Following Arsenal in the early 80`s

[HighburyPaddy81]

1985, during a 0-0 draw at Upton Park, about 150 of ours were in the west stand lower.
They got in but it came on top for them after half time, although it took West Ham more than enough time to get their act together. It went off though and our lot were outnumbered, but held our own until the inevitably some were arrested and the rest were escorted out.
This quote comes from a West Ham forum, invisionfree.com/Bubble_Blowers:

“At least they made an attempt at having a go at us at our place, unlike virtually everyone else. Can anyone on here remember any other firm that didn't hide in the away end?”

Have a look at westhamonline.net/forum, 3 different West Ham fans give their opinion on The Arsenal:

"Don't have much of a problem with their fans. I respected their firm a lot more than Chelsea in the 1980s. Problem they have is that Wenger's such a tight bastard. He had loads of money to spend and should have spent loads this summer and got an additional forward. They have blown it the one season they could have won the won the league and it will only get harder for them over the next few years."

Another says:

"Always rated the old' Gooner mob far more than their North London cousins....melts"

Another says:

"Yes, and they would always turn up at our place in the late 1960s and in the 1970s too"

Does anybody remember remember our game at West Ham in 1987, we lost 3-1 and Liam 'Chippy' Brady was playing for them, it was his first time playing against us after leaving 7 years earlier.

It was (probably) the first time flares were seen at English football, our mob brought a few of them into the ground, set them off, and threw one in at the West Ham fans (they brought smoke bombs to Highbury 5 years earlier, and let them off on the North Bank which led to the game being stopped for a while).

After the game the two mobs were at it for almost an hour, scrapping it out with one another up and down Barking Road, but Arsenal had the last laugh. Soon after that game the Old Bill carried out those infamous early morning raids on suspected football hoolies, and plenty of Arsenal lads received a knock on the door at 5am.

Who here went down to Portsmouth on News Years Day of 1988?

After the game a cry went up: “GOOOONERS!”, followed by the traditional reply “come on then you Cockney wankers!”. It had gone off, and the two opposing armies bore down on each other. The Arsenal lads looked tough. But Pompey looked tougher still. Portsmouth is a naval city, and these guys were built like ships, and there was more of them too.
But when one or two Portsmouth lads started legging it up the road in abject terror and the rest then thought their number was up too. They all then legged it.

It wasn't the first time there was trouble down Fratton Park between Arsenal and Portsmouth. Watch this video from 4:14, a Portsmouth lad, who is referring to the pre-season game down there in 1983 says:

“We played Arsenal, and it was the first game that Charlie Nicholas played for Arsenal, we had a friendly at Fratton Park, and after the game, I came out, walked up the road, and Arsenal broke out of their Police escort, ran down by the Shepherd's Crook and came up by the Frensham Road, and suddenly, you've got to remember this is 1980 in Portsmouth, we hardly saw a black person down here then, and suddenly we had all these big black geezers come bouncing through with Brimmer Braces and tracksuits on. What the fuck's happening here? We gave a good account of ourselves, and that was the first time we'd seen people dressing differently at football, and then we strarted talking about the clothes they had on, well they looked quite smart didn't they? And then that got you thinking about things.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeov_6zjURE

[MK Gould]

It wasn't the first time there was trouble down Fratton Park between Arsenal and Portsmouth. Watch this video from 4:14, a Portsmouth lad, who is referring to the pre-season game down there in 1983 says:
“We played Arsenal, and it was the first game that Charlie Nicholas played for Arsenal, we had a friendly at Fratton Park, and after the game, I came out, walked up the road, and Arsenal broke out of their Police escort, ran down by the Shepherd's Crook and came up by the Frensham Road, and suddenly, you've got to remember this is 1980 in Portsmouth, we hardly saw a black person down here then, and suddenly we had all these big black geezers come bouncing through with Bimmer Braces and tracksuits on. What the fuck's happening here? We gave a good account of ourselves, and that was the first time we'd seen people dressing differently at football, and then we strarted talking about the clothes they had on, well they looked quite smart didn't they? And then that got you thinking about things.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeov_6zjURE

I've only seen us play once at Portsmouth and it was a pre-season friendly...guess it must have been this one!

