Supporting United in the 60s, 70s, 80s

[grafikhaus]

Since joining this board, it's become apparent that I'm not the only old fart on here!

So let's have a thread reminiscing (sp?) about those lazy, crazy days when - literally - anything went!

Shred, Eskimo, Cooperman, Ronnie Sharp et al.

I certainly remember there being mass punch-ups on the kop most home game and coppers entered at their peril.

Not trying to glamourise it all, but some of the younger fans may be shocked/amazed at what used to go on, especially at away matches.

So, to kick it off, anyone remember Cooperman climbing up the floodlight pylon at Huddersfield?

 

[FishFingers]

Ronnie Sharpe actually has a book out about his time supporting the Blades in the Fifties & Sixties called 'Sharpe As A Blade' and it's a cracking read. One of the stories in the sixties even tells of a Blade taking a gun to an away game at Leicester and firing it into the air to disperse the crowd! Crazy Days indeed!
Didn't Cooperman run onto the pitch at Chesterfield, intercept the ball and score? Or is that an urban myth? lol

 

[grafikhaus]

Don't remember that, but the 'incident' at Huddersfield involved Cooperman climbing right to the top of the pylon (a good hundred feet). A load of coppers were waiting for him to come down but, after pausing on the 'tray' that held the cables (about 20 feet up) and kicking a load of rainwater that had gathered there over the coppers, he was 'spirited away' by the Blades fans.

Not up there with guns etc. but typical of the general mayhem that was part of supporting United in them days...

 

[Darren]

Don't remember that, but the 'incident' at Huddersfield involved Cooperman climbing right to the top of the pylon (a good hundred feet). A load of coppers were waiting for him to come down but, after pausing on the 'tray' that held the cables (about 20 feet up) and kicking a load of rainwater that had gathered there over the coppers, he was 'spirited away' by the Blades fans.

Not up there with guns etc. but typical of the general mayhem that was part of supporting United in them days...

The version of that story I heard was that it wasn't rainwater he sprayed on to the coppers....Though no doubt the version I heard is apocryphal.

 

[grafikhaus]

The version of that story I heard was that it wasn't rainwater he sprayed on to the coppers....Though no doubt the version I heard is apocryphal.

Yup, it was rainwater - I was there.

 

[dkc Blade]

I was there too, and I'm sure he took a slash from that pylon.

I remember travelling to away games after the Limit with the likes of Cooperman, Herman, Irish, Jasper, little Mitchell and Dodger. This is something I wrote for Flashing Blade a few years ago.

“After leaving school I was a bit of a punk, but when the movement became too commercial I still had a lot of anger inside me. I was a Blade at the time and it seemed natural to join the youngsters who hung around the SRA (Shoreham Republican Army) or SBA (Barmy Army). Like later hooligans we wore pilfered, trendy clothes - Filas, Lacostes, Ben Sherman etc - along with the tiniest of club badges to signal our allegiance. Most of us wore our hair neat and listened to Northern Soul and Spandau Ballet but there were also a surprising number of 'loppers' - blokes in denims or green combat jackets, as heavy metal was big at the time.

The first match I remember being involved in trouble in was the now-infamous Boxing Day Massacre in 1979. A few Blades had managed to infiltrate the East Bank. Even though I was on the Leppings Lane end I could recognise my mate's green jacket a mile off. I spent most of the match twirling my arms over my head like a demented windmill just like the brave Blades in the corner. After the game we were led to a massive line of creamy-white buses which were stoned by our pig friends while still stationary. The braver ones piled off, formed a crew and went searching for our attackers clutching half bricks and bottles. I piled off yelling “Shoreham Aggro”, then ended up getting on another bus five minutes later.

After the holidays everyone had a different story about the "massacre" (They might have won on the pitch but...) of the pigs. What few Wednesdayites there were at our school were chased, beaten and bashed. On the footballing front things went from bad to worse but it seemed that the poorer the team played, the better us Blades fans became at being hooligans. Seriously, we'd regularly take 6000 fans to places like Hull, Blackburn, Grimsby and Blackpool, and I'd guess that around half of these were into trouble. Stadiums were wrecked with increasing regularity and the Shoreham boys began to get a reputation for being one of the hardest crews around.

