Memories/emotions from your 1st match(es)

[Stockholm syndrom]

All these best of/1st threads got me thinking.....

What are your abiding emotions/feelings/smells/memories from your first exposure to live games as a young'un watching the Blades or the 1st live football match(es) you attended?

Mine is of of my very first night match. I was young, probably about 7-8.... we walked down granville road and I remember feeling excited on seeing the floodlights getting closer. People, lots of people...talking, laughing and singing. The atmosphere intensifying as the streets got narrower, the smell of tobacco wafting through the air, badge sellers with hundreds of badges!!

After entering the ground, walking up the steps of the john st stand to the seats and seeing the pitch and crowd sprawl out as I climbed the stairs. I remember looking over to the Kop and seeing little flickers of light now and then from where ciggies were being lit and then puffs of smoke floating upawards.

The match....I think we drew 0-0 but the emotions of that night are still with me....it seemed, I don't know comforting. I still get this feeling whenever I attend a night match at bdtbl, albeit not with the same ambience of that "1st night match"

Standing behind the white wall on the Kop in matches (our "spot" until gentrification) and looking over at all the rain pissing in on the fans below is also a memory of early years on the Kop, along with flickers of light, smoke etc on night matches! Suppose the football must have been pretty shite for me to remember these things more than the game/score/players etc!!

 

[sitwell]

Waiting in our house on Bannerdale Rd for my Grandad wearing 3 scarves ,shoes and coat on ready at 11 o'clock. Major butterflies and then coming up through the gangway and seeing the Lane for the first time ,the steepness scared me a bit. Can't remember much about the game ,a 2-2 draw with Carlisle in 1970/71 ,but my abiding memory is looking at my Grandad and he had a dewdrop hanging off his nose despite it being quite warm and he was wearing about 7 layers , I didn't tell him ,but I had that feeling of real connection that you only get with someone who you really love (not just because he took me to the Lane) . We only went to about 6 games as he got ill and died in the close season. Not only my first match memory but probably the most profound memory of my childhood.

 

[DuncDisorderly]

My Dad was a big Wednesdayite as were all his family, but when I was a kid we lived in S10. The buses to get to Hilsborough would have taken too long so he took me to BDTBL instead. And that fluke of fate is how I ended up red and white. My Mums family was from Edmund Road and although she never followed football, I'm sure that she was a secret Blade.

My very first game was a reserve match (just to get me used to it), 6.30 kick off I think . We were in the John Street stand as it used to be, and the whole experience of being pushed into a turnstyle, paying I don't know 2 bob or something to the little fella with the woodbine and the flat hat through the wire mesh, then the clunk as he hit the pedal and click, click, click, click, chunk, as you went through. Then wait for Dad in the stairwell, and then up the steps onto the lower terrace and I recall just being fascinated by the floodlights and how green grass looked. Those emotions, the smells more than anything, a heady mixture of the wooden stand, woodbines and bovril, do stay with you. Even today, night matches at BDTBL do have a certain something that its hard to pin down. Its not quite the same as it was though. Nothing ever is.

Then a few weeks later, one night when he came home from work he said 'Come on, lets go to the football', and we went down to watch United beat Cardiff 5-1 to all but secure promotion. We stood on the Bramall Lane end with the Cardiff lot, and it was packed. I can't honestly say I remember much of the match, I don't think I really saw a lot of it! I do remember that we were right in the middle of Cardiff fans (well before segregation) and it was quite frightening. I'd be about 9. The following season we went to quite a few games. We'd stand on the side of the Bramall Lane terrace first half, then walk round the cricket pavion to stand on the side of the Kop second. I remember being wetter and colder than I'd ever known in the 0-0 with WBA. I remember TC's goal vs Liverpool, (which I now have on DVD at last), and growing a TC hairstyle (until some old friend of my mum mistook me for my sister), Happy happy days.

From time to time he'd also take me up to Hillsborough as well. I dont know if he'd realised his mistake by then in introducing me to United, but shouting for the blue team never felt right, and eventually he realised I was a lost cause and we stopped going. He's been gone for 16 years now, and I miss him every day.

So with my own kids, there couldn't be any room for errors. Blades from as early as they could understand, especially with Mrs Disorderly's family being Wednesdayites too, and one of my proudest moments was when they were all lined up at Nannans, and she said to them 'Would you like to go to the football at Hillsborough', and as one they replied 'No Nannan. We're Blades'. They'd be about 6,4, and 3 at the time. Sadly the little one has little interest in football, although for a rare occasion, I managed to take all three to the Preston play-off game. What memories they will take from that. Hopefully when I'm gone, they'll remember that night as fondly as I recall that heady evening against Cardiff.

 

[dingledog]

My first real memory is my Dad taking me to a night match against dirty Leeds and we were on the John Street terrace, it got too crowded and we were escorted to stand on the Circket ground for our own safety. My pathalogical hatred of Leeds Fans comes from having to walk past the scum at the Lane end whilst they were baying for blood. Dont remember much about the game, was more excited about the atmospher and being out late with Dad.

