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Yank

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As a very young kid, first away fans I ever saw in the East End were Plymouth, followed a week later by rowdy mob from Millwall and then a couple of months later Wolves brought down a decent contingent.

Me and my young mates watched in fascination as the bigger kids/men from our area (and others we didn't know) got stuck in, defending our End and forcing the "Away Lot" to scatter or seek protection from (what always appeared to be) large numbers of coppers, The coppers, incidently, seemed to enjoy the punch-ups just a much.

Loved the deafening noise, the cameraderie, the tense, expectant atmosphere and the close proximity of visiting fans.

Fast forward some years and we were there, a gang of scrawny teenagers, aiding and abetting our mob (mostly Skinheads) against large numbers from Sunderland, Leicester, Birmingham, and Sheffield United, and smaller followings from others. At that time, taking the home end was what it was all about. 

Hence the refrain "You'll never take the East End !"

During the skirmishes, you punched and got punched, kicked and got kicked (even by your own!) and tried to grab someone's scarf or flag as a trophy of war.

The East End was like home and East-Enders were like family (especially those you knew and hung around with).

In it's heyday (firstly circa 1969 -1979? and then a spell in the 80s?) it was a fantastic place to be.

I am sure, many like me, miss the good old East End - piss, warts and all.

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3 hours ago, ExiledAjax said:

Welcome @Yank and what a great way to pick the best team in England.

Did you make it down to Tampa last summer for the pre-season tour? I think I met a couple of Americans there.

Cheers and nah I didn't but hopefully another US tour is on the horizon sooner rather than later??

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6 hours ago, BigTone said:

Never been there although have travelled a lot throughout the States with work etc. For my sins I am a Bengals fan after witnessing a great win over the Steelers some years back. Have a lot of friends in Indiana.

Cool been to Indiana few times;if ever in the Tar Heel State just let me know.We got some great BBQ here?

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43 minutes ago, Yank said:

Cheers and nah I didn't but hopefully another US tour is on the horizon sooner rather than later??

I wouldn't do pre-season every year but it's a trip worth doing at least once if you can make it.

I was (relatively) near your neck of the woods back in the autumn. Had a great long weekend in Georgia, mainly up right on the GA/NC stateline - near a town called Highlands if you know it. Beautiful part of the world for hiking.

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13 hours ago, Robbored said:

The old East End was the place to be many years ago for the atmosphere, camaraderie and sense of belonging. The chants and songs were amazing and added tremendously to atmosphere of the stadium. I and many others of my generation spent years behind the goal on the terracing. 

Looking back I realise that it was a young mans game.....:facepalm: and as I aged the thrill and excitement began to lessen and I eventually started watching the game from the Dolman.

Now when I take a trip down nostalgia lane I remember it wasn’t quite as great as I thought at the time. The salient was fairly low which restricted the view. The toilets were disgusting with piss all over the floor but as a young guy I didn’t bother me.........:dunno: It would now tho!
 

Why was it named the East End if facing South Bristol?

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2 hours ago, Bazooka Joe said:

As a very young kid, first away fans I ever saw in the East End were Plymouth, followed a week later by rowdy mob from Millwall and then a couple of months later Wolves brought down a decent contingent.

Me and my young mates watched in fascination as the bigger kids/men from our area (and others we didn't know) got stuck in, defending our End and forcing the "Away Lot" to scatter or seek protection from (what always appeared to be) large numbers of coppers, The coppers, incidently, seemed to enjoy the punch-ups just a much.

Loved the deafening noise, the cameraderie, the tense, expectant atmosphere and the close proximity of visiting fans.

Fast forward some years and we were there, a gang of scrawny teenagers, aiding and abetting our mob (mostly Skinheads) against large numbers from Sunderland, Leicester, Birmingham, and Sheffield United, and smaller followings from others. At that time, taking the home end was what it was all about. 

Hence the refrain "You'll never take the East End !"

During the skirmishes, you punched and got punched, kicked and got kicked (even by your own!) and tried to grab someone's scarf or flag as a trophy of war.

The East End was like home and East-Enders were like family (especially those you knew and hung around with).

In it's heyday (firstly circa 1969 -1979? and then a spell in the 80s?) it was a fantastic place to be.

I am sure, many like me, miss the good old East End - piss, warts and all.

Not sure Yank, being a Yank, would get this. He’s probably looking for another team now.

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12 hours ago, Major Isewater said:

The East End was the heartbeat of the club . 
Hundreds of red scarfed kindred spirits high on adrenaline, cider and cigarettes all ready to drive  the team on and repel any invaders , of which there were many. 

The queue to get in , the click of the turnstile signifying the start of a new adventure. 
 

We were often tightly packed in , the Health and Safety bods would have nightmares, often at the end of the match as everyone left the ground you could be carried along without your feet ever touching the ground .

It was rough but strangely comforting, there was a certain sense of ‘ family ‘ . You mostly saw the same faces in the same spots. People looked out for one another . The young uns were handed down to the front , not the safest place to be when we scored and the whole East End surged towards the pitch . 