[HighburyPaddy81]

It wasn't the first time there was trouble down Fratton Park between Arsenal and Portsmouth. Watch this video from 4:14, a Portsmouth lad, who is referring to the pre-season game down there in 1983 says:
“We played Arsenal, and it was the first game that Charlie Nicholas played for Arsenal, we had a friendly at Fratton Park, and after the game, I came out, walked up the road, and Arsenal broke out of their Police escort, ran down by the Shepherd's Crook and came up by the Frensham Road, and suddenly, you've got to remember this is 1980 in Portsmouth, we hardly saw a black person down here then, and suddenly we had all these big black geezers come bouncing through with Bimmer Braces and tracksuits on. What the fuck's happening here? We gave a good account of ourselves, and that was the first time we'd seen people dressing differently at football, and then we strarted talking about the clothes they had on, well they looked quite smart didn't they? And then that got you thinking about things.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeov_6zjURE

I've only seen us play once at Portsmouth and it was a pre-season friendly...guess it must have been this one!

Must have been.

[MK Gould]

I remember a cup game at Brighton in the 80's, but for some reason thought it was midweek. Can recall being near the fence dividing the two sets of fans when Arsenal ripped it down and went in to their end.

Never seen us play Rangers, but did go up to Celtic one year - first game there for Charlie Nicholas in an Arsenal jersey. We lost, but had a great time and ended up back in their supporters club. At one stage us gooners were told off for singing sectarian songs... They even came out to wave us on in the taxi's back to the station. Still have an old Celtic shirt that a guy gave me that night...mental!!

[HighburyPaddy81]

I remember a cup game at Brighton in the 80's, but for some reason thought it was midweek. Can recall being near the fence dividing the two sets of fans when Arsenal ripped it down and went in to their end.

Never seen us play Rangers, but did go up to Celtic one year - first game there for Charlie Nicholas in an Arsenal jersey. We lost, but had a great time and ended up back in their supporters club. At one stage us gooners were told off for singing sectarian songs... They even came out to wave us on in the taxi's back to the station. Still have an old Celtic shirt that a guy gave me that night...mental!!

We played friendlies at Parkhead in 1978,1984,1987,1996 and 2003, there was never any trouble.
Celtic were also chosen to play at Highbury for David O'Leary's, Paul Davis's, Tony Adams's, and Sammy Nelson's testimonials.

Ripping down the fence for some reason reminds me of a famous petrol bomb incident, and I'll share that story in a while (I'm at work now)

[Herd]

The Bear wasnt there in 1985 ,this was the day known as the "liberties" and those who marched from Plaistow that day known what went on !

The Preseason game with Pompey was a laugh ,nice sunny day a few of us went into the dock area for a drink .
We had been basking in the sun enjoying life but when we came out this tattoed monster told us that if we slipped PC Plod they would be waiting for us a few streets away,how could we refuse.

Walked round the corner and there they were all tattoos n Brawn but within seconds they were on the floor. They were picked up and sent on their way,nothing nasty happened to them ,we had nothing against them , and we never quite understood why they seemed to want it so badly.
This is what makes me laugh about these hoolie documentaries ,it was pretty much a non event lasted less than 20 seconds ,yet these documeteries make out it was a big deal !

As for casuals we never ever used this expression Northerners did and as for the scousers bieng the arbiters of fashion ............dont make me laugh , I was in adidas and lacoste in 1976 when they were still in wrangler jackets skinner jeans and dunlop plimsols !

[bunch]

I was at the Luton game in nbgooner's original post. I think it was 1983. Was a 2-2 draw and we wore our green and navy away strip. Got a feeling Alan Sunderland scored at least one of ours.

As for the off field activities, I remember them well enough but wasn't a full participant. I added extra bulk and height but was as soft as shit. I was glad the hard boys were at the front when we got attacked.

Local away games like Luton and Watford, were just mayhem in the the town before and after.

[HighburyPaddy81]

Pennant mentions that the true West Ham InterCity leaders did not take liberties with opposing gangs if they outnumbered them.
A load of bollocks, wasn't Dickinson outnumbered when he was stabbed to death by their mob outside Highbury, and I know of some bloke who accidently got caught up in their throng down Holloway Road and got a good kicking in the late 1980s.

In the book “Congratulations, you have just met the I.C.F”, there is a chapter about Arsenal and an extract from Terry Sherrin, a West Ham hoolie who says:
"For those who aren't familiar with the ground, the North Bank is a big big end- and forget all the bollocks, Arsenal's have a tasty firm."

