Disastrous away days thread. Not really on the pitch but it any good stories either way.

Coventry v Barnsley at Northampton, August 2014. Arranged a "work meeting" in Northampton the morning of the 20th so that I could stay over, watch the game and have a couple of beers.

4 minutes gone, we go 1-0 down. 7 minutes gone, the phone rings, it's my missus "my waters have broken - you'd better get home now". Leave ground, taxi back to hotel in Northampton, gather stuff together, hotfoot it to station - there's no way to get back to Manchester at that time of night. Phone 4 different local taxi companies (pre Uber days!) and finally agree to get someone to take me back for £190. Two hours later and wallet significantly lighter I walk into Stepping Hill hospital, wife is fine, and the nurse says "we've planned a Caesarian slot for 11am in the morning, you may as well go home and get some sleep".

FFS.

 

Not proud of it but got arrested at Highbury in 87 Fa cup, was ok until full time the the wonderful Met started dishing it out, I went back to picket line mode, not the smartest of choices.
Anyway roll up back home about 8AM next morning the wife was well chuffed plus a £100 fine.

 

Only shocker I can remember was City away in cup a few years ago now. It was an expected hammering on the pitch, but the journey home was a nightmare. We left the ground on coach and got a few hundred yards down road and bus broke down. Queue a long wait on the coach while driver scrambled to fix it. Once we got that sorted we were at the back of all the traffic leaving the city. Then when we came over Pennines on snake pass it started snowing and traffic slowed to a crawl. Took so long to get home it was a right pain.

 

Are you the same Darton Pete who used to take Tive and Kirk?

 

Pompey away late 90's... spent the night in Brighton and couldn't get in anywhere as there was a stag party from Leeds causing murders!
Eventually found a club which would take our party of 6, and lasted only 45 mins...for some unknown reason, there was a young un in there that kept approaching my mate and asking "for any sniff"... Cue babbatash!! The owner witnessed this and got the bouncers to escort us out - they were in stitches!

 

Middlesbrough away in cup. Lost 2-1 Mick Lester scored for tarn. 1981 I think??

Coach broke down on A1 I believe (I was only 9) managed to get it going when police pull us up asking if we’d seen anyone pushing coach down A1.

Finally got to a bar that said doing food. Cold sarnies and crisps. Rolled home nearly 2am with my dad doing some explaining

 

Changed my mind.

West Ham away - someone and his mate never seen before or since stood behind me jumped on me and hit me from behind in the ground. Didn’t do any damage except split eyebrow so spent from minute 5-85 in home end getting patched up. Think same season c2009 got kicked out at Reading after ten mins for apparently abusing a steward when it was someone else who was swearing at her. Got lynched by about five stewards when went to the toilet. Basically found a pub and watched final score on telly.

 

Back in December 1979, we were playing away at Plymouth Argyle. A supporters club around town had decided to set off at midnight on Friday, as Plymouth was so far away! That was quite funny until I found out that Gilroyd Supporters Club had decided to do the same! My God, but it was a horrible journey down and unsurprisingly, we got there before seven o'clock. It was dark, cold and raining as we were stood at Plymouth Hoe wondering how we were going to pass the next eight hours before kick off.
As for the game, we played really well. Tommy Graham put us 1-0 up. Sadly, Argyle equalised, then scored a totally undeserved last minute winner. It summed up what had been an awful away day. I swore never to go to Plymouth ever again.
Anyway, the following October, we went there again! Barnsley played absolute rubbish and with twenty minutes remaining, we were losing 1-0. Then, the team suddenly decided to show how good they were. We hit back, won the game 3-1 (with Ronnie Glavin scoring a brilliant individual goal) and could easily have added a couple more!
I still dislike Plymouth Hoe, though!

 

We set off to Grimsby in the car circa 1980 and found out on the way that it was called off cos of snow/ waterlogged pitch.

We ended up going to watch Hull v Brentford who had Kamara playing for them.
Not a particularly disastrous away day but we felt so at the time

 

Simply the game at Oldham on a Tuesday evening.

Queuing up to get in when the ref called it off for being foggy.

Obviously not quite as disastrous as some in this thread, but particularly wound me up, given we were at the back of the stand outside the ground and could see the other end of the pitch just fine.

 

I can't believe nobody on here hasnt mentioned the game we were 4 up.... Abandoned

Surely someone on here went

 

Didn’t we lose the replay ?

 

Think we drew 0-0

 

Snap. Lol

 

Went in 94ish I think (FA Cup) Mi Mam n Dad were going so I tagged along set off about 7ish & got there in time for about 4 pints( Mi Mam n Dad on pop may I add) & got home for about 11ish. Brilliant day.

 

Once went to Southend on the supporters coach long before mobile phones were around.. The coach developed a fault, so the driver pulled over onto the hard shoulder got out and went to use the emergency phone that lines the Motorway...suddenly a voice on the coach shouts out....Fxxk me drunk that driver must have ears like a bat itf he could hear that fxcking ringing, more to the point ...how the fxxk did he know it was for him came the reply

