Sky Blue Memories

[Nonleagueherewecome]

It's all ex-Sky Blues on R5 tonight what with the Cardiff game being on and Doyle scoring 30-yard piledrivers for Sheff U.

[B-Ban-Boogie]

Going to Hillsborough for the F.A Cup Semi final with a car full of people in a clapped out Triumph Dolomite which broke down 30 miles outside Sheffield.
We walked into a small village and knocked on a door, where an old lady opened her home to 6 drunken lads so we could ring a taxi. (well 5 and the driver who'd had 'one or two')
As we settled in to watch ‘Grandstand’ the lady got us some tea and biscuits and basically treated us all like one of her family.
When the taxi arrived it was sky blue, with a dark blue bonnet and boot!!! The taxi driver was also a great bloke and got us to the stadium with 10 minutes to spare..
We got in just at kick off and the noise in the Kop End was immense.
I'll never forget one guy crying his eyes out at HT thinking the cup dream was over... then that second half....
After the game we searched around for people we knew to get lifts home and luckily got in the back of a van (which had a mattress in it) that got us home.
There was a Leeds fan in there also.. he was gutted!! hahahaha..
I was 15 and will never forget the old lady, taxi driver and van driver for thier good nature and generosity till the day I die…. WHAT. A. GAME…. WHAT. A. DAY!!!

[The Reverend Skyblue]

My memeories of Cup final day.

This is also one of my biggest regrets, and even today i can't believe that I did this.

Ever since i started supporting the skyblues in the very early seventies me and my Dad went everywhere watching the team and did so up to the FA Cup 5th round.I could'nt do the quarters and semi's but when we got to the final ,my best mate, who I can't stand today as he showed his true loyalty to me when i needed him most, asked me to go with him as he was a Spurs fan.

Without thinking i said yes and my poor ,now dead, Dad was shattered.My mum told me this after he died as he desperately wanted to share this moment with his only son and the person who for 17 years had gone through so much following the team, here there and everywhere.

I knew my mistake straight away but i stood by my word and left Dad,who did'nt want to go on his own, to watch it on television.
As my mate was so fecking selfish i had to even drive, so very early in the morning we drove up, as we could'nt get tickets from the clubs, as they had sold out so we had to rely on ticket touts,which we found straight away near the ground. As we had so many hours to kill and with tickets secured we found a drinking hole not far away. We then drank ourselves into a drunken stupor,i had totally forgot,or did'nt care i can't remember, i had to drive back somehow, and by the time the game started i was pretty bloody wasted.

The next two hours i won't describe as we all know what happened, but to say it was the best two hours of my life except for the fact that somehow stood right behind some fucker with an Irish flag, what that was about i don't know, but he constantly waved this giant flag so people behind him could'nt see the match, and we had to scream at him to bloody stop.

About 3 hours later i got back to Uxbridge tube station,to tell you the truth how the hell i got back there in my state i don't know, but anyway my mate the Totenham fan told me he had missed nearly the whole game as ,unbeknown to us we had bought fraudelent tickets and as they were only checking for them in the Tottenham end, he had got refused entry and had a "talking to" by the police.
I of course wet myself laughing but he was really peed off. To my utter shame now,and the only time i drove stinking drunk, i drove back down the M40 to home, which somehow we reached after a couple of hours driving from side to side. I am still utterly ashamed of myself but i did not have my thinking head on at all.

I miss my Dad terribly and always think what i did to him by not going with him, but also i look at my ex-mate, who did get what he later deserved by not getting in and missing the game.