During the 1980s firms or crews were at their biggest and best, Tottenhams crew (**** Army) was at its biggest and best and yet the Arsenal Crew (Gooners) was bigger and better. Tottenham forever in our shadow. They will never ever in their wildest dreams top what the Gooners were between 1982 and 1988. Nobody will in my biased opinion.

Standing on the Clock End in 1983, drinking a beer everybody dressed in Tacchini, Ellesse, Burberry and Fila. From the corner a loan figure stands out dressed in a fucking parka, he bellows out "Ere they are", the rest of the gooners follow in unison bellowing "Ere they are", the man in the parka chuckles to himself.
The original warning that an attack is about to happen.

May 1984. Bill Gardner and his crew were in lower tier of west stand and the North Bank was full of Gooners, towards the end of the game Bill and co sneak out trying to surprise The Arsenal lads by coming in from the stairwell behind.
A lone figure starts pointing and shouting over and over “EIE EIE EIE”, and 100 plus gooners steamed down the stairwell and put paid to Bill and his plans. As far as I'm aware, that was West Ham's last attempt at taking the North Bank

Tottenham were cowardly mugs that used to drive around 5 handed and jump a lone figure, often not even another hoolie - hence the hatred reserved for them throughout London.
Arsenal strode down the High Road on route to Tottenham every year throughout the 1980s without once being challenged at all. Some may also remember the time we took the Bull, in 1987 (I think).
Around this same time, we also put a ladder through one of their pub windows, though the pub escapes me at the moment (Bricklayers?).
January 2007 they claim to have taken the Bailey, not much of a result when you arrive four hours before kick-off and dish out slaps to the 5 or 6 shirters inside.
They were called down Holloway Road after the 4-4 draw in 2008, but if you watch the highlights of that game you'll notice that the majority of their lot were gone home long before full-time. Many of those who didn't skip off early were terrorised.
We also took Pymmes Park Inn in 1992 and The Bricklayers Arms in 1993, and they weren't taken the cowardly Tottenham way either. No tools and right before kick-off when they'd have had a mob in there.
The only time I remember Tottenham properly trying to take an Arsenal pub was back in 2000, when they tried to take The Duke. They failed and were sent on their way.
Look at the CCTV footage from 2009 when they smashed up The George, they tried to smash up an empty pub 5 hours after kick-off then legged it when the boys turned up.

Kings Cross (I wasn't there, circa early 2008) 35 Tottenham and 35 Gooners going at it for a while until Arsenal came out on top.
Many were surprised they actually showed. It was like a carbon copy of a slightly smaller but similar incident, circa 2000.
The year escapes me now but you'll never hear that lot talking about them getting done on the top of their own High Road either. In fact they don't ever talk about anything other than having a few in the North Bank in 1980.
Kings X enough said.
Look at how easy it was for the Herd Youth to take their main boozer north of White Hart Lane, in 2008 before the 2nd leg of the league cup semi-final. The Old Bill arrived, sewed the lads up and marched them across to the car park of Sainsbury's were they were kept until just before kick off, but again Tottenham were nowhere to be seen.

I remember being at a derby game at Highbury in 1995 and saw some Tottenham fans run into the Gunners pub and dish out a few slaps before about twenty lads ran out of the boozer after them, the Tottenham lads got the daylights kicked out of them.

Arsenal don't talk themselves up or grass on each (hence I've edited this comment and others to remove all names) in other in order to sell stories for books, TV, films etc.
Anybody who doesn't rank Arsenal in their top six or seven in the country is a likely Johnny Come Lately teenager who has been watching too much of “Greenstreet”, and wasn't around pre-Premier League era.

The two biggest offs ever by any English club abroad:
Arsenal in Paris 1994.
Arsenal in Copenhagen vs Galatasaray 2000.

[Eboue-Why?]

Got to say that as a fan around in the 70s and 80s, I still do enjoy reading these stories. Not that I ever wanted to be in The Herd or the original Gooners or would ever come close to it, the games were always interesting trying to work out who was who, whether you were likely to be in the wrong place at the wrong time which was a few times for me but you always gave as good as you got if ever started around you.

