The Good Old Days.

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Woodwardfan

Woodwardfan

Woodwardfan
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By my reckoning 67 pc of our members who completed the recent age survey are under-50 years old and a further 20 pc are under 60.

Struck me there might be an appetite for some memories from the old days.

I could form a list as long as my arm but I don't want this thread to be all about me!!

'Younger' fans may like a taste of what supporting was like and what football was like in the 50's and 60's.

I'll kick it off with a couple:

50's -Crowds were at least 97pc male in my memory and the adults usually wore a jacket and a tie under a v-necked jumper, carried a mackintosh and smoked. You could see any number of cigs being lit by matches (not lighters) in the darkness under cover of the all standing kop. Kids wore a scarf and a knitted bobble hat and swung a rattle which was much louder than clapper sticks! There was no footy on television, in fact not many had TV until the very late 50's and into the 60's. There was no local radio. United only got coverage in the Sheffield Telegraph and Star and The Green'un. I lived in S2 and went to the corner shop on Saturdays to wait for the Green'un van to deliver around 5.30/ 5.45pm ( when did that stop?). When United won the queue was always longer! We didn't know the away game scorers until we got the Green'un!

Going to Reserve games was a means of getting United's scores every 15 minutes shown on the scoreboard on the cricket pavilion. Games were only on a Saturday at 3pm, there were no evening games or does my memory fool me? Reserve game attendances were in the hundreds and we went every week

I'll leave it at that!

Edit: Hope this doesn't conflict with the old photos thread in any way.
 
Last edited:

Woodwardfan said:
By my reckoning 67 pc of our members who completed the recent age survey are under-50 years old and a further 20 pc are under 60.

Struck me there might be an appetite for some memories from the old days.

I could form a list as long as my arm but I don't want this thread to be all about me!!

'Younger' fans may like a taste of what supporting was like and what football was like in the 50's and 60's.

I'll kick it off with a couple:

50's -Crowds were at least 97pc male in my memory and the adults usually wore a jacket and a tie under a v-necked jumper, carried a mackintosh and smoked. You could see any number of cigs being lit by matches (not lighters) in the darkness under cover of the all standing kop. Kids wore a scarf and a knitted bobble hat and swung a rattle which was much louder than clapper sticks! There was no footy on television, in fact not many had TV until the very late 50's and into the 60's. There was no local radio. United only got coverage in the Sheffield Telegraph and Star and The Green'un. I lived in S2 and went to the corner shop on Saturdays to wait for the Green'un van to deliver around 5.30/ 5.45pm ( when did that stop?). When United won the queue was always longer! We didn't know the away game scorers until we got the Green'un!

Going to Reserve games was a means of getting United's scores every 15 minutes shown on the scoreboard on the cricket pavilion. Games were only on a Saturday at 3pm, there were no evening games or does my memory fool me? Reserve game attendances were in the hundreds and we went every week

I'll leave it at that!
Click to expand...
The team changes were chalked on a board and carried round the ground before the game. The Sheffield Transport brass band played before and at half time standing in front of the players tunnel on the John Street side.
Fans used to change ends at HT walking round the ground in front of the cricket pavilion usually to watch the Blades attacking.
If a team were winning late on they would often clear the ball by booting across the cricket pitch to slow the game down.

Just a few memories that come to mind.

UTB
 
Interesting thread.
I started going regualry from 1978 onwards.

My memories from the late 70's and early 80's are.