The Rev

[changing-man]

bolton...very cold,cant remember anything about the game,running battles along the ansty road outside the pippin
man u...3 early pints in market tavern before getting on harry shaw coach,regretting this straight away when the driver refused to stop for a piss(no toilets on board in those days)so ended up filling a couple of coke cans and then putting them on the shelf above us only to see them fall on top of a couple of teenagers sat behind us,cant remember anything about the game,got a lift back of a couple of lads who said they were stopping at stoke on the way back,got into stoke centre and found loads of city lads in every pub,end result,some of the worst and prolonged fighting ive seen.
stoke...feeling abit twitchy after being told stoke were out for revenge,got off train late escorted to and from game no trouble,cant remember anything about the game.
sheff weds...as we were boarding our coach from the walsgrave pub,someone noticed the door to the store room was open and we helped our selves to a crate of holsten pils,cant remember anything about game apart from being crushed in the leppings lane end and cov fans fighting amongst themselves.
leeds..got off train at the same time as a load of leeds fans who started throwing coins,bottles etc.at us,cant remember anything about the game.
spurs..got the 1st train to wembley,got carry out and spent the rest of the time til kick off outside wembley taking in the atmosphere and photos,seeing them go 1 nil down and saying to my mate "we are gonna get hammered here" ,getting the piss taken out of me for years for crying at the final whistle,getting a lift back from the station in my mates mark 2 escort and seeing 1000s of people in the streets going wild,standing on the tables in the walsgrave belting out the sky blue song.....

[Changeyourface]

Went to every round, never missed a game home or away for years (apart from my brothers wedding) though as there was always a car load who used to go from the saracens head, just about managed to get a ticket for the final though, the old man bought it for me in the spurs end.

Went down to wembley with the lads on the tube thinking what we going to do about getting in to the cov end. As we got off the tube some bloke come up and asked me if I wanted to swap it for a Cov ticket, so sorted.
Still have the st georges cross bed sheet that I wore that day and a flag although thats gone purple now with age and the sheet a bit mouldy but not going to throw either away.

Saracens head in Longford by any chance?

[Johnnythespider]

I went to the semi and the final from the walsgrave remember it well coming back there after wembley, and getting pissed off when the bar shut at 10:30.

bolton...very cold,cant remember anything about the game,running battles along the ansty road outside the pippin
man u...3 early pints in market tavern before getting on harry shaw coach,regretting this straight away when the driver refused to stop for a piss(no toilets on board in those days)so ended up filling a couple of coke cans and then putting them on the shelf above us only to see them fall on top of a couple of teenagers sat behind us,cant remember anything about the game,got a lift back of a couple of lads who said they were stopping at stoke on the way back,got into stoke centre and found loads of city lads in every pub,end result,some of the worst and prolonged fighting ive seen.
stoke...feeling abit twitchy after being told stoke were out for revenge,got off train late escorted to and from game no trouble,cant remember anything about the game.
sheff weds...as we were boarding our coach from the walsgrave pub,someone noticed the door to the store room was open and we helped our selves to a crate of holsten pils,cant remember anything about game apart from being crushed in the leppings lane end and cov fans fighting amongst themselves.
leeds..got off train at the same time as a load of leeds fans who started throwing coins,bottles etc.at us,cant remember anything about the game.
spurs..got the 1st train to wembley,got carry out and spent the rest of the time til kick off outside wembley taking in the atmosphere and photos,seeing them go 1 nil down and saying to my mate "we are gonna get hammered here" ,getting the piss taken out of me for years for crying at the final whistle,getting a lift back from the station in my mates mark 2 escort and seeing 1000s of people in the streets going wild,standing on the tables in the walsgrave belting out the sky blue song.....

[TheUKGryphon]

I remember 16th May 1987 as if it were yesterday. I was 13 at the time. It was my mums 39th birthday and the majority of my family were coming round to watch the cup final. This including my nephew who was less than a month old as his parents were off to Wembley My nephew at the time was renown for being both noisy and smelly at both ends. Knowing that all chances of watching the match in relative peace and quiet were shot, I went round to my school mate's house in Headington Avenue to watch it.

I felt defeat breathing down the back of our necks when Clive Allen opened the scoring after two minutes and thought that this was going to be a massacre. I knew that Houchen's header was going to go down in history as one of the best goals ever scored in a cup final and was glad to witness that peice of history.

