About 30 of them walked fearlessly right into the middle of the longside - was it 1970?

Skin head hair cuts, Ben Sherman shirts, braces, turned up Levi or Wrangler jeans, cherry red doc marten boots. Never been seen before in Burnley.

Everyone stood back with mixed feelings of fascination and fear.

Would never want to go back to those violent years but it did get the adrenaline going!

They will now be Chelsea Pensioners.

yes I do, night match and was only a kid stood in the longside with a school mate. the young bloke in front was dressed immaculately and seemed to be looking behind constantly. he even apologised for blocking our view and offered to stand behind us. he was a londoner. shortly after he told us to be careful which seemed odd. he then began signalling and pointing and then ran further up the terrace punching and kicking his way and it all began to kick off. it was clearly orchestrated. for a thug, his manners were impeccable. it was when there was nothing on the brunshaw road end, only 3 sides for fans. I remember this bloke had a shiny silver coloured suit and was a skinhead. I didn't think it was as early as 1970 though ? could be wrong about the year.CT will know.

Not Chelsea but I can remember a similar scenario with West Ham fans. As one of a minority of Mods who went on there I was impressed with their style.

Mala591 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:24 pm

About 30 of them walked fearlessly right into the middle of the longside - was it 1970?

Skin head hair cuts, Ben Sherman shirts, braces, turned up Levi or Wrangler jeans, cherry red doc marten boots. Never been seen before in Burnley.

Everyone stood back with mixed feelings of fascination and fear.

Would never want to go back to those violent years but it did get the adrenaline going!

If it was the fa cup replay remember it well... as one following the fashion.... they attacked KW of Stoneyholme with blades as we made our way across the police bridge facing the keirby hotel to wave em off on their train...

Mala591 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:24 pm

About 30 of them walked fearlessly right into the middle of the longside - was it 1970?

Skin head hair cuts, Ben Sherman shirts, braces, turned up Levi or Wrangler jeans, cherry red doc marten boots. Never been seen before in Burnley.

Everyone stood back with mixed feelings of fascination and fear.

Would never want to go back to those violent years but it did get the adrenaline going!

I'm pretty sure you are referring to the FA Cup 4th rd (I think) replay, Tuesday night, after Martin Dobson had scored twice in the last 5 mins to earn a 2-2 draw down at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea won the game, my memory says, in extra time - but I'd have to look it up to know if that detail is correct.

As posted on the "Burnley in the 60s" thread, there was no crowd segregation, no barriers between the fans. I think it was half-time when a large group of Chelsea "skin heads" (to use the term of the period) charged from the Bee Hole terraces and into the Longside along the mid-terrace gangway. Aiming to "take over" the central area of the Longside where the "more lively" Burnley fans gathered. I'm not sure you've got it quite right with "everyone stood back..." There was a response from some of the Burnley fans and the Chelsea boys settled in a bunch around the gangway, rather than, as they'd wanted to do, chasing all the Burnley fans away and occupying the central area themselves. There were one or two scuffles, usually a "big lad" from either set of fans would be kicking out but only connecting with fresh air. Such was being a football fan at that time.

Edit: Adding that Turf Moor was sold out that night. No tickets were required for the cup replay. It was the Tuesday immediately after the Saturday game. I doubt we can know for certain. It was suggested that there were as many as 10,000 locked out of the ground, as well as the (claimed) 37,000 inside.

COBBLE wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:51 pm

Not Chelsea but I can remember a similar scenario with West Ham fans. As one of a minority of Mods who went on there I was impressed with their style.

67 fa cup game... always remember some fit blonde with em...always flashing blades them cockneys.

Thinking about it I would disagree when the clothes came in By 1969 Levi jeans and stay press, jaytex and Ben Sherman shirts were here' along with comos and desert boots. I could bore you with centre vents and ticket pockets too. But they did have smart Macs.

COBBLE wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 11:02 pm

Thinking about it I would disagree when the clothes came in By 1969 Levi jeans and stay press, jaytex and Ben Sherman shirts were here' along with comos and desert boots. I could bore you with centre vents and ticket pockets too. But they did have smart Macs.

Always a 15 inch vent. Along with a nice Ben Sherman and Levi's.

The other issue is where skin heads came from. When the mods established themselves they had a hair cut modelled more on a 60s US kid haircut. This was not a number 3 or less. The main opposition, the established teddy boys and bikers came up with the insult skin heads. Somehow in Burnley this was part of a split between 2 groups based around St Teds and others in Brunshaw

Mala591 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:24 pm

About 30 of them walked fearlessly right into the middle of the longside - was it 1970?

Skin head hair cuts, Ben Sherman shirts, braces, turned up Levi or Wrangler jeans, cherry red doc marten boots. Never been seen before in Burnley.