1: My first ever match was 1975 and I remember the street traders selling rosettes on John Street and a few carried them wooden rattles but they were just starting to go out of fashion in the mid 70's.
2: Having pendants stuck up on your wall was really fashionable.
3: Whenever I went in the South stand could always smell cigar smoke.
4: Not many children or women went to matches and seeing a girl at a Blades match was a real rarity.
(Although I went to the odd Wednesday game at Hillsboro in the 80's and the difference was amazing, they did have a few kids and women at their matches and a more family orientated atmosphere).
5: We seemed to have a high percentage of eccentrics and nut cases going to our matches. Some scary fans.
6: Football had a really bad reputation in the media. The papers used to always write about crowd trouble. It wasn't fashionable to go to mathces and people used to look down on you if you told them you went to games and many presumed you must be an hooligan.
7: The treatment of fans by the police was really bad and just accepted because fans were seen as scum, although fan behaviour was like a school outing with many showing bravado looking for trouble.
That's why it always makes me shake my head listening to details from the Hillsboro disaster when people are shocked criticising the police for treating fans like criminals. That was the norm back then and welcomed/ supported by the media and general public.
8: There was a real excitement when the man came out with the numbers to update the scores at half time, then you'd have a check your programme to find out which letter related to which match.
9: Always a rush after the match to get to Dixons in town and big crowds hanging around outside to check the final scores on the teletext. When it was cold Blades would go inside Dixons and pretend they were looking to buy something but really they were just waiting for teletext to show the scores ha ha.
10: When we won then a massive excitement and long queues waiting for a Green Un on the Fargate/ High Street corner as they got their edition before local newsagents.
 
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Another memory from the late 70's and early 80's was there wasn't much live football on tv
So any live football on tv was seen as a big event.
Match of the Day with Jimmy Hill was really really popular
Shoot magazine was also really popular.

The FA Cup final was massive, an institution that the whole country watched and showed interest in.
The whole build up was televised starting early morning and there were FA cup related shows the night before too.
 
DaveBassettsgoneonholiday said:
Memory may be playing tricks but I seem to remember fellas delivering it shouting "Green Un" as they walked up & down the streets on a Saturday evening. Went out & stopped him if you wanted one. That was S2... Bennett Street.
Click to expand...
Used to get mine (as a kid) from paper shop on Myrtle Road. Could see van arrive with green uns but always went across for banter with others in waiting. Great when Blades had won and pigs lost. Not so good other way round.
 
Woodwardfan said:
By my reckoning 67 pc of our members who completed the recent age survey are under-50 years old and a further 20 pc are under 60.

Struck me there might be an appetite for some memories from the old days.

I could form a list as long as my arm but I don't want this thread to be all about me!!

'Younger' fans may like a taste of what supporting was like and what football was like in the 50's and 60's.

I'll kick it off with a couple:

50's -Crowds were at least 97pc male in my memory and the adults usually wore a jacket and a tie under a v-necked jumper, carried a mackintosh and smoked. You could see any number of cigs being lit by matches (not lighters) in the darkness under cover of the all standing kop. Kids wore a scarf and a knitted bobble hat and swung a rattle which was much louder than clapper sticks! There was no footy on television, in fact not many had TV until the very late 50's and into the 60's. There was no local radio. United only got coverage in the Sheffield Telegraph and Star and The Green'un. I lived in S2 and went to the corner shop on Saturdays to wait for the Green'un van to deliver around 5.30/ 5.45pm ( when did that stop?). When United won the queue was always longer! We didn't know the away game scorers until we got the Green'un!

Going to Reserve games was a means of getting United's scores every 15 minutes shown on the scoreboard on the cricket pavilion. Games were only on a Saturday at 3pm, there were no evening games or does my memory fool me? Reserve game attendances were in the hundreds and we went every week

I'll leave it at that!

Edit: Hope this doesn't conflict with the old photos thread in any way.
Click to expand...
You've started something now! Hope the young'uns don't mind. You have given a good outline of my early experiences at the Lane. Many, many things have improved, but there are 2 things that come to my mind that the youngsters today miss out on:
1. The players were closer to the fans, in the sense that you could get autographs, watch training, even sometimes go on the same train as them to away matches. They were 'normal' people who happened to play football.
2. Until the mid-60s it was quite usual to stand with fans of the opposing team at home and away matches, and enjoy banter without worrying about getting your head kicked in. It was more entertaining to do that than just to hurl insults (and worse) from different stands. First places I got worried were Everton and Leeds.
 
