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The headhunters?

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By the way, I don't think I ever went on one of Hickey's coaches, but knew him of old, way back when he was just one of that lot from Tunbridge Wells.

Similar to that.Everyone knew there were different groups from all over but you probably didn't know them individually and didn't really care as long as they were Chels and appeared when required as in the away support sense.We were too busy doing our own coaches etc to think about tagging on to any others.

Blimey anytime now whenever in new company and you mention the Chelsea thing,the amount of times you're asked if you knew the lot from Woking/Battersea/Hastings etc,or any other town in the south east.

Sometimes,It was more about what pub you drank in than where you were from which gave you an identity.If you were away you'd see people from the Brittania,Ifield,Dray,Stars or Imperial and even without colours be able to make a familiar connection.Or just a nod from a distance was enough to proclaim to your pals "they're Chelsea".

Unlike today their wasn't a lot of flags or banners and even fewer of those had your town or postcode on.  

 
trouble is it f**king trendy to be a chelsea fan to-day unlike it was back in the day ..................now don't get me started

 
Tommy Docherty said:
One more point. You're right. There are many things of which I have no first hand experience of but have an opinion on. However, I'd be inclined to accept the word of someone who did have first hand experience of any given situation, Life in Edinburgh for instance. I might well have preconceptions about what it's like to live in Edinburgh based on what I've heard and what I've read,, but having never visited the city, would take the word of someone who actually has experienced what it's like to live in Edinburgh..
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Who's defensive? As I've already stated if fighting's how you get your end off, fair enough, but why not do it in a constructive way like boxing?

At any point did I say YOU specifically wanted to punch f**k out of someone? I don't think I did, I believe I used it in a broad loose term. So please stop twisting what I'm saying.

I also never said YOU thought you were a hard man, again twisting what I write. 

"Going to away games was often a dangerous occupation. So it's not so much that "other people did it" Hence you were talking about Chelsea fans so I addressed it as the headhunters, my mistake I should of made it clearer.

rumpole said:
Whats that Doc you mean drug dealing, smack head , work shy theiving  c**ts cutting  about the town centre   ..
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At least we don't loot and pillage our own city. OH and its thieving, must be that Edinburgh education that taught me how to spell :laugh2:

 
EdinburghBlue said:
Who's defensive? As I've already stated if fighting's how you get your end off, fair enough, but why not do it in a constructive way like boxing?

At any point did I say YOU specifically wanted to punch f**k out of someone? I don't think I did, I believe I used it in a broad loose term. So please stop twisting what I'm saying.

I also never said YOU thought you were a hard man, again twisting what I write. 

"Going to away games was often a dangerous occupation. So it's not so much that "other people did it" Hence you were talking about Chelsea fans so I addressed it as the headhunters, my mistake I should of made it clearer.

At least we don't loot and pillage our own city. OH and its thieving, must be that Edinburgh education that taught me how to spell :laugh2:
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are you my spell checker ?  what with the constant dribble your coming out with that is about your limit now what did they say in trainspotting? was it jog on

Got to be honest with you Jock last time i was in that sh*t hole Edinburgh looked to me that the Sassanach Anglo Saxon have already looted it

 
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EdinburghBlue said:
1, Who's defensive? As I've already stated if fighting's how you get your end off, fair enough, but why not do it in a constructive way like boxing?

At any point did I say YOU specifically wanted to punch f**k out of someone? I don't think I did, I believe I used it in a broad loose term. So please stop twisting what I'm saying.

3. I also never said YOU thought you were a hard man, again twisting what I write. 

4. "Going to away games was often a dangerous occupation. So it's not so much that "other people did it" Hence you were talking about Chelsea fans so I addressed it as the headhunters, my mistake I should of made it clearer.
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1. You're defensive. You've got your opinion and you're sticking to it, cherry picking here and going out of your way to miss any and every point that's as plain as the nose on your face. For example where I state that most of the time nobody got hurt, that you are/were far more likely to get badly hurt in a gang fight or on a night out than in what was often so-called football violence. I say "so-called" because gangs of bloke chasing each other up and down the street - which is as far as it went most of the time - isn't actually very violent at all.

2. I'm twisting nothing. You're not talking about me specifically when it suits you, even though you address me personally. I've also state that I'm talking in general terms about what it was like to go to football. Use a bit of common and you'll realise that this means relating my personal experience of what it was like and expressing it in general terms.

3. The same applies here. I'm twisting nothing. You appear to be skimming through the thread, and my posts in particular, taking things out of context if and when it suits you, and ignoring what I'm getting at.

4. You talk about headhunters because I talk about Chelsea fans? Even though... if you care to read and digest the last few posts in this thread, it's clear that the term "headhunters" was invented for the press. Yes it was dangerous to get caught on your own at somewhere like White Hart Lane, Upton Park or any number of other grounds. It happened to me a few times, and as I've stated here and elsewhere, I was extremely lucky not to get battered. Look elsewhere and you'll read where I took mates of mine, a QPR fan and even West Ham fans into the Shed, drinking in the Maltsters before the game,  And they never got touched. Not just because they were with me but because quite simply the majority of so-called hooligans actually weren't, hence my point about fighting being incidental to the experience of going to football.