Sometimes I wish 800 of the original boys would have one final away day at the Shit Hole and teach those dirty scumbags who pick on scarfers one last lesson. Perhaps these days with CCTV and more policing these sort of things won't happen but we all know what crunts they are when we go there. Maybe if we get them in the Cup and get double the normal allocation the 80s would return for a day

[SPARKSY]

Pennant mentions that the true West Ham InterCity leaders did not take liberties with opposing gangs if they outnumbered them.
A load of bollocks, wasn't Dickinson outnumbered when he was stabbed to death by their mob outside Highbury, and I know of some bloke who accidently got caught up in their throng down Holloway Road and got a right kicking, circa 1988.

In the book “Congratulations, you have just met the I.C.F” there is a chapter about Arsenal and an extract from Terry Sherrin, a West Ham hoolie who says "For those who aren't familiar with the ground, the North Bank is a big big end- and forget all the bollocks, Arsenal's got a tasty firm"

During the 1980s firms or crews were at their biggest and best, Tottenhams crew (**** Army) was at its biggest and best and yet the Arsenal Crew (Gooners) was bigger and better.
Tottenham forever in our shadow. They will never ever in their wildest dreams top what the Gooners were between 1982 and 1988. Nobody will.

Standing underneath the Clockend 1983, drinking a beer everybody dressed in Tachini, Ellessee, Burberry and Fila from the corner a loan figure stands out dressed in a fucking parka, he bellows out "Ere they are"
The rest of the gooners follow in unison bellowing "Ere they are", the man in the parka chuckles to himself. The original warning that an attack is about to happen.


April 1984. Bill Gardner and other **** were in lower tier of West stand and the North Bank was full of Gooners, towards the end of the game Bill and co sneak out trying to surprise The Arsenal lads by coming in from the stairwell behind. A lone figure starts pointing and shouting over and over “EIE EIE EIE”, and 800 gooners steamed down the stairwell and put paid to Bill and his plans. So much so that Tottenham never dared venture near the North Bank again.

Tottenham were cowardly mugs that used to drive around 5 handed and jump a single Arsenal fan, often not even another hoolie. That's why there is so much hate reserved for them from all over London.
We strode down the high road on route to Tottenham every year from 1981 until about 1993 and not once were we challenged at all. Some may also remember the time we took the Bull, circa 1987 (I think). Around the same time, we also put a ladder through one of their pub windows, though the pub escapes me at the moment (Bricklayers?).
January 2007 they claim to have taken the Bailey, not much of a result when you arrive 5 hours before kick-off and dish out slaps to the 5 or 6 shirters inside.
They were called down Holloway Road after the 4-4 draw in 2008, but if you watch the highlights of that game you'll notice that the majority of their lot were gone home long before full-time. Those who didn't skip off early were terrorised.
We also took Pymmes Park Inn in 1992 and The Bricklayers Arms in 1993, and they weren't taken the cowardly Tottenham way either. No tools and right before kick-off when they'd have had a mob in there.
The only time I remember Tottenham properly trying to take an Arsenal pub was back in 2000, when they tried to take The Duke. They failed miserably and were sent on their way.
Look at the CCTV footage from 2009 when they smashed up The George, they tried to smash up an empty pub 6 hours after kick-off then legged it when the boys turned up.

Kings Cross (I wasn't there, circa early 2000s) 35 **** and 35 Gooners going at it for a while until the **** were smashed. Many were surprised they actually showed.
The year escapes me now but you'll never here that lot talking about them getting done down the top of their own High Road either. In fact they don't ever talk about anything other than having a few in the North Bank in 1980.
Kings X enough said.

Arsenal don't talk themselves up or grass on each other in order to sell stories for books, TV, films etc etc. Anybody who doesn't rank Arsenal in their top 5 or 6 in the country is a Johnny Come Lately teenager who has been watching too much of “Greenstreet”.

The two biggest offs ever by any English club abroad:
Arsenal in Paris 1994.Arsenal in Copenhagen vs Galatasaray 2000.

Mate, You are so right. Reading some of the accounts brings back so many memories. I was only a young bloke, not big and tough but enjoyed the match days with the firm back in the 80s. Its very difficult to try and explain to the younger blokes these days just what the camaraderie/match day was like then.