Everyone stood back with mixed feelings of fascination and fear.

Would never want to go back to those violent years but it did get the adrenaline going!

Everton brought a huge following of skinheads to TM several years before this. They chanted 'Soap and water' at our lot.

My contribution to this thread is to say that there was big punch up on the Longside right in front of me when we played Chelsea in the Billy Ingham "Ginger Pele" game.

Paul Waine has it as I recollect it from being on the longside, it was bad enough the previous Saturday after Dobo levelled the Shed emptied and to say we had to leg it back to the coaches doesn`t quite cover it and if I remember correctly they put a bobby on every coach assuming that the coaches would be attacked as we moved off, they got off when they felt it was safe to do so. Happy days !! I think

First saw them at Preston 1969 FA Cup, grandad vests, braces, Dr Ms and Ben Shermans. Never seen anything like it, caused a right load of grief.

.....and their players kicked 7 shades of s..t out of our team on the pitch. Ralph Coates came in for a lot of attention and was black and blue. A bunch of thugs but they could play football too.

I'd be surprised if Chelsea skins were wearing Ben Shermans. More likely to be Lion Of Troy, Union Shirts from the Ivy Shop in Richmond.

Mala591 wrote: ↑

Mon Dec 14, 2020 10:24 pm

About 30 of them walked fearlessly right into the middle of the longside - was it 1970?

Skin head hair cuts, Ben Sherman shirts, braces, turned up Levi or Wrangler jeans, cherry red doc marten boots. Never been seen before in Burnley.

Everyone stood back with mixed feelings of fascination and fear.

Would never want to go back to those violent years but it did get the adrenaline going!

That is exactly what we were wearing in 1970 as some of the posters have alluded to.
The book Northern Monkeys is worth a read. The north started most of the skinhead, suedehead and mod gear. The cockneys went on clothes spending sprees when they came up north.
I remember Tim Noones barathea and shirt. I had the same outfit!

'for a thug, his manners were impeccable'.
Bless him

And they probably were not wearing Doc Martens but Solovairs from Jays in Lavender Hill.

Siddo wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:03 pm

That is exactly what we were wearing in 1970 as some of the posters have alluded to.
The book Northern Monkeys is worth a read. The north started most of the skinhead, suedehead and mod gear. The cockneys went on clothes spending sprees when they came up north.
I remember Tim Noones barathea and shirt. I had the same outfit!

I know the author of that book a Preston lad called Bill he is sound

I was at both of those Chelsea games and seeing the mass exodus of Chelsea fans from the Shed End when we equalised was one that made a lot of people wary. Steve Hickmott (Hicky) was the best known Chelsea fan of the time he went on to do time for organised football violence. The last I heard of Hicky he was running a bar in Thailand but that's a few years ago.

Tiptoe through the Longside with your boots on .......

A mate of mine went to Chelsea in the late 70s early 80 on his own so he could keep under the radar but still got a kicking . He said as they were kicking him they were calling him a scruffy northern b*****d . That’s how they knew he was a Claret because we generally were a bunch of tramps :l

I read a book on football can't remember the title, there was a chapter on hooliganism, the author put the origins down to when Burnley went to Chelsea and started a fight and beat up a bunch of their fans. Next time they played in Burnley Chelsea fans went to get revenge.

In the 70's the grounds me and my brother stayed away from were Newcastle, Leeds and Chelsea. Liverpool and Everton weren't the best places either.

Whilst I preferred the football of the 60s and 70s, it cannot be denied that it is much safer going to the match nowadays.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1906954410/ ... UTF8&psc=1

Northern Monkeys by William Routledge

Bigbopper wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:26 pm

I was at both of those Chelsea games and seeing the mass exodus of Chelsea fans from the Shed End when we equalised was one that made a lot of people wary. Steve Hickmott (Hicky) was the best known Chelsea fan of the time he went on to do time for organised football violence. The last I heard of Hicky he was running a bar in Thailand but that's a few years ago.

My Brother gave him a good flogging. Southern softy.

Bigbopper wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:26 pm

The last I heard of Hicky he was running a bar in Thailand but that's a few years ago.

Pretty sure he is in the Philippines - saw a video of him at his bar at the start of lockdown telling people all was well 'no one wearing masks, haven't seen masks since Millwall in the 70's and the beer is 80p'

Prince of Wales Checks,Skinners,Levi's Cherry reds,Ben Sherman's,Harringtons,Braided blazers,Crombie's,Braces,....has there ever been a better fashion for a bloke than these, around the 70s early 80
I think not.