I remember one league match at Huddersfield's old stadium. Hundreds of Blades had climbed a floodlight pylon, and a real party was going on up there until it was announced over the loudspeakers that anyone not coming down immediately would be arrested. Most of us scrambled down, but one extremely pissed up fan known as Cooperman, drinking from a can, remained. He did a series of death-defying pirouettes and swings, much to the amusement of all the fans below, although his antics were not appreciated by the growing bunch of cops who were gathering under the pylon. After entertaining us for about 15 minutes, he eventually sat down with his head in his hands to applause and cries of "more!" I thought he'd given up but in reality this particular Blade was planning his "coup de gras."

As I told you he'd had more than a few that day but he was stuck with a problem. With no public toilets handy and fifty boys in blue stood directly below him what could he do? Well inspiration came quickly and I actually saw one officer put out his hand and remark something like "looks like rain" before the grim reality of what was happening hit the ranks. Still, when you gotta go... Our hero stayed up for the rest of the match and would probably be there still if a rescue party hadn't been launched. He dropped 20 feet into a dense crowd, swapped jackets with someone and made it as far as the train station before being arrested as public enemy number one.

I suppose our single season in the fourth division was the most memorable, and not just for the Darlington game either. Some of the more obscure places on the footballing map haven't been the same since the Blades came to town. Some residents of places like Torquay, Crewe or Wigan still give a collective shudder whenever the two words Sheffield and United are mentioned together.

In the end I got arrested too many times, and moved away from Sheffield. I'm still a big supporter but don't go looking for trouble."

 

[FishFingers]

Those days are long gone, but the memory still lives on in some of our hearts. DKC I was there too but no longer will I write about it on an Internet message board. It was extreme then, but more importantly, far more extreme now

 

[Mad Mick]

I can remember when the ground was 3 sided in the 60's. You could often see a mob from our end going round to BL end for a punch up and visa versa. I can go back further to when both home and away fans were allowed on the Kop. I was there when the Bramall Battle Occurred. Was all over the front pages. Was between Man City fans and our lot on the kop. Was tomato ketchup everywhere. Also remember Millwall bringing a few and getting on the cop. They kept singing some thing I couldn't make out. Turned out it was "Soap & Water".
I think that was the first time I saw skinheads/suedeheads wearing green Martens and dungarees. Late 60's I think. Don't think we shifted em completely off the Kop that day.
They were def game.
Don't remember as much as I ought cos I used to have a good drink and I'm getting old.
Only nasty thing I saw was acid throwing which was a shame. Most of the other stuff was hooligans against hooligans, and in general innocents didn't get hurt.

 

[cahill]

Nice to reminisce innit ? I remember all of the above games. Millwall on the kop was sometime late 60s I recall, I remember the pylon incident but can't remember who it was, just amazed at the audacity of it all. I can remember the Chesterfield pitch invader but recall it as Dinky Dawson who seemed to have a vendetta against Chesterfield. There was always something happening and you're quite right Ronnie Sharpe mentions a lot in his book. Sharpeys' book is a decent enough read into one persons recollections of growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and being a bit of a "lad". I came from outside Sheffield so my recollections are different and mainly concerned with being surrounded by Leeds fans which I'll share later.

 

[Casper]

I started going to the lane in the late 60s as a young kid. I remember walking along Shoreham Street hearing all the singing well before kick off. The atmosphere was electric - or perhaps thats just looking back with my rose coloured glasses on

I was a young teenager in the early\mid 70s at the height of the proper violence, so was old enough to get a thump - which i did on a couple of occasions, but not really big \ hard enough to thump back lol. Most of it for me was school boy bravado. Back at school on a Monday morning we would swap stories about the aggro on the Saturday and what we did - if you'd have heard our stories you'd have thought we were all Mike Tyson lol. I remember the after match walk down Shoreham Street to Pond Street invariably turned into chaos - especially around the Midland Station, or where the Howard Hotel is - as Shoreham Street met the other road (cant remember its name now).


