Anyone go to this game - and survive?

[hallamblue]

https://youtu.be/BQNG-dAS5m0

[Charnwood]

I was there Liz, what a fuckin nightmare that was.

[marko69]

Any other secret footage, Charnwood? Tried looking but can't find any. Hallam has said something about "surviving", but fk all happens in that YouTube clip. Did it get ugly towards ITFC fans elsewhere? Outside the ground maybe?

[hallamblue]

I couldn't go to that game as had just started work and had to work on that Saturday ( lucky me eh!).

There were running battles in the stands by all accounts. The atmosphere turned very dark within a few minutes of Town scoring the first 2 goals. If fact the atmosphere got do tense that the plsyets didnt even celebrste when they svored. Millwall fans were bloody great big hairy dockers and yes there were battles in the streets.

Here's the TWTD link to original video clip but you can read some of the fans accounts of what they encountered that day.

http://www.twtd.co.uk/forum/384708/anyo ... -match/#24


the violence / intimidation was so bad that day that Bobby Robson said " turn the flamethrower on the bastards," meaning Millwall fans.


Towns game is referred to in.this report near bottom of first column

http://www.millwall-history.org.uk/Mill ... themob.htm

[Charnwood]

Marko, at that time I was a Town season ticket holder living in Chelmsford, it was also at a time in my life when I never missed an Ipswich Town FA Cup tie regardless of who or where we were playing and after long trips to Cardiff and Bristol Rovers in earlier rounds a trip to Millwall was closer than going to a home game.
Although I'd been to Millwall once before and knew their reputation I wasn't unduly worried as I thought I was streetwise enough to be able to sidestep the problem and wore no town colours.
We drove from Chelmsford to the East End north of the river, parked the car and took the train, and walked to the ground with the locals. It was obvious at the rail station there was trouble brewing as there were gangs of louts hanging around waiting for Town fans to arrive on their special train.
As we got closer to the ground you could feel an intense atmosphere building and there were lots of Town fans already there, after all it was a Quarter Final and it was all we had to play for.
Once in the ground it soon became apparent that there wasn't total segregation and I can recall being kicked on the terrace by a kid as young as ten who was trying to provoke me to retailiate whilst his elder sibling or gang mate was ready to kick the sh*t out of us. Somehow I sidestepped this and moved closer into the huge crowd that was building, I think on the day the attendence was two or even three times Millwalls normal and I don't think there were anywhere near enough police at the start although they were soon drafted in.
Fighting broke out before during and after the game and I can honestly say I've never been more scared at a football game in my life. I think if you look up post match reports it was described as a full blown riot and all sorts of weapons were used including bottles knives and iron bars. I'm sure some of our North Stand Boys will have put up a bit of a fight but for most of us it was a case of self protection. I'm pretty certain that some Millwall fans were even fighting amongst themselves.
I can remember trying to leave at half time only to be told by the police that it wasn't safe to leave the ground. We stayed pretty close to the end but I don't recall watching much of the game and certainly I didn't see the last three goals.
I remember leaving the ground before the end and the police gave us some protection, eventually me and my pal broke away from the Town fans as we weren't prepared to go back to New Cross Station and started walking in the opposite direction and eventually jumped on a bus to London Bridge and despite our inward excitement didn't speak a word along the way and it stayed that way until we found the car.
I can't believe there are so few references to this "riot".... maybe Internet censorship.

[marko69]

Appreciate the time you've taken to post this, Charnwood. Certainly have set the scene there. And I must agree that it would've no doubt been a poisoness atmosphere. Violent atmospheres at games is something very difficult to describe to people who haven't experienced it. I actually understood that fear as you were describing it there.

I was too young in the 70's, but the "casual" scene took over in the 80's. The big 4 were Millwall, Leeds, Aberdeen and unfortunately, Hibs. The nutcases that attended games mid 80's was scary. What you've described there; I can relate to it. My older brother has been to one away game in his entire life and it was at Pittodrie...... The fighting kicked off and to say it was scary is an understatement. And like you said about Millwall fans, large portions of Hibs fans were fighting amongst themselves.

I've since watched a few more clips regarding Millwall and their fans. Definitely was a gamble going to certain games in the 70's. But on a more positive note, fairly sure the Dutch & Germans were worse than the British. Still a disgrace though.

[hallamblue]

Having looked around on Internet for that game Charny I think your last point of sensorship is spot on.

I've seen some fairly old battles at PR and not ever concerning the nodge lot either. The worst fans for trouble in my experience are London clubs Wet Spam, QPR, Millwall. Northern Club's, Leeds and Midlands Club's, Brum.


The 1970s was usually a running battle in and out of the grounds. Thankfully a thing of the past by and large now.

[Charnwood]

Just found this Liz from the EADT written in March 2008.

IT'S almost 30 years to the day Ipswich Town and Millwall clashed in the sixth round of the FA Cup. Town were on the way to their one and only FA Cup triumph to date. But it wasn't a smooth journey. Indeed Saturday, March 11, 1978 at Cold Blow Lane, in south London, was all terribly ugly. MIKE BACON looks back at one of the most frightening days ever for Town fans.

NOBODY likes us, we don't care.

An infamous football chant that fills innocents with fear and signals all that was bad with football in the 1970s and 80s.

The chant was used by Millwall “fans”, many of whom revelled in the club's notoriety of having a hooligan element in their midst.

But as Ipswich Town fans cheerfully made their way to south London on what proved to be a frightening winter's afternoon, on Saturday, March 11, 1978, the vast majority were unaware of the horror scenes they were walking into.

The Den at Millwall, was a tinderbox waiting to explode. And Ipswich Town fans felt the full force when it did.

Just three months before Town's visit, a BBC Panorama team had investigated the “English Disease” of football hooliganism and had taken their cameras to Cold Blow Lane, invited by bold Millwall manager Gordon Jago and his chairman Herbert Burnige.

The pair had suggested changing Millwall's home ground name from Cold Blow Lane to Montego Bay, to lighten the sense of fear and greyness in south London.

The BBC found however the overall picture wasn't that bad at Millwall. But it was a finding which wasn't on their expected agenda.

They were seeking to prove a theory, that football hooliganism was more than just a bit of Saturday afternoon violence and that it might even be linked to fascism and the National Front.

The National Front's “national activities organiser” was interviewed and appeared to lend substance to this claim, with pictures of NF supporters selling fascist literature outside The Den - something never witnessed before or since - were transmitted to the nation.

For Jago it was too much. After seeing a preview of the film, he begged the BBC not to transmit it.

His pleas fell on deaf ears and Jago resigned.

Myth and reality eventually fused as a full-scale riot broke out at The Den during the quarter-final tie against Bobby Robson's side.

Fighting began on the terraces, spilled out on to the pitch and into the narrow streets around the ground.

Bottles, knives, iron bars, fists, boots and concrete slabs rained from the sky. Dozens of innocent people, including many Millwall fans, were injured by the thugs.

Town had taken an early tenth minute lead from the unlikeliest of sources, full-back George Burley.

His thunderous 30-yard shot put Ipswich in control, but nine minutes later the violence that had been brewing on the terraces spilled on to the pitch.

Referee Mr Gow announced the game, which was held up for 19 minutes, would be completed whatever, as Millwall's hooligans threatened to get the match abandoned.

Order was eventually restored on the terraces, as on the pitch Paul Mariner put Town in control with two strikes in the 52nd and 72nd minutes.

A late Dave Mehmet strike six minutes from time gave the game a bit of interest, but Town finished in style with three goals in three minutes at the death, Mariner completing his hat-trick and Town - on their way to a semi-final place - winning 6-1.

Outside in Cold Blow Lane the violence erupted again, Town fans fleeing a raging, ugly mob.

Coach windows were broken with the old and the young caught up in the violence.

If Millwall's hooligans wanted to make a statement, then they had done just that - and Ipswich Town fans were the victims.

Throughout most of the 80s Millwall failed to shrug off the bad name of their hooligan element - ferocious scenes at Luton Town in 1985, where 31 policemen were injured, only served to drag their name through the gutter.

For Ipswich Town fans, that awful March afternoon will still be remembered by most.

The only silver lining being, it was one round closer to Wembley, where the memories were filled with happiness.

[hallamblue]

Yes thanks for that. so glad I couldn't make it that day!

[Charnwood]

Yes thanks for that. so glad I couldn't make it that day!

You'd have only been a baby then Liz.