The amount of actual violence was generally vastly over-estimated. Football fans were treated like sh*t by the old bill and by politicians, portrayed as scum in the press. Thatcher and the Tories hated us as much as they hated the miners. Thatcher was all too ready to believe that HIllsborough was the fault of drunken hooligans and drunken hooligans alone. Yes there were nutters, out and out psychos, but you'll get nutters and psychos anywhere. See also my point earlier about racism at football as a reflection of the racism that was widespread in society at the time. It's the same with fighting at football, which was part of a culture that developed over time, taking ends, running another mob. Going to football in the '70s and '80s is a culture that's easy to condemn from a distance but nigh on impossible to understand if you weren't there. And you're not even trying to understand.

 
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I went to the vast majority of Chelsea games home and away from 1972 until 1985/86, and never once heard any of our mobs referred to as the headhunters - for me it was just the Shed, North Stand, or Gate 13. I'm so glad some of you have said the same, I thought my memory was getting even worse!

 
Bluebeard, I did 99% of homes and a lot of away games between 79 and 87, as you say, remember the Shed, north stand, was in the benches, and ended up in Gate 13 for a while. Bumped into / on nodding terms with some of Hickey's lads but don't recall the headhunters at that time.

Pretty sure I saw Hickey and a few others on the Munch S-Bahn in 2005, but was hammered at the time Abingdon spent the afternoon in a bier keller..

Drank in the Swan, Palmerston, and various other pubs, and had great fun at Brighton in 82(?), Leeds away, where cops tried to take my car keys away "in case I threw them at someone", yeah sure mr northern plod, I'm going chuck the keys to my XR2 which costs more than your years salary at someone and walk back to London... Particularly enjoyed Cambridge away, loads of lads there and recall some on roof of stand trying to get to the big match TV camera

As others have said, that was the way it was at the time, now we're all in our 50s.

 
Abingdon = as had

How do you edit if pressed post too soon- DOH

 
Tommy Docherty said:
1. You're defensive. You've got your opinion and you're sticking to it, cherry picking here and going out of your way to miss any and every point that's as plain as the nose on your face. For example where I state that most of the time nobody got hurt, that you are/were far more likely to get badly hurt in a gang fight or on a night out than in what was often so-called football violence. I say "so-called" because gangs of bloke chasing each other up and down the street - which is as far as it went most of the time - isn't actually very violent at all.

2. I'm twisting nothing. You're not talking about me specifically when it suits you, even though you address me personally. I've also state that I'm talking in general terms about what it was like to go to football. Use a bit of common and you'll realise that this means relating my personal experience of what it was like and expressing it in general terms.

3. The same applies here. I'm twisting nothing. You appear to be skimming through the thread, and my posts in particular, taking things out of context if and when it suits you, and ignoring what I'm getting at.

4. You talk about headhunters because I talk about Chelsea fans? Even though... if you care to read and digest the last few posts in this thread, it's clear that the term "headhunters" was invented for the press. Yes it was dangerous to get caught on your own at somewhere like White Hart Lane, Upton Park or any number of other grounds. It happened to me a few times, and as I've stated here and elsewhere, I was extremely lucky not to get battered. Look elsewhere and you'll read where I took mates of mine, a QPR fan and even West Ham fans into the Shed, drinking in the Maltsters before the game,  And they never got touched. Not just because they were with me but because quite simply the majority of so-called hooligans actually weren't, hence my point about fighting being incidental to the experience of going to football.

The amount of actual violence was generally vastly over-estimated. Football fans were treated like sh*t by the old bill and by politicians, portrayed as scum in the press. Thatcher and the Tories hated us as much as they hated the miners. Thatcher was all too ready to believe that HIllsborough was the fault of drunken hooligans and drunken hooligans alone. Yes there were nutters, out and out psychos, but you'll get nutters and psychos anywhere. See also my point earlier about racism at football as a reflection of the racism that was widespread in society at the time. It's the same with fighting at football, which was part of a culture that developed over time, taking ends, running another mob. Going to football in the '70s and '80s is a culture that's easy to condemn from a distance but nigh on impossible to understand if you weren't there. And you're not even trying to understand.
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1. That's not defensive? It's having an opinion and you're right I am sticking to it because it's MY opinion and no one certainly not you is going to tell me what that should be.

2. I address your posts specifically because it's you I'm having the discussion with.

3. I do understand your point but you're missing mine. A specific group of fans i.e Chelsea went to WHL and walked past Spurs fans. They didn't just incidentally get into a fight. They were going looking for a fight. Irrelevant if there was any violence, chasing another 'mob' what was to happen if you caught them exactly? The intent was there to do harm.