Then there was the time I was travelling to Highbury for a FA cup game as a passenger with GVee travel in the 80s when the second coach of the two going there got a puncture just short of Leicester forest services.
On getting into the services Gordon the owner discovered that the spare wheel in the recently purchased coach was the wrong size wheel so he couldn't change the wheel
Adding to the problem was the driver of the second coach hadnt a full Psv license so couldn't drive the manual coach we were on
Gordon being an old friend was at his wits end on what to do ...having a full psv license myself I suggested we stick everybody on the manual coach and I'd drive it to London so nobody would miss the game whilst they sorted the wheel out and therefore could come down to London later that evening.
So with 103 folk and myself driving the coach I set off down to Highbury
fun and games all the way down lol... police car I'd shout and all of those that were stood up would sit or crouch down it was like the kids game were you sit down when the music stops
We got down in plenty of time and I pulled up outside the ground and the coach was approached by an inspector and 5 officers of London finest who had noticed how full the coach was as I pulled up ...I opened the door and the folk on the coach piled off as the inspector started counting ...1,2,3 etc 52 53 54..60 61 70 71 72 Fxxking hell driver he shouted are they climbing on through the back door how many have you got on the coach ...31 I replied 32 if you count me I continued ...which for a moment bypassed his humour button
A constable leaned into his ear and told him that's 104 in total sir...104 he stated angrily 104...before he could say anything else, I Interrupted him ...its down to a break down on the way here I said ....he mellowed a little ...a break down yes I replied i thought it better and safer to transport them here than have them in any danger from opposing football fans
He mellowed ...Well then if that's the case all credit to you for thinking of their safety where abouts on the North circular did the coach break down then he asked..Leicester forest services I replied as the last passenger got off...
He went from zero to melt down in milliseconds
What he threatened me with was unreal from arresting me to throwing the book at me taking my license the lot...
Being cocksure of myself at the time I Interrupted him ...excuse me but its an empty coach now, looks like the proof has disappeared I told him to which his reply was to stick his finger firmly to my chest and tell me you think you are being clever but I will have you and walked off.
I then went into the game watched the match and after the game returned to the coach
Waiting for me was the inspector and 10 officers who watched everyone get back on the coach
The inspector then starts reading me my rights telling me he's going to do me now for overloading ...well that's going to a first I added ...I can see the headlines in the papers now inspector orders arrest of passenger and wastes police time for ordering him to move the overloaded coach
I'm not the driver I added I'm just a passenger who holds a psv license who did a mate a favor
This wound him up even further he starts pacing about and yelling at me arms all over the place....ordering me to move it ...He didn't like it when I reminded him of his threats he'd previously threatened me before the game let alone the ones after ... i was adamant I wasn't touching it or moving it......then out of no where 3 motor cycled officers turn up and I was informed by one of them to drive the coach without fear of arrest and to follow them..which I did...we got a police esscort to the police station/ firestation in Islington opposite the King's head theatre pub. After parking up We then all went into the Kings head whereby I took it upon myself to get up on the stage and start telling jokes
The pub filled up and 2 hours later I was still on stage the management then asked me to step down on a couple of occasions but the crowd were in full swing and didn't want me to stop ...Quite a lot had not returned to their seats in the theatre and the noise from the laughter was making it hard to hear the actors on stage so they too came out to see what was going off....I eventually got down after 2 1/2 hrs to rapturous applause and everybody returned to their seats in the theatre ....that same night some bloke offered me overnight accommodation and my train fare back the following day along with £200 to go and work his mates nightclub in the city centre , which I turned down ....Happy days

On another occasion we were heading down to Colchester when I decided to moon at a coach full of Man United supporters as our coach passed them and so it began they passed us with 2 bare backsides pressed up against the window 3,2 to us 4,3 to them and so on until our coach had got a bare back side in every window cheerin wildly thinking we had won they then came past us
...Ar.. s e Co.. ck Ar..se ....Co....ck all the way to the back with the last one holding a sign which read beat that then
We had one lass about 19 who refused to join in lol otherwise we would have won...

On another occasion a group of us from the tracky went to london to watch barnsley play West ham ...we always went in our tracky uniforms told them on the gate we had brought a bus and then they would let you in for nothing as you showed your badge .because of the troubles at the time in football hiring mini buses for football matches were far and few to be found if any ...so we told the firm we were going to Northampton to play a darts match against the Northampton bus depot .....to get around the difference in milage we worked out if we disconnected the speedometer and drove to London we could then reconnect it in London and the mileage give or take a few miles would be equivalent to Northampton and back ...so speedometer disconnected we set off ..once again it was trousers down mooning at the window only problem was I mooned at the wrong car ..yes.4 nuns in the car we passed ...the lads on the mini bus were in stitches at my downfall next thing we know the nuns passed us tooting the horn laughing and gesturing for me to do it again ...I kid you not ....so me being me did it again just to oblige lol

As above re uniforms the lads split up into 3cars and we went to Northampton 11 drivers and one Conductor as usual we turned up at the gate and claimed we had all brought a coach as usual we were being allowed in for free when the guy on the gate spotted the green Conductors badge hold on a moment he explained 11 of you have red badges and he's got a green one why!
Quick as a flash one of the lads shouts up ...its because he drives different coloured busses to the rest of us.....oh OK says the guy and let us in....

Happy days

 

I remember going to Crewe in the late 70's in the days when they had the floodlights on Telegraph poles. We booked Yorkshire traction and went on a single decker red bus. However safe to say the driver had not been before as instead of turning down the M6 off the M56 he carried on to the end of the M56 and then all the way into Chester before stopping and asking the way!! We had to turn round and go all the way back which meant we did not get in the ground until 15:30 by which time we were 1-0 down. We ended up losing 2-1 I think Brian Joicey scored our goal. Needless to say we did not have a collection for the driver!!!

 

Lad on our coach got bit by police dog and arrested. Had to go back to London for court appearance and a fine.

 

Man City away - Fa cup 1993. Coins rained down the entire game - trying to escape that tiny exit at the top of the Kippax. You could see the hoards of City fans waiting at the bottom of the steps. After carefully navigating our way out of the ground, we found the road back into Manchester to catch the train, only to be met by a poor Barnsley fan laying in a pool of his own blood. Horrible day!

 

You were framed Sammy: it was Stevo!!