I remember the last minutes of extra time after Mabbutt had already sealed his place in the hearts of all Sky Blues fans everywhere, my mates mother couldn't watch and sat in the kitchen until it was all over.

When the final whistle did go, I rushed out of the house into the street and all I could hear was cheering from every house up and down the street. I savoured the moment knowing that it was something I was unlikely to hear again for a very log time if at all.

I stayed for the customary lifting of the cup and then made my way home. Running back down Beake Avenue back home to Owenford Road, every car on the road was adourned in Sky blue flags and penants and as we cheered to them, the cars beeped their horns in a celebratory response.

We'd done it and I was so proud of my team and of my City. One day and while I'm still young enough to enjoy it, I would like another moment like that.

[WillieStanley]

It's funny how little memories of youth stay in your head. I was 3 years old on May 16th 1987. I come from a family who relocated to Coventry in the 70's from Burton-On-Trent so most of whom are Derby County supporters (I owe my City supportership to my uncle from the same side who is Cov through and through). Even in that household, with the match on TV, that day stuck in my head growing up.

As Houchen scored, my Grandma was at the top of the stairs, fetching a dummy I had (politely) requested. In a rush to come and see the action replay, she tripped and broke her leg... but, stayed and watched the rest of the match in agony before going to Walsgrave to get it treated. I have crystal clear memories of that and of the atmosphere even in that non-City supporting Coventry household.

I was told years later, when I was describing it to a family member that that was the great day and it all seemed to click.

Truly magical!!

Could you imagine the City of Coventry stopping to a stand still should it happen again?

[torchomatic]

Our coach got stopped on the outskirts of Sheffield on the hard shoulder of the motorway by the police and they searched us for alcohol.

I remember feeling sick for most of the game until Gynny got the equaliser. That was a brilliant game.

My Dad didn't go to that and when I got home he still didn't know the score. That was in the pre-internet and 24 hour sports news days though.

Going to Hillsborough for the F.A Cup Semi final with a car full of people in a clapped out Triumph Dolomite which broke down 30 miles outside Sheffield.
We walked into a small village and knocked on a door, where an old lady opened her home to 6 drunken lads so we could ring a taxi. (well 5 and the driver who'd had 'one or two')
As we settled in to watch ‘Grandstand’ the lady got us some tea and biscuits and basically treated us all like one of her family.
When the taxi arrived it was sky blue, with a dark blue bonnet and boot!!! The taxi driver was also a great bloke and got us to the stadium with 10 minutes to spare..
We got in just at kick off and the noise in the Kop End was immense.
I'll never forget one guy crying his eyes out at HT thinking the cup dream was over... then that second half....
After the game we searched around for people we knew to get lifts home and luckily got in the back of a van (which had a mattress in it) that got us home.
There was a Leeds fan in there also.. he was gutted!! hahahaha..
I was 15 and will never forget the old lady, taxi driver and van driver for thier good nature and generosity till the day I die…. WHAT. A. GAME…. WHAT. A. DAY!!!

[Moff]

Our coach got stopped on the outskirts of Sheffield on the hard shoulder of the motorway by the police and they searched us for alcohol.

I remember feeling sick for most of the game until Gynny got the equaliser. That was a brilliant game.

My Dad didn't go to that and when I got home he still didn't know the score. That was in the pre-internet and 24 hour sports news days though.

I went up in a car load for this one. Like you i felt sick, sick, sick until Gynny got the equaliser and after that I knew we would win.

Before that with Regis missing chance after chance, and with oggy making that fantastic save to keep us only 1 goal down, i had this ominous feeling, but then after Benno's never say die attitude got the ball back and he crossed for Gynny to score, i knew it was going to be our day and our year.

Funnilly enough i enjoyed the quarter final a lot lot more, and apart from the day out at Wembley, this was my favourite game of all the matches i attended of our run to the final, although it just pips our win at Old Tarfford.