Panorama on Hillsborough

I didn't watch it last night, will watch it later, but I can imagine how horrendous it's going to be as a football fan.

On Pasoti there is a thread where the away game at Arsenal in the mid 80's is mentioned, the 6-1 FA Cup game, and how lucky it was that something similar didn't happen.

Did anyone else go to the game? It really was mental and it really could've been the "Hillsborough" which was always going to happen sooner or later.

I remember arriving late as the traffic was terrible and getting out of the coach to see Argyle fans everywhere trying to get into the ground. By the time we got in after a manic 10 minutes queuing up where the programme seller got robbed of all his programmes and pushed over by someone I knew back then, and the Police just pushing more and more people into the already heaving queue.

It was obvious the away end was already full so they opened up the Clock End to us and just placed a small barrier between the fans. Luckily I don't remember seeing any trouble because it could've been carnage. The Argyle fans were in a great mood despite the scoreline. It was already 2-0 by the time I got into the ground!

The worst part for me was after the game. The Arsenal crowd were applauding us and shaking our hands for being such a great crowd and although we got hammered I remembered it really didn't hurt because they were just awesome and in a strange way it was a privelige to have seen them play like they did and we weren't really expecting to win.

The mood turned quickly though as we exited and into this kind of corridoor-way where it was way too crowded because the Police were blocking the exit. Packed in like sardines, the Argyle fans kept coming down into the corridoor even though it was clearly too uncomfortable already, and then a water pipe burst and started spraying everyone which caused a huge surge that you couldn't help but be carried along in. It probably wasn't that long but being in amongst it all felt like ages and it was really hard to breathe.

If anyone had gone over I don't think they would've been able to get back up and would've been trampled, I almost went over a couple of times myself.

It was weird because the street level was above us and you could see Police everywhere just stood around even though they could see how dangerous it was, and at one stage I remember seeing faces at the windows just above us, I think one was the changing rooms but that is just a guess, and someone kept shouting "Let them out, let them out"

Eventually we all surged forward again and we were out onto the street but for the few minutes stuck in there it was mayhem.

I've been in countless crowds like that but I can honestly say that was the only time I feared for my life.

It can't have been anything like as bad as Hillsborough was for the fans there but it was amazing that nobody got hurt, or seriously hurt that I heard about.

Hillsborough - How They Buried The Truth - Panorama.

'The System' is corrupt. The Police, the Judicial System, the politicians - Jack Straw and Tony Blair. Discrediting witnesses, changing police statements, cover ups, lies and deceipt for self protection.
'Altering police statements does not amount to irregularity and malpractice'. Lord Justice Stewart-Smith Feb 98. Jack Straw agreed.

Time now for people to be held accountable and charged.

The whole heartbreaking episode could have been and should have been avoided. I was at the Leppings Lane end (thankfully in the seats upstairs) for the Semi Final in '81. We were pulling crushed Spurs fans from the pens below that year too.
The FA did nothing and 96 died.

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I was in the clock end at Highbury but thankfully avoided anything you've described.

I was also accidentally in the home end at Loftus Road, as we arrived late and went into via the first turnstyle we saw. It was when ne beat them 3 - 0 in the League Cup. Didn't dare cheer when we scored

Was there and I suppose lucky to have got in a bit earlier and back of the Clock End next to Arsenal fans - even back there was a squeze towards kickoff and into the game. Scarry old stuff!!

I was getting lifted off my feet at that Highbury game. We ended up climbing over the hoardings at the front - if there were fences there would have been major casualties without a doubt.

Arsenal just weren't prepared for 14,000 away fans. So much so they kept the area under the Clock sectioned off. It wasn't until people were literally screaming at the stewards to do something that they opened that area and the pressure eased.

Mental day out, and Rowbotham scored the best goal of the game...

i was at highbury for that game too. avoided any crush on exit though. the worst ive been in was at brizzle, late eighties cup game. golf balls flying about, police horses rearing up, pushed through the exit gate by the crowd, but got in for free. i remember saving up for the train in my 'bristol fund' pot. my dad thought i was having a sex change!!

Mapperley, darling wrote:

i was at highbury for that game too. avoided any crush on exit though. the worst ive been in was at brizzle, late eighties cup game. golf balls flying about, police horses rearing up, pushed through the exit gate by the crowd, but got in for free. i remember saving up for the train in my 'bristol fund' pot. my dad thought i was having a sex change!!

Thank you Darling

Mapperley, darling wrote:

i was at highbury for that game too. avoided any crush on exit though. the worst ive been in was at brizzle, late eighties cup game. golf balls flying about, police horses rearing up, pushed through the exit gate by the crowd, but got in for free. i remember saving up for the train in my 'bristol fund' pot. my dad thought i was having a sex change!!

Bristols fund

That was the round before arsenal. It wasn't pleasant there either. We were made to get on double decker buses from the railway station so no pubs before the game. It was pretty hairy being in a convoy of buses that the city fans knew contained just Argyle fans.

Tringreen wrote:

Mapperley, darling wrote:

i was at highbury for that game too. avoided any crush on exit though. the worst ive been in was at brizzle, late eighties cup game. golf balls flying about, police horses rearing up, pushed through the exit gate by the crowd, but got in for free. i remember saving up for the train in my 'bristol fund' pot. my dad thought i was having a sex change!!

Thank you Darling

any time.

and it was some little local train station, not temple meads if i remember rightly, which i probably dont.

sitting targets that day.

My grandparents were at the Arsenal v Argyle match in 1932,attended by 65386.They said it was terrible,could hardly breathe because of the crush,people with broken legs or fainting [or both] being passed down over the crowd to the perimeter of the pitch-health and safety wasn't much of a priority back then.Very interesting photo in the book which gives all the details of the game-Argyle players,including Sammy Black and Jack Leslie,absolutely surrounding the referee in protest against Arsenal's second goal,players were exactly the same back then apparently.It was bad enough in 1987,i remember the old man fell over and landed in a stream of piss running down the terraces,which brought forth a few choice expletives from him and uncontrollable mirth from me.

PS-1932,Third round FA Cup-Argyle 4 Manchester United 1,in front of 27200 at HP.Them were the days.

Mapperley, darling wrote:

i was at highbury for that game too. avoided any crush on exit though. the worst ive been in was at brizzle, late eighties cup game. golf balls flying about, police horses rearing up, pushed through the exit gate by the crowd, but got in for free. i remember saving up for the train in my 'bristol fund' pot. my dad thought i was having a sex change!!

that was my first away game. bloody mental. i remember the alleyway from the away end,some tw@t had parked a car in it! if i remember rightly a mini bus was on fire opposite the park.
i loved footy after that game

That Bristol City game was hairy to say the least. One of the lads on our coach was slashed with a Stanley across the leg! Mayhem in the park afterwards and almost getting crushed by police horses.

Ahhh nostalgia...

great days indeed.always found cardiff to be the worst one. had our car windscreen bricked outside ninian pk,..a very cold drive back to Tiverton

Eeeeee, there 150 thousand of us int' shoebox at Old Trafford, we got shot, bombed, chivved then sliced up wit' carving knife and buried behind the goal.

But you tell the youngsters of today that, and they wont believe ya.