[Shed on tour]

Went by coach and several of the windows on our one were smashed.
Certainly anybody who attended that day won't ever forget the scenes and it was probably the worst football violence I have ever been caught up in and that includes my time in following England away. Remember there was a young girl who worked in the same office as me at the time and she had only started following Town that season and went to the Den that day and after witnessing the events said she would never go to another away game.

[Shed on tour]

Marko, at that time I was a Town season ticket holder living in Chelmsford, it was also at a time in my life when I never missed an Ipswich Town FA Cup tie regardless of who or where we were playing and after long trips to Cardiff and Bristol Rovers in earlier rounds a trip to Millwall was closer than going to a home game.
Although I'd been to Millwall once before and knew their reputation I wasn't unduly worried as I thought I was streetwise enough to be able to sidestep the problem and wore no town colours.
We drove from Chelmsford to the East End north of the river, parked the car and took the train, and walked to the ground with the locals. It was obvious at the rail station there was trouble brewing as there were gangs of louts hanging around waiting for Town fans to arrive on their special train.
As we got closer to the ground you could feel an intense atmosphere building and there were lots of Town fans already there, after all it was a Quarter Final and it was all we had to play for.
Once in the ground it soon became apparent that there wasn't total segregation and I can recall being kicked on the terrace by a kid as young as ten who was trying to provoke me to retailiate whilst his elder sibling or gang mate was ready to kick the sh*t out of us. Somehow I sidestepped this and moved closer into the huge crowd that was building, I think on the day the attendence was two or even three times Millwalls normal and I don't think there were anywhere near enough police at the start although they were soon drafted in.
Fighting broke out before during and after the game and I can honestly say I've never been more scared at a football game in my life. I think if you look up post match reports it was described as a full blown riot and all sorts of weapons were used including bottles knives and iron bars. I'm sure some of our North Stand Boys will have put up a bit of a fight but for most of us it was a case of self protection. I'm pretty certain that some Millwall fans were even fighting amongst themselves.
I can remember trying to leave at half time only to be told by the police that it wasn't safe to leave the ground. We stayed pretty close to the end but I don't recall watching much of the game and certainly I didn't see the last three goals.
I remember leaving the ground before the end and the police gave us some protection, eventually me and my pal broke away from the Town fans as we weren't prepared to go back to New Cross Station and started walking in the opposite direction and eventually jumped on a bus to London Bridge and despite our inward excitement didn't speak a word along the way and it stayed that way until we found the car.
I can't believe there are so few references to this "riot".... maybe Internet censorship.

Charny
I missed the Bristol Rovers away game as was ill at the time.
I understand the pitch was like a skating ring and the footballing gods were on our side for once when Bobby Gould's goal which would have made it 3-1 was disallowed for offside when it wasn't. Then we had our saviour in Robin Turner with his 2 goals!

[Charnwood]

Marko, at that time I was a Town season ticket holder living in Chelmsford, it was also at a time in my life when I never missed an Ipswich Town FA Cup tie regardless of who or where we were playing and after long trips to Cardiff and Bristol Rovers in earlier rounds a trip to Millwall was closer than going to a home game.
Although I'd been to Millwall once before and knew their reputation I wasn't unduly worried as I thought I was streetwise enough to be able to sidestep the problem and wore no town colours.
We drove from Chelmsford to the East End north of the river, parked the car and took the train, and walked to the ground with the locals. It was obvious at the rail station there was trouble brewing as there were gangs of louts hanging around waiting for Town fans to arrive on their special train.
As we got closer to the ground you could feel an intense atmosphere building and there were lots of Town fans already there, after all it was a Quarter Final and it was all we had to play for.
Once in the ground it soon became apparent that there wasn't total segregation and I can recall being kicked on the terrace by a kid as young as ten who was trying to provoke me to retailiate whilst his elder sibling or gang mate was ready to kick the sh*t out of us. Somehow I sidestepped this and moved closer into the huge crowd that was building, I think on the day the attendence was two or even three times Millwalls normal and I don't think there were anywhere near enough police at the start although they were soon drafted in.
Fighting broke out before during and after the game and I can honestly say I've never been more scared at a football game in my life. I think if you look up post match reports it was described as a full blown riot and all sorts of weapons were used including bottles knives and iron bars. I'm sure some of our North Stand Boys will have put up a bit of a fight but for most of us it was a case of self protection. I'm pretty certain that some Millwall fans were even fighting amongst themselves.
I can remember trying to leave at half time only to be told by the police that it wasn't safe to leave the ground. We stayed pretty close to the end but I don't recall watching much of the game and certainly I didn't see the last three goals.
I remember leaving the ground before the end and the police gave us some protection, eventually me and my pal broke away from the Town fans as we weren't prepared to go back to New Cross Station and started walking in the opposite direction and eventually jumped on a bus to London Bridge and despite our inward excitement didn't speak a word along the way and it stayed that way until we found the car.
I can't believe there are so few references to this "riot".... maybe Internet censorship.

