Talking of FA Cup Games................

[edengreen]

The real cram was down at the front and to the right hand side looking at the Clock End from the pitch John.

that's exactly where i was.i,along with many others was starting to get crushed and i could also hear the argyle fans frustration still outside desperate to get in because the turnstiles couldn't cope with the numbers,at that point a decisive policeman hollered"open that gate now",but for him people would have died,a terrifying experience.

I wasn't allowed to go on my own as. 13 Yr old ! I was sulking for weeks with my mother.

Isn't that what happened at Hillsborough someone opened a gate and 96 were killed ! Amazing how a policeman can be lauded for doing what someone else did that unfortunately killed people

Why was this never brought up before Hillsborough? I dont remember hearing about it until a couple of years ago on this site

 

[Doyley43]

I remember that day well! I became sh*t scared and was right in the crush. I remember fans screaming at the police to let us onto the pitch. Probably my most frightening experience at a game. My brother and I still talk about it.

We also got the special train up and I’m sure they delayed it in purpose we were kind of frogged marched to the stadium and thus include elderly fans who struggled to keep up.

Having said the above it was a brilliant turn out by the green army and although we lost we scored a cracker of a goal

 

[jerryatricjanner]

A frightening experience that day. A little hazy now but I know i was quite near the front at the right hand side and well before kick off, at a guess 30 minutes or more fans were screaming to police to open the segregation pen as they were getting squashed and some kids had started to be passed on to the running track. There might even have been two empty segregation pens and I think one was opened and then possibly the second as well to allow fans to escape the crush and more fans in to the ground.
Reference Hillsborough, the police there opened a gate at the back allowing a flood of fans to increase the crush didn't they? I stand to be corrected if wrong. At Highbury the gate opened was to the empty pens beside the crush thus relieving the situation.

 

[Tynan One Nil]

Yes I was also caught up in that in the right hand corner after arriving on the train, both feet lifted off the ground on more than one occasion! Another similar memory was winning 1 nil at West Brom in the Cup (Norman Hunter, Johnny Giles had just been appointed I think) and the mayhem after we scored.

 

[Doyley43]

A frightening experience that day. A little hazy now but I know i was quite near the front at the right hand side and well before kick off, at a guess 30 minutes or more fans were screaming to police to open the segregation pen as they were getting squashed and some kids had started to be passed on to the running track. There might even have been two empty segregation pens and I think one was opened and then possibly the second as well to allow fans to escape the crush and more fans in to the ground.
Reference Hillsborough, the police there opened a gate at the back allowing a flood of fans to increase the crush didn't they? I stand to be corrected if wrong. At Highbury the gate opened was to the empty pens beside the crush thus relieving the situation.

You are correct they opened the gate to the right as if you’re looking at the pitch. The picture Ian posted still looks packed so imagine how it was without the gate opened. I remember being lifted off my feet. We were a group of 8 and we all because separated too

 

[Alan Turing]

I said at the time it was a First Division football club with Fourth Division organisation.

I had always disliked Arsenal but I've detested them since that day.

 

[loyal1970]

remember Bristol city away 87 summerfield scored for Argyle coldest game I have ever been to in England.

 

[ghost of hughie reed]

I was a bit worried on the way out. Just being swept towards what seemed too narrow an exit. Thought people ( inc me ) are going to die here.
Felt safe during the game.

In the book Fever Pitch there is mention of that feeling of impending death in a crush being not unfamiliar for the North bank fans. Excellent book by the way, about growing up more than it is about the Arsenal.

 

[Dreamgreen]

The replay away at Derby was far more scary in terms of crowd safety (in my opinion).

 

[Lousy Pint]

Living in and around London at the time, I often used to go to White Hart Lane to see the Spurs, when Argyle weren't in the vicinity. I used to stand on The Shelf and try and position myself in front of a stanchion to avoid the constant swaying and crushing of the crowd. Obviously, this wasn't always possible and it was quite an experience being physically moved around involuntarily. I was at an age where I enjoyed it, as well as the noise and the atmosphere.
Therefore, I really didn't think that crush at Highbury was anything out of the ordinary really. However, I can imagine it was frightening if it was your first time in such numbers.
Wembley when it was still mostly standing was quite an experience as well.

 

[Mark58]

The replay away at Derby was far more scary in terms of crowd safety (in my opinion).

It was the home match against Derby that was the most scary for me. I was watching from the Lyndhurst (standing then, of course). The crowd was around 30,000, I believe, and at the end we all shuffled to our right to head for the solitary exit, which involved going down a slope (behind the old Spion Kop). I had never experienced such a crush before and the force of the crowd behind us, pushing its way down that slope was terrifying. 'Accident waiting to happen' comes to mind.

 

[loyal1970]

the trouble is Argyle have not had many games with big crowds over the years so a lot of people were not used to an Arsenal away crush or Derby or West brom now that was a bit of a crush 6000 crammed in that pen, I remember Derby home in the cup stood on the Lyndhurst the problem there was that most people walked up the ramp and did not move further along down towards the barn park end were there was a lot more room, the good old days.

 

[cheshiregreen]

the trouble is Argyle have not had many games with big crowds over the years so a lot of people were not used to an Arsenal away crush or Derby or West brom now that was a bit of a crush 6000 crammed in that pen, I remember Derby home in the cup stood on the Lyndhurst the problem there was that most people walked up the ramp and did not move further along down towards the barn park end were there was a lot more room, the good old days.

Going slightly off on a tangent, but, not just when there big crowds but, leaving the old Lyndhurst down that ramp in 70s or 80s was frightening at times. Didn't take much for your feet to be off the ground as you headed to that exit across from the car park.

 

[IJN]

Living in and around London at the time, I often used to go to White Hart Lane to see the Spurs, when Argyle weren't in the vicinity. I used to stand on The Shelf and try and position myself in front of a stanchion to avoid the constant swaying and crushing of the crowd. Obviously, this wasn't always possible and it was quite an experience being physically moved around involuntarily. I was at an age where I enjoyed it, as well as the noise and the atmosphere.
Therefore, I really didn't think that crush at Highbury was anything out of the ordinary really. However, I can imagine it was frightening if it was your first time in such numbers.
Wembley when it was still mostly standing was quite an experience as well.

I too have been to many games with big crowds. Celtic v Rangers more than once, and I’ve seen plenty of old first division games in the naughty 70’s.

That game that day would have ended in deaths IF that copper had not disobeyed orders from an Inspector and Sargent.

Only twice have I seen people near crushing, Bristol City away in a lane the Old Bill had kettled us in and this one!

 

[L G]

I remember berating a policeman about the crush, telling him 'you knew how many of us were coming' and he replied 'no body told us'. Shambles, how many missed the kick off?

And yet i seem to remember reading the newspaper articles in the morning on the way up that the Green Invasion was going to number between 10,000 to 14,000 depending on which newspaper you read.
Surely if they were reporting those sorts of numbers in the papers, the police intelligence would know what to expect. :think: