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Your first Chelsea game?

Upsetter

Upsetter

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I know this one's been done before, but not for some time, during which a whole host of new members have joined, with a whole host of stories to tell. So here's mine.

Division 1: Chelsea 2-2 Man City August 21th 1971.

Attendance: 38,425

Chelsea: Philips. Dempsey, Harris, Webb. Boyle, McCreadie, Cooke. Hollins, Weller, Baldwin, Osgood

Goals: Weller, Baldwin

Man City: Corrigan, Book, Connor, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Young, Heslop, Davies, Lee, Mellor

Goals. Lee (2) Including a Frannie Lee trademark dodgy penalty.

I'd been calling myself a Chelsea fan since 1967, before the FA Cup Final against you know who, but prior to the Man City game, my experience of live football had been confined to non-league and schoolboy internationals at Wembley. I'd even got a friend from school to buy me programmes but had never actually made it. Then in August, my uncle, who as it happens lived in Hayes, next door to the Wilkins', asked if I'd like to go along to the Bridge. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. Sitting in the benches, I was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. Gutted that we didn't hang on to the lead, but enthralled by the sights and sounds, particularly from the Shed, to my not so distant right/. Next home game against Coventry (unfortunately I couldn't make it to the midweek game against West Brom), I went on my own, and headed straight for the Shed. From then it wasn't too long (never one to do things the traditional way, before I teamed up with some of my mates, local Chelsea fans, and was a regular at the Bridge.

The next season I started going away. Apart from the London derbies, my first out of London away was at Norwich, and to this day I remember the thrill of coming out after the game, being confronted with a mob of Norwich (not so many old bill around in those days) and my mates telling me "don't run, don't run!, and feeling proud of standing my ground. The following season was  my first full season going home and away, barely missing a match, and from then on I was a regular, home and away, until the late '80s when I moved away from London.

So that (with a major digression or two along the way) is the story of my first match at the Bridge. And here are the highlights:




 
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Home vs West Ham. Think it was 1972, I was 11. Remember it as Clyde Best scored for the pikeys, and there weren't that many black players back then

 
The first Chelsea game I ever saw was at the Dell in Southampton in September 1966.  On the terraces, pouring rain, and surrounded by men who were much taller than me!  But Chelsea won 3 - 0.  Peter Osgood, Bobby Tambling and ?  (memory failing me here) scored the goals.

 
On 18/09/2016 at 10:49, Upsetter said:

I know this one's been done before, but not for some time, during which a whole host of new members have joined, with a whole host of stories to tell. So here's mine.

Division 1: Chelsea 2-2 Man City August 21th 1971.

Attendance: 38,425

Chelsea: Philips. Dempsey, Harris, Webb. Boyle, McCreadie, Cooke. Hollins, Weller, Baldwin, Osgood

Goals: Weller, Baldwin

Man City: Corrigan, Book, Connor, Doyle, Booth, Oakes, Young, Heslop, Davies, Lee, Mellor

Goals. Lee (2) Including a Frannie Lee trademark dodgy penalty.

I'd been calling myself a Chelsea fan since 1967, before the FA Cup Final against you know who, but prior to the Man City game, my experience of live football had been confined to non-league and schoolboy internationals at Wembley. I'd even got a friend from school to buy me programmes but had never actually made it. Then in August, my uncle, who as it happens lived in Hayes, next door to the Wilkins', asked if I'd like to go along to the Bridge. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity. Sitting in the benches, I was overwhelmed by the sights and sounds. Gutted that we didn't hang on to the lead, but enthralled by the sights and sounds, particularly from the Shed, to my not so distant right/. Next home game against Coventry (unfortunately I couldn't make it to the midweek game against West Brom), I went on my own, and headed straight for the Shed. From then it wasn't too long (never one to do things the traditional way, before I teamed up with some of my mates, local Chelsea fans, and was a regular at the Bridge.

The next season I started going away. Apart from the London derbies, my first out of London away was at Norwich, and to this day I remember the thrill of coming out after the game, being confronted with a mob of Norwich (not so many old bill around in those days) and my mates telling me "don't run, don't run!, and feeling proud of standing my ground. The following season was  my first full season going home and away, barely missing a match, and from then on I was a regular, home and away, until the late '80s when I moved away from London.