The noise was incredible, the low roof  ,   although it made  viewing the match a bit difficult from near the back, acted as an amplifier and everybody chanted as one ,the Bristolian accent was prominent. 

The smells were intense , alcohol breath, cigarettes and cigars , bovril , tea and the ‘ toilets ‘ which were just an open drain where you peed up against the wall. Add in the horse linament when the players appeared on the pitch and it completed the olfactive experience.

 They were simpler times when the club belonged to us and you could be on the same train or bus as one of the players on your way to the ground. 

pork pies at half time compliments of bowyers birds throwing them into the crowd,that was ammo for the second half and the away goal keeper as we normally attacked open end first half if we won the toss

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In my first game in the East End, 1974, I learned after the first surge of the crowd to not stand with the barrier in front of me, could hardly breathe! after that I always stood in front of it, also learned in the same match to keep an eye on the ball as a Keith Fear shot hit me in the head :laugh:

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Ah the East End ?

Spent the 1960’s and a fair part of the 70’s in there.  Always exciting walking up the narrow ramp from the car park turnstiles and seeing at the top the old lady stretching out with the low roof.  Getting there early enough to find a barrier to lean against but as someone said earlier remembering to duck under as it filled up to stand in front of it for the match.  Famous names echoing from the tin roof “Galley...Galley...Galley”.  Opposing team fans being allowed in and trying to “take” it, ending in fisticuffs.  Freezing cold feet.  Tobacco smoke and wet raincoats.  Mike Gibson in goal seemed like one of us.  My old dad smuggling in a piece of board and 4 screw in legs to assemble a stool when I was a little’un so I could see.  Funnelling out down the back steps.  Heel kicking the corrugated iron along the back to make more noise.  The atmosphere in there was just unique.

I’ll have to stop now, got something in me eye.

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On 14/07/2020 at 09:27, Major Isewater said:

The East End was the heartbeat of the club . 
Hundreds of red scarfed kindred spirits high on adrenaline, cider and cigarettes all ready to drive  the team on and repel any invaders , of which there were many. 

We were often tightly packed in , the Health and Safety bods would have nightmares, often at the end of the match as everyone left the ground you could be carried along without your feet ever touching the ground .

The smells were intense , alcohol breath, cigarettes and cigars , bovril , tea and the ‘ toilets ‘ which were just an open drain where you peed up against the wall. Add in the horse linament when the players appeared on the pitch and it completed the olfactive experience.

 They were simpler times when the club belonged to us and you could be on the same train or bus as one of the players on your way to the ground. 

My recollection is that, as you say, the 'toilets' were, effectively, just a wall, coated in black gloss paint, with a form of gutter on the floor.

Clearly, as the gutter filled with discarded cigarette ends and other detritus it started to overflow and, by half-time, one was almost paddling to reach the rudimentary urinal.

Is my memory correct?   

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21 hours ago, Sweeneys Penalties said:

It came as a bit of a surprise tbh....though perfectly logical when I read that the East End...really wasn't

The arguments I used to have in the Try Again about that ?

Just look at the sun I used to say!!

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It’s interesting reading some of these reminiscing stories.Some perhaps a bit over egged,but generally showing the love for the old terrace.

I was there ,through thick and thin seventies and eighties.It was truly wonderous,so much different to today.

You had to get in early for a start ,in the old div 1 days the stadium was pretty much full up to an hour and half before kick off , so the atmosphere built.

Whether you like it or not ,there was an edge going to football in those days ,trouble was not uncommon.The east end was our territory and we guarded it .The only major incursions weren’t the teams I see called out previously but the big London clubs all had a good go .West ham were the most successful,definitely touch and go they got huge numbers in.But Chelsea ,Arsenal and Spurs also came in numbers and gave it a good go.

Otherwise it was usually small groups of nutters who got turfed out very quickly.I always thought they must be mad as they usually got a good hiding before being marched to the away end and a heroes welcome.Not kicked out in those days,mad really.

Back in the day the main City fighting crew actually stood in the far left corner ,so when we in the middle behind the goal were attacked,they came  steaming in causing mayhem and usually a quick retreat.

I don’t condone this behaviour now,and I was most of the time an observer then ,but it certainly gave you a rush of adrenaline to have lived through those times.

The east end will be with me forever,as it was for many of my and yours previous generations of family.

Now awaydays in the seventies and eighties....................

 

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It might be me, but my memory suggests it was always London Firms that tried to "take the East"....Arsenal, Tottenham, Chelsea and (notably) West Ham. I don't ever recall Everton or Man City/United in there. I remember Saints having a go once though.  Wolves weren't exactly allergic to some fisticuffs but that always seemed to be outside the ground. I don't ever remember Cardiff in the East (but the moon and sun have risen since those days/nights). Was I ever embarrassed in the East? Na. The worst it got for me was when the seats were bolted to the terracing....I was stood on the seats having a right old rant at someone, only to find my newly acquired Brother in Laws family stood a little way to my right, looking at me completely open mouthed at my reaction. 

 

PS I never really did figure what all that Yee Ha stuff was about

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Your memory serves you right.

The other clubs including Rovers and Cardiff ,always caused mischief outside the ground.