Charny
I missed the Bristol Rovers away game as was ill at the time.
I understand the pitch was like a skating ring and the footballing gods were on our side for once when Bobby Gould's goal which would have made it 3-1 was disallowed for offside when it wasn't. Then we had our saviour in Robin Turner with his 2 goals!

Shed - the match was a complete farce with players spending more time on their arses than on their feet. It was absolutely freezing and if it wasn't for the huge crowd on the day I'm pretty certain the game wouldn't have started. Given the conditions a draw was the best result as neither team would have accepted the game should have been played had they lost. Town were still trying to adapt to playing without the injured Trevor Whymark and the No 10 shirt was switching between David Geddis & Robin Turner and clearly Bobby Robson made the right decision on the day.
Bristol Rovers were an old Div 2 mid table team and Town were fighting a relegation battle in Div 1 and went into the game on the back of 5 consecutive defeats so confidence was pretty low at the time so most of us were more than happy to come away with a draw. 10 days later in a packed Portman Road we won comfortably 3-0 to set up that dreadful tie at The Den.
My most memorable cup tie that season was yet to come, the Semi final v WBA at Highbury. I bet neither you nor Hallam missed that one.

[Shed on tour]

Marko, at that time I was a Town season ticket holder living in Chelmsford, it was also at a time in my life when I never missed an Ipswich Town FA Cup tie regardless of who or where we were playing and after long trips to Cardiff and Bristol Rovers in earlier rounds a trip to Millwall was closer than going to a home game.
Although I'd been to Millwall once before and knew their reputation I wasn't unduly worried as I thought I was streetwise enough to be able to sidestep the problem and wore no town colours.
We drove from Chelmsford to the East End north of the river, parked the car and took the train, and walked to the ground with the locals. It was obvious at the rail station there was trouble brewing as there were gangs of louts hanging around waiting for Town fans to arrive on their special train.
As we got closer to the ground you could feel an intense atmosphere building and there were lots of Town fans already there, after all it was a Quarter Final and it was all we had to play for.
Once in the ground it soon became apparent that there wasn't total segregation and I can recall being kicked on the terrace by a kid as young as ten who was trying to provoke me to retailiate whilst his elder sibling or gang mate was ready to kick the sh*t out of us. Somehow I sidestepped this and moved closer into the huge crowd that was building, I think on the day the attendence was two or even three times Millwalls normal and I don't think there were anywhere near enough police at the start although they were soon drafted in.
Fighting broke out before during and after the game and I can honestly say I've never been more scared at a football game in my life. I think if you look up post match reports it was described as a full blown riot and all sorts of weapons were used including bottles knives and iron bars. I'm sure some of our North Stand Boys will have put up a bit of a fight but for most of us it was a case of self protection. I'm pretty certain that some Millwall fans were even fighting amongst themselves.
I can remember trying to leave at half time only to be told by the police that it wasn't safe to leave the ground. We stayed pretty close to the end but I don't recall watching much of the game and certainly I didn't see the last three goals.
I remember leaving the ground before the end and the police gave us some protection, eventually me and my pal broke away from the Town fans as we weren't prepared to go back to New Cross Station and started walking in the opposite direction and eventually jumped on a bus to London Bridge and despite our inward excitement didn't speak a word along the way and it stayed that way until we found the car.
I can't believe there are so few references to this "riot".... maybe Internet censorship.