I was at Luton too when West Ham turned up. The press go on about Millwall at Luton but i think that days was as bad if not worse.
Do you remember York? West Ham in the mid 80s, the game when a distress flare was launched down the pitch?
But Paris now that was absolute fucking mayhem. I remember a big square and the battles were not so much with PSG fans but with the local Arab community, which was the make up of the area around the ground.
Also how the OB just stood at the perimeter just watching and letting it happen. You had to be there to realise how full on it was.
I never did get to see the game. Was carted off and chucked on to a train home.
One of my mates who got our coach home told me that there wasn't a window left in it and of the 50 or so who went over to Paris only half a dozen returned on it.
Mad!!!

[MK Gould]

I know I've mentioned it (many times!!!) on previous "80's threads"...but think that Winterslag (aka Genk) deserves a mention!!

York was pretty mad...and I think just about everyone there that day joined in!

I've been to Boro at Ayresome Park a few times and you certainly need to be mindful as you left the station, but recall a cup match up there that I didn't go to but where there was a great turn out from Arsenal and a lot of trouble.

Sometimes I wish 800 of the original boys would have one final away day at the Shit Hole and teach those dirty scumbags who pick on scarfers one last lesson. Perhaps these days with CCTV and more policing these sort of things won't happen but we all know what crunts they are when we go there. Maybe if we get them in the Cup and get double the normal allocation the 80s would return for a day

I've had dreams about much the same thing... This season was my first visit there since the 90's and it was far worse than back in the day. Don't even think it would need to be a cup game. All it would need was for a mob to meet up and be in the right place on the High Street at full time. They are so used to picking off the Arsenal fans two or three at a time as you come around that corner that they would sh*te themselves if they came across a firm coming in the other direction! Surprised it hasn't been tried yet as it would be hilarious!

[clockender1]

I was at the Rangers game in 86 i think - it was a friendly and i was shocked that they were lobbing bottles at us IN the ground.

next season the 50/50 celtic shirts and hats came in strong. as far as i know, the spuds were in with the Rangers lot that day and were chucking bottles that could of hit anyone.

i've always had a softer spot for celtic ever since that day.

from 81' to '94 i saw quite a few tear ups but luckily never got caught in the wrong place - though i did get flattened by Denton steaming down the right side of the NB with his mates into the spuds one new years day.

after the spuds were chased onto the hoardings and rescued by the OB, Denton came back up and asked if i was okay...he was a real gent.

funnily enough the worst FV i ever saw was Millwall at Slough in the FA cup in '82 - Millwall literally got chased across the whole town- about 2 miles, by dozens of mainly black firms from different slough districts - chalvey, cippenham, manor park etc who were very aware of Millwalls NF connections, along with firms connected to Chelsea, West Ham, Reading, Brentford and a few Arsenal lads.

the whole town knew about it for weeks beforehand - that the NF were coming and lads from all over SW London - Hounslow, Southall, Ealing etc mobbed up with local firms because of the Hambrough tavern thing in Southall that kicked off the Southall riots a year before.

three times Millwall got ambushed in the underpasses and then in the queensmere centre, then again on the A4 roundabout by the dog track.

the local firms had spotters in cars following them and one of our mates got arrested with a van full of petrol bombs....

there was easily a couple of hundred cars parked up each in four of five spots, a spotter would tear up, tell someone to follow them and then we'd fly off to the back of the queensmere or the red bull roundabout and wait to see if they'd get sent our way.

the TV and newspapers were all about millwall smashing up shops and stuff after the game after they lost, but i've never seen anywhere the story of how they got run all day - including in the ground when the police and stewards lost control and the slough firms smashed the main stands doors in each end to get at the Millwall firm.

i guess you had to be there - most of it was away from the ground, and Millwall aren't doing themselves any favours by telling are they LOL ?

happy days...

[HighburyPaddy81]

I find it hard to believe that Chelsea or West Ham wanted to have a go at Millwall in Slough because of Millwall's National Front connections, it was probably more of a case of having a go at Millwall because they're Millwall.

In fact if any team is linked to the National Front, it's Chelsea (I know the National Front were fairly successful in their recruitment at West Ham too). According to wikipedia (which is backed up by other sources):

''Since that point there was widespread racism amongst their ranks and links to various white supremacist organisations, such as Combat 18 and the National Front. The fans also became affiliated with Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary organisations, such as the Ulster Defence Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force.''

the piece goes on to say:

''It confirmed the racism at Chelsea and their links to Combat 18, including one top-ranking member who had been imprisoned on one occasion for possession of material related to the Ku Klux Klan.''

