| Our away following back in the day 13:57 - Apr 20 with 1756 views | Illinoisblue |
Was a little different in October 1985.
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| Our away following back in the day on 14:17 - Apr 20 with 1620 views | algy |
Things were easier back then. I was there somewhere in that corner, no need to get tickets in advance, no points to accumulate, just turn up on the day and pay cash at the turnstile. We were struggling in that post Robson era and would go down but looks a pleasant day so apart from losing , a good day out would have been had by all. |  |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Our away following back in the day on 14:22 - Apr 20 with 1577 views | MattinLondon |
The home crowd looks quite sparse as well - possibly what with hooliganism being quite an issue back then, that stopped a lot of supporters from attending matches? |  | | |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:33 - Apr 20 with 1510 views | gainsboroughblue |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:22 - Apr 20 by MattinLondon |
The home crowd looks quite sparse as well - possibly what with hooliganism being quite an issue back then, that stopped a lot of supporters from attending matches? |
Forest would have averaged 15-18k back then. We were probably still between 12-14k. Really bleak times looking back in terms of crowds but I don't recall not enjoying it.
Hooliganism certainly a factor. Stadiums in disrepair, unemployment etc. |  |
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| Our away following back in the day on 14:39 - Apr 20 with 1485 views | algy |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:33 - Apr 20 by gainsboroughblue |
Forest would have averaged 15-18k back then. We were probably still between 12-14k. Really bleak times looking back in terms of crowds but I don't recall not enjoying it.
Hooliganism certainly a factor. Stadiums in disrepair, unemployment etc. |
Same for me, football had a terrible reputation then, Heysel, Millwall at Luton for example but personally, being ever present home and away from the mid eighties I never encountered any hooliganism. Football was unfashionable and that didn't change until Italia 90. | |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Our away following back in the day on 14:44 - Apr 20 with 1467 views | gainsboroughblue |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:39 - Apr 20 by algy |
Same for me, football had a terrible reputation then, Heysel, Millwall at Luton for example but personally, being ever present home and away from the mid eighties I never encountered any hooliganism. Football was unfashionable and that didn't change until Italia 90. |
That 84-85 season was absolutely hideous for English football. Luton/Millwall, Heysel, Birmingham/Leeds, England fans in the middle of their crusade across Europe. And then you had the tragedy of Bradford. (not hooliganism related obvs). | |
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| Our away following back in the day on 15:24 - Apr 20 with 1286 views | ITFC_Forever |
Open terrace as well - the scourge of away fans back in the day. |  |
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| Our away following back in the day on 15:30 - Apr 20 with 1263 views | HighgateBlue |
Yes it was very much like that when I went to my very first game away at Birmingham in November 1988.
It's remarkable to think really, just a few years after our glory days, at a time when football had not been taken away from 'the working man', and yet there are so few there. I suppose maybe one assumes that football was always everywhere, and everyone always liked it, whereas actually the other sports got a lot more column inches and air time than they do now, and obviously there were fewer women and girls who attended, and I suppose the middle classes turned their nose up more. Plus of course the 70s and 80s had their share of economic woes, regardless of how much cheaper tickets were. |  | | |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:57 - Apr 20 with 1159 views | algy |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:24 - Apr 20 by ITFC_Forever |
Open terrace as well - the scourge of away fans back in the day. |
I didn't mind an open terrace, it was the norm mostly for away fans, and some home too, like at Forest. Our ground with roofs on all sides was in a minority. We just dressed for the expected weather, if you got wet, so what? But I am part of the working class school generation before mothers got cars. Rain and snow were part of life. | |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Our away following back in the day on 16:03 - Apr 20 with 1137 views | RetroBlue |
I remember going to watch Town at Wolves in 1979 and theres was probably 3 car loads of Town fans there ... and our car got chased down the road when they sussed we were Town fans. They were evil s h i ts then too.... |  |
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| Our away following back in the day on 16:14 - Apr 20 with 1076 views | homer_123 |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:57 - Apr 20 by algy |
I didn't mind an open terrace, it was the norm mostly for away fans, and some home too, like at Forest. Our ground with roofs on all sides was in a minority. We just dressed for the expected weather, if you got wet, so what? But I am part of the working class school generation before mothers got cars. Rain and snow were part of life. |
No such thing as bad weather, merely poor choice of clothing. |  |
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| Our away following back in the day on 16:45 - Apr 20 with 956 views | Radlett_blue |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:33 - Apr 20 by gainsboroughblue |
Forest would have averaged 15-18k back then. We were probably still between 12-14k. Really bleak times looking back in terms of crowds but I don't recall not enjoying it.
