Season 71/72

Birmingham City - Millwall FC - 71/72

Source: mail

The Pending play off between Birmingham and Millwall, has brought back memories up this way of the last time these two Stood in each others way for a spot in the Top League, that being,
71-72 season, when Birmingham a point behind Millwall needed to win their final game of the season away to Orient on the Tuesday night before the cup final.

Birmingham had played Millwall a month earlier at St Andrews and won 1-0 in front of 43,000. (A Large Wall following that day) although Millwall had stuffed Brum at the Den 3-0 back in the November.

Millwall had stuff it up in the fianl few games, i remember them losing in the last week against Burnley.

There was 8 football Specials from Birmingham New Street, a crowd of 33,000 were at Brisbane road, of which some 15,000 were from Brum.

There was a lot of talk about Millwall coming to the game and infact the game was held up for a while after Birmingham had taken the lead by bomb hoax. always thought to be Millwall!

Tales have always been plenty of Millwall been stopped on the way to Orient at Whitechapel and of them fighting pitched battles with the bill? also, always been plenty of roumours around Brum that it was Millwall outside the ground when many in Brum have always maintained it was Orient ?

Millwall FC - Nottingham Forest - FA Cup - 15/01/1972

Source: forum - MFC view

They tried to get into the cbl. Got to the top of the stairs and then got absolutely smashed. Later tried to walk around to the ilderton. Some made it, some just ran for their lives. A couple got chivved. They turned up for a league cup game a few years later. Night game. Got battered again but fairplay for showing up again. Absolutely hammered us one year at theirs. Possibly worst kicking we ever took.

Arsenal FC - Derby County - FA Cup - Game played in Leicester - 29/02/1972

Source: forum

It's all going off in the park because Leicester turned up.
Leicester mob was battered by both sides.

Shelbourne FC - Vasas Budapest - 30/09/1971

Source: The Irish Independent

Objects thrown on the pitch from behind the Hungarian goal on two occasions, resulting in referee stopping the game and Reds manager Jerry Doyle appealing to the crowd to behave themselves.
Referee Loraux revealed after the match that if the trouble from a section of the Shelbourne fans had continued he had no option but to call the game off.

Newport County - Brentford FC - 71/72

Source: forum - BFC view

A trainload went. Typical of the lower divisions crowd control we were chaparoned by a single Morris Minor panda car. I remember every bus shelter losing it's glass and for lunch a hot dog vendor was chased off. We were pelted from the ground with sizable stones.

Aldershot Town - Brentford FC - 71/72

Source: forum - BFC view

Aided with a bunch of Chelsea supporters (who strangely just showed up), the Aldershot end ran away.

Derby County - Arsenal FC - FA Cup - 26/02/1972

Source: http://www.wearetheherd.com

About 50 Forest came strolling along just as us and Derby were about to get it on and the Derby boys shifted a bit lively.

Notts County - Aston Villa - 04/03/1972

Source: http://boards.footymad.net/forum.php?tno=402&fid=17&sty=2&act=1&mid=2117032780&page=1

(...) awful violence in the Lane End for Notts v Villa about 1972, with a crowd of 34,000. Forest turned up and there were bricks being thrown and stabbings afterwards.

Barrow - Preston North End - FA Cup - ??/08/71

Source: Lancashire Evening Post

They completely overshadowed the match itself, starting before the kick off and going on for an hour afterwards, and I lost count of the boys I saw clutching blood stained faces, some with seriously cut eyes or ears from broken glass. Gangs of alleged supporters of the two clubs went wild, with the boot going in on many occasions, and there was a constant stream of ejections from the terraces by the Police in running battles. The Barrow youths are notorious, I was told, and it may be that they were instigators, but the problem is a general one with boys of this low mentality. Obviously, all they want to do is get down to ‘aggro’ as soon as they can, and it’s quite clear that something drastic will have to be done to stop their activities. I don’t know whether the crowd of nearly 4’319 enjoyed the fixture but I do know some of the should not have been allowed to see it. Preston North End have many genuine young supporters who Alan Ball calls ‘The Gentry’ and who do a great job cheering the team on. Surely it’s time the bovver boys were sorted out and not allowed to ruin their enjoyment.

