Football specials

[Sol thewall Bamba]

14 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

Bochum to Munich through the night.

Goes toe to toe with Bruges as my best ever football trip. Incredible scenes

[fazzyfox]

12 hours ago, kushiro said:

After Ipswich away August 73:

 

 

 

After that, BR stopped running Football Specials from Leicester for a while.

You wouldn't think those two were capable of such stuff looking at them 

[john ridley]

"In a state of wildness "

[Footballwipe]

26 minutes ago, SkidsFox said:

I never liked the "football specials", despite liking train travel normally. The train authorities would dig out the oldest, most decrepit carriages to transport the fans, because they realised there was a big chance of vandalism/damage, and the route would often mean waiting on side lines for "regular" services to pass by.  It's no wonder fans (and in particular the squaddies/casuals) moved into travelling by the normal train service (or by car/van).  

Isn't it a bit chicken and egg though? The fans from that era were scummy on the trains and destroyed them, what else were the rail bosses supposed to do?

 

I know there's this attitude that if you treat people like animals people will behave like them, but the vicious circle continued unabated because time and again football fans took out the frustrations of their grotty lives back then either on other fans, grounds or public transport.

[willie-bell-in-rothley]

12 hours ago, ElusiveEd said:

Hereford away, in the early 80's. Think it might have been an FA cup game.

 

My first ever away game and the football special train broke down for hours on the way home in the middle of nowhere. 

 

Obv no such thing as mobile phones or devices then so it was just a case of sitting there in old style train cabins waiting it out. 

 

Was wayyy into the small hours when we eventually got back to Leicester station.

 

I was chatting casually to an ex mate a few years back about this, turns out he was on the same train.

Was anyone else on here on it?

Yes remember it well, no communicaion from anywhere, the train was in darkness, no food or drink no explanations, 

This was the last time i ever used the rail service in this country

[guest123]

cov, derby, forest in mid-late 90's spring to mind as well as Crystal Palace when there was a massive power cut on the underground and most of the underground failed. last time i even saw a 'football special' was for sheff utd fans to get home probably about 2005

[floz]

13 hours ago, ElusiveEd said:

Hereford away, in the early 80's. Think it might have been an FA cup game.

 

My first ever away game and the football special train broke down for hours on the way home in the middle of nowhere. 

 

Obv no such thing as mobile phones or devices then so it was just a case of sitting there in old style train cabins waiting it out. 

 

Was wayyy into the small hours when we eventually got back to Leicester station.

 

I was chatting casually to an ex mate a few years back about this, turns out he was on the same train.

Was anyone else on here on it?

Another Hereford survivor here. Honourable mentions to 70s and early 80s specials to Palace, Sheff Weds, Sunderland, Newcastle, Millwall, Charlton and Norwich (Melrose hatrick game). 

 

[Angus Scott]

13 hours ago, kushiro said:

After Ipswich away August 73:

 

 

 

After that, BR stopped running Football Specials from Leicester for a while.

I was on that train, it was horrendous. Lucky that it was August so it was not too cold when the windows had gone!

[CrazyKopCorner]

15 hours ago, East Langton Fox said:

Millwall, FA Cup 3rd round early nineties. Changed at St Pancras. I remember being on a concourse at a tube station in south London along with a couple of hundred City fans and one copper. Maybe it was two, but  I remember feeling like we were very much on our own in enemy territory. 
Rambo was sent off, we lost and I couldn’t wait to get home. 
 

I went with ALF that dad and there were a few characters who clearly handle themselves - It was nervy but as a young lad I felt pretty safe - looking back not sure if that was misplaced 

[Voll Blau]

16 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

Bochum to Munich through the night.

After doing that trip twice, it really showed me the potential for how a revived Football Special service, done right, could benefit so many fans in this country. Guaranteed non-stop transport with a bonus disco/bar carriage - and impressively self-policed (any vandalism would have had to have been paid for by the fan groups who organised the train).

 

It also stops service trains from being overcrowded with football fans. Everybody wins.

[st.ives blue]

15 hours ago, kushiro said:

After Ipswich away August 73:

 

 

 

After that, BR stopped running Football Specials from Leicester for a while.

I was on that train as a 12 year old, madness even the toilets and sinks went out the windows along with tables ,I don’t remember police been on board

[SkidsFox]

3 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

Isn't it a bit chicken and egg though? The fans from that era were scummy on the trains and destroyed them, what else were the rail bosses supposed to do?

