Great memory of a very good season for the saddlers even though it didn't end on a high, but the visit to Highbury, Millmoor and Anfield where the best days of my life being a Walsall fan, even better than our recent trip to Wembley. UTS
I was at the game. In my A-level year at Aldridge School. After the 2-2 draw at Anfield this game was a must but getting a ticket was like trying to find rocking horse shit. By the time of the game there were four or five us at the match having bought tickets from the local small time tout. Half of us were at the away end but they (John Rattenbury) managed to walk around the ground to the home Hillary St End prior to kick off as the Police didn't seem to mind. It was so over crowded it was chaos. At one point we thought Walsall had scored in the second half and were jumping around for a minute or so before we realised the ball was still in play. The wall at the away end was probably held together with sticky tape and I can't imagine there was ever so many away fans at the old Fellows Park so hardly surprising that the wall collapsed.
I was also there and Liverpool fans were asking Walsall fans to sell them they're tickets for ridiculous amounts of money. Nothing to do with a quick profit by the club, Liverpool fans managed to get themselves into the away end with or without tickets. It was chaos and really, the game should never have started. Don't try and blame other clubs for the stupidity of your own fans. Heysel was a year after this.
There were 18,000 there that night. The record attendance at fellows Park was 25,453 v Newcastle in a Second Division game (now Championship) in August 1961, and that was when it was a three-sided ground, the end Liverpool fans stood in didn't exist; all that was at that end of the ground was the boundary wall to a laundry.
Interesting that Liverpool fans did themselves no favours again by 'steaming' into the ground due to a ticket shortage (I was there) resulting in a near catastrophe. The wall collapsed during that surge , not sure how many ended up in hospital that night but it was pre Heysel and pre Hillsborough and before any one has a go at me, we all know now that the South Yorkshire Police were the cause at Hillsborough, but what worries me is that this near disaster has been airbrushed out of history. Any thoughts?
Really sorry you had to go through all that. You are right, this was a precursor to what came later. I hope nobody thinks I am having a deliberate pop at Liverpool fans and Hillsborough was a tragedy and a disgrace. Hope they convict now but don't hold your breath....
You've answered your own question. SYP's incompetence caused Hillsborough (remember the number of Liverpool fans in Leppings Lane didn't exceed its stated capacity), so any insinuation that these things happen because of Liverpool fans would be incorrect. This incident happened only three months after a similar incident at the City Ground involving Celtic fans.
Hi schreben, I take you're point. Thing is that Liverpool fans were (I guess I will get stick for this) one of the worst sets of fans in the 80s. They were worse than West Ham and on a par with Millwall. In no way would I suggest Liverpool fans were at fault for SYP's vile behaviour, but remember Juventus fans still turn their backs and as has been mentioned, this incident was a precursor and seems to have been lost to history.
brian p I agree that Liverpool fans were no angels in the 80s (I'm a Man United fan), but no-one was, really (and United fans in the 70s were fucking horrible). The shambolic organisation of the '85 European Cup Final meant that could easily have been anybody initiating what happened. Both Liverpool and Juve had asked for the match to be switched to Real Madrid. UEFA, like the SYP, were more than happy to deflect everything onto the fans (in this case, Liverpool fans do take a large portion of blame). As for the Walsall match, I guess it's a case of clubs like United and Liverpool having vast support, and smaller grounds being unable to cope with that. (As an aside, when United played at Derby in August 1989, there was a crush in the United section that looked iffy at one point.) Thanks for listening :)
Great memory of a very good season for the saddlers even though it didn't end on a high, but the visit to Highbury, Millmoor and Anfield where the best days of my life being a Walsall fan, even better than our recent trip to Wembley. UTS
I was at the game. In my A-level year at Aldridge School. After the 2-2 draw at Anfield this game was a must but getting a ticket was like trying to find rocking horse shit. By the time of the game there were four or five us at the match having bought tickets from the local small time tout. Half of us were at the away end but they (John Rattenbury) managed to walk around the ground to the home Hillary St End prior to kick off as the Police didn't seem to mind.
It was so over crowded it was chaos. At one point we thought Walsall had scored in the second half and were jumping around for a minute or so before we realised the ball was still in play.
The wall at the away end was probably held together with sticky tape and I can't imagine there was ever so many away fans at the old Fellows Park so hardly surprising that the wall collapsed.
Thanks for the view and comment. Glad to take people down memory lane. Keep supporting, UTS!
many thanks - haven't seen this since being there that night. UTS mate.
Yep I was there ... thanks for the clip...
I was there. It was down to a shit ground, and trying to cram people in for quick profit.
Safety was not a top priority then.
I was also there and Liverpool fans were asking Walsall fans to sell them they're tickets for ridiculous amounts of money. Nothing to do with a quick profit by the club, Liverpool fans managed to get themselves into the away end with or without tickets. It was chaos and really, the game should never have started. Don't try and blame other clubs for the stupidity of your own fans. Heysel was a year after this.
There were 18,000 there that night. The record attendance at fellows Park was 25,453 v Newcastle in a Second Division game (now Championship) in August 1961, and that was when it was a three-sided ground, the end Liverpool fans stood in didn't exist; all that was at that end of the ground was the boundary wall to a laundry.
Interesting that Liverpool fans did themselves no favours again by 'steaming' into the ground due to a ticket shortage (I was there) resulting in a near catastrophe. The wall collapsed during that surge , not sure how many ended up in hospital that night but it was pre Heysel and pre Hillsborough and before any one has a go at me, we all know now that the South Yorkshire Police were the cause at Hillsborough, but what worries me is that this near disaster has been airbrushed out of history. Any thoughts?
Really sorry you had to go through all that. You are right, this was a precursor to what came later. I hope nobody thinks I am having a deliberate pop at Liverpool fans and Hillsborough was a tragedy and a disgrace. Hope they convict now but don't hold your breath....
You've answered your own question. SYP's incompetence caused Hillsborough (remember the number of Liverpool fans in Leppings Lane didn't exceed its stated capacity), so any insinuation that these things happen because of Liverpool fans would be incorrect. This incident happened only three months after a similar incident at the City Ground involving Celtic fans.
Hi schreben, I take you're point. Thing is that Liverpool fans were (I guess I will get stick for this) one of the worst sets of fans in the 80s. They were worse than West Ham and on a par with Millwall. In no way would I suggest Liverpool fans were at fault for SYP's vile behaviour, but remember Juventus fans still turn their backs and as has been mentioned, this incident was a precursor and seems to have been lost to history.
brian p I agree that Liverpool fans were no angels in the 80s (I'm a Man United fan), but no-one was, really (and United fans in the 70s were fucking horrible). The shambolic organisation of the '85 European Cup Final meant that could easily have been anybody initiating what happened. Both Liverpool and Juve had asked for the match to be switched to Real Madrid. UEFA, like the SYP, were more than happy to deflect everything onto the fans (in this case, Liverpool fans do take a large portion of blame). As for the Walsall match, I guess it's a case of clubs like United and Liverpool having vast support, and smaller grounds being unable to cope with that. (As an aside, when United played at Derby in August 1989, there was a crush in the United section that looked iffy at one point.) Thanks for listening :)
I appreciate you didn't smash things up; but everybody had a firm at this time. Yours was one of the first to be organised, I believe?
so 84, 85 & 89 Liverpool fans involved in wall collapses / crushes...