Dirty Noses v The Villa 1978

[Dr Butler]

21st October 1978 - another Villa win 1-0   A.Gray

[usav]

So we had the Railway and the Tilton for that game?

[Charlie8182]

I believe this win stopped a run of 5 consecutive defeats against them.

[The Left Side]

Lovely stuff

[Villan For Life]

So we had the Railway and the Tilton for that game?

I thought that but don't recall the Railway End being for away fans. I reckon that it was more likely to be pay on the gate and as the nearest accessible stand to the city centre you'd have got a fair few Villa in there.

[dave.woodhall]

So we had the Railway and the Tilton for that game?

I thought that but don't recall the Railway End being for away fans. I reckon that it was more likely to be pay on the gate and as the nearest accessible stand to the city centre you'd have got a fair few Villa in there.

To get that many in a stand you'd have to be allocated it. When they talk about the Holte being split in the sixties (when there weren't home and away ends and you could still walk round the ground at half-time) remind them of this one, in the days of proper segregation, when we had both ends.

[frankmosswasmyuncle]

Remember the game pretty well...strangely...I used to play against Steve Fox (no 11 for THEM in this game)  locally...never gave him a sniff of a second on the ball and always had good games against him.

Andy Gray's great!

[London Villan]

I remember the game in December 1987 I sat upstairs in the Railway with my dad and a group of his mates, it was pretty evenly split that day up there too.

[ez]

That was the first villa blues game i went to. This was the season after the Argentina world cup so there was a lot of torn up paper being thrown about that season.

[PeterWithesShin]

I'm not convinced we were allocated it as plenty are in blue or don't celebrate as Gray scores. I reckon it was just 'taken'.

[Pat McMahon]

IIRC for the first couple of years after we came up in 1975 they gave us the Tilton (standing) and the Railway End (seating). I think the game at their place in 1975-6 had a crowd of circa 46,000, of which around a  third must have been Villa.

Over the next few years this gradually whittled down to half / two thirds of the Tilton and some seats in the stand to the right.

Now just the Railway End since it became all seating.

[Dave Summers]

IIRC for the first couple of years after we came up in 1975 they gave us the Tilton (standing) and the Railway End (seating). I think the game at their place in 1975-6 had a crowd of circa 46,000, of which around a  third must have been Villa.

Over the next few years this gradually whittled down to half / two thirds of the Tilton and some seats in the stand to the right.

Now just the Railway End since it became all seating.

I was at the 1975 game and this one, this was the first time I saw us beat them and it did stop a run of 5 consecutive defeats.  As far as segregation is concerned, we were never "given the Railway" or any other seats.  We were allocated the Tilton for the terracing and Blues obviously had the Kop.  However the seats at that time throughout the country were unsegregated, you simply applied to the home club and they sent you the tickets, or you paid on the day.  I sat for this game in the Main stand paddock, the side of the cameras and there were as many Blues as there were Villa in that stand. I watched several games from that location as well as a 1-0 (Peter Withe just after Saunders went there) from the Upper Railway.  Every single game the seats were unsegregated.   The same applied at Villa Park where there were Blues fans in the Trinity and Witton Lane stands every season.  Bit different now huh? :-)

[usav]

As I was born in 74, all I remember from the early 80's onward was very clear segregation.  So let me ask you this, was there any trouble in the seats when you jumped up and cheered for Villa scoring, or was it all confined to the terraces?  i.e. were you considered somewhat safe in the seats?

[Dave Summers]

As I was born in 74, all I remember from the early 80's onward was very clear segregation.  So let me ask you this, was there any trouble in the seats when you jumped up and cheered for Villa scoring, or was it all confined to the terraces?  i.e. were you considered somewhat safe in the seats?

Not that I ever saw, but I do recall being told by a Blues fan in my cricket club that his mate hit a Villa fan in the Trinity at a game, but generally the police presence at derbies in those days was on the terraces.  I watched Villa loads of times at Blues, WBA, Coventry, Stoke, Forest, Derby in those days and always in unsegregated seats and I NEVER once felt threatened or saw any trouble in the seats.

I would also say that I went to every Blues v Villa game at St Andrews and up until the Div 2 game in 1987 was never concerned.  That day something changed though and by the time the League Cup games came around in 1993 it was extremely hostile and completely segregated, in that we just had half of the Tilton.  That night was the last time I ever went there to watch Villa and I have no intention of going again as I just don't think Football is worth it. 

It's a bit backwards in that when hooliganism was at its worst, I felt completely safe at Blues but now when it has been eradicated somewhat and grounds are much safer, I would hate to go there

[barrysleftfoot]

 Was this the "Tarantini what a w@@@@r " game?