 

[JohnDenver]

Charlton at home, mid-80s. Abiding memories...

I was bored, cold and my mum had come along as well, presumably to make sure my dad wasn't leading me into the hands of hooligans. I remember her flask of coffee and the wooden seats in the South Stand.

Terribly inauspicious but I was far too young. My next match was the Bristol City relegation play off a few years later. Bizarrely I saw us relegated but it got me hooked.

My little buddy Stephen and I just sat there yelling out "United!" at totally inappropriate moments for a laugh. Much to the disapproval of South Stand regulars. Oops.

 

[GoldCoast Blade]

Boxing day 1979. enough said. Misery for weeks after at school
Walking down john street after the matches is what got me hooked. Wild

 

[S64 Blade]

I remember finding it strange that people were shouting and singing. I also remember the game being quite boring, although it a was 0-0 draw.

 

[Kentblade]

It is to long ago to exactly remember my first game but my dad sent me in one turnstyle and he went via another and he waited for me.
This was on the Bramall lane end as he said it was safer and I can still see the crowd on the kop swaying all over the place.
As I went in I remember the bombed out stand on the John Street side, there being no stand at all on the kop side.Was taken down to rhe front. in those days kids were passed down and fans made way.I stood against the railings and every one seemed to have a rattle.
The team changes came round chalked on a board,like an estate agents board, and there was a band playing.I was from that day in 1946 truly kooked onto the blades.Little then did I know what a major part in my life they would play.My dad was delighted as he was carrying on his fathers tradition.
I am also pleased that continuity has continued with one if my daughters and one of her boys as well.
In those days there were no programmes and it was some time before even a team sheet was printed.There was however a green un, an institution,a copy of which still arrives by post even today.
Very difficult to get any one to understand life in those days as the war had just finished and there was very little of anything around, food on ration and players only earning very limited sums.
How the times have changed.
UTB

 

[Stockholm syndrom]

It's great to read these memories, football can become just statistics when looking back in history, but it's the fans that are the heart and soul of the game.

We all experience special times (whether sad or happy) whilst following our teams and as it can be read in this thread, it's not "all about the result" going to the football match is much more than that....

 

[SheepdipBlade]

Can't remember much about the game ,a 2-2 draw with Carlisle in 1970/71

Now there's a coincidence Sitwell - my first game too. Me and me Dad sat in the top of the Bramall Lane stand. I can remember the score - and that they played in pale blue with an orange and white band - but not much else. My season ticket was a little red book (Mao??) and I remember the steps and how steep the drop to the pitch looked.

Other early memories would include beating Cardiff and Blackburn by 5 - and being crushed against the railings in the bottom teir of Bramall Lane when we beat watford 3-0 and went up - and then the next season getting off to a flier and the crowd singing "we want the champions" just before we came onto the pitch.

Do any of you other old-timers remember a big fat ref who didn't come onto the field till the last moment - and then sprinted to the centre circle to show folks that he move a bit?? Who was that fellah??

 

[travellingblade]

Mine's in the 1950s.

We were very poor and me, my mum & dad, and my sister had to live with my grandfather's cousin who was an aging batchelor and a Wednesday fan, but he didn't go very often, and so my sister became an Owl and so I wanted to be different, I became a Blade. This was in Darnall.

Next door live a newly married couple, with no children, and although the chap was a Wednesdite, I got along very well with him. As I had never been to a game, he suggested to my parents that he took me to Bramall Lane to watch Jimmy Hagan's testimonal. My father wasn't at all interested in football, so just the two of us went.

We caught the tram on Staniforth road and duely arrived in Fitzalan square, and then walked to Bramall Lane. It was a night match, of course, and I'd been given an old "rattle" which I'd painted in red and white stripes. No hat or scarf as my mum couldn't afford them.

Getting into Bramall Lane was awe inspiring with the floodlights and the pitch bathed in light as though it was from god.

I cannot remember anything about the game, but I was well and truely hooked, and from then on I'd do the journey myself, even though I was under 10.

How times have changed.

 

[sitwell]

Referee was Roger Kirkpatrick I think , looked like a cross between a Grumbleweed ,Mr pickwick and Elmer Fudd.

 

[judge]

cant remember my first game but i remember well the initial feeling of excitement as my dad used to lift me over the turnstiles

my first memory of being at bdtbl was of a winger we had just signed from rotherham(i think) called tommy tynan who had the fattest arse ive ever seen

very billy sharp-esque

we were crap that day but i was hooked i rmember the magnificence of the south stand and that massive blades badge

not long after that i was watching the blades home and away with basset at the helm

 

[Silent Blade]

my first memory of being at bdtbl was of a winger we had just signed from rotherham(i think) called tommy tynan who had the fattest arse ive ever seen

very billy sharp-esque

Are you thinking of Tony Towner who we had on loan from Rotherham in the final months of 1982-83? Tommy Tynan was a Wendy player and never played for us. He did better at Newport and Plymouth

 

[Silent Blade]

Referee was Roger Kirkpatrick I think , looked like a cross between a Grumbleweed ,Mr pickwick and Elmer Fudd.