 

Yep, as I put "because they realised there was a big chance of vandalism/damage". I can see why they did what they did, but it all meant a lousy experience, not just on the train, but in the crocodiles taking you straight to the designated standing pen. Many of us complain about the increased cost of tickets nowadays, but at least there is an attempt to provide a better viewing experience.

[WestLothianFox]

After losing to Stoke away, I went back to the bus to take us home, only to see a load of Stoke thugs come down the road, chucking bricks etc breaking many windows. Mr Plod was at the end of the road, but did nothing until they had decided they had done enough damage and moved on. The driver had to take us on a detour of bus depots to try to find us a replacement bus, without luck, so a rather cold windy journey home

 

[boots60]

5 hours ago, SkidsFox said:

I never liked the "football specials", despite liking train travel normally. The train authorities would dig out the oldest, most decrepit carriages to transport the fans, because they realised there was a big chance of vandalism/damage, and the route would often mean waiting on side lines for "regular" services to pass by.  It's no wonder fans (and in particular the squaddies/casuals) moved into travelling by the normal train service (or by car/van).  

Ironically, the oldest, most decrepit carriages that you mention have since been refurbished & are used extensively on many of the UK's steam railways for nostalgia purposes.

[SpacedX]

17 hours ago, East Langton Fox said:

Supporters coach to Ayresome Park, Middlesbrough last game of the season 1987/88. 

That was a fearsome and loathsome place. 

 

I recall taking a special to Villa in 85 I think, filled with the Baby Squad, and rumours circulated that the Zulus were lying in wait at New Street to ambush us when we changed trains. They weren't. but approaching the ground the C-Crew just seemed to emerge from nowhere and everywhere which spelt carnage. 

 

The worst away special was to Millwall at the Old Den in the FA Cup in January of the same year I think. The police kettled the City fans in the ground until it had emptied. They then opened the gates and left us at the mercy of the bushwackers. I managed to escape down an alley and on a freezing night spent about half an hour hiding under a Sherpa van parked in a street in New Cross. I was staying at a flat in Woolwich and getting there I felt like a fugitive fleeing a war zone. Some grim memories of travelling to and escaping from Upton Park too.

Edited 18 December 2023 by SpacedX

[boots60]

5 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

Isn't it a bit chicken and egg though? The fans from that era were scummy on the trains and destroyed them, what else were the rail bosses supposed to do?

 

I know there's this attitude that if you treat people like animals people will behave like them, but the vicious circle continued unabated because time and again football fans took out the frustrations of their grotty lives back then either on other fans, grounds or public transport.

Obviously not too happy with nostalgia.

[sylofox]

Sunderland or newcastle early 80's in an old mail carriage. Sit on the floor or stand your choice.

 

Same time villa away train left at 12 we got to witton station 14.15 you could have walked faster.

 

My first ever chelsea game at home. Mum n dad helping my aunt n uncle move to kibworth. Railway sidings at the back of the house. Train stops and waits. Chelsea fans getting off throwing rocks at the houses. 20 cops turn up to stop them.

Mum having kittens as 13/14 yo me has gone on my own 😅😅😅😅😇😅😅

[Corky]

6 hours ago, guest123 said:

cov, derby, forest in mid-late 90's spring to mind as well as Crystal Palace when there was a massive power cut on the underground and most of the underground failed. last time i even saw a 'football special' was for sheff utd fans to get home probably about 2005

Stoke fans had them in the Premier League seasons. Direct train back.

[Vardesque]

Sunderland about 100 on it,

Cardiff around the same number, think we lost that 1-3 ,  few skirmishes on the way back to the station! 

[Paninistickers]

8 hours ago, SkidsFox said:

and in particular the squaddies/casuals) moved into travelling by the normal train service (or by car/van). 

The rise and infamy of the minibus was a another sub culture. I ever dared go on one. It was all quite 'who you know' and you needed to be recommended almost. 

 

I remember making enquiries at my local boozer as a nervous teenager, got hold of the number of the resident top hooligan and got a green light to be booked in. Was kinda showing off on the Friday night that I was in and a mate of mine who never bothered with games reminded me I'd be expected to stand my ground and that the bus went looking for trouble. If not at the game then on the way back. I (fortunately) bottled it and pulled out and never asked again. 

