Never mind Millwall , anybody else attend the 3 Play Off games against Leeds.
Although the Birmingham final game will always be remembered for Peter Shirtliff. And the disapearing West Midlands Police ' you are on your own boys' .
What about the Elland Road Game , Keith Edwards was their scorer and for me was without doubt the
most intimidating atmosphere for an away fan of any game I have ever been to.
I remember our train being halted outside Leeds Station , so the station could be cleared and double deckers were brought in to the station concourse and driven to the closest position to the turnstiles.
Our turnout was I would estimate 1500 and the outright hatred was something else.
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On the way to the third game at Birmingham they pulled the coaches up somewhere in the Brum suburbs and then sent us to the ground about 5 minutes before the start. We pulled up on some wasteland and had to make 500 yards across open terrain with no artillery support, or air cover, to the ground. We were probably outnumbered 10 to 1 in the end but winning that game was absolutely fantastic. I always think it was one of the most important games in CAFC's history. At the time there was no talk of going back to The Valley, and you felt that if we had gone down it could have been the end of Charlton.
Coming out of the ground at St Andrews was the 1st time I stood my ground when four or five of them rushed at our group as the late Johnny Statham decided to ask a solitary copper the best way to drive out of Birmingham. The 1st one took a running swing at me, missed and I caught him as he stumbled passed me - the second one ran into a pearl of a left swinger and fell to the ground like a sack of spuds screaming his head off. The others decided to back off as my previous successes upped my bravado.
Five minutes later when in the clear my legs decided to not work after the adrenaline had worn off. I had a swollen hand for about five days.
Until the St Andrews game I'd never seen 20ft high steel security fencing rocking like that.
I've still got Bob Bolder's glove from that game somewhere.
went to Elland Road with 7 others (2 cars), including Kev Hopkins.
Agree that that was the most frightening game I've been to.
Came home from St.Andrews with the great Kevin Nolan on the train back to Euston, basically in shock after that extra-time.
afterwards the gates were openned and for some reason I was at the front. I was expecting lines of police horses and cordons. Nothing, we all just walked out in the Leeds fans.
Couldn't get off work for the Friday St Andrews game.
Like others, I could not get time off fo rthe final, so went to watch Gillingham lose their final instead.
My favourite moment after the Birmingham game - we stopped off at the M1 services as we drove home and someone spotted my Charlton shirt.
"How did they get on?" he said. "We won 2-1 after extra time" I replied.
"I know" he said. "I was there. I just wanted to hear someone say it".
A golden moment.
1/ Parking my company van on a bit of waste land outside the ground only to spot a full scale riot going on around it through the gap in the stands, I was shitting myself because by boss never knew I took the van up there, it was however untouched, phew!
2/ Spending most of the game ducking and dodging the coins being thrown at us from the Leds fans, some of which were filed down to sharpen the points!
3/ The look of hatred on the faces of the Leeds fans at half time through the wire mesh that seperated us in the bar, feck me I am glad they never had wire cutters!!
4/ Expecting to find myself escorted when I left he ground only to find I walked out straight into the Leeds fans, how it never went off then I do not know.
I was unable to get to St Andrews, but to be honest after the above I was happy listening to it on the radio.
new underwear required after elland rd and st andrews.
He had to therefore try to casually turn around and walk back against the flow of the hordes of angry Leeds fans, desperately praying he'd been thorough in covering his colours and that no-one gave him cause to need to speak and reveal his strong South London accent all whilst trying to mask the euphoria he was feeling after the result. The fact I can tell this story tells you he made it home, but he says it was the most scarred he's ever been in his life.
I don't suppose you can argue that the reduction in hooliganism is anything but a good thing, but I can't help feeling like I missed out a bit by not having stories, like those on here, to tell.
After the game, were directed to the coach, parked in waste-land 100 yards up the road behind corrugated iron fencing. Despite being escorted out of Brum, Leeds fans banging on side of coach and throwing stuff. Arrived back in Catford about 3am as far as I can recall.
I would rather have took my chances with the Leeds fans than walking the streets of Catford at 3am :-)
We were busy celebrating in the relative calm round about Milton Keynes and all the cars around were tooting their horns and the people in them congratulating us.
If you ever get the chance to see the game on video - just look at Mark Aizlewood walking away from the goal mouth as the Charlton players are celebrating. We played them off the park that day.
I thought back to this game last season when Scott Sinclair said he found playing at The Valley intimidating......