Chelsea FC - Bolton Wanderers – Cup – 05/02/1972

Source: http://www.wanderersways.com/forum/topic/66830-70s-terrace-wars/page__st__50 - BWFC view

After the game our coach load a few others stayed late for drinks and I can remember Bolton fans going on the rampage around Stamford Bridge late on.

Oldham Athletic - Bolton Wanderers - 71/72

Source: http://www.wanderersways.com/forum/topic/66830-70s-terrace-wars/ - Oldham view

We ran down to Boundary Park all excited and paid in to the Chaddy End and what I saw would never leave my memory. The Chaddy End was full of Bolton fans, thousands all across, singing, roaring etc. They took the Chaddy good style. I had never seen such support. I remember it was a red hot day and any resistance from Oldham got destroyed, including the Glodwick Mob hammered and chased out of the Chaddy. I can still recall the awesome sight of thousands of Bolton fans punching the air in unison chanting "We are the Wanderers". It was a fantastic sight, there were so many and they had so much passion for their club, even to this day there are certain lads in Oldham who visually shake at the mention and the way they rampaged through Oldham kicking a lot of people to fuck. It gives me immense pleasure that by the late 70s things would turn around so much that we would be going to Bolton and having a go. But between 1971 and 75 they were top dogs for sure, very hard, big numbers and showed no mercy.

Door Wilskracht Sterk - Ajax Amsterdam - 17/10/1971

Source : Press

Ajax fans

FC Utrecht - Ajax Amsterdam - 14/11/1971

Source: Bunnikside.nl + Press

Utrecht


Ajax

FC Utrecht - Feyenoord Rotterdam - 03/10/1971

Source: Press

An Utrecht fan was arrested.

Tottenham Hotspur - Arsenal FC - 24/11/1971

Source: THFC forum

I got to the Lane from school at about 16:15 only to queue for about 3 hours to get into the ground for a 19:30 kick-off (no tickets in those days for the terraces). When I finally got in the Park Lane had been cut in two, with just a double line of police between us and the Arse fans. As the game went on there a number of breeches made in the police lines but fortunately nothing serious, as any bother in that stand could have caused multiple deaths with the crush. WHL's security had broken down and far more people got into the ground than paid on the turnstiles, so although the official crowd was in the upper 50 thousands the actual number was probably in the mid 60 thousands. There were still thousands locked out and I can clearly remember that the noise from outside in Park Lane was as loud as the noise in the Park Lane stand.

Newport County - Brentford - 71/72

Source: BFC forum - BFC view

A trainload went. Typical of the lower divisions crowd control we were chaparoned by a single Morris Minor panda car. I remember every bus shelter losing it's glass and for lunch a hot dog vendor was chased off. We were pelted from the ground with sizable stones. One just missing the head of yours truly. They turned out to be reprobate children of about 12 years old! Score 0-0 rained all day - horrible dump.

Blackburn Rovers – Burnley FC – Friendly game - ??/??/1971

Source : http://ewoodpark.jimdo.com

The Police forced some Rovers fans to enter the Blackburn End and then would not let them past the wall barrier next to Riverside terracing. With Rovers winning 2-0, Terry Eccles, a player who had progressed through Rovers youth ranks scoring both goals, the Blackburn End suddenly started to empty of a large mob of fans. They climbed the wall separating the Blackburn End from the Riverside terrace and made their way along The Riverside towards the Darwen End where the Burnley fans were standing.