Woodwardfan said:
Going to Reserve games was a means of getting United's scores every 15 minutes shown on the scoreboard on the cricket pavilion. Games were only on a Saturday at 3pm, there were no evening games or does my memory fool me? Reserve game attendances were in the hundreds and we went every week
Click to expand...

Think this might be 50's. Evening games were popular when I started going early 60's as everyone (bar Saltergate) had floodlights by then.
Before the now much maligned local radio station (not by me, I remember when there was fuck all) the only mechanism for getting away scores was going down and watching the reserves. The reserves were a proper team in their own right as, with much smaller squads, you had players who played for years but never broke through properly and remained reserve stalwarts (Bob Widdowson played in Hodgy's shadow for an entire career really).
 
Heard quite a bit from my dad about the 70's and 80's and my late grandpa used to tell me a lot about going to the lane in the 50's some very good memories
 
Sheffsteel said:
Interesting thread.
I started going regualry from 1978 onwards.

My memories from the late 70's and early 80's are.

1: My first ever match was 1975 and I remember the street traders selling rosettes on John Street and a few carried them wooden rattles but they were just starting to go out of fashion in the mid 70's.
2: Having pendants stuck up on your wall was really fashionable.
3: Whenever I went in the South stand could always smell cigar smoke.
4: Not many children or women went to matches and seeing a girl at a Blades match was a real rarity.
(Although I went to the odd Wednesday game at Hillsboro in the 80's and the difference was amazing, they did have a few kids and women at their matches and a more family orientated atmosphere).
5: We seemed to have a high percentage of eccentrics and nut cases going to our matches. Some scary fans.
6: Football had a really bad reputation in the media. The papers used to always write about crowd trouble. It wasn't fashionable to go to mathces and people used to look down on you if you told them you went to games and many presumed you must be an hooligan.
7: The treatment of fans by the police was really bad and just accepted because fans were seen as scum, although fan behaviour was like a school outing with many showing bravado looking for trouble.
That's why it always makes me shake my head listening to details from the Hillsboro disaster when people are shocked criticising the police for treating fans like criminals. That was the norm back then and welcomed/ supported by the media and general public.
8: There was a real excitement when the man came out with the numbers to update the scores at half time, then you'd have a check your programme to find out which letter related to which match.
9: Always a rush after the match to get to Dixons in town and big crowds hanging around outside to check the final scores on the teletext. When it was cold Blades would go inside Dixons and pretend they were looking to buy something but really they were just waiting for teletext to show the scores ha ha.
10: When we won then a massive excitement and long queues waiting for a Green Un on the Fargate/ High Street corner as they got their edition before local newsagents.
Click to expand...

Likewise .

My first match was 75 and I started going regularly in 78 .

So , following on from where you left off ....

11 The kids pen between the Kop and John Street .

12 Graduating from the kids Pen to sneaking under the turnstiles on John Street
 
The smell of cigarette smoke at a match....now I hate smoking and think it's a nasty habit to have.....but there's just something that makes me really nostalgic when I'm outdoors and somebody passes me smoking a cigarette.

The smell of the old Social club too. That always smell of beer and fags.
Pubs don't smell like that anymore.
 

Other memories in the late 70's and 80's.

Standing areas = everyone sings, loads of working class men.
Seating areas = hardly anyone sang, older fans, kids and families.

Also HOME end was almost always home fans
Away AWAY end was almost always away fans
But both stands down the side at most grounds were mixed.
It wasn't uncommon to see away fans (older away fans and families) wearing colours in our South and Terrace stands. They never got any hassle as long as they didn't gloat and take the pi$$.

Also fans weren't so territorial back then.
You didn't automatically get ejected if you were stood in the wrong end and could (as long as you behaved)
go in any part of the ground.

For example I was stood on the back of Wednesday Kop for the 1979 Boxing Day match
and I wore my red and white scarf. Also for away matches in the 80's if the away end was going to be full
I always used to stand with the home fans and saw a few Blades mixed in with their lot
But you had to keep your wits about you just in case it kicked off, which usually it didn't.
 
