I woke up this morning all excited, but came down with a bump when I realised Cardiff kick-off their season tomorrow. The Championship did kick-off last night with a win for Blackpool1-0 over Hull City and were temporally on top of the league until today’s games.
My mind slipped back to a time before the wife, kids and bills to living with mum/dad and Cardiff City with next to no worries, but finding work. I have not been active with away trips in some time, but in the 1970's until the wife come along 1985 it was what Saturdays were about for me those days. I would climb aboard some kind of transport to cross over the English border to support Cardiff City through thick and thin. Works vans, over load cars who can forgot the British Rail football specials and the rickety old coaches. I have always enjoyed away days and prefer to miss a home game than an away trip so I would be well up for the first away trip of the season or would I?
The fact is I have never been to West Ham and for the life of me I cannot remember why. It cannot be because of hooliganism I was travelling when at kind of thing was at its worse. I had been to some of the scariest grounds at the time Leeds, Chelsea, Birmingham and the daddy of them all, Millwall without a qualm.
I was reminded recently about the time three friends and I found us on a train platform with the ICF and in the words of Danny Dyer 'they looked very naughty' and more intimating than the plod (police officer) on duly. That the time I remember being grateful to the copper (police officer) who took time out to give us the heads up on the situation also tell us a large group of Cardiff fans had just pasted through the station. Maybe one day I will get to go to West Ham ground and maybe do a full season but that will need an improvement in my heath first, who knows.
During my youth and early manhood, I was somewhat a hardcore away tripper but I have only done one complete season home/away/cups and even the Welsh Cup and that was in 1983/1984. The season before it was promotion to the Second Division with the Bennett brothers, Hemmerman, Mullen, and Gibbins, but the following season was not as exciting.
Away trips to Chelsea, Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester City and Portsmouth and there was my only every trip to Carlisle very early start from Ninian Park. There was also a South Wales derby game back on the menu with the Jacks in freefall after their little dalliances with the First Division.
I loved all the fans milling around the services but sometimes it could be hairy like that the last game of that season. We were off to Blackburn the coach was just about three quarters full, but when we hit the M5. We then surrounded by coach after coach loaded down with British City fans on the road to Chester City for a promotion part. We were like the cream in the middle of a cake with the Welsh dragon in the back window They would drive past us to give us the finger or the cut throat sign slow down for us to overtake us and they overtake us again just to remind us what they would like to do to us. Wisely, those in control decided to miss out the normal service stop just outside Birmingham.
On the way home the road seem to have a lack of Bristol City coaches so a quick stop at Frankley Services was agreed. In the upper car park, area there was not a sign of Wurzels, but as we pulled up above the lower car park, it was full of them. It did not take them long to spotted us and all hell broke out as they tried to force their way on to our coach. The plod saved the day by telling drive to get us out of there.
Unfortunately, it would not be the last promotion party I would have witness when the following week promotion Sheffield Wednesday held a promotion party at Ninian Park. The only reason I complete season was that all the Welsh Cup games were at home. I can count the number of away games in the Welsh Cup on one hand.
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