Shortly later crowd trouble broke out in the Darwen End as the Blackburn End mob entered the Darwen End along with Rovers mobs from The Riverside joining in; fighting broke out with those Burnley fans that had not run out of the far side of the Darwen End. Eventually, the Burnley fans were routed and thrown over the wall at front of the Darwen End, which also collapsed. Also for this fixture, Rovers lads went in one's and two's into the middle of the Burnley fans in the Darwen End before the start of the game, approximately 30 then joined together as soon as the final whistle went before launching a surprising attack on the Burnley fans. The police later escorted Rovers fans out of the Darwen End and towards the Blackburn End. This incident made the front page of the Lancashire Evening Telegraph for several days.

Glasgow Rangers – Dinamo Moscow – Match played in Barcelona - 24/05/1972.

Source : Wikipedia

Before the event, many concerns were expressed for possible troubles between Spanish police and Russian supporters. Due to the political background of the time in Spain, with the last years of Francisco Franco's right-wing dictatorship, it was clear that the Russian players and supporters would have found themselves in a very hostile environment.

***
Pitch invasion


The end of the contest was overshadowed by a pitch invasion by hundreds of Rangers supporters one minute before the final whistle, which held the game up for several minutes. In the sixties and seventies it was common to see pitch invasions at matches, including European finals. While it was argued that the pitch invaders may simply have been celebrating victory prematurely due to the misinterpretation of the final whistle (the referee had blown for a throw-in, others – including the Dinamo Moskva team as well as some neutral observers – believed that the pitch invasion was a calculated action by the fans designed to stop the Soviet side's momentum. In the final minutes, Dinamo were pressing hard to equalise but the sudden pitch invasion gave the Rangers defenders respite and deeply unnerved the Soviet players.

Dinamo Moskva and the Soviet FA demanded a replay on the grounds of the pitch invasion, arguing that the actions of the Rangers fans was intended to influence the result by ensuring the Russian team did not equalise. While UEFA initially seemed sympathetic and some neutral commentators agreed that the game should be replayed, no replay was ever scheduled and Rangers were allowed to keep the trophy. Rangers did however lose the possibility of defending the trophy as they were fined and handed a two year ban from European competition following their fans' behaviour, which was later reduced to a one-year ban.

Oldham Athletic - Bolton Wanderers - 14/08/1971

Source : http://www.burndenaces.co.uk/ - Oldham view

"We ran down to Boundary Park all excited and paid in to the Chaddy End and what I saw would never leave my memory. The Chaddy End was full of Bolton fans, thousands all across, singing, roaring etc. They took the Chaddy good style. I had never seen such support. I remember it was a red hot day and any resistance from Oldham got destroyed, including the Glodwick Mob hammered and chased out of the Chaddy. I can still recall the awesome sight of thousands of Bolton fans punching the air in unison chanting "We are the Wanderers". It was a fantastic sight, there were so many and they had so much passion for their club, even to this day there are certain lads in Oldham who visually shake at the mention and the way they rampaged through Oldham kicking a lot of people to fuck. It gives me immense pleasure that by the late 70s things would turn around so much that we would be going to Bolton and having a go. But between 1971 and 75 they were top dogs for sure, very hard, big numbers and showed no mercy."

Chelsea FC - Bolton Wanderers - FA Cup - 71/72

Source : http://www.wanderersways.com - BWFC views

We were in the old div 3 and played them in the 4th round after beating city 3-0 in the previous. We took a load down for a midweek game and surprised them in the end opposite the shed; run them all over the place. After the game our coach load a few others stayed late for drinks and I can remember Bolton fans going on the rampage around Stamford Bridge late on - we drew 1-1. They beat us 6-0 in the replay.

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I was there mate. We shocked em under that North Stand or whatever it was called. They didn't expect a good show from some northern monkeys on a wet midweek night. Probably caught them unawares.

They had some bloke who had made a name for himself in Salonika and sang a song about him '(some fooker) with the staircase nose'. He was quiet that night and there was nothing after the game.

Burnley FC - Birmingham City - 30/10/1971

Source : http://www.mediastorehouse.com

Southampton - West Ham Utd - 11/12/1971

Source : Saints forum - Saints lad

The Milton (home end) was truly 'taken' (by WHFC lads).