mr egg and dart
12-25-2013, 05:01 PM
We all have some football stories, and seeing as its dead as a doorknob on here I thought I'd share one of mine that is 100% true.
It was the '69-'70 season opener and we were at home to Everton. My cousin had just come down to London from Gloucester, so we went to see the Arsenal. We were down in the front of the North Bank just to the left of the goal and our eye-level was about half way up the post. I remember that it was a nice warm sunny day. That Everton had made us attack the North Bank in the 1st half. That John Robertson was making his debut for us after signing from the filth...And throughout the whole match, someone behind me was being rather irritable to those around him.
Every 5 mins or so, it would be "Oi...fùck off", "Piss of ya cùnt" and the like. Each time I turned around I saw a lad of around 15 yrs of age - who was causing all this grief - and he was just being shoved all over the place. He looked out of it and I never saw him with his eyes open at any time, nor did he make a sound.
We played quite well that day, but so did they. It was at the end of the match and Everton had a corner to my left. The ball came over and John Hurst rose above everyone and thumped the ball in the net with a header. It was quiet in the Bank, and I could clearly hear the Everton players peel away to the West Stand in celebration, but I also heard a loud "Yeeeeeeeessss!", come from over my shoulder too. When I looked behind me, all hell broke loose.
It was now 1983 and I had been out of work for 2 yrs now. At the time my parents were living in Houston,TX. and I was living off of North End Rd in West Ken' with my aunt, and on the dole. A long story short, I eventually went over to the States and my dad set up a job for me through a friend of a friend. There wasn't much work in the US either, and this was a take it or leave it offer which I took. It was 50 miles away in a place called Deer Park, TX. There I met a couple of brothers from Indiana who became good work mates of mine. I'd been working there for nearly 9 mths and all along they told me of this English friend that they had, but they never could remember where he was from. Anyway, Memorial weekend was coming up and they were throwing a BBQ party. They invited me to it and said that their friend from England would be there. So I went for some luverly grub.
After a while, the brothers, myself and this English lad named Sean, were away from the party and we got to talking. I asked him if he followed football.
"Oh yeah...love me footy".
"Who do you follow?".
"Everton...".
I have always had respect for Everton, and I let him know that. Then he asked:
"Who do you support?"
"Arsenal!"
Immediately his lips formed a cat's arsehole, his eyes shut tight, and he sucked in air, and said "I got the fùcking **** beat out of me there".
I nearly broke out laughing, but refrained from doing so and with a big smirk on my face I asked him "What the fùck did you do??". He began to tell me that it was his first time to go and see Everton play away outside of Liverpool with his dad and brothers, and how his dad had to convince his mum that everthing would be fine before she would allow him to go. He was just 14 yrs old at the time and the baby in the family. He also said that it was the '69-'70 season opener.
I didnt say a word. But immediately my mind flashed back to the commotion caused right after Everton scored in the '69-'70 opener. My smirk has disappeared and I'm now hanging on his every word, thinking "Naah...it cant be!!".
As close as I can remember, he went on to say:
"We'd just gotten off the train from Lime St and was straight across the street into a pub. It was me, me dad, me two brothers, me uncle and two of me dads mates. Thery're surrounding me and nobody knows that I'm there. Every 10 mins or so, this arm comes in holding a half pint of guinness and I'm getting pissed as fùck. After about an hour I needed to piss, and that's when they sussed us. As soon as they saw me it was game over. So we made our way up to your gaff...
"We got up to Highbury and almost immediately I got seperated from everyone. I kept on walking all over the place looking for them but at the end I just got lost. I was drunk as fùck and I knew that the match was about to start so I went through the first turnsile that I came to...
"I made my way to the goal because we always stood behind the net at Goodison. I figured that would be where me dad was, but he wasn't there. I had no idea that I was in the Arsenal end. I was having a hard time staying awake so I missed nearly all of the match. Then I looked up and we scored. I started cheering and the next thing I knew I was getting punched from everywhere. I dont remember anything after that...".
By now I'm in disbelief and then I said "I do...I was there. You got the fùckin **** beaten out of you". I then finished off the story.
"I was about 8 feet in front of you. You had been pissing off almost everyone around you. I kept looking around and watching you get shoved all over the place during the match and then your lot scored. I was looking at the Everton players celebrating and then I heard someone behind me yell 'Yeeeeess'. When I looked behind me you were getting punched by so many Arsenal fans that I couldn't see your face. You started to make your way to the other side of the goal to get away, but they just kept on smacking you. I then saw the Met' jump into the crowd. There was 3 of them trying to get to you and there was 2 of them standing on the other side of the rails. By the time they got you, you were unconscious. They passed you over the rails to the other cops and they each grabbed an arm and carted you off. Blood was just pouring off you. Yeah...you took a kicking that day".
Sean then went on to say that his dad was worried throughout the match, and when they saw the melee behind the Arsenal goal after they scored, he knew that it was Sean. Although he was relieved to have found Sean, he was scared to death to take him home. Seans' mum went absolutely mental when she saw him all black and blue.
Needless to say, the 2 brothers couldn't believe the story they had just heard. They were gobsmacked. Sean and I became good mates from that day on until I returned to England. I never heard from him again.
