Have to say that my experiences of the late 70s and early 80s were much the same as oneillco and Harry Wilson's tackle.
It's like the Teenage sex syndrome, lots of talk, lots of posturing and very little action. There were things kicking off, but not on the scale I see described on here...
Really sad news. Lovely bloke who always had time for a chat with us star-struck amateurs in the Witch when we went in following our traditional Sunday morning victory over Wivelsfield