ITV showed the highlights around 11.30p.m and woke them all up again. Palarse fan was 3 beds away, deep joy!
Got home to Woolwich about 3:30 and watched the video highlights and loved the commentator saying at one point "No-one deserves Division 1 football more than Mervyn Day..."
Leeds were thugs on the pitch too and Garth Crooks took a lot of battering that night. On the other hand Shirty really was lucky to be on the pitch at all after sorting out Baird - thanks ref.
Got home to Woolwich about 3:30 and watched the video highlights and loved the commentator saying at one point "No-one deserves Division 1 football more than Mervyn Day..."
Leeds were thugs on the pitch too and Garth Crooks took a battering that night. On the other hand Shirty really was lucky to be on the pitch at all after sorting out Baird - thanks ref.
Got back to Euston and walked back to Charing Cross via Holbourne.
Bumped into Joanna Lumley in Aldwich, and told her all about the game;she looked bemused to say the least.
On another point, thats why Ben Hayes (whatever happened to him) and myself organized a "10th Anniversary" do with Lennie Lawrence,Colin Walsh,Bob Bolder,Garth Crooks and the ref in Greenwich. Without them/that side we wouldn't have a club now to support.
Remember it being noisy but not that intimidating - although suppressing a reaction to Melrose's goal was tough.
Rang my Leeds mate to gloat as soon as extra time ended at St Andrews, for which he still hasn't forgiven me!
On the way to the third game at Birmingham they pulled the coaches up somewhere in the Brum suburbs and then sent us to the ground about 5 minutes before the start. We pulled up on some wasteland and had to make 500 yards across open terrain with no artillery support, or air cover, to the ground. [/quote]
I remember that bit of wasteland - it was a good job we got there so late, all the leeds fans were in the ground by then!!
Also remember one leeds fan in our end (who was with a couple of charlton mates) near us. He celebrated when they went one-up, but when we equalised, a number of our fans (amidst celebrations) deliberately surged into him and then he was looking round furiously, wanting to fight the one who done it, but he couldn't work out who exactly it was - probably didn't help that they managed to knock his glasses off at the time!!
I was with a few of us that had tickets in the main stand and you knew to keep your mouth shut for the duration.
We were in one of the bars after and left late so it was clear by the time we went back to London.
After the game at Brum we sensed there might be trouble so left as soon as the game ended. We got to the car as quick as we could and just drove when we were well out of the vicinity we stopped randomly at a pub. I couldn't believe it when we got in it was full of Charlton fans, really good atmosphere.
When we finally left and got on the motorway there was a traffic jam Charlton coaches and plenty of us in cars mixed with Leeds fans also heading back to London. It was a great night and remember my brother having no alternative but to p[ss on the central reservation as the traffic was going nowhere. The water pump in my car broke when we did get going I think it was about 3am when I eventually got home.
The thing that has stayed with me was the utter despair when they scored their goal in the final game I looked around me and the amount of people with their heads in their hands.
The elation when we turned it around at the death was fantastic, Leeds were gutted and silent they new it was over
For our younger viewers, some context. We'd spent a season in the top division (bizarrly called Division 1, for some reason) and the influence of Channel 4's transmission of American Football had led to these wierd things called playoffs, where a season's hard work (or failure) could be transformed in a two-legged contest. Even more bizarrly, if honours were equal, rather than penalties there was a third match, at a neutral ground. My god! How did TV cope!
And another thing. It was dark at St Andrews. OK, there were floodlights, but evening games at St Andrews did not feature heavily on Sportsnight or whatever. So you could see, of course, but it wasn't the halogen-type brtightness that we're used too now.
And something personal. I'd spent three years at Sheffield at university. The game was held on the day of my last exam. I'd scored a lift with a Leeds fan who was head of the local Legalise Cannabis Campaign. To get there on time I left the exam 30 minutes early. Some people I'd spent three years with, that was the last I saw of them, leaving the exam room.
The game, you know about. We were outnumbered. A little nervous, mostly, as I remember it. At the end, partly disbeleiving. We've never had enough to celebrate to learn how to do it properly and there were plenty of nervous jokes as we left about getting home, and you can sit by the window, and who can do a good northern accent.
We'll win things again, of course. But (thankfully?) the nights like that have become things of the past, precious memories. Cannabis man and I went to a backstreet pub somewhere (of the kind that are disappearing fast, too) and he drank more than he should have and I bought them all.
Thanks, Peter, and thanks CAFC.