on the £1 watered down Fosters.
• 22nd of December was Bristol City away, Rising Sun coach meet at 6:30am. I'd stumbled home from Funny Gals and got in at 4am. Thought, fluck it, no point going to bed. I'll read Chron til bus comes and I'll kip on it.
• After 0 mins sleep and still pissed, I got off a 5 hr coach trek at Bristol. First half was decent, we were drawing 2-2 at half time.
• I was starving and went for a pie. The poor buggers behind the counter got an earful when I asked for brown sauce and they appeared not to know what it was. Cue me going spare in full Saxon Tarnglish, getting restrained by stewards and threatened with ejection. Still my 'most northern' moment ever. "Tha wot?! Tha dunt know wot braaaan sauce is?!!" Etc etc...
• Second half I fell asleep in the stand. Woke up twice. Once to see Campbell-Ryce get sent off and once after an injury time Darren Byfield winner for Bristol City. Then another 5 hour drive home now with a banging hangover and no snap.