Darlington 82 & Leicester 90

[John Street West Terrace]

Just away on my jollies and got talking to a few lads at the bar , just after any pics of these two special occasions in my life that I can show these lads ?

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Darlington was carnage. Doubt anyone could hold a camera let alone take decent pics. I did spend the day with a baby, gorilla, police officer and Sir Walter Raleigh though. Beat that!

 

[John Street West Terrace]

I was sat on the pitch next to the goal post getting told to shut up by Keith Waugh for begging for his keepers gloves all day .. in between pics invasions and watching gorillas , babies & Sir Walter Raleigjs celebrate like we’d won the World Cup / European Cup & Pools all rolled into one !

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

 

[John Street West Terrace]

For any Blades of my age it was the first bit of success we’d seen us have .. I’d only seen us slip from Second Div to 4th Div .. only missed two games that season Northampton away & Hereford away .. still one of the most memorable seasons I’ve had .. great days and some great lads I knocked about with at the time

 

[Sheffsteel]

To give you an idea of the occasion in that famous match back in 1982.

Darlo’s average attendances were
1978: 1,993
1979: 1,807
1980: 1,972
1981: 2,595
1982: 2,466
1983: 1,454

So it’s pretty amazing to think that when we played Darlington the official attendance was 11,130, which was their biggest crowd since 1969.
Darlington have only ever beaten that attendance once since, when they got 11,600 in 2004, when their new fancy stadium opened for its first match.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

To give you an idea of the occasion in that famous match back in 1982.

Darlo’s average attendances were
1978: 1,993
1979: 1,807
1980: 1,972
1981: 2,595
1982: 2,466
1983: 1,454

So it’s pretty amazing to think that when we played Darlington the official attendance was 11,130, which was their biggest crowd since 1969.
Darlington have only ever beaten that attendance once since, when they got 11,600 in 2004, when their new fancy stadium opened for its first match.

Their official capacity at the time at Feethams was 21000 .. if you tell me where there was any space for a handful of people on top of who was in there I’ll pay you out in gold !!!

 

[John Street West Terrace]

They were in the shit also financially that season .. Brearley gave them the gate receipts from our home match with them I seem to recall to help them out ... might explain why the turnstiles operators applied the add that one forget that one policy to the gate receipts .. obviously a good number opted for the jump over the wall / turnstile option lol

 

[Bannerman]

Darlington was carnage. Doubt anyone could hold a camera let alone take decent pics. I did spend the day with a baby, gorilla, police officer and Sir Walter Raleigh though. Beat that!

Was the ' police officer ' the one who got charged with impersonating an officer of the law when he was seen standing in the middle of the road directing Blades into a pub?
Talk about a sense of humour failure!

Anyone remember the ' referee ' who attempted to start the second half standing on the centre spot blowing his whistle? He'd have got away with it too if it hadn't been for the Blades scarf around his neck and the Hitler mustache. Personally I thought that the mustache was a nice touch but there would probably be objections if it happened today.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

I think the MK Dons away day will be the last you will see such a big away away following of the lads , with police & away support restrictions / allocations nowadays and that wasn’t remotely in the same league as the Leics & Darlo days out

 

[dazzlingblade]

 

[benn5712]

Anyone remember the ' referee ' who attempted to start the second half standing on the centre spot blowing his whistle? He'd have got away with it too if it hadn't been for the Blades scarf around his neck and the Hitler mustache. Personally I thought that the mustache was a nice touch but there would probably be objections if it happened today.

He was years ahead of his time. 4th official long before 4th officials.

 

[dazzlingblade]

 

[Kevin Arnott]

Can anyone else remember at Darlington when the big mob of Middlesbrough fans turned up to walk around the cricket pitch and throw their weight around. They saw how many Blades were in the ground and rapidly did one when they were challenged ?

 

[INTAKE BLADE]

What a day Darlington was, away day heaven

 

[Bannerman]

I was at the those games and have fond memories of both. At Darlington we were at the back of the stand and when we scored the second goal to secure the match I remember saying to my mate " Stop swinging on the rafter ", he asked " why? " And I replied as I swung past him " Because it doesn't look as though it'll hold the weight of both of us ".