The only time Cardiff got a few in ,was when they climbed out of the open end and ran down what was an empty area in front of the dolman and climbed onto the toilets? at that side of the east end.But again not in enough numbers ,although I seem to remember a bit of a Mexican standoff for a while.Before the police marched them back.

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Welcome @Yank to the rollercoaster that is BCFC  

I'm sure I am not the only one here who at the final game against Crewe in 2014 shed a few discrete tears at the loss of the East end. I know things move on but I still feel it's not the same.

Maybe once all these covid restrictions are over you could consider a trip across the pond to experience our fair city. 

If my memory serves me right there is a fellow "yank" who occasionally visits - possibly @New2City

 

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Before segregation it was all-comers. 

Brum, I think were the first, with a massive mob which wasn’t shifted from the central block. A group of us were escorted to the open end for our own safety! I was only 10 mind. 

Think we got our act together after that embarrassment.

Cardiff, Oxford, Swindon, Millwall, Huddersfield all had a go with varying degrees of success in the early days. 

 

Post segregation was a different story. Alongside those mentioned, remember Pompey getting a bit of a hiding. We were that decent in our own end, we went up to the away end. As fond, if not better memories of the couple of hundred or so who populated the Park End. Quite an elite group. 

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53 minutes ago, Redtrojan said:

The only time Cardiff got a few in ,was when they climbed out of the open end and ran down what was an empty area in front of the dolman and climbed onto the toilets? at that side of the east end.But again not in enough numbers ,although I seem to remember a bit of a Mexican standoff for a while.Before the police marched them back.

Well actually I do remember Cardiff having a go at the East End and they took a hammering as well. It was possibly the last ever attempt by a visiting mob, as by the early 80s the police had got their act together and segregation was enforced.

If I recall correctly it was the Boxing day game in the first season after we were relegated from div 1, so probably 1980.

I was watching from the schoolboys enclosure opposite and we saw the Cardiff mob up at the foot of the ramp next to the grandstand and start chanting. The City lot were packed into the corner, pretty much right on top of them and just steamed straight in, scattering the hapless taffs in all directions.

I only wish the football that season was as entertaining and victorious. 

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On 14/07/2020 at 08:27, Major Isewater said:

The East End was the heartbeat of the club . 
Hundreds of red scarfed kindred spirits high on adrenaline, cider and cigarettes all ready to drive  the team on and repel any invaders , of which there were many. 

The queue to get in , the click of the turnstile signifying the start of a new adventure. 
 

We were often tightly packed in , the Health and Safety bods would have nightmares, often at the end of the match as everyone left the ground you could be carried along without your feet ever touching the ground .

It was rough but strangely comforting, there was a certain sense of ‘ family ‘ . You mostly saw the same faces in the same spots. People looked out for one another . The young uns were handed down to the front , not the safest place to be when we scored and the whole East End surged towards the pitch . 

The noise was incredible, the low roof  ,   although it made  viewing the match a bit difficult from near the back, acted as an amplifier and everybody chanted as one ,the Bristolian accent was prominent. 

The smells were intense , alcohol breath, cigarettes and cigars , bovril , tea and the ‘ toilets ‘ which were just an open drain where you peed up against the wall. Add in the horse linament when the players appeared on the pitch and it completed the olfactive experience.

 They were simpler times when the club belonged to us and you could be on the same train or bus as one of the players on your way to the ground. 

Oh Major; I thought that I couldn't love you any more and then you go and write this. Bravo Sir!! 

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9 hours ago, City Rocker said:

Well actually I do remember Cardiff having a go at the East End and they took a hammering as well. It was possibly the last ever attempt by a visiting mob, as by the early 80s the police had got their act together and segregation was enforced.

If I recall correctly it was the Boxing day game in the first season after we were relegated from div 1, so probably 1980.

I was watching from the schoolboys enclosure opposite and we saw the Cardiff mob up at the foot of the ramp next to the grandstand and start chanting. The City lot were packed into the corner, pretty much right on top of them and just steamed straight in, scattering the hapless taffs in all directions.

I only wish the football that season was as entertaining and victorious. 

Remember about 20/30 pompey jumping over the fence from the enclosure terrace into the east end in Feb 82 just after the Fulham game and having a pop.... 

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I remember in the late seventies playing the gas and arriving early to get my space sitting on the handrail that went down next to the middle section ,I was about  twelve then and most of the others there were kids and oldies, with about 30 minutes to kick off and from out of nowhere to our horror four tattooed skins with tashes that looked like they were on leave from the army stood bang in the middle and starting singing rovers ...no one was going anywhere near them we were after all kids ...they stayed a few minutes looking around for conflict which no one in there was going to give them before being led around the pitch to the open end by the police .cant remember the score that day just the humiliation by four early chancers - this was the one and only time from many other occasions before and after the visitors were repelled with ease.....although I was a little kid and it being at least half hour before kick off with no one there .....well to this day it still  bugs me ? also remember watching city v forest up in the rafters at the back of east end...it was a rubbish view but it was so packed that day and just seeing some of the pitch was a result ..long live the east end and (as someone already pointed out ) long live the park end ?

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