On this day in (Albion) history....

[Bono]

15th April 1978 - Football League Division 2

Brighton & Hove Albion 3 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Att. 32,647

I quote: (from SEAGULLS! The story of.....)

"The all-ticket visit of Spurs was the most glamourous match of the season, but it brought the worst football-related violence the town had ever seen. Mobs from London invaded Brighton on the Friday night, and the 'aggro' continued at the Goldstone the following day with 51 arrests and 85 casualties, 20 ending up in hospital. Tottenham supporters, supposed to be confined to the East and North-East terraces, infiltrated the North Stand in large numbers. The resultant fighting spilled onto the pitch and referee Alan Turvey was forced to take the teams off for 14 minutes..."

"The violence of the previous day prompted the FA to order the erection of a perimeter fence around the Goldstone pitch the following season."

Were you there?
What do you remember?

 

[1066gull]

Ah, those were the days.....

The days when I never existed.

 

[beardy gull]

I was only 8 years old but I remember the pictures in The Argus - some chap in a gorilla mask as I recall.

 

[dougdeep]

I hardly went that season as I was saving up to get married. Funny how easy it is to get your priorities wrong at that age.

 

[Braders]

Ah, those were the days.....

The days when I never existed.

*sigh* better times..

 

[Bakesy]

15th April 1978 - Football League Division 2

Brighton & Hove Albion 3 - 1 Tottenham Hotspur

Att. 32,647

I quote: (from SEAGULLS! The story of.....)

"The all-ticket visit of Spurs was the most glamourous match of the season, but it brought the worst football-related violence the town had ever seen. Mobs from London invaded Brighton on the Friday night, and the 'aggro' continued at the Goldstone the following day with 51 arrests and 85 casualties, 20 ending up in hospital. Tottenham supporters, supposed to be confined to the East and North-East terraces, infiltrated the North Stand in large numbers. The resultant fighting spilled onto the pitch and referee Alan Turvey was forced to take the teams off for 14 minutes..."

"The violence of the previous day prompted the FA to order the erection of a perimeter fence around the Goldstone pitch the following season."

Were you there?
What do you remember?

I WAS THERE........IT WAS MY FIRST EVER GAME.
I was on the East terrace and surrounded by Spurs.When Don McAllister got sent off i cheared and a HUGE middle aged Spurs bloke said"any more of that and you're dead "

That was it.......i was hooked.

 

[Kinky Gerbil]

Yid Army!

 

[bhaexpress]

I was there, in the North STand. I clearly remember the Spurs contingent infiltrating the back of the stand and then it kicked off. That was the first pitch invasion. The second was in the second half when Spurs went 2-0 down as the Spurs fans tried to get the game abandoned.

Subsequently the FA in their infinite wisdon ordered the raising fences even though it the violence was not caused by the home fans.

I remember thinking once they were raised that as the crowd could no longer escape onto the pitch somebody would get killed someday. Tragically that's exactly what happened at Hillsborough.

 

[Muhammad - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

i can remember being in the northstand when everyone was singing 'come and join us come and join us'





so they did

 

[The Oldman]

Was there with Dad and brother in law standing in the North West Corner. All very exciting. Football was not much but we won

 

[cheshunt seagull]

I had been drinking with friends in the Dyke Tavern but we parted company at the ground as they all had tickets for the South Stand and I was in the North.
I walked into the North Stand, scarf on , at about 2.15. Suddenly I looked up straight into the face of a Spurs fan who grinned and shook his head at me and I realised that part of the North Stand had been taken over by Spurs. Being the coward I am, I turned and legged it out, thankfully they let me go and a few just spat at me as I left. I headed straight for the gents, took my scarf off, wrapped it around my waist under my shirt and then stood on the packed West terrace and watched it all kick off big time. The area behind the terrace was like a scene from a wild west saloon with fights breaking out all over the place. The game itself flew by and there was a great solo goal by Clark. The press the next day went on about there being a pitch invasion, the invasion was people getting away from the trouble in the stand. The response was to put up fences, had they been in place that day people would have had nowhere to go.

 

[Uncle C]

Was that the game where Clark lost a boot but went on to score anyway?

 

[sullyshuffle]

yep, remember being in the North Stand before the game, and recognising the London accents, decided to move to the Noth West corner in time to avoid the fighting.
Who cares, coz we whipped them on and off the pitch that day!

 

[Starry]

I remember thinking once they were raised that as the crowd could no longer escape onto the pitch somebody would get killed someday. Tragically that's exactly what happened at Hillsborough.

17 years ago today, as well. RIP.

 

[Easy 10]

I was only 8 years old but I remember the pictures in The Argus - some chap in a gorilla mask as I recall.

Naah, that was Grealish.

 

[Bry Nylon]

I was there. I was about 10 and standing on the East Terrace with my dad. Oddest thing was walking back through Hove park after the game as I was just a 10 year old lad with his 45 year old dad and everybody - Spurs fans, Albion fans, police - just left us alone. Yet all around us there were people bundling on the grass, alsations going berserk, coppers dragging people apart etc. It was like we were invisible!!

My old man was born and bred in Glasgow and is a veteran of more Old Firm games than he can remember. I don't think he thought it was much of a big deal!!

 

[seagullsovergrimsby]

Remember the Spurs fans singing "hit 'im on the head with a baseball bat, on the 'ead, on the 'ead" . The pitch invasion was us trying to get away from being given a good kicking in. I managed to avoid getting smashed up by the hoolies and escaped and walked trackside down to the South Stand.

 

[the wanderbus]

That was the first time I was chucked out of a game, some of us climbed on the roof of the cafe in the NW corner(partly for a better view& partly to get away from spurs fans) about 1/4 hour before the end the police told us to climb into the west stand & they would relocate us in the south, they led us out into the road & locked the doors behind us - bastards.
There was also a lot of trouble at WHL, a Spurs mate told me at the time that one of the reasons it all kicked off was that we went up there mobhanded & they wanted to show us not to take liberties.