Joe Buck wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 5:40 pm

A mate of mine went to Chelsea in the late 70s early 80 on his own so he could keep under the radar but still got a kicking . He said as they were kicking him they were calling him a scruffy northern b*****d . That’s how they knew he was a Claret because we generally were a bunch of tramps :l

tim_noone wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:38 pm

My Brother gave him a good flogging. Southern softy.

Good lad Jimmy!

Some of the younger posters on here may not know just what it was like in the 70s. Every game saw confrontation and fights. Burnley fans were never intimidated and had a good reputation both home and away.

Siddo wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 7:50 pm

Good lad Jimmy!

One for the prick list!!

tim_noone wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 8:04 pm

One for the prick list!!

lakedistrictclaret wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 6:07 pm

Whilst I preferred the football of the 60s and 70s, it cannot be denied that it is much safer going to the match nowadays.

Have to agree. Most generations even now went through it to some degree. And while at the time when young you think nothing of it, it really is ridiculous. Especially when families and kids and innocents see and get caught up in it.

The crowds have definitely become more sterile. And I hate that. But I’d hate more for my kids to see some of the stuff I saw. Never mind what happened in the 80s and 90s.


Times have changed. Mainly for the better.

Siddo wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 7:50 pm

Good lad Jimmy!

He’s a bit more mild mannered (and well dressed) at games these days.

He's looking well. Hardly changed.

Siddo wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 8:49 pm

He's looking well. Hardly changed.

Still exactly the same as he was in meet the fockers!

I remember them very well. Lots of memories of visits to away grounds and keeping my mouth firmly shut. So many battles witnessed in and around the Turf in the late 60s, 70s and 80s.
A good mate of mine was a City fan and got really hammered by a Chelski firm at Maine Road one night. He'd got there early and was minding his own business when they "steamed" through the Kippax. He finished up in hospital with all sorts of injuries. Not a nice bunch for sure.
Lot safer at matches these days.

I was badly beaten up by a bunch of thugs on a train station, good old days ? Don't make me laugh.

Some great styles back in them days. Much better dressed than the scruffs these days who think a fake XXL stone island jacket is the height of fashion.

They’re all absolute helmets mind.

Despite all the reputations, year in year out the worst trip for me was White Hart Lane.

Bad days back then. 83 remember a bunch of Chelsea fans leaving the away end in CFS, coming round to Bee Hole middle entrance about 10 minutes before full time only to be met by Burnleys finest who had seen them and moved across from the Longside. Big scrap ensued which carried on after the game into Yorkshire St. Bottles flying and all going off with police trying to keep fans apart. Going to bus station myself and saw one poor Chelsea fan on his own on crutches get a bit a of going over. Felt sorry for the lad aso he wasn't one of their firm,just looked genuine fan.

The amount of crap you old codgers dish out to young people with regards to how they behave these days when just look at the state of what your generation got up to when you were young lads.

Next time you're whining about this generations youth just remember you lot thought fighting and running riot at football matches were good times full of proper good lads

Devils_Advocate wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:26 pm

The amount of crap you old codgers dish out to young people with regards to how they behave these days when just look at the state of what your generation got up to when you were young lads.

Next time you're whining about this generations youth just remember you lot thought fighting and running riot at football matches were good times full of proper good lads

To quote the wealdstone Raider....do you want some?

DA. Don't get me wrong. Not glorifying it. Not just saying how it was. I was 17 then and thought they were a complete set of numpties on both sides tbh.

prettygreenclaret wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 11:34 pm

DA. Don't get me wrong. Not glorifying it. Not just saying how it was. I was 17 then and thought they were a complete set of numpties on both sides tbh.

No problem with that but there's a fair few on here who are very quick to view the youth of today negatively for doing some of the selfish, reckless fun seeking things that they used to get up to (and worse) when they were lads.



I find some of the stories from back in these days interesting and as you say thats just how things were but the stuff young lads and lasses do today to have fun and enjoy themselves is no worse - just different

I feel sorry for the kids today to be honest.. a lot of the technology keeps em from the great outdoors and the freedoms of 40 + years ago.and constantly being monitored.....that said they know no different to the cashless society were now becoming...the governments slowly sneaked that one in....again another form of monitoring people.

Bigbopper wrote: ↑

Tue Dec 15, 2020 4:26 pm

I was at both of those Chelsea games and seeing the mass exodus of Chelsea fans from the Shed End when we equalised was one that made a lot of people wary. Steve Hickmott (Hicky) was the best known Chelsea fan of the time he went on to do time for organised football violence. The last I heard of Hicky he was running a bar in Thailand but that's a few years ago.

Hicky's bar was the Dog's ******** in Pattaya.

Edit: Not allowed, so think of an 8 letter word starting in B and ending in s.