havanatopia Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Was that his debut ? I believe it was yes. he reached his peak for us a tad early!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I believe it was yes. he reached his peak for us a tad early!! Might be wrong, but ithink Royle scored 4 on his debut against middlesborugh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCAGFC Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 jealous squire; i was a mere nibbler at the time and moma and pops did not allow me to go to an away match at that age; what disciplinarians!! I did see the 5 nil thrashing we eked out to the same team i think on boxing day was it around the same era. if i recall Joe Royle scored 4. After that match i was well and truly hooked. Think Joe Royle scored 4 against Middlesbrough around Christmas time in 77/78, the year after the Coventry game. BCAGFC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punnett Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 It's something I will never forget either..........was able to attend with 14 of my school mates from King Edmunds in Yate thanks to a teacher who somehow managed to persuade the school to lend him the school minibus to take us to the game (Mr Coleman you are a star for that god knows how you did it though) I can confirm that the Msixty whatever it is junction was at a standstill as was a lot of the M5 so we went up the old A46 and the queue at the Highfield road turnstiles was massive as everyone was being searched so the delay was fully justified By chance I purchased the "Spirit of 76" video a couple of weeks ago - what memories it brings back.........shows the goals from all the big games including Covee and also the defeat of Liverpool at AG a couple of days before in front of 38,000........yes that is 38,000 ...........also shows Kevin Mabbut's hatrick at Old trafford...........what wonderful days ....and I feel very very lucky to have witnessed them at the tender age of 15/16 before zider and stuff began to blur my vision at games in later years..... Man City at Maine road on the train..........Stoke City at Victoria Ground on the train.......great times Ahh, Soke's Victoria ground we went by train that day the media called it "the Dunkirk special" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downendcity Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 So what exactly was the truth about the 2-2 draw with Coventry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmond Million's Bung Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 My abiding memories of that game was dear old Donnie Gillies seemed to take an absolute age to score his equalising goal, I can remember screaming "FFS hit it", i'm sure it wasn't an age at all but my god it really did seem like it and secondly after the game finding a pub full of Cov fans after the game and ordering 2 rounds of beer for me, my dad and 2 mates and downing my first pint before the barman had pulled the second and then we found a great Indian restaurant and shared a great hour with 4 other Cov fans, I never got pissed but by **** I was buzzing for days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chinapig Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Typical sensational journalist crap allegedly to let in fans held up by traffic No allegedly about it..............The largest City away following at a league ground I've ever seen in 40 years, this was POD, pre all seater, pre advance tickets.................Highfield Road was completely taken over by by a sea of red and white in almost all parts of the ground. There were huge queues at the turnstiles, thousands were outside at KO time. City filled the large open terrace behind the goal, the stand opposite the main stand was pretty much all Red, and the terrace under the double decker stand (home end) was 50% City. I would say comfortably in excess of 15000 City there that night, And what a night! CR Good accurate description. I was one of those crushed outside and I was, eventually, on that open terrace. At least 15k City fans indeed and the greatest experience I have ever had with City. The bond between fans and players in those days was wonderful. Old fart maybe but that kind of feeling is long gone. Though we had something like it for a while under Johnson in the play off season; Reading away springs to mind. The way the game is dominated by money now people who weren't lucky enough to be around then are being robbed of a great experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedRock Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I was in the batch of coaches that arrived late - it was no myth. We went upon the A roads must have been around 30 coaches in convoy plus mini buses. Been to many City away but this ranks as the best. Arrived in their open end - a few of 'theirs' peered over the back of the stand and saw thousands of City running up the road - they soon 'melted away'. I think that we took around 18,000 reported as one of the biggest, if not biggest, away following in league history. One for the stato's to check up on. Amazing night. Standing on the crash barriers with City everywhere around the ground at 2-2 when earlier we looked down and out was near orgasmic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rudolf Hucker Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 My story of that night ... We drove up from Bristol, along the Fosseway because it was a lovely, sunny day and we had no time pressures. We saw, along the way, the Red Arrows practicing - I think their base was somewhere nearby and we stopped to watch, hoping it was a good omen. The atmosphere in the ground was the best ever with so many City fans in the ground. At two down we were