 
EdinburghBlue said:
1. That's not defensive? It's having an opinion and you're right I am sticking to it because it's MY opinion and no one certainly not you is going to tell me what that should be.

2. I address your posts specifically because it's you I'm having the discussion with.

3. I do understand your point but you're missing mine. A specific group of fans i.e Chelsea went to WHL and walked past Spurs fans. They didn't just incidentally get into a fight. They were going looking for a fight. Irrelevant if there was any violence, chasing another 'mob' what was to happen if you caught them exactly? The intent was there to do harm.
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1. Yes of course you're entitled to your opinion. The point is that you have an opinion based on what you've heard and what you've read, and you're sticking to that opinion come what may, no matter what you may be told by people who were actually there.

2. But you're not "discussing" anything, you're simply sticking to your guns about incidents of which you have no first hand experience..You ignore everything I've written about the non-violent aspects of going to football, of football culture, which in fact makes up the bulk of what I've written, and made up by far the most important parts of the experience of going to football for the majority of people.

3. No you don't understand. I talk about getting caught on my own at White Hart Lane. I've given two examples elsewhere, One time  where I've got literally 100's of Tottenham fans behind me, one of them kicks me up the arse, knowing I'm Chelsea. Fortunately I knew one of their top boys or the chances are I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. The other time I mention was the relegation battle, when the crowd surged on to the pitch before the game during overcrowding. Most of the Chelsea didn't even get in that day. Or at Leeds, I'm on my way to the tea bar at half time, I run into a mob of about 20 Leeds fans. Fortunately for me I'm spotted by Hickey and a few of his mates. We went to Millwall and it was mayhem To go on your own would have been suicidal. Same at West Ham. And all you want to do is sit in judgement about people going looking for a fight,

 
Tommy Docherty said:
1. Yes of course you're entitled to your opinion. The point is that you have an opinion based on what you've heard and what you've read, and you're sticking to that opinion come what may, no matter what you may be told by people who were actually there.

2. But you're not "discussing" anything, you're simply sticking to your guns about incidents of which you have no first hand experience..You ignore everything I've written about the non-violent aspects of going to football, of football culture, which in fact makes up the bulk of what I've written, and made up by far the most important parts of the experience of going to football for the majority of people.

3. No you don't understand. I talk about getting caught on my own at White Hart Lane. I've given two examples elsewhere, One time  where I've got literally 100's of Tottenham fans behind me, one of them kicks me up the arse, knowing I'm Chelsea. Fortunately I knew one of their top boys or the chances are I wouldn't be here to tell the tale. The other time I mention was the relegation battle, when the crowd surged on to the pitch before the game during overcrowding. Most of the Chelsea didn't even get in that day. Or at Leeds, I'm on my way to the tea bar at half time, I run into a mob of about 20 Leeds fans. Fortunately for me I'm spotted by Hickey and a few of his mates. We went to Millwall and it was mayhem To go on your own would have been suicidal. Same at West Ham. And all you want to do is sit in judgement about people going looking for a fight,
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I'm not ignoring it I have read it and I see your point which is why I'm not addressing it, I'm addressing the parts that I don't agree with you on, but as you've stated it was in general society as well but that doesn't excuse people from going looking for a fight. Which is exactly my point it was football fans in general and those 100 Tottenham fans were probably looking for trouble. As people should, fighting isn't something you should be proud of.

 
Shug said:
Bluebeard, I did 99% of homes and a lot of away games between 79 and 87, as you say, remember the Shed, north stand, was in the benches, and ended up in Gate 13 for a while. Bumped into / on nodding terms with some of Hickey's lads but don't recall the headhunters at that time.

Pretty sure I saw Hickey and a few others on the Munch S-Bahn in 2005, but was hammered at the time Abingdon spent the afternoon in a bier keller..

Drank in the Swan, Palmerston, and various other pubs, and had great fun at Brighton in 82(?), Leeds away, where cops tried to take my car keys away "in case I threw them at someone", yeah sure mr northern plod, I'm going chuck the keys to my XR2 which costs more than your years salary at someone and walk back to London... Particularly enjoyed Cambridge away, loads of lads there and recall some on roof of stand trying to get to the big match TV camera

As others have said, that was the way it was at the time, now we're all in our 50s.
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I drank in the Wheatsheaf for a couple of years, then The Rising Sun, The Hand & Flower, The Lord Palmerston, The Rose, The White Hart, The Kings Head, The Swan and The Black Bull. Not all on the same day of course, unless I was really thirsty! :wink:

 
BlueBeard said:
I drank in the Wheatsheaf for a couple of years, then The Rising Sun, The Hand & Flower, The Lord Palmerston, The Rose, The White Hart, The Kings Head, The Swan and The Black Bull. Not all on the same day of course, unless I was really thirsty! :wink:
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Why not!!!! maybe because drinking halfs wasn't  fashionable then

 
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