I was at both as well, I've always said the game at Goodison was the worst I've ever been at, we were on the special which came into Edge Hill without a window in it, all put out by Scousers lined along the banks above the tracks, we were greeted by the dibble with dogs and truncheons drawn, which they didn't need any inviting to use, we were herded onto double decker buses which also lost all their windows to the natives bricks and bottles, as we arrived at Goodison one of the lads with me was dragged off the bus for a kicking in the back of a police van, then the police took everything off us including flags, lighters and change. We got into the ground to see a wall of flags in the LIverpool end and not one in the United end, as you say it kicked off big style in the corners, the return to Manchester after the game was similar to the arrival except for more dogs and truncheons at Edge Hill. I still think the replay at Maine Road was as much retalitation for the police treatment as anything.
The old den and ninian park stand out to me as some of the nastiest places i've ever visited. Got absolutely leathered at Ninian by a load of cardiff fans (all in their mid thirties) when i was about 15. Group of us walking down the wrong road were unloaded onto and a few of us took a proper kicking. Brizzle city was another hairy one too, especially the walk from Temple Meads, you really needed to get your wits about you and remember not to tell people the time when asked Other than that Elland road was horrible, remember getting bricked and coined the whole way to the ground one season and every road seemed to be full of nasty bastards wanting to kill you. Then there's Fratton. Obviously as a Saints fan it's the worst trip possible but i did Alan Knights testimonial and i can honestly say it's the only game i've ever thought i might not get back from alive. They started by trying to derail our train on the way in, bricks at the front of it and anything else they had at the windows. Stopping off at places like Cosham along the way mini rows were breaking out between Skates at the stations and Saints on the train. Finally got there to a scene that looked like beirut as the train of ours that had gone in before had to run the gauntlet of Goldsmiths road, with shitload of windows put through and front walls kicked down to get access to bricks. Finally got to the game and you could just feel the blood lust in the ground, we won 5-1 i think and i can remember the noise from the street outside as the skates were singing "you'll never make the station", and to be honest i wasn't sure we would. That walk back with the police going nuts, the local headcases everywhere and a few of ours happy to oblige (and i'm sure a few on each side fighting each other too) was horrendous. Never been so glad to get back on a train i've got to say. That game actually led to the police banning us from playing "friendly" games against each other, and also was a nail in the coffin of any night games that could be avoided. So glad those days are gone, horrible, horrible times with the violence and i think to this day i still have "away day eyes" that come out when i'm travelling with football!
The Deva/Exacta/Lookers Vauxhall Stadium... You don't want to get too close to the boys from the Lache and Blacon.
Blacon is God's Country. I used to be a coach driver and drove the Chester fans all over the country. The worst places we ever went to were Doncaster and Newport. Donny was the worst where some yob through a brick through the coach window and a young lad finished up in the local hospital with glass in his eye.
First time I went to Ashton Gate, five of us went into the pub by the ground. The jukebox stopped, the guys playing pool looked at us. I asked my mate if he knew where the bogs were. He looked at me in dismay Just had the one pint stood by the back door.
was at millwall 2 yr back and even though i never felt intimidated myself i felt for our fans especially afterwards when stood on the platform waiting for the train back into london some milwall fans were giving old OAP scarfers hassle bang out of order IMO
Millwall in mid seventies when we (Rotherham) made the mistake of scoring, and also Southend around the same time, when we also made the mistake of scoring but this time in the last minute. We got targeted and chased through the local streets and ended up at Southend nick for about 3 hours.
Anfield 79 To get to the coaches we had to go through Stanley Park The Liverpool fans ambushed us in there armed with planks of wood
Think it'll either have to be Parc des Princes, last Valentine's Day when PSG beat Barça 4:0, as us- 2 Barça fans, proudly sporting our jerseys stood right next to the ultras, or Wembley during an International Champions Cup (yeah, yeah, I know) vs Liverpool, when we also got beat 4:0 but to add to that I was there alone.
Early 1980s I lived near Maine rd. City played Liverpool on a Tuesday evening which witnessed lots of violence and chaos outside the ground. The following Saturday the Blades played at City, as a consequence of Tuesday's events the police pulled double decker buses immediately outside the away end turnstyles and forced all us Blades onto them, presumably to avoid a repeat of Tuesday's events. They sped us through Manchester to Piccadilly Station and forced the buses straight onto the platform and a waiting train. It was only at that point I managed to persuade the police that I lived in Manchester. I could have walked home after the match in 10 minutes but had to trek back from central Manchester. Those were the days. Who says football fans were treat like s**t ?
Leeds was always bad. I always escaped by having a Yorkshire accent, " what time is it pal" ? Middlesbrough always brought loads of nuttters to Sheffield. Ayresome Park was always dodgy for away fans.
I've tried to list them in order, so the first 5 places I've listed have actually seen me suffer actual bodily harm the next three are grounds and experiences I found truly harrowing and finally the latter three just intimidating. The Boleyn St Marys Ali Sami Yen St Andrews San Siro Stadio Olympico The Den De Kuip Elland Rd The Stadio Del Alpi Amsterdam Arena.
Estádio Major Antônio Couto Pereira I went to watch Coritiba v Sao Paulo and I was wearing a red hoodie (it's cold in the south of Brazil). Everyone was wearing green and white, giving me a few stares, a couple of people came up to me to call me a puta, I can speak Spanish but not Portuguese, I decided to leave after walking around for 10 minutes realising that I had made a mistake here. When I got back to the hostel I was told of my error and they couldn't believe that I would be so stupid and was lucky nothing serious happened, apparently red, not only being the colour of Sao Paulo, is also the main colour of their rivals Atletico Paranese. Estadio Palogrande Right in the center of the city Manizales, the home stadium of Once Caldas. Was a cup match against Nacional (famous for Pablo Escobar) from Medellin, I went with a Colombian friend, 3 other foreigners (non-football types) tagged along wearing their shorts and sandals making us stand out like a sore thumb. The French prick even got his phone out to film the atmosphere to draw more attention to us. I quickly told him to remember where we are and to put that thing away. It took about 10 minutes of negotiation with my friend and hte leader of the Ultra fan group to let us stay, but we had to go out of sight right in the corner where the old people were sitting!! I decided to leave after about 15 minutes due to the nasty atmosphere, being pushed, shoved and shouted at by the fans I was supposed to be watching with wasn't for me!! Estadio Ciro Lopez This is a shit stadium that isn't intimidating at all, for most games maybe 50-100 people would turn up. It's in Popayan and the club play in the second division of Colombian football. The match I went to was home to America de Cali which is 3 hours north of Popayan resulting in a huge following from Cali. The fans of America de Cali.... They come from all backgrounds but they also draw fans from the poorest neighbourhoods in one of the most dangerous cities in the world where everyone I know who has lived there has been robbed at gun point. These guys were some intimidating supporters, they looked every bit like they had nothing to lose in life as well. The game finished 0-0 I think, America De Cali got promoted later that year and returned to the top division. It kicked off outside the Ricoh Arena once after a Cup Match, that was pretty wild for the UK, I went to the League Cup match against West Ham at Upton Park as well which was an interesting night.
I've only ever been to Old Trafford. My mate went to the San Siro when United won the Treble and said it was very scary.
This seems fitting for this thread, and backs up my opinion that Ninian was the most intimidating ground i've been to by quite some distance
