[KiTChener]

[QUOTE=choirboy;1190523]

Originally Posted by monkey hanger

Aye..... when Stanley resigned form the league in 1962 I was only Ten!
I still had to get my football fix though, so one Saturday late in the season I got on the Manchester bus in Melbourne Street. When I got off in the centre of Manchester I 'used my initiative' and spotted some red and white scarves and just followed them! Three miles and over an hour later after a very long walk I eventually arrived at Old Trafford! I went into the Stretford End which was as Monkey Hanger describes and it was simply awesome! I remember being carried around in the 'Sway' by the bigger folk around me. I remember too that when blokes need a pee they just did it on the terraces with a little circle opening up around them to allow them to off load their recycled ale! I also remember on one or two occasions that when someone fainted in the Stretford End they simply lifted them up and passed them overhead down to The St John's Ambulance volunteers down at the front!
When I got home at about 7.30 pm my Mum really gave me a rollicking but I think secretly that my Dad was quite impressed with my determination and resourcefulness!
I continued to go to Old Trafford for a few years and eventually found the local bus service to save me the long walks! The days of "Best, Law and Charlton" were wonderful and I thought that the atmosphere there was fantastic.
Seated Stadia had to happen because of the stupid actions of hooligans but is perhaps still appropriate for the larger grounds in the Premier League. I love the atmosphere in the Clayton End and I hope that we are able to maintain standing at our smaller grounds!

Ahh, memories! Great, aren't they!
I am a little older than you,Choirboy, and, as I have probably said on here before, my first experience of 'proper' football was watching, on black & white TV, (or, non-colour as I believe I must say these days!) the FA cup finals of '55 & '56.
My first taste of watching 'live' was at Bloomfield Road, when I had a week's holiday with a friend from school, who was lucky enough to have an Aunt & Uncle who lived in Bispham!

Can't remember for the life of me who they were playing, or the scoreline, just remember vividly being passed, person to person, (not exactly overhead, as at Old Trafford), until we youngsters were eventually sat on the actual touchline for the duration of the game! All I remember from that experience was 'what a poor viewing position that was!'

From that game, living in Manchester, I went the opposite way to you, & gravitated to Maine Road... I well remember having weekly spending money of Half a Crown (2 shillings & sixpence, 12 & a half P in today's money)& that was spent regularly on a Saturday afternoon visit to to watch the poor relations! My hero in those days was Bert Trautmann, but, so many names from those past days are still remembered, the likes of centre-half, Dave Ewing, who could boot the ball over the stands... in those days, still much bigger than our Cowshed! Jack Dyer, our winger, who used to turn out for Lancashire CC in the close season. Joe Hayes, Ken Barnes (whose son played for City many years later), Roy Paul, captain for so many years, I could go on & on, I can probably, if tasked to, still recite the line-up for the '56 cup final!

The following season, I went to Old Trafford, along with hundreds, if not thousands of City fans, to give support to United in their first game after Munich.... again, cannot remember the opposition, or scoreline, just the emotions of the occasion....

Sorry If I've gone on a bit, it's just that your post stirred up so many memories...

Note to oneself... must write them all down before it's too late!!