Saturday 28th sept 2013 at the City Ground Nottingham , Forest v Derby county , it was a lovely day the sun was out as summer kept its hat on as you are aware this is the biggest fixture of the season and anticipated on both sides of the A5-2 , I managed to get a seat in the lower Bridgeford end as derbys allocation had been halved to allow more reds into the ground and generate a better atmosphere behind the goal, ( something I disagree with and still think derby and a handful of other well supported clubs should get 4k + but thats for another time.) As we file into the ground like lemmings taking up the prearranged plot given to us next to ladies , young children , old men etc we are told "please stay seated " please dont swear " anything remotely abusive gets you stern ejection from the lovely rows of seats , Forest won this game with a Jack Hobbs goal and don't get me wrong I had a great day but its got me looking back at how we used to enjoy our time inside the ground !!
Now I seem to enjoy the build up to a game and pre match entertainment more than the sterile offerings we sit through each time we enter a stadium these days , the whole in play atmosphere seems to have done one , just think of any game you go to now ..especially away from home where we take a good following , say 3k ..its usually dead as a dodo before we are 20 mins into a game if your reading this and support NFFC think back to sheff wed , Bolton ,Blackpool . I was asking myself if I could take football as a whole back to 1980 would I do it .........Bloody too right I would , maybe id remove the violence as it did get daft at times , but the feel as a whole was 100% better than 2014.I would love for all these young uns today to experience what we did inside the shed ends of most grounds , tell you for one thing if you had your iphone out it would be on the floor in seconds ? , no time for checking sky sports when your doing 57 mph into a barrier! (Ouch) last time ive felt to a old style football end was when forest got promotion at Peterborough when stan the man collymore and pearcy sent us wild in 93/94 , what a feeling and what a day if you was there you know what I mean.
March 1981 fa cup game at the city ground Nottingham, versus Ipswich Town. As I got up the steps at the back of the old trent end the only thing in front of me was a row of backs and a wall of noise , above these people was darkness due to the low stand corrugated roof which stretched all the way down past the front of the stand , How the hell do I get in this lot was the thought in my 16 year old head ? Didnt matter as many others were now behind me and now I was pushing and shoving all kinds of men and lads with the help of the lads pushing me. All of a sudden there was a surge I and the whole middle section went into a kind of forwards rush like a wave gaining momentum , from being at the back and having no view of anything I was now rushing forwards and sidewards towards the front of the stand, im sure my feet were off the ground ? The only thing that occupies your mind at this moment is the fact that a barrier is probably going to hit your chest at any moment ! As you get to the front you look back and see you have travelled many terrace steps and the unfortunate few are being dragged up as they unluckily fell, but most help and drag them to their feet. For the rest of the afternoon we are swaying from left to right up and down and struggling to stay upright . 6 goals went in that day , in a 3-3 draw , when I finally got out and made my way home,(with Dave Hallam the guy who kindly introduced me the the reds of Nottingham Forest ) I was physically drained from the workout .
Why did I choose this game ? Probably as this was one of my first times in the trent end on my own. But this was to become a regular experience that made being a football supporter all so exciting , on other occasions we would be frowing sideways and forwards and some luney from another club would shout up !! This would amazingly open up a pocket in the packed crowd with the lone gladiator stood waiting for battle to commence , one such memory was West Ham United , the lone hammer stood fists clenched ....when the gap closed and the crowd ate him and spat him out to the bobbys and St Johns ambulance brigade at the front , he may have had a bloody nose but as he was led to the other Irons fans they gave him a reception fit for a returning king "you'll never take the trent end "was the roar. You could replay this scenario to any derby,Leicester or a fan of any other club for that matter and i have no doubt in my mind it brings up some similar experience.
Some of you may say this was barbaric times and not for returning to and maybe they are correct ? Who knows? Tell you one thing it didnt cost £35 ..whats that all about ? If we get to the premier league add another fiver or more also and add a few corporate guests to help with the singing !!!
I realise it will never go back but I do belive one day when everyone is fed up of football on sky and they have used and abused and discarded it back to where it belongs ..., young uns may well get the chance once again to taste sick in their mouth from the barrier crush....
,anyway thanks for your company hope it stirred a few thoughts or memory's. Any comments are appreciated.
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