 

they always seemed to pull into somewhere like Banbury or Stratford and basically offer out anyone who fancied it or find a minibus of other lads en route back from whatever game they'd been to. 

 

 

[East Langton Fox]

3 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

The rise and infamy of the minibus was a another sub culture. I ever dared go on one. It was all quite 'who you know' and you needed to be recommended almost. 

 

I remember making enquiries at my local boozer as a nervous teenager, got hold of the number of the resident top hooligan and got a green light to be booked in. Was kinda showing off on the Friday night that I was in and a mate of mine who never bothered with games reminded me I'd be expected to stand my ground and that the bus went looking for trouble. If not at the game then on the way back. I (fortunately) bottled it and pulled out and never asked again. 

 

they always seemed to pull into somewhere like Banbury or Stratford and basically offer out anyone who fancied it or find a minibus of other lads en route back from whatever game they'd been to. 

 

 

I remember being on a minibus after losing 2 0 at Oxford in the FA Cup. There were fans jumping off the floodlights at the Cuckoo Lane End as we were so poor and it was more entertaining than the game 
We stopped in Banbury and some of the headbangers went looking for a fight. 
A couple of us found a quiet pub and kept our heads down. 

[worth_the_wait]

Football Specials were great in their day.
 
They were cheap, got you to places that might otherwise have been a real pain to get to, and were generally safer in the days when arriving in small groups by service train wasn't always a very safe option (the police generally turned up in numbers when a special arrived, so you usually made it to/from the ground in one piece).
 
Specials were very common in the 60's and early 70's and ran all over the place.  After one got wrecked on the way back from Ipswich in 1973, the numbers tailed off significantly.   There was still the odd special to Cup ties or local derbies, but they didn't do them on such a regular basis.
 
The last real popular phase for City fans was in the period 1980-85 when British Rail ran a lot of football specials.   In that period they ran trains to:
Sunderland (Seaburn)
Newcatle U (Manors)
Liverpool
Leeds U
Sheff Wed (Wadsley Bridge)
Grimsby T (New Clee)
Oldham A (Oldham Mumps or Werneth?)
Nottingham Forest and County
Derby Co
Coventry C
Stoke C
Wolverhampton W
Smethwick Rolfe Street (West Brom)
Witton (Aston Villa)
Birminham C (Small Heath)
Hereford U
Norwich C
Ipswich T
Luton T
Orient (Leyton Midland Road)
Crystal Palace (Norwood Junction)
Tottenham H (Northumberland Park)
Millwall (New Cross Gate)
Southampton
Cardiff C (Ninian Park Halt)

and also possibly Man Utd (Manchester Oxford Road), Cambridge U and Shrewsbury T.   Not sure about these last 3.  I've maybe missed off a few others too.
 
It's also worth noting that BR used to quite often put on relief trains, when they knew that lots of fans travelling back en-masse after a game.   I remember a game away to Forest in 1981 when they just kept on putting on special relief/extra trains to take us all home.   There were litterally 1000's of us, that had gone back to the station after the match (a 5-0 drubbing that day).
 
After 1985, football specials became much rarer with just the occasional ones now and again.   I remember Sheff Utd (1989) and Derby (1991), and there were probably some others.   The last one I remember was Derby in the FA Cup (2017).
 
Nowadays, most train operating companies just can't be bothered.  There isn't the amount of spare rolling stock lying around that there used to be, and the network is generally busier and it's not so easy to just lay on specials at short notice.

 

[Paninistickers]

30 minutes ago, worth_the_wait said:

Football Specials were great in their day.
 
They were cheap, got you to places that might otherwise have been a real pain to get to, and were generally safer in the days when arriving in small groups by service train wasn't always a very safe option (the police generally turned up in numbers when a special arrived, so you usually made it to/from the ground in one piece).
 
Specials were very common in the 60's and early 70's and ran all over the place.  After one got wrecked on the way back from Ipswich in 1973, the numbers tailed off significantly.   There was still the odd special to Cup ties or local derbies, but they didn't do them on such a regular basis.
 