Hooliganism certainly a factor. Stadiums in disrepair, unemployment etc. |
Yes, apart from Man U & the 2 Merseyside clubs, the 4th highest average attendance in the top division was Man city with 24,000. Town averaged 14,000 but 6 clubs got no more than 10 -13,000.
Yes, football was very much a working man's sport in those days, but it was very cheap. |  |
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| Our away following back in the day on 17:54 - Apr 20 with 832 views | Illinoisblue |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:30 - Apr 20 by HighgateBlue |
Yes it was very much like that when I went to my very first game away at Birmingham in November 1988.
It's remarkable to think really, just a few years after our glory days, at a time when football had not been taken away from 'the working man', and yet there are so few there. I suppose maybe one assumes that football was always everywhere, and everyone always liked it, whereas actually the other sports got a lot more column inches and air time than they do now, and obviously there were fewer women and girls who attended, and I suppose the middle classes turned their nose up more. Plus of course the 70s and 80s had their share of economic woes, regardless of how much cheaper tickets were. |
You started at a similar time to me; my first away was Leicester September 1988 (1-0 win Dalian goal). As you rightly point out, football back then was so, so different. People’s attitudes to it (my mum not keen on me going to away games), the media coverage of it (Match of the day, midweek sports special, and an occasional single live game on a Sunday was about it. Spent a lot of time taping the 17 seconds of coverage we’d get on Anglia News just to see our goals), and the biggest difference definitely the shift from it being a working man’s game. It wasn’t necessarily better back then, but today’s shift towards TV money ruining everything isn’t great either.
Signed, old bastard. | |
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| Our away following back in the day on 20:08 - Apr 20 with 639 views | Illinoisblue |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:57 - Apr 20 by algy |
I didn't mind an open terrace, it was the norm mostly for away fans, and some home too, like at Forest. Our ground with roofs on all sides was in a minority. We just dressed for the expected weather, if you got wet, so what? But I am part of the working class school generation before mothers got cars. Rain and snow were part of life. |
I minded the open terrace at Fratton Park when the rain was lashing in horizontally. We won, though, so it didn’t seem to matter sitting on the travel club coach all the way home in wet clothes. | |
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| Our away following back in the day on 20:21 - Apr 20 with 569 views | WolfieAtTheBack |
| Our away following back in the day on 20:08 - Apr 20 by Illinoisblue |
I minded the open terrace at Fratton Park when the rain was lashing in horizontally. We won, though, so it didn’t seem to matter sitting on the travel club coach all the way home in wet clothes. |
I always remember the roofed Blackburn away terrace it was huge!
https://www.facebook.com/photo | | | |
| Our away following back in the day on 20:21 - Apr 20 with 568 views | runaround |
| Our away following back in the day on 20:08 - Apr 20 by Illinoisblue |
I minded the open terrace at Fratton Park when the rain was lashing in horizontally. We won, though, so it didn’t seem to matter sitting on the travel club coach all the way home in wet clothes. |
The rain and hail was so heavy that day it actually hurt! |  | | |
| Our away following back in the day on 20:26 - Apr 20 with 544 views | DJR |
I wasn't at that game but I did go to the away game against Forest on Boxing Day 1984.
