Arsenal’s Grimmest Season (18/1)

[gooner.ed]

http://www.onlinegooner.com/exclusive/index.php?id=506

Usual thread starter… So who out there is hold enough to remember the early 1980s clearly then? Bleak times indeed. But you know what, there are many who enjoyed it more in those days, and I must admit, there are a lot of the aspects of matchdays then that were preferable. The cost of admission for one!

[Cus Geezer]

Jakarta - have enjoyed greatly your historical perspective on Arsenal fandom. But do you really think 1981/82 was it's grimmest.

Surely there are other contenders - the mid 70s when we finished 16th and 17th respectively for two seasons

Maybe in the 1950s and 60s during the 17 year drought, my old man reckons this was the very worst period to be a gooner.

[proudtosaythatname]

Yep - Gus is right, the 60s were by far the worst. They started with the Spuds doing the double, which was shoved down our throats whenever the opportunity arose - which was frequently.

However, all that changed in '71 and with the exception of the hooligan takeover in the 80s to which Jakarta refers, it's been pretty much uphill ever since. Reinforced of course by the decline of the Spuds... PS and I'm not Gus' father!

[donaldo]

Worse two seasons 74-75,75-76 we just managed to avoid relegation in both.There was some good news though Chelski went down in 75 and the mighty Spuds got relegated in 76.We may have had some dodgy seasons but none bad enough to get relegated

[Smudger]

I really enjoyed Jakarta Casual's piece on this grim season. I remember it very well as it was the time when I first started going regularly. I had only been about once a year from the first time when my Dad first took me when I was 9, and it was not easy as an innocent teenager living in Berkshire to get up to the big smoke. But me and this bloke Dave who was a fellow Arsenal supporter had arranged several times to go to Highbury, but for various reasons it never came off. Perhaps fortunately as it turns out because these were the dross games against Swansea and I think Ipswich. We then arranged to go and see the Villa game, but the day before he cried off again. This time I decided sod it I'm going anyway and got the train and made my way (on my own for the first time) to Highbury, paid my £3(!) and stood on the Northbank. What a game! 4-3 to Arsenal and fantastic atmosphere from the crowd of about 24,000 I think (quite a respectable crowd for that time as has been said). If I remember correctly someone from the crowd even ran on the pitch wearing a number 4 shirt with a ball and put it in the net during a break in play and got a great big cheer from the Northbank.

Being at Highbury again made me remember what a great place it was (the grandness of the stands, the tradition, the Police band et al) and why I had fallen in love with AFC in the first place - apart from being gently led that way by my Dad, of course. My only thing approaching real life football had been watching my home town team Reading toiling away in 3rd and 4th division rubbish, so after seeing this I was hooked. This was proper big boys stuff! I went back more times until the end of that season, so I was in the Northbank when it went off against the Spuds. In fact I was in the middle of the crowd when this copper came wading in waving his bloody great wooden truncheon at anybody and everybody who got near him. Sure enough I made sure I got out his way PDQ. Then I was there when the West Ham ICF steamed in and we were all pushed over to the top right hand corner (Avenell Road side). Ah simpler days - OK much more violent - and of course the beauty of it was that I could just get up on a Saturday morning and decide to go and watch the game and did not have to buy a ticket 2 months in advance! So I dont think it was the grimmest season, there seemed to be more fun then and its certainly a time I remember fondly.