Lazio fans (The Irriducibili) are right wing extremists, who still make monkey sounds toward opposition black players.
Look at this video from 3:58 - there's a Chelsea fan on a train full of Lazio supporters, he says:

''I've been coming down now, for too many years, the connections have been made through friends of mine in London through advertising the British movement and the National Front, it's happened through politics, basically it's a Fascist thing''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzaZbXvgccs

Combat 18 was founded around 1991, throughout the 1990s when Chelsea were away, after they'd attacked women, children and empty pubs (and yes they actually did), they'd leave behind a calling card reading ''Congratulations, you've just been visited by Chelsea Headhunters Combat 18''

Glasgow Rangers fans were also known for throwing not only bottles but also potatoes with razor blades hanging out from them, at the Arsenal crowd too.
Those half and half Rangers and Tottenham beanies were popular around White Hart Lane throughout the 1980s, but the Rangers link with Chelsea is much stronger than their link with any other English club.
In fact, I came across a video of Chelsea on the concourse away at Newcastle earlier this season. Together with Rangers fans they're singing “If you don't do the bouncy you're a Y**” along with the usual “Fuck the Pope” sectarian bollocks that we all expect to hear from Chelsea anyway.

Millwall lost 1-0 at non-league Slough that day in the 1st round of the FA cup (1982).
The trouble at Middlesbrough could well have been in 1984, we won there 3-2 in an FA cup game.
There was supposedly, according to a youtube video, trouble outside Highbury when Middlesbrough came down in 2002. In reality the Old Bill had it all covered, both mobs gave it their all to get at one another but to no avail. There wasn't a whole lot of pavement dancing, there were genuine lads out there that day. Boro threw a few bottles at us and Arsenal returned the favour.

Our game at Genk was a UEFA cup game in 1981, I heard there was a lot of trouble over there, although I was still in nappies at the time.
As for the York game, it was a snowy day and we had approximately 4,000 there out of a crowd of 10,000. We lost 1-0 (they scored a penalty), it kicked off and everybody was game. This was 1985 so Arsenal were at their strongest, and we were arguably the most feared in the country around during this period.

As far as I'm aware, Tottenham haven't been on the North Bank since 1982 - the Old Bill managed to separate the Arsenal and Spurs fans but our mob managed to work their way to the bottom of Tottenham's crew and from here they steamed up into the Spurs fans who backed up against each other until the Old Bill came to their rescue. They never again stepped foot on the North Bank after that.
There may have been a few of them in the West Lower in 1985, and they were probably plotting, but our mob apparently ran them again.

Certainly our day out in Paris was more infamous, than Millwall's game at Luton in 1985. The reason why the Millwall-Luton game is very well publicised is because it was a televised game. The whole episode is on video. There wasn't any TV crews around the streets of Paris when Arsenal were in town. I have 30-40 pictures of Arsenal running PSG all over the city that day stored on my PC but I'm finding it impossible to upload them onto this. I'm sure most of you have seen a lot of the images anyway, but for those who havn't all of the shots between 1:55 and 2:52 in this video are of Arsenal in Paris:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d800oFP4AwE

All you need to do is google “Football Hooliganism” and it'll all become clear on wikipedia, which again is sourced by other articles:

“In 1994 approximately 1,000 Paris Saint Germain fans fought running battles with over 300 Arsenal supporters before the first leg of the Cup Winners' Cup semi-final. The fighting continued for over 3 hours in one of the worst bouts of football violence ever seen.”

There were no Police around. A dream if you were a hoolie. You'd best get the fuck out of there if you weren't. Arsenal ended up running Frenchies all over town.
There was up to a few hundred gooners on one particular ferry, which brought our mob down onto the French coast. I have an iconic image of the ferry as it arrived, and a massive banner, approximately 10 metres in width and 3 metres in height hanging down from the deck. It was red, white and red in colour (horizontally. In the middle it read “Arsenal” and it had old-school cannons, one on each side of the writing.

At least a third of the gooners who travelled didn't even end up actually seeing the game itself (a 1-1 draw).

