No doubt that 96/97 takes it, but 95/96 was pretty intense as well- we played Leeds and were drawing, with a very nasty atmosphere, everyone knew Leeds fans would be up for some trouble and the nuttier element of our fans were also up for it. Man City had to beat Liverpool and came from 2-0 down to equalise, so add the general confusion of what was going on at Maine Road into the mix and it was bloody nerve wracking and one of those days where you didn’t know what to focus on. I think we finished before Man City and then had to try and process fans on the pitch fighting and hearing that Man City had messed up, thought they were safe and were playing for time in the corner when they needed a goal- proper weird stuff, we had the usual celebrations when it was clear we were safe but muted as the fans were still trying to get at each other, then waded through brawling fans to get to the car after- all very weird, intense, nasty and we pushed it pretty close that year.
not a ‘great escape’ really but a very unpleasant day that thankfully ended up with us staying up.
