My uncle(R.I.P) who use to live in tufnell pk use to tell me about going's on at highbury and away,1st generation skin and staunch gooner,but never in front of me mum(you all know why)he has mentioned johnny Hoy and a few others but like most my memory ain't so hot(due to road accident).
I think he said something about him wearing a butchers coat?to games and my uncle use to laugh at stories of firms so-called''conquests''.He use to say''the way the media write you think there won the 2nd world war'' or the books about the ICF and Headhunters are well over the top,he said there always seem to forget to mention in these books etc that against us there come of worse and the only reason there can say there ''took'' the North Bank is there were in the ground at fuckin 1 o'clock or 2hrs before anyone arrived.
My 1st real actual taste of football trouble was in 76/77 against chavski in the league cup-we won 2-1-i was 12 and me and me mates had to go into the North Bank(one of only 4/5 times i wasn't able to get into the clockend)and i think half hour before kick off a load of chavski's came in from the right side of the bank into the upper stand.Well fuck me i was scared but a exciting scared if you know what i mean,the Gooners then fought these c**ts and pushed them all the way back some falling down the steps it was fucking great and the coppers came in swinging the old truncheon hitting anyone and i do mean anyone as some poor sod innocently standing and watching got a good smack on the noggin.
After that i see at the clockend a wave go towards the chavski and the singing started''Your'e never take the North Bank'' and ''Clockend do your job''.I then,after that experience,got a p/t job just to go to watch the Arsenal every game instead of waiting for me pocket money and going to home games only.Like i said happy days then
and the stories my uncle told me probably made me more proud to be a gooner.
in the 70's to these....happy days 
By 72/73, virtually everyone had long hair so we were called "boot boys" rather than skins. Used to change into those high waist band things and dodgy shirts if you were taking a young lady out in the evening but I always felt more comfortable in Levi's, jeans or sta prest 
Football specials-no toilet,1 bulb per carriage,benches for seats as coverings ripped off the week before,smelling of piss,drink and vomit and guaranteed return journey a few windows missing.Everyone packed in like cattle and the air was like a fog as the time it took to get anywhere you all smoked 20 fags.THAT'S WHY IT WAS CHEAP but great 