Yes, he was the ref in the Watford game. After the match outside the old JSS, he patted on my head and said "you must be delighted!"

 

[judge]

Are you thinking of Tony Towner who we had on loan from Rotherham in the final months of 1982-83? Tommy Tynan was a Wendy player and never played for us. He did better at Newport and Plymouth

think you re right
just goes to show how much the booze has destroyed my memory

 

[GrayBlade]

Referee was Roger Kirkpatrick I think , looked like a cross between a Grumbleweed ,Mr pickwick and Elmer Fudd.

He was also one of the best Refs I've ever seen, always played with a smile on his face and kept the game flowing

 

[Willie Carlin]

My first game was around 1949. My dad took me and we went on John Street at the side of the gangway where the players came out in those days. My dad sat me on the sloping wall of the gangway when the players came out. I can remember the great Jimmy Hagan running out just like it was yesterday. My first thoughts were that he looked an old man when he was probably in his early thirties. My dad was a big United fan and he passed it on to my three brothers and myself. I have two sons and three grandsons who are keeping a long family tradition going and long may it continue.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

My first game was also Terry Curran's first in a United shirt - might have been Associate Members cup or some-such - against Grimsby. If Richard Cresswell thinks he had a disappointing welcome he had nothing on that curly haired twat. My Dad was a bit sensitive to me being an 8 year-old and thought the South Stand was the place to get away from bad language - I can still see his face the first time Curran touched the ball and a bloke 5 rows down stood up to shout "Fuck off you greasy haired pig bastard!"

Didn't go again at all that season, but was taken again to see Colin Morris destroy Bolton - again sat in the South Stand. I was keen to go back, but wasn't hooked until I went in the John Street Stand - beating Bristol 4-0 I think. The turnstiles, the steps worn away to almost a bumpy slope, the smell and the proximity to the terrace did it for me.

My first night match was Everton in the league cup some time later. My Dad couldn't make it, but having promised to take me if we ever got First Division opposition at the Lane, got my Mum to take me instead. Given strict instructions to sit on the Kop side of the half-way line (where it was quiet), my Mum's usual sense of direction saw us sitting behind the West Terrace right next to the Everton fans. What an atmosphere! Two sets of supporters goading each other, a cracking game of football - I can't remember the crowd, but remember it being good for those days. My Mum wanted to go every week after that so it must have been spot on!

I stopped going in the John Street stand as soon as I was old enough to go on my own and stand on the Kop with my mates, but I really miss the old deathtrap. I've not sat in the new stand for a match, but sat near where me and my old fella used to sit at the open day a couple of years ago - similar, but not the same (plus it was only then that I noticed all of the flats on Norfolk Park have been pulled down - never noticed living outside of Sheffield for so long).

 

[themaninblack]

My timeline is about the same as that of Mr Disorderly; starting off with the reserves (John Street) and then graduating to the first team of Currie, Salmons and Woodward. For some reason my Dad liked to sit right at the back of the top tier of the Bramall Lane. Those early years were great, the true nature of being a Blage was hidden to me then. The signing of Chris Guthrie was the first chill wind, the first indicator that Blades arent meant to dwell in the sunlit uplands!

 

[BuryStEdmundsBlade]

My first match was a 2-1 win at Portsmouth in April 1996. I'd only ever had a shirt bought for me before that, think mum wanted to get in early before my dad went and got me a Leeds shirt! :thumbup:
We were visiting relatives in West Sussex and mum asked me whether I finally wanted to go and see the Blades play as they were in Portsmouth which wasn't far for us to go. I agreed and the only thing I remember was sitting down on the terrace and saying something like "will I get to sit in proper seats if we go to another match"!!!! There can't have been many of our fans there as I was only small but saw the whole game by sitting down on the ground! I loved it although didn't quite know how to react when we scored.
A season later I was taken to BDTBL for the first time!

Sadly I have my memory of the first time my dad took me to Helland Road, we went with my best friend who was mad about Leeds. I think Leeds were playing Sheffield Wednesday and I didn't know who I wanted to win. Leeds ended up winning 2-1 but I hated the whole day. I remember walking to my seat and saying there's nothing here for me at all. :thumbup: Looking back I must have been mad or my mum must have been mad to let my dad take me to such a game!!!
Actually, not sure if my first match at Helland Road was Liverpool and a 0-0 draw. I'm too scared to look at soccerbase and discover how many Leeds matches I did get dragged along to in the end for that season!!!
Not good but I think I've made up for it since especially when Leeds got beat 3-0 in the PO final against Watford. I was wearing a Watford shirt all day and singing unpleasant songs after a few too many bacardi and cokes in the local pub, which was full of Leeds fans, obviously. I dislike Leeds more than I do Wednesday and you can see why really!