I can't really remember the number of away fans but I imagine it was larger than that because it was Boxing Day and it was something to do. [Post edited 20 Apr 20:29]
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| Our away following back in the day on 20:47 - Apr 20 with 452 views | algy |
| Our away following back in the day on 20:08 - Apr 20 by Illinoisblue |
I minded the open terrace at Fratton Park when the rain was lashing in horizontally. We won, though, so it didn’t seem to matter sitting on the travel club coach all the way home in wet clothes. |
I remember that as Glenn Penny father's debut and the rain was lashing straight at us so bad that you had to turn away from it and when the ref took the players off we went down the stairs at the back of the terrace to shelter. Probably the wettest I ever got at a game but the rain was so horizontal it would have blown under a roof if there had been one. Drove home to Essex, car seats took days to dry out, but we won so it was worth going. | |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Our away following back in the day on 20:53 - Apr 20 with 429 views | Plums |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:57 - Apr 20 by algy |
I didn't mind an open terrace, it was the norm mostly for away fans, and some home too, like at Forest. Our ground with roofs on all sides was in a minority. We just dressed for the expected weather, if you got wet, so what? But I am part of the working class school generation before mothers got cars. Rain and snow were part of life. |
Freezing on open terraces at the likes of Port Vale, Barnsley, Forest, Sunderland and Ayresome Park (where there wasn't even a roof on the toilet) was a right of passage. I'll be honest, I don't miss them! [Post edited 20 Apr 21:14]
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| Our away following back in the day on 20:53 - Apr 20 with 427 views | algy |
Looking at the video what struck me was the goal "celebration". Just briefly run to the scorer and then all run back to their half for the restart I preferred that to what we have now. | |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Our away following back in the day on 21:05 - Apr 20 with 382 views | ITFC_Forever |
| Our away following back in the day on 15:57 - Apr 20 by algy |
I didn't mind an open terrace, it was the norm mostly for away fans, and some home too, like at Forest. Our ground with roofs on all sides was in a minority. We just dressed for the expected weather, if you got wet, so what? But I am part of the working class school generation before mothers got cars. Rain and snow were part of life. |
Not just the weather aspect, but it was (is) much harder to get an atmosphere going. | |
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| Our away following back in the day on 21:10 - Apr 20 with 365 views | algy |
| Our away following back in the day on 21:05 - Apr 20 by ITFC_Forever |
Not just the weather aspect, but it was (is) much harder to get an atmosphere going. |
From what I remember there were so few of us most games that a roof didn't make much difference to the atmosphere. | |
| Never forget that on 7th. April 2021, for ITFC, the Game Changed. |
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| Our away following back in the day on 21:16 - Apr 20 with 343 views | FifeITFC |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:33 - Apr 20 by gainsboroughblue |
Forest would have averaged 15-18k back then. We were probably still between 12-14k. Really bleak times looking back in terms of crowds but I don't recall not enjoying it.
Hooliganism certainly a factor. Stadiums in disrepair, unemployment etc. |
Just looked up the crowd at the City Ground that day: 12,120. Wow. |  |
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| Our away following back in the day on 21:19 - Apr 20 with 327 views | FifeITFC |
| Our away following back in the day on 20:08 - Apr 20 by Illinoisblue |
I minded the open terrace at Fratton Park when the rain was lashing in horizontally. We won, though, so it didn’t seem to matter sitting on the travel club coach all the way home in wet clothes. |
I would have been about 10 or 11, but I don't think I ever felt so cold with the rain and wind battering into our faces. Absolutely soaked. Took me ages to thaw out on the way home. | |
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| Our away following back in the day on 22:26 - Apr 20 with 207 views | bournemouthblue |
| Our away following back in the day on 14:33 - Apr 20 by gainsboroughblue |
Forest would have averaged 15-18k back then. We were probably still between 12-14k. Really bleak times looking back in terms of crowds but I don't recall not enjoying it.
Hooliganism certainly a factor. Stadiums in disrepair, unemployment etc. |
That wouldn't have been the lowest crowds about either |  |
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