And that my fellow Gooners is a true story.
Happy Christmas!!
It was the '69-'70 season opener and we were at home to Everton. My cousin had just come down to London from Gloucester, so we went to see the Arsenal. We were down in the front of the North Bank just to the left of the goal and our eye-level was about half way up the post. I remember that it was a nice warm sunny day. That Everton had made us attack the North Bank in the 1st half. That John Robertson was making his debut for us after signing from the filth...And throughout the whole match, someone behind me was being rather irritable to those around him.
Every 5 mins or so, it would be "Oi...fùck off", "Piss of ya cùnt" and the like. Each time I turned around I saw a lad of around 15 yrs of age - who was causing all this grief - and he was just being shoved all over the place. He looked out of it and I never saw him with his eyes open at any time, nor did he make a sound.
We played quite well that day, but so did they. It was at the end of the match and Everton had a corner to my left. The ball came over and John Hurst rose above everyone and thumped the ball in the net with a header. It was quiet in the Bank, and I could clearly hear the Everton players peel away to the West Stand in celebration, but I also heard a loud "Yeeeeeeeessss!", come from over my shoulder too. When I looked behind me, all hell broke loose.
It was now 1983 and I had been out of work for 2 yrs now. At the time my parents were living in Houston,TX. and I was living off of North End Rd in West Ken' with my aunt, and on the dole. A long story short, I eventually went over to the States and my dad set up a job for me through a friend of a friend. There wasn't much work in the US either, and this was a take it or leave it offer which I took. It was 50 miles away in a place called Deer Park, TX. There I met a couple of brothers from Indiana who became good work mates of mine. I'd been working there for nearly 9 mths and all along they told me of this English friend that they had, but they never could remember where he was from. Anyway, Memorial weekend was coming up and they were throwing a BBQ party. They invited me to it and said that their friend from England would be there. So I went for some luverly grub.
After a while, the brothers, myself and this English lad named Sean, were away from the party and we got to talking. I asked him if he followed football.
"Oh yeah...love me footy".
"Who do you follow?".
"Everton...".
I have always had respect for Everton, and I let him know that. Then he asked:
"Who do you support?"
"Arsenal!"
Immediately his lips formed a cat's arsehole, his eyes shut tight, and he sucked in air, and said "I got the fùcking **** beat out of me there".
I nearly broke out laughing, but refrained from doing so and with a big smirk on my face I asked him "What the fùck did you do??". He began to tell me that it was his first time to go and see Everton play away outside of Liverpool with his dad and brothers, and how his dad had to convince his mum that everthing would be fine before she would allow him to go. He was just 14 yrs old at the time and the baby in the family. He also said that it was the '69-'70 season opener.
I didnt say a word. But immediately my mind flashed back to the commotion caused right after Everton scored in the '69-'70 opener. My smirk has disappeared and I'm now hanging on his every word, thinking "Naah...it cant be!!".
As close as I can remember, he went on to say:
"We'd just gotten off the train from Lime St and was straight across the street into a pub. It was me, me dad, me two brothers, me uncle and two of me dads mates. Thery're surrounding me and nobody knows that I'm there. Every 10 mins or so, this arm comes in holding a half pint of guinness and I'm getting pissed as fùck. After about an hour I needed to piss, and that's when they sussed us. As soon as they saw me it was game over. So we made our way up to your gaff...
"We got up to Highbury and almost immediately I got seperated from everyone. I kept on walking all over the place looking for them but at the end I just got lost. I was drunk as fùck and I knew that the match was about to start so I went through the first turnsile that I came to...
"I made my way to the goal because we always stood behind the net at Goodison. I figured that would be where me dad was, but he wasn't there. I had no idea that I was in the Arsenal end. I was having a hard time staying awake so I missed nearly all of the match. Then I looked up and we scored. I started cheering and the next thing I knew I was getting punched from everywhere. I dont remember anything after that...".
By now I'm in disbelief and then I said "I do...I was there. You got the fùckin **** beaten out of you". I then finished off the story.
"I was about 8 feet in front of you. You had been pissing off almost everyone around you. I kept looking around and watching you get shoved all over the place during the match and then your lot scored. I was looking at the Everton players celebrating and then I heard someone behind me yell 'Yeeeeess'. When I looked behind me you were getting punched by so many Arsenal fans that I couldn't see your face. You started to make your way to the other side of the goal to get away, but they just kept on smacking you. I then saw the Met' jump into the crowd. There was 3 of them trying to get to you and there was 2 of them standing on the other side of the rails. By the time they got you, you were unconscious. They passed you over the rails to the other cops and they each grabbed an arm and carted you off. Blood was just pouring off you. Yeah...you took a kicking that day".
Sean then went on to say that his dad was worried throughout the match, and when they saw the melee behind the Arsenal goal after they scored, he knew that it was Sean. Although he was relieved to have found Sean, he was scared to death to take him home. Seans' mum went absolutely mental when she saw him all black and blue.
Needless to say, the 2 brothers couldn't believe the story they had just heard. They were gobsmacked. Sean and I became good mates from that day on until I returned to England. I never heard from him again.
And that my fellow Gooners is a true story.
Happy Christmas!!