despondent but the comeback was fantastic. I remember, the scoreboard showing the score of the Everton v Sunderland game as 1-0 and the match turned into the stuff of farce with neither team making any attempt to win. At the final whistle everyone went mad then the scoreboard flashed up "Everton 1 v Sunderland 0 - Correction". Everyone stopped in their tracks and a nervous hush descended. Then it came up "Everton 2 v Sunderland 0" and madness took over once more. We found a pub and drank copious amounts of beer, swapped scarves with Cov supporters then (and I hope that the statutes of limitations has now expired) I drove home - because drinking and driving was not so frowned upon in those days ... honest kids. When I pulled up by the Air Balloon in St George, I realised that I'd driven all the way back from Cov with the choke out on my Ford 1600. The best day ever watching City? Perhaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanatopia Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Think Joe Royle scored 4 against Middlesbrough around Christmas time in 77/78, the year after the Coventry game. BCAGFC thanks chaps. boro it was then.. hunter might have got one or more v coventry then... need to look that up some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippycar Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 So what exactly was the truth about the 2-2 draw with Coventry? As Downendcity said, what was the truth? Was it on the radio at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall King Blox Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 It would be great to see footage of that match, especialy the last fifteen minutes...the stuff of legend Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just_looking Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 As a Coventry supporter,I remember that game i was only 10,And your manager Alan Dicks was Jimmy Hills assistant in the early sixties at Coventry,Should be an interesting game on the 9th april.Although weve known all season were not good enough to stay up.Starting with a nice easy game at Baardiff tomorrow!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippycar Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Just found it here: http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/listen-again/episode/71094 You will find it at 5:30 minutes in on the 12:30 pm thread. What a load of tosh. Nothing new, couldn't even get the year right, let alone how many were in the crowd. I can see why Keys and Gray can do no better than Talksport these days, other issues aside! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tall King Blox Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 As a Coventry supporter,I remember that game i was only 10,And your manager Alan Dicks was Jimmy Hills assistant in the early sixties at Coventry,Should be an interesting game on the 9th april.Although weve known all season were not good enough to stay up.Starting with a nice easy game at Baardiff tomorrow!!! Welcome to the suicide club, lots of happy banter on here tonight, i think thats why we support our respective clubs, it's a bit like self hurt but more expensive, all the best for the rest of the season...you know what i mean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CodeRed Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I have been to some fantastic away night games with huge City followings over the years. Leeds (unbeaten all season and in those days one of the giants) in the FA Cup '74, 1-0 Donnie Gillies took us to the quarter-finals, one of the biggest shocks of all time, dont know how many City but we were nearly locked out and I can remember Cty fans sat on the tin roof above one end, it was 1pm kick off due to the miners strike Forest League Cup S-F '89 1-1 Paul Mardon, but John Pender og, City filled entire away terrace and lower tier of one side stand, around 9,000; Bradford away 1-0 in the Q-F wasnt bad either Liverpool FA Cup '94 after the draw and abandoned game at Ashton Gate, Brian Tinnion 1-0, City filled entire away end and Liverpool just didnt expect so many so the rest had to go into the Liverpool stand, around 8,000 But that Coventry game was just something else, yes you are right about the City fans that night, I think the crowd was around 38,000 and it wouldnt have been an exaggeration to say that it looked like half were from Bristol, 2-0 down we thought the dream of division one football after 65 years had lasted a single season, but Donnie Gillies again and who else? scored; the scoreboard announced Sunderland had lost 1-0, then up come a Correction; hearts in mouths had they equalised, but no it was 2-0; City had the ball, 2-2 kept both teams up, had one lost they were down instead of Sunderland, for 15 minutes City passed the ball about in our own half, not a single Coventry player got near them, and the entire crowd had a party. It was a special night - the like of which we'll never see again because footballs become so difficult to watch. I made the decision to go on the morning - just asked for a half day off work, picked up my GF, drove up the fosse way, just followed the convoys of red and white. Didn't need a ticket, didn't get shoved around by the OB or put into a pub or escorted/frogmarched to the ground. There was a designated away section (half the terrace under the 2 tier stand behind the goal) but we simply went into another stand because the queues were shorter - along with about 5000 City in that stand. Now you have to be a member of this and that, give all your details, buy in advance, travel when your told, drink where your told in many places, sit where your told, don't stand, don't swear. Kept in at the and and escorted out to the station or whatever. And yet there's