LSF said:
Whereabouts in S2?
Click to expand...

Our corner newsagent was adjacent to Park library and baths. Across from there was Mrs. Wilks' s sweet shop. Pie shop down a bit. Doctors' on next corner ( Dr. Hart was a saint in our house).
 
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When I first started going (late fifty's) they used to open the big gates on Bramall lane,about where the Hotel is now, at half time and you could get in for free. To be honest I can't remember when but it was also about that time they put some railings up and you had to pay extra to get under cover on the Kop
 
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Just to add a few:

1. St. John's Ambulance men and women, stationed with a stretcher in 2's every 50 yards.
2. No subs, no technical area, managers in the stand thank goodness, no 4th officials thank heaven. Games often ended 11v10 or 10 v 10 but men were men and the trainer with the sponge and bucket of water hardly featured.
3. When I was about 9 or 10 I used to queue at the shareholders' entrance on John Street and they could take in one guest on the terrace. Never abused once either on the way there or in the ground!!!
4. Collected autographs at the players entrance on John Street. Players more than obliging. No earphones, no struts, no fuss.
5.Swaying crowds on the kop, avalanches of people tumbling down. No fuss. When big groups swayed downwards, others quickly took their positions.
6. The first led, organised chanting group of fans started, I'm guessing, about 1965. They occupied right behind the goal about two thirds up the kop. Prior to that we had stood there. I remember the leading lad' s face well, long greasy blond hair and let's say a 'worn, lived in face'. For some reason I think he worked on the railway as my dad did. He might have been about 21 years old when I was 15.
7. On the subject of segregation of fans, on our travels we stood on the Stratford End and the Anfield Kop. We felt we had to keep quiet at Old Trafford but the Scousers were absolutely great. Leeds was always tense. No problems anywhere else.

Loads more to come I'm sure.
 
Sheffsteel said:
Other memories in the late 70's and 80's.

Standing areas = everyone sings, loads of working class men.
Seating areas = hardly anyone sang, older fans, kids and families.

Also HOME end was almost always home fans
Away AWAY end was almost always away fans
But both stands down the side at most grounds were mixed.
It wasn't uncommon to see away fans (older away fans and families) wearing colours in our South and Terrace stands. They never got any hassle as long as they didn't gloat and take the pi$$.

Also fans weren't so territorial back then.
You didn't automatically get ejected if you were stood in the wrong end and could (as long as you behaved)
go in any part of the ground.

For example I was stood on the back of Wednesday Kop for the 1979 Boxing Day match
and I wore my red and white scarf. Also for away matches in the 80's if the away end was going to be full
I always used to stand with the home fans and saw a few Blades mixed in with their lot
But you had to keep your wits about you just in case it kicked off, which usually it didn't.
Click to expand...


For years after I started going in 1956 the only song we sang was ' Ilkley Moor bar t'at' but it did feel as though the whole crowd sang it. We had a crowd limit of 57000 in the 60's and we filled the ground regularly in cup games. What days they were. Burnley, Norwich, Wednesday.

Norwich had their current song "On the ball City" which I still know word for word. Don't think the other two had a song. Maybe Arsenal was another 57k crowd.
 
Woodwardfan said:
Just to add a few:

1. St. John's Ambulance men and women, stationed with a stretcher in 2's every 50 yards.
2. No subs, no technical area, managers in the stand thank goodness, no 4th officials thank heaven. Games often ended 11v10 or 10 v 10 but men were men and the trainer with the sponge and bucket of water hardly featured.
3. When I was about 9 or 10 I used to queue at the shareholders' entrance on John Street and they could take in one guest on the terrace. Never abused once either on the way there or in the ground!!!
4. Collected autographs at the players entrance on John Street. Players more than obliging. No earphones, no struts, no fuss.
5.Swaying crowds on the kop, avalanches of people tumbling down. No fuss. When big groups swayed downwards, others quickly took their positions.
6. The first led, organised chanting group of fans started, I'm guessing, about 1965. They occupied right behind the goal about two thirds up the kop. Prior to that we had stood there. I remember the leading lad' s face well, long greasy blond hair and let's say a 'worn, lived in face'. For some reason I think he worked on the railway as my dad did. He might have been about 21 years old when I was 15.
7. On the subject of segregation of fans, on our travels we stood on the Stratford End and the Anfield Kop. We felt we had to keep quiet at Old Trafford but the Scousers were absolutely great. Leeds was always tense. No problems anywhere else.