The last real popular phase for City fans was in the period 1980-85 when British Rail ran a lot of football specials.   In that period they ran trains to:
Sunderland (Seaburn)
Newcatle U (Manors)
Liverpool
Leeds U
Sheff Wed (Wadsley Bridge)
Grimsby T (New Clee)
Oldham A (Oldham Mumps or Werneth?)
Nottingham Forest and County
Derby Co
Coventry C
Stoke C
Wolverhampton W
Smethwick Rolfe Street (West Brom)
Witton (Aston Villa)
Birminham C (Small Heath)
Hereford U
Norwich C
Ipswich T
Luton T
Orient (Leyton Midland Road)
Crystal Palace (Norwood Junction)
Tottenham H (Northumberland Park)
Millwall (New Cross Gate)
Southampton
Cardiff C (Ninian Park Halt)

and also possibly Man Utd (Manchester Oxford Road), Cambridge U and Shrewsbury T.   Not sure about these last 3.  I've maybe missed off a few others too.
 
It's also worth noting that BR used to quite often put on relief trains, when they knew that lots of fans travelling back en-masse after a game.   I remember a game away to Forest in 1981 when they just kept on putting on special relief/extra trains to take us all home.   There were litterally 1000's of us, that had gone back to the station after the match (a 5-0 drubbing that day).
 
After 1985, football specials became much rarer with just the occasional ones now and again.   I remember Sheff Utd (1989) and Derby (1991), and there were probably some others.   The last one I remember was Derby in the FA Cup (2017).
 
Nowadays, most train operating companies just can't be bothered.  There isn't the amount of spare rolling stock lying around that there used to be, and the network is generally busier and it's not so easy to just lay on specials at short notice.

 

Great post. Trundling all the way to Cardiff, Seaburn or South London. Must've been great trips 

[worth_the_wait]

1 hour ago, Paninistickers said:

Great post. Trundling all the way to Cardiff, Seaburn or South London. Must've been great trips 

In terms of winding your way across the network ... the trips to Norwood Junction (Palace) and New Cross Gate (Millwall) in South London were probably the most interesting. 

 

But lots of them were quite interesting.   To get to Wadsley Bridge (Sheff Wed) for example, you'd branch off the main line just after Chesterfield, then wind you way across Sheffield on some liitle used line.   I remember once passing through a ghostly Sheffield Victoria station that had been closed for years, but was still sitting there like some magnificent crumbling monument.   Really weird.

 

 

[floz]

3 hours ago, worth_the_wait said:

Football Specials were great in their day.
 
They were cheap, got you to places that might otherwise have been a real pain to get to, and were generally safer in the days when arriving in small groups by service train wasn't always a very safe option (the police generally turned up in numbers when a special arrived, so you usually made it to/from the ground in one piece).
 
Specials were very common in the 60's and early 70's and ran all over the place.  After one got wrecked on the way back from Ipswich in 1973, the numbers tailed off significantly.   There was still the odd special to Cup ties or local derbies, but they didn't do them on such a regular basis.
 
The last real popular phase for City fans was in the period 1980-85 when British Rail ran a lot of football specials.   In that period they ran trains to:
Sunderland (Seaburn)
Newcatle U (Manors)
Liverpool
Leeds U
Sheff Wed (Wadsley Bridge)
Grimsby T (New Clee)
Oldham A (Oldham Mumps or Werneth?)
Nottingham Forest and County
Derby Co
Coventry C
Stoke C
Wolverhampton W
Smethwick Rolfe Street (West Brom)
Witton (Aston Villa)
Birminham C (Small Heath)
Hereford U
Norwich C
Ipswich T
Luton T
Orient (Leyton Midland Road)
Crystal Palace (Norwood Junction)
Tottenham H (Northumberland Park)
Millwall (New Cross Gate)
Southampton
Cardiff C (Ninian Park Halt)

and also possibly Man Utd (Manchester Oxford Road), Cambridge U and Shrewsbury T.   Not sure about these last 3.  I've maybe missed off a few others too.
 
It's also worth noting that BR used to quite often put on relief trains, when they knew that lots of fans travelling back en-masse after a game.   I remember a game away to Forest in 1981 when they just kept on putting on special relief/extra trains to take us all home.   There were litterally 1000's of us, that had gone back to the station after the match (a 5-0 drubbing that day).
 
After 1985, football specials became much rarer with just the occasional ones now and again.   I remember Sheff Utd (1989) and Derby (1991), and there were probably some others.   The last one I remember was Derby in the FA Cup (2017).
 
Nowadays, most train operating companies just can't be bothered.  There isn't the amount of spare rolling stock lying around that there used to be, and the network is generally busier and it's not so easy to just lay on specials at short notice.

 

You can add Charlton to the list (4-1 win). Took hours trundling through South London.