The early 80's for me was the party time. I was never that bothered about violence - was much more into the drinking and general banter\piss taking etc. However, particularly at away games, you often got caught up in the trouble - and just accepted it as part and parcel of going to a game.

I'll be honest, i cant stand all this corporate business and political correctness crap. But i accept that is the way the game is these days. Give me open terraces and all that went with them over family stands any day.

 

[Casper]

Nice to reminisce innit ? I remember all of the above games. Millwall on the kop was sometime late 60s I recall, I remember the pylon incident but can't remember who it was, just amazed at the audacity of it all. I can remember the Chesterfield pitch invader but recall it as Dinky Dawson who seemed to have a vendetta against Chesterfield. There was always something happening and you're quite right Ronnie Sharpe mentions a lot in his book. Sharpeys' book is a decent enough read into one persons recollections of growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and being a bit of a "lad". I came from outside Sheffield so my recollections are different and mainly concerned with being surrounded by Leeds fans which I'll share later.

I was there at Chesterfield circa 1980/81 pre-season friendly 0-0 draw?? We were standing on that side terrace and i remember Dinky Dawson saying summat like "bollox to this load of shite......." and ran onto the pitch and headed the ball that had just been dropped kicked by the goaly. The following scene was like summat out of the keystone kops with coppers chasing him all over the pitch. Also remember a floodlight incident at Huddersfield - if its the same one - was that early 80s? Also at Huddersfield was a blade marching with the band before kickoff - classic !!! :thumbup:

 

[beightonblade]

Since joining this board, it's become apparent that I'm not the only old fart on here!

So let's have a thread reminiscing (sp?) about those lazy, crazy days when - literally - anything went!

Shred, Eskimo, Cooperman, Ronnie Sharp et al.

I certainly remember there being mass punch-ups on the kop most home game and coppers entered at their peril.

Not trying to glamourise it all, but some of the younger fans may be shocked/amazed at what used to go on, especially at away matches.

So, to kick it off, anyone remember Cooperman climbing up the floodlight pylon at Huddersfield?

all the Blades you mention i know ............. not that i'm an owd fart or bad lad ....... on that owd Blade owdchromedome says he's puttin me in his new book........royalties $$$$$$$$$ ta very much !

oh an cooperman climbed the floodlights once or twice at various grounds ...and sometimes ended up on the roof

 

[Casper]

all the Blades you mention i know ............. not that i'm an owd fart or bad lad ....... on that owd Blade owdchromedome says he's puttin me in his new book........royalties $$$$$$$$$ ta very much !

oh an cooperman climbed the floodlights once or twice at various grounds ...and sometimes ended up on the roof

I've heard of the other guys, but i know Shred very well (doesnt every blade lol). He's THE top blade in my eyes. He should write a book, id deffo buy his memories :thumbup:

 

[Karaoke Blade]

That Man City match was my very first Blades match...1967 I think, I was 7 y.o. and went with my older brother and we were stood on the Kop. Needless to say I was'nt allowed to go back for a good few years!!

 

[Stockholm syndrom]

Shred......spent many a matches sat on m dads knee or anywhere I could during the Bassett era on shred's coaches!! We certainly had some interesting "stop offs" along the way!! Leek town, boxing day v Stoke springs to mind!

As someone said earler he is Mr SUFC!!


Eskimo......Mi old man used to tell me stories about him.......Big hat, mouse etc! Eskimo was aslo a good friend of my uncles and my nan told me that once they went to an away match which was called off due to snow. They then decided to hitch-hike it back to Sheff, on the outskirts of sheff they got arrested/stopped then carted back 50-60 miles back south of sheffield!! My nan said his their shoes were falling off their feet when they got back home!

I worked with eskimo for a while too, the big fella sat on me when I called him a poof ;-)

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

"Was between Man City fans and our lot on the kop"

I remember that match!

I was on the Kop and there some Citeh fans at the bottom behind the goal and he was in a cape swinging a table leg round his head and challening one and all. After a while, one Bladette got fed up of this and ran up to him and kicked him in the nuts!

 

[Samantha]

I think the closest us young 'uns get to any of this, are:

a) Dad's stories
b) dad's mates stories
c) Blades Tales

 

[yuley82]

the man that climbed the pilon was called DINKY i work with the bloke and he says it was piss that went on the coppers, n he was the one that intercepted a goal at chesterfield and got dragged off by the police, he was a jesus lookalike if any one can remeber him, Dinky is his name....

 

[cahill]

I think the Man C game was 1966/67. Weren't we relegated 1967/68 ? I remember loads of City on the Kop that season. Dinky climbed the perimeter fence at the Lane to get at Chesterfield and fell backwards from the top, made a right thump when he landed. Does he still go to games ?

 

[JJ Sefton]

I think the Man C game was 1966/67. Weren't we relegated 1967/68 ? I remember loads of City on the Kop that season. Dinky climbed the perimeter fence at the Lane to get at Chesterfield and fell backwards from the top, made a right thump when he landed. Does he still go to games ?

Walthamstow Snr was nicked at that Man City match.

He also remembers Millwall coming to the Lane in the late 60's. Says hed never seen anything like it, most hooligans just charged around in mobs but they moved like a well drilled ancient Greek phalanx.

 

[silverfox]

Interesting how us old gits look back with fondness for those years when I can remember....Pint pots, darts, golf balls, house bricks and hatchets all seen on the kop....flying towards me!

Good job I was young to get out of the way!

Note: The hatchet was seen in a Coppers hand at the turnstile taken off a Newcastle fan!

 

[Guesty]

I swear I once saw a T-Shirt (In Manchester) with Ironbar Jack and his mate on the front. My eyes must have been playing tricks...

 

[Silent Blade]

I think the Man C game was 1966/67. Weren't we relegated 1967/68 ? I remember loads of City on the Kop that season. Dinky climbed the perimeter fence at the Lane to get at Chesterfield and fell backwards from the top, made a right thump when he landed. Does he still go to games ?

The Man City game was in 1st april 1967. A friend of mine, who sadly passed away in 2000, was telling me that he witnessed the worst violence he has ever seen was in that game. He was stood in the John Street Terraces and shortly before half time, Mick jones headed in a Woody corner to give us the lead in front of the kop. The blades fans in the kop were in raptures but seconds later the kop became a battlefield as City fans rained blows on the nearest Blade fan that were cheering. Policemen rushed into the kop to make arrests and St Johns ambulance volunteers were busy treating the injured fans behind the goal.

Dinky still goes to games. He was talking to a a friend of mine in the South Stand at the last home game. My friend introduced him to me telling him that I am Ronnie Sharpe's nephew. We had a chat and I found him to be a decent chap.

 

[dkc Blade]

Anyone remember Walsall at home, when we got relegated? The vain attempts to get the match abandoned at the end through a pitch invasion (not the first of the game) and the battling with mounted police on the pitch?

I saw lots of older Blades crying at that game. But it led to arguably our most fun season in living memory.

 

[Cassius Kray]

I think it's a terrible thing that people don't throw bricks at each other at football matches any more. I guess that firework that hit a girl at the Wendy match a few years ago must have brought delighted tears of nostalgia to all the older Blades' eyes.

 

[cahill]

It wasn't good but it happened. Feels almost surrealistic in retrospect. A laissez faire approach to behaviour which contrasts with the match day experience today. Everybody sitting, control and regulation every step of the way, stewards visible in bright yellow jackets every few yards directing fans and racing at 100 mph to any spontaneous outbursts of joy such as fans running on the pitch (or surrounding area), designated family areas, CCTV, stupid mascots parading round the pitch, music from an innane DJ every time a goal is scored. The whole match day experience is sanitised and soulless. Don't be too sniffy about the past 'cos I suspect you weren't there. Now pass me that bible

 

[frechyblade]

I totally agree about it being a different era. I wouldn't like to see a return to the hooligan days, but i would like to see some way of returning to the days of fans being able to display passion and enjoyment without being jumped on by over zealous stewards.