Also remember saying that we should sign the little niggly chuff they had in midfield who never stopped running and never gave it up when it was obviously a foregone conclusion. He told me not to be daft he was a dwarf fourth division player and not good enough for us. I've often wondered what happened to David Speedie.

At Leicester I remember the match which was memorable for a certain amount of chaos and uncertainty because of the possible permutations when it kicked off. Also on the way home we passed a load of Woodhouse Blades with ' Wednesday here we come ' or something similar on their tee shirts. Remember passing a group of them and shouting " Oy Lads, your shirts are seriously out of date ", they didn't seem too bothered . ' He's fat, he's round, he's taken Wednesday down, Atkinson, Atkinson '.

Happy days. and here we are again UTB.

 

[JJ Sefton]

 

[mickhep]

Bust my arm at Darlington,failing down on the pitch pissed up,last ten mins sat to the left of the goal on the pitch.Got a paring ticket at Chesterfield Royal because I didn't realise I'd be in fracture clinic for so long.
Remember seeing a tranny van with Edwards boots been shown to everyone on the A1.Missed one match in Div 4 Arsenal away, didn't see many at Hereford midweek.?
Aldershot what a ground.! Northampton was good as well.Herman getting glassed in Hartlepool.
Went to Leicester with the Woodhouse buses via Melton if memory serves me.
Happy days and had hair back then.
Dont get to many now but my lad does.
Utb

 

[SouthEssexBlade]

Was the ' police officer ' the one who got charged with impersonating an officer of the law when he was seen standing in the middle of the road directing Blades into a pub?
Talk about a sense of humour failure!

Anyone remember the ' referee ' who attempted to start the second half standing on the centre spot blowing his whistle? He'd have got away with it too if it hadn't been for the Blades scarf around his neck and the Hitler mustache. Personally I thought that the mustache was a nice touch but there would probably be objections if it happened today.

The actual ref appeared out of the tunnel and did a fantastic double take seeing a 'ref' with whistle ready to start the second half. Bob Hatton was cracking up

 

[DifferentClass]

Anyone remember the ' referee ' who attempted to start the second half standing on the centre spot blowing his whistle? He'd have got away with it too if it hadn't been for the Blades scarf around his neck and the Hitler mustache. Personally I thought that the mustache was a nice touch but there would probably be objections if it happened today.

Hey, the moustache was only a nod to the great Ron Mael.

 

[Harry's Game]

The greatest Blades photo ever.

 

[Bannerman]

Hey, the moustache was only a nod to the great Ron Mael.

Glad to hear that, because quite frankly whilst Adolph might not have been the nicest guy in history I think his reputation didn't need further damage by association with referees.

Ron on the other hand whilst not being my particular cup of tea. has enough good will to take the hit. He played with the Stones so gets a free pass even though I prefered the Beatles.

 

[Dongivensmademecry]

What a day, mates and me stood at back first success we'd seen

 

[Dongivensmademecry]

Darlo

 

[wavy-blade]

I was there on both wonderful occasions, i so miss those days , life was much easier then in so many ways.

 

[John Street West Terrace]

Can anyone else remember at Darlington when the big mob of Middlesbrough fans turned up to walk around the cricket pitch and throw their weight around. They saw how many Blades were in the ground and rapidly did one when they were challenged ?

Yeh I think they bumped into a lot of the older lads of the time from Handsworth and realised they’d bitten off more than they could chew

 

[super_pig]

masterpiece. here.

 

[Eskimo]

That day at Darlington was like living in a cartoon. There was a fish and chipole next to a ‘private’ shop. We were sitting on the wall outside eating chips when a short bald guy who was as fat as he was tall burst out of the sex shop chasing two lads who had nicked various exotic items. He fell in front of us and rolled like a ball. Then loads of lads piled into the shop and helped themselves. This may explain the blow up dolls, jonnies etc at the ground. Of course we reported the incident straight away to the policeman who directed us into a pub where we met Hitler.