Loads more to come I'm sure.
Click to expand...
On number 4, we must have coincided plenty when collecting autographs. I've still got old programmes and rattle (see avatar), but I can't for the life of me remember what happened to the autograph collection. Several albums of photos from magazines, and loads of great players' signatures. Probably flogged it for a fiver.:mad:
 
maidmarion said:
The smell of cigarette smoke at a match....now I hate smoking and think it's a nasty habit to have.....but there's just something that makes me really nostalgic when I'm outdoors and somebody passes me smoking a cigarette.

The smell of the old Social club too. That always smell of beer and fags.
Pubs don't smell like that anymore.
Click to expand...
It was Park drive, Woodbine and Senior service fags on the terraces, but the smell I aways recall was the pipe and cigar smoke coming from the 'posh' seats at the back of John Street. A bit like Christmas. ;)
 
Woodwardfan said:
For years after I started going in 1956 the only song we sang was ' Ilkley Moor bar t'at' but it did feel as though the whole crowd sang it. We had a crowd limit of 57000 in the 60's and we filled the ground regularly in cup games. What days they were. Burnley, Norwich, Wednesday.

Norwich had their current song "On the ball City" which I still know word for word. Don't think the other two had a song. Maybe Arsenal was another 57k crowd.
Click to expand...

Another big difference to today was if there was a big match at Bramalll Lane or Hillsboro then a good percentage of BOTH Unitedites and Wednesdayites used to go. Hence the reason for some of the massive crowds pre 1970.
 
Woodwardfan said:
For years after I started going in 1956 the only song we sang was ' Ilkley Moor bar t'at' but it did feel as though the whole crowd sang it. We had a crowd limit of 57000 in the 60's and we filled the ground regularly in cup games. What days they were. Burnley, Norwich, Wednesday.

Norwich had their current song "On the ball City" which I still know word for word. Don't think the other two had a song. Maybe Arsenal was another 57k crowd.
Click to expand...
That Burnley cup match was a sellout, I can still hear the crack of that wall breaking
 
I was a late starter at 17 when I moved to Sheffield in 1971.

My memory extra to those listed was of Keith Macklin. Before the South Stand was built the TV cameras and commentators were on a tower on the cricket pitch. Keith Macklin was the commentator for Yorkshire TV and a legend in his time. He was the Murray Walker of football, making huge gaffs in facts all the time during commentary. One famous occasion he said something like - Goal, Sheffield Wednesday 1 Manchester United nil, no that should be Sheffield United 1 Manchester City nil, no wait a minute it was in the side netting!

We stood on the John Street terrace near half way, and always started a Macklin, Macklin chant as he came out and walked all round the pitch to the TV tower before kick off. He always laughed and waved as he went round.

UTB
 
On the old kop, night matches mainly, there were about 30 lights in the roof, about 100 watt apiece, always turned off at kick off and back on at half time and into the second half, always seemed like somebody had forgotten to turn them off, when they did a cheer went up! Innocent times it seems.
 

Woodwardfan said:
Our corner newsagent was adjacent to Park library and baths. Across from there was Mrs. Wilks' s sweet shop. Pie shop down a bit. Doctors' on next corner ( Dr. Hart was a saint in our house).
Click to expand...
Strangely enough, Clarke's who had the newsagents you mention also bought the shop on Myrtle Road and ran it as a newsagents.
My paternal grandparents lived on Hampton Street ( now manor oaks road). All my father's family are from the Park area.
 
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