My memories of away days especially, the many trips to Blackpool with the plod trying to march us to and from the station, and failing miserably, Watford when a plod on horseback decided he needed to get to the front of the blades that they were sheparding, so went straight through the middle of us and Bournemouth away clambering the 6ft fence to get on the pitch at the end, like others have said, happy, carefree days but not what i'd want my kids to see now! Do as i say not as i do!!

UTB

 

[Mad Mick]

If I remember rightly it was Dinky Dawson who came to school one day in football boots cos he hadn't got any shoes. I think he was in the year below me. See you lot we were effin poor in those days. I can remember going to school in nice brogues given to my mum by a friend. They forgot to tell me they were GIRLS shoes. I took some right stick at school.
Needless to say I gave them to my brother.

 

[BornOnShorehamStreet]

Maybe my best Blade awayday

In 1968, we were away at Anfield on Good Friday. Liverpool were sweeping all before them as they used to do in those days and getting anything at Anfield was a minor miracle. We were near the bottom and were eventually relegated that season yet despite that, I have fond memories especially of our trips to "that London".

This match stands out though because my mate, Cookie (still goes to every match, home and away) and I decided we fancied a trip over the Pennines. We were 17 and relatively penniless being at school still so we decided to hitch over for the 3pm kick off.

We hitched to Fulwood, then to Manchester, then to Liverpool and finally we were given a lift to Anfield by a New Brighton fan who wished us all the best!

I'd never been to Anfield before and there was a bus strike on that day - it seemed like the whole world was heading to the Kop! The ground was heaving (40,000+ I imagine and nearly all standing in those days) and the Kop was in full voice.

Out came the Blades to a tumultous welcome from about 6 Blades in odd places in the crowd - we were opposite the Kop. Then out came the 'Pool (came out separately in those days, away team always first) to a deafening roar that sent shivers down the spine.

A few minutes in and we were 1 down and Cookie and I turned to each other as if to say that we could get a good stuffing.

We won 2-1 - an amazing feat with goals from Reece and Currie I think, or maybe Woody got one. We kept a low profile of course although I had a bag that was made of red plastic with the words "Sheffield United" in white on the side - top class merchandise even in those days!

So despite the glow from the unexpected victory, we still had to get home. Needless to say, going back down the East Lancs road we didn't get any offers and wondered how we were going to make it.

Then, Cookie said, "Ey - it's t'team coach!" Sure enought it was - we waved at them and I held up my Red and White bag and we gave them the thumbs up. The coach pulled in about 50 yards down the road and there was Colin Addison hanging out the door shouting, "'urry up - we wanna get 'ome!"
We were taken all the way back to Sheffield and we sat in awe surrounded by our heroes - what a day!

 

[mickle-blade]

Since joining this board, it's become apparent that I'm not the only old fart on here!

So let's have a thread reminiscing (sp?) about those lazy, crazy days when - literally - anything went!

Shred, Eskimo, Cooperman, Ronnie Sharp et al.

I certainly remember there being mass punch-ups on the kop most home game and coppers entered at their peril.

Not trying to glamourise it all, but some of the younger fans may be shocked/amazed at what used to go on, especially at away matches.

So, to kick it off, anyone remember Cooperman climbing up the floodlight pylon at Huddersfield?

Supporting the Blades in the 60's 70's 80's 90's is pretty much the same as supporting the Blades in the 00's. We won nothing then and we don't look like like winning anything now. BUT WE ALWAYS LIVE IN THE HOPE THAT ONE DAY................................................ That's what it's all about !As for the 'other stuff' - well seen plenty and been in the middle of plenty.
Not something I remember with any affection !