Ticketless Arsenal fans were rounded up on the promise of getting entry to the Parc des Princes, before then being forced onto buses and driven away from the stadium. A few hundred Arsenal were kept hostage until the match was over then let out, a few more spent the night in the cells.

Come 2006, Arsenal chased PSG back down a side street after they came up to have a pop at a few hundred Arsenal drinking in the "Quartier Pigalle" area of Paris the night before the European Cup final. Pint glasses were flying down that side street.

In 2007 PSG were invited to the first ever Emirates Cup competition, and they went down towards The George in an attempt to smash it but Arsenal were having none of that. A brawl spilt out onto the streets near the Holloway Road tube station, but the OB arrived after a few seconds and arrested every gooner in sight.
PSG returned to The Emirates Cup in 2009 and broke two of the The Drayton Park's windows.

Speaking of petrol bombs, I've seen a few smoke bombs recently, but nothing will ever better the petrol bomb Arsenal threw into the Shelf in 1983.
The petrol bomb incident is rather miniature compared to 1985, when Arsenal ripped out over almost a thousand seats and threw them onto the White Hart Lane pitch. Club secretary Peter Day said:

“It's by far the worst damage ever done at our ground. The cost will run into many thousands. We thought about sending Arsenal the bill, but it's not the fault of the club – the blame goes to hundreds of mindless hooligans.”

It was the worst damage ever done to the Lane, and Tottenham ended up paying the bill.
A newspaper article read:

“Arsenal fans went on the rampage last night after their team beat Spurs 2-0. Just before the game the police had to isolate trouble-makers fighting in the Spurs end of the ground.”

I have pictures of two different articles, regarding that piss-take on my PC. The headlines are:
“Fans on the Rampage” and “White Hart shut-down”

I was told we returned following year (1986) and did it all over again, only this time there were fewer seats ripped out before the Old Bill arrived to make some arrests.

It would make all the back pages if it had happened this season. No doubt there'd be a few lifetime bans dished out too.

I remember being away at Chelsea in 2008, we were 1-0 down and then Van Persie bags 2 goals within 3 minutes and suddenly we're 2-1 up. Carnage.
I was in the upper tier of the Shed, and I saw at least three seats being ripped in celebration, 2 of which were then thrown onto the pitch.
Within seconds there was about ten Old Bill in amongst us, carrying out three or four of our lot out. .
I remember looking down and seeing everybody below me going mental too. We seemed to have one or two Irish tri-colours on show in our end that day, probably because it was Chelsea away.

The worst thing I've witnessed at football was seeing an Arsenal fan in a wheelchair attacked by Manchester United scumbags after a 0-0 draw up there in 2003 (after Van Nistelrooy had famously missed a last-minute penalty).
We were kept inside the ground after the game but only for a few minutes and after we'd come out, some Arsenal were ambushed by a massive mob of United fans, some were bearing down with bottles.
Everybody in an Arsenal shirt or colours got a slap, including women, children and sickeningly as I mentioned a bloke in a wheelchair.
They fucked off sharpish after their quick attack leaving a few of our lot in a bad way.

United are well known to have been the bullies of the 1970s, the 1980s and the 1990s and their cowardly behaviour carried on into the noughties.
The incident was never highlighted by the media.
But they are arguably the nastiest crowd I've come across.
They're the only fanbase I've ever come across to mock the tragic deaths of both Rocky Rocastle and Denton Connell (all-be-it on social media, not at games) - edit: Stoke City fans have been vociferous re the recent passing of José Antonio Reyes.

Rocky tragically lost his battle with cancer the very day of a North London derby in 2001.
We hosted Tottenham at Highbury, and to their eternal credit, the Tottenham boys were as silent as the Arsenal crowd throughout the minutes silence which preceded our 2-0 win.
There was a few knowing nods of gratitude from gooners on the Clock End, some even gave them the thumbs up.

[HighburyPaddy81]

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[HighburyPaddy81]

Pennant mentions that the true West Ham InterCity leaders did not take liberties with opposing gangs if they outnumbered them.
A load of bollocks, wasn't Dickinson outnumbered when he was stabbed to death by their mob outside Highbury, and I know of some bloke who accidently got caught up in their throng down Holloway Road and got a right kicking, circa 1988.