Charny
I missed the Bristol Rovers away game as was ill at the time.
I understand the pitch was like a skating ring and the footballing gods were on our side for once when Bobby Gould's goal which would have made it 3-1 was disallowed for offside when it wasn't. Then we had our saviour in Robin Turner with his 2 goals!

Shed - the match was a complete farce with players spending more time on their arses than on their feet. It was absolutely freezing and if it wasn't for the huge crowd on the day I'm pretty certain the game wouldn't have started. Given the conditions a draw was the best result as neither team would have accepted the game should have been played had they lost. Town were still trying to adapt to playing without the injured Trevor Whymark and the No 10 shirt was switching between David Geddis & Robin Turner and clearly Bobby Robson made the right decision on the day.
Bristol Rovers were an old Div 2 mid table team and Town were fighting a relegation battle in Div 1 and went into the game on the back of 5 consecutive defeats so confidence was pretty low at the time so most of us were more than happy to come away with a draw. 10 days later in a packed Portman Road we won comfortably 3-0 to set up that dreadful tie at The Den.
My most memorable cup tie that season was yet to come, the Semi final v WBA at Highbury. I bet neither you nor Hallam missed that one.

Yes was at Highbury. For me that was probably an even more enjoyable moment at the final whistle than Wembley.
I just couldn't believe I was going to see Town play in the F A Cup final. I remember when we got in the ground the clock end was so full that we couldn't get on the terrace and had to make our way around to the side of the pitch.
After they scored that penalty the hands on that huge clock seemed to take ages to move and until Warky headed in the 3rd I kept thinking please don't blow this Town.

[itfc76trev]

my grandma went to this game she has often talked about how they daren't move to go to the toilet as they feared for what might happen

[Charnwood]

I'm in your camp Shed, the win at Highbury in terms of sheer enjoyment and overwhelming happiness definitely beat winning the FA Cup, although when Roger Osborne's shot hit the back of the net at Wembley that was pretty special too.

I think the WBA game was just so tense and unbelievable especially at a time when our league form was so poor. The atmosphere was electric and the support amazing, probably one of our best away followings of all time. 2-0 up within 20 mins, the famous diving header by Noddy Talbot when he split his head open clashing into John Wile , followed by Mick Mills smashing in from a corner. We then had a spell when it was all West Brom especially after half time. Alan Hunter gave away a stupid penalty with an unnecessary hand ball to leave us with 15 nail biting minutes hanging onto a slim one goal margin and under siege. I think in all the frenzy they may have had a player sent off. And then with only minutes remaining non other than Johnny Wark thumped home a header as he so often did to send us Town fans into wild celebration.
"We're on our way to Wembley and now you're gonna believe us, we're gonna win the cup"....ringing round the Stadium.
A day never to be forgotten.

[bluepeter]

Had a punch up in Cardiff and Bristol Rovers,Hartlepool fans were brilliant...missed Millwall but another punch up with WBA.I wasn't a hoolie but I never took sh*te.

[arana peligrosa]

Maybe we get remembered sometimes for this game in our cup year than the Final itself and beating Arsenal ?

They did a feature on the Panorama news program some months before the game that some may have viewed over time, and for those that haven't, a worthwhile watch if you can make it. Saw a different feature years back from the day and past players such as Mariner and Wark were speaking out and how nervous the latter was regards atmosphere.

Thing is we could have met again in '85 as both teams got through to the last eight once more, but on that occasion Luton were the recipients of 'wrongful behavior'. Below is a link that some may discover is a worthwhile read regards our game in question and other incidents / news items of relevance.

http://www.millwall-history.org.uk/Mill ... themob.htm

[Bluemike]

I was fortunate in that I could not make it that day, to this day it remains the only football match my sister has ever attended. It was supposed to be a good day out for her, her Boyfriend at the time wanted to take her to see what she thought and it turned out to be the day from hell. As some have described above, bricks, bottles, knives, iron bars, bicycle chains you name it, carnage doesn't begin to describe what she witnessed that day, it is a miracle someone wasn't killed.

The thing that really summed it up for me from her story was the part where she attempted to but a hot dog or something and was promptly told by the person selling the bloody things that if she wanted to get out alive she needed to keep her f**king mouth shut !! That day was to guarantee my sister never set foot in a football ground again.

[hallamblue]

.....you often tell me to keep my mouth shut.....but I still keep going to games with ya don't I!!