basically no trouble nowadays, FV is over- history, just something to make films about and keep the police in overtime now. In the 70's when the Cov game was played it probably went off every week but you learned to keep out of trouble and where to go and not to go and on balance it was much more enjoyable. We did of course have some great players then....Gowie, Sir Geoff etc unlike tonights shower of **** CR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erniehuntslovechild Posted March 21, 2012 Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Just to say that I was there with my buddy Ian Smith (haven't seen him for about 25 years) and as many other mates that crammed into my new Hillman Hunter. We got there late due to the traffic and pushed our way into the open end below the scoreboard. I just remember the emotion and the pitch invasion at the end, cheering with Cov fans and watching AD crack open the champagne with the players in the stand to our left. I'm 58 now and I can't remember much else (too many nights stood next to the speakers at Platform 1 or the Mandrake affected the old brain cells). What a great game and another reason that I have followed this club for over 50 years. Thanks for the memories....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coach Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Great website here, here's the league table going into the final game http://www.statto.com/football/stats/england/division-one-old/1976-1977/table/1977-05-16- Jimmy Hill flashed on the scoreboard that Sunderland had lost at Everton. Watch the youtube "City and Coventry players embraced", "Coventry striker being told to stay in his own half", "We let Coventry players have the ball" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin phantom Posted April 30, 2015 Admin Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Two things that jump out at me from that league table: How late in the year the season ended How some sides had played all their games, but others still had two games to play ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
handsofclay Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Royle scored 4 on his debut against Middlesbrough and later scored a hat trick v Coventry, just to clear up the confusion amongst younger fans earlier in this thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Cyril Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Ian Wallace was the guys name. Cool 70s ginger perm !!http://www.mirror-photos.co.uk/ian_wallace/print/1673343.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRL Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 A ginger haired Jock called Wallace? Couldn't be even more stereotyped unless he was munching a deep fried Mars bar and playing in a man skirt. And carrying a caber. With a can of Tennants Special. Juggling haggis. I should probably leave it there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhistleHappy Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 So what exactly was the truth about the 2-2 draw with Coventry? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drew Peacock Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Two things that jump out at me from that league table: How late in the year the season ended How some sides had played all their games, but others still had two games to play ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myol'man Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 I wish I had been sober that night! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
One Team In Keynsham Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Two things that jump out at me from that league table: How late in the year the season ended How some sides had played all their games, but others still had two games to play ??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobbyC Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 The train was fun We traveled Inter City like the men do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobBobSuperBob Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Great night, and would have been great memories if it hadn't been for the vast amounts of Natch (glass flagon bottles) drunk on CATS coach on the way up ( yes Cats, you were allowed to drink on away trips back then!) Didn't we bring on a young sub ( Kevin Mabbutt maybe?) who tried scoring, and the older players had to tell him to calm down? If my memory serves me right our sub that night was Peter Cormack and. I'm sure it was him that had a shot (hit the bar ?) at 2-2 and Norman nearly chinned him ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whooooossshhhh Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 My girlfriend at the time, Jacqui (yes I still would, babes - but you probably wouldn't) picked me and my mate up from the Railway Tav in Charfield after some breakfast rough cider and dropped us in Wotton to get the Jenkin's coach. That myth about alleged traffic and crowd congestion before the game is of course nonsense. The whole area near Central Cov was rammed. The run up the M5 was incredible, with massive numbers of City cars heading up there. Even taking the Mansfield game into account, I still think this was my best ever away day of all time. Obviously missed the Jenkins coach back after the game and thumbed it back to Falfield junction at some stage the next day. You had to have been there, mind....... pure class night Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fodbarmyarmy Posted April 30, 2015 Report Share Posted April 30, 2015 Sooooo..... what was / is the "Truth" revelation referenced in OP ? Or have I missed something? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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