In the book “Congratulations, you have just met the I.C.F” there is a chapter about Arsenal and an extract from Terry Sherrin, a West Ham hoolie who says "For those who aren't familiar with the ground, the North Bank is a big big end- and forget all the bollocks, Arsenal's got a tasty firm"

During the 1980s firms or crews were at their biggest and best, Tottenhams crew (**** Army) was at its biggest and best and yet the Arsenal Crew (Gooners) was bigger and better.
Tottenham forever in our shadow. They will never ever in their wildest dreams top what the Gooners were between 1982 and 1988. Nobody will.

Standing underneath the Clockend 1983, drinking a beer everybody dressed in Tachini, Ellessee, Burberry and Fila from the corner a loan figure stands out dressed in a fucking parka, he bellows out "Ere they are"
The rest of the gooners follow in unison bellowing "Ere they are", the man in the parka chuckles to himself. The original warning that an attack is about to happen.


April 1984. Bill Gardner and other **** were in lower tier of West stand and the North Bank was full of Gooners, towards the end of the game Bill and co sneak out trying to surprise The Arsenal lads by coming in from the stairwell behind. A lone figure starts pointing and shouting over and over “EIE EIE EIE”, and 800 gooners steamed down the stairwell and put paid to Bill and his plans. So much so that Tottenham never dared venture near the North Bank again.

Tottenham were cowardly mugs that used to drive around 5 handed and jump a single Arsenal fan, often not even another hoolie. That's why there is so much hate reserved for them from all over London.
We strode down the high road on route to Tottenham every year from 1981 until about 1993 and not once were we challenged at all. Some may also remember the time we took the Bull, circa 1987 (I think). Around the same time, we also put a ladder through one of their pub windows, though the pub escapes me at the moment (Bricklayers?).
January 2007 they claim to have taken the Bailey, not much of a result when you arrive 5 hours before kick-off and dish out slaps to the 5 or 6 shirters inside.
They were called down Holloway Road after the 4-4 draw in 2008, but if you watch the highlights of that game you'll notice that the majority of their lot were gone home long before full-time. Those who didn't skip off early were terrorised.
We also took Pymmes Park Inn in 1992 and The Bricklayers Arms in 1993, and they weren't taken the cowardly Tottenham way either. No tools and right before kick-off when they'd have had a mob in there.
The only time I remember Tottenham properly trying to take an Arsenal pub was back in 2000, when they tried to take The Duke. They failed miserably and were sent on their way.
Look at the CCTV footage from 2009 when they smashed up The George, they tried to smash up an empty pub 6 hours after kick-off then legged it when the boys turned up.

Kings Cross (I wasn't there, circa early 2000s) 35 **** and 35 Gooners going at it for a while until the **** were smashed. Many were surprised they actually showed.
The year escapes me now but you'll never here that lot talking about them getting done down the top of their own High Road either. In fact they don't ever talk about anything other than having a few in the North Bank in 1980.
Kings X enough said.

Arsenal don't talk themselves up or grass on each other in order to sell stories for books, TV, films etc etc. Anybody who doesn't rank Arsenal in their top 5 or 6 in the country is a Johnny Come Lately teenager who has been watching too much of “Greenstreet”.

The two biggest offs ever by any English club abroad:
Arsenal in Paris 1994.Arsenal in Copenhagen vs Galatasaray 2000.

Mate, You are so right. Reading some of the accounts brings back so many memories. I was only a young bloke, not big and tough but enjoyed the match days with the firm back in the 80s. Its very difficult to try and explain to the younger blokes these days just what the camaraderie/match day was like then.

I was at Luton too when West Ham turned up. The press go on about Millwall at Luton but i think that days was as bad if not worse.
Do you remember York? West Ham in the mid 80s, the game when a distress flare was launched down the pitch?
But Paris now that was absolute fucking mayhem. I remember a big square and the battles were not so much with PSG fans but with the local Arab community, which was the make up of the area around the ground.
Also how the OB just stood at the perimeter just watching and letting it happen. You had to be there to realise how full on it was.
I never did get to see the game. Was carted off and chucked on to a train home.
One of my mates who got our coach home told me that there wasn't a window left in it and of the 50 or so who went over to Paris only half a dozen returned on it.
Mad!!!

Sorry mate I forgot to press "quote", I replied to you and the other lads there (ignore the above post with the two full-stops, just me working my way around the site, can't delete it)