So that (with a major digression or two along the way) is the story of my first match at the Bridge. And here are the highlights:

Click to expand...

Two beautiful Chelsea goals I'd never seen before. Thanks for posting that clip.

The idea that foreign players brought diving into the English game is a myth that can be dispelled by watching that fat cheating bar steward Franny Lee.

My first Chelsea game was later that season, away at Leicester. Ossie scored a late equaliser, and I banged my head celebrating.

 
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I was 16yo when I went to my first Chelsea game.

3-0 down at half-time.............

Cpture.JPG

 
Ninnian park was SW3 for the day.

 
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1998 -  Chelsea came and played Omagh Town after the Omagh bomb, and won 8-0 

The entire first time was there basically. JT was playing, 5th appearance.

A special moment for me in the time spent following the blues. 

 
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We won 3-0 at White Hart Lane sometime around the turn of the millennium, I think Flo, Jimmy and Zola were the scorers could be wrong. Was sitting in with the Spurs lot so I had to be on my best behavior which for a 5/6 year old is not that easy. First game at the Bridge I think we lost 4-2 to Southampton. I do recall going to the game against Middlesborough where Cudicini got sent off in a clash with Dean Windass and joining in with 'the referee's a w**ker' chant without knowing what it meant! 

 
coco said:
I was 16yo when I went to my first Chelsea game.

3-0 down at half-time.............

View attachment 6149
Click to expand...
Great day. Cardiff sold seats at the side twice!! There were some helpful ejections going on. Great footage on you tube in 3 sections. Shows Chelsea moving down to the home end and emptying it! Look at the difference from the first half and at the end.

 
Do you remember the Welsh flag being strung up at the back of the seated main home stand and set fire to by our lot? I was very close to that.

 
coco said:
Do you remember the Welsh flag being strung up at the back of the seated main home stand and set fire to by our lot? I was very close to that.
Click to expand...
Don't remember that. I was in the seats at the side with the paddock in front, was near their covered home end.

 
Cobham said:
Looks like Cardiff remember it well too:

http://www.cardiffcityforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=93441
Click to expand...


Two 13 carriage BR specials rolled into Cardiff station minutes apart. Thousands piled off and headed down to Ninian park. The walk went past the old arms park stadium and down a straight long road, either side of the road all the shops/premises were open and doing some good trade, I remember walking on the road and I could see a line of fans stretching beyond sight, with 99% of them wearing trainers and frayed jeans. 

Get's to the ground without seeing hardly any trouble at all, but thousands of Chelsea were all around the ground, the singing was non stop. At half time i overheard this copper speaking to some Chelsea fans about Leeds visit the week before and how good we were compared to them. We were 3-0 down at the time and things were pretty quiet in the stands, this was to change dramatically in the last 5 minutes of the game.

We scored three times and the place literally erupted like I have never seen since. Fighting broke out everywhere. The Welsh flag was strung on the roof girders at the back of their main seating stand and set alight.

That same copper who was having a laugh with the fans at HT was now fighting for his life.

Outside the ground it was even worse, Chelsea in every direction i looked, a big surge towards a high gate that blocked their way to the back of the Cardiff end. Within a few seconds dozens were scaling the gate, with dozens more at the bottom of the gate shaking it until it just collapsed. If you have ever seen a mass surge of thousands of football fans charging you will know what I mean when I say the place was like a middle ages battlefield.

That long street we travelled down on the way to the match now resembled Beruit.

 
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Can't seem to post YouTube clip but there is clip pt1 and 2. And also an 18 min clip. Just type Cardiff vs Chelsea 3-3 enjoy

 
Huddersfield Town away. My Dad was a Huddersfield fan as a lad, I had chosen Chelsea to follow after we won 4-0 at Old Trafford in the late sixties. We won 1-0, think it was Sponge who scored for us.

 
European Cup Winners Cup Semi-Final 1971

Home against Man. City 

Ill never forget the sights, sounds and smells of my first game.

Shed End behind the goal with my dad. I think I spent half the time watching the bigger lads behind me (Middle of The Shed) having a great time singing, jumping up and down. It was where I wanted to be.

The night games were so exciting for a ten year old. A hot dog and an Alan Hudson poster on the way out. Fantastic.

 
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