Promotion day at Swindon

[Richie]

http://youtu.be/TQ_giPugEHA

My ticket was legitimate. Anyone out there get lumbered with a dodgy ticket ?

Crammed in like sardines, whilst the 200 odd Swindon fans in the next pen had as much room as they liked !

Great day. The 8 or so minutes after our match had finished felt like a life time, as we waited to see if Leicester could hold out for the win at Boro.

They did. Cue delirium.

 

[Richard E]

It was murder outside. I remember being right by the turnstiles about to go in and then suddenly being right at the back of the crush again. Eventually the Police formed a cordon and let a few through at a time. At one stage a load of programmes came flying over the top - I think some Villa forced their way in?

Remember bugger all about the actual match - couldn't have told you we hit the woodwork twice. Great feeling at the end when the final whistle eventually went at Boro.

[DeKuip]

Thanks for posting that Richie - memories of a very enjoyable day and the lads I went with back then, great times.

I've been in worse crushes at bigger and better grounds but when you see that empty section next to us there it just highlights the way football supporters were treated by the police, football authorities and the government back then. In that clip the major concern of the police seems to be that no-one gets in with a dodgy ticket, not about the welfare of those caged in. All those cameras and watching fans on the screen, yet no-one thought about moving some of us into the empty section. Ring any bells?

Most of us just put up with it as it we knew no different I suppose, and accepted it as being as much part and parcel of the days out we had as having bricks thrown at your coach or having to watch your back wherever you went.

[andyaston]

Having Villa fans caged and crushed into that corner while the rest of the ground was half empty was nothing short of a disgrace. The following season at West Ham was a close call and eventually the following April, 95 people lost their lives because like the above poster said, the police couldn't give a shit about the fans safety.

[dave.woodhall]

The police refused to allow us to have the other section as it was members-only. In fact they had some daft age restriction that meant it was for over 30s only. A few weeks before we played there they did a check and arrested 100-odd underage football supporters.

[Tugby Villain]

The way the guy talks you'd think that all the Villa fans were wild animals. 

[Damo70]

I remember the terrible crush trying to get in at the start and the waiting on other results at the end. I don't remember anything about the game and I don't actually recall being crushed during the match. I also remember my mate repeatedly playing Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac all the way home in the car. It still makes me smile whenever I hear it.

[Richard E]

I remember the terrible crush trying to get in at the start and the waiting on other results at the end. I don't remember anything about the game and I don't actually recall being crushed during the match. I also remember my mate repeatedly playing Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac all the way home in the car. It still makes me smile whenever I hear it.

I don't think it was particularly tight inside, I've been in worse. It was just a mare getting into the ground in the first place!

[Charlie8182]

I remember the terrible crush trying to get in at the start and the waiting on other results at the end. I don't remember anything about the game and I don't actually recall being crushed during the match. I also remember my mate repeatedly playing Everywhere by Fleetwood Mac all the way home in the car. It still makes me smile whenever I hear it.

I'm always reminded of Theme from S-Express when this game is brought up.  I didn't know I was going until the day before when we got tickets from a bloke at the Kings Highway in Quinton- probably not legit to be honest but we got in.  Along with Arsenal in 1996, probably the best 0-0 draw ever, I remember nothing about the game but everything about being there, the occasion and the bloke next to us with the radio with events from Middlesbrough & Bradford (chanting "we love Leicester!!) – 26 years ago now! 

[BC54 VFC]

My wife was pregnant, expecting our elder son, when we went to that game. Lucky we had seats, judging by those scenes. Thanks for posting, Richie.

[bertlambshank]

2789 was the ticket number I recall.

[darren woolley]

Thanks for posting.

[LeeB]

I was right down the front of that pen for my first away game.

One of the coppers collected the shrapnel up of the ground and gave it to me (I was 11 at the time), and the same one grabbed McInally during the celebrations and sent him over to have a chat with me.

So not all coppers there were complete areseholes.

[Rudy Can't Fail]

Mad day. I managed to get in early so missed the crush outside but it was stupidly tight inside. A friend I was with got on the pitch at the end and David Platt gave him his shirt. My mate's younger brother was an apprentice at the Villa and told Platt the story. In true Platt style, Platt demanded he get his shirt back.

[Chico Hamilton III]

One of my mates came home with one of Andy Gray's football boots which he nicked off his foot when they were celebrating on the pitch afterwards.