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Some of those lower league games, in the rise back up to the PL were just brilliant. I was in that crowd at Brighton and I would include that game as one of the best games for pure joy and excitement that I have been to, including the PL games. All the Brighton fans were shouting out can you keep up before and throughout the game. We had the last laugh, that day.
As we've nearly always been in the top flight in my lifetime (I'm only in my 60s), I will count the Championship/Division 2 as lower league, and the promotion game at Leyton Orient on a Monday night in 1966 was the best.
We took a coach up to Brisbane Road from our school in Fareham. School finished at 3.50pm and we just made it for kick-off because the roads were jammed with Saints fans. It's the only time I've been to a game where almost the entire crowd was made up of away fans. There were 15,000 Saints' fans in a crowd of 19,839 (Orient had nothing to play for and 3 weeks earlier had a home league gate of just 2,280 v Middleborough).
The rare Terry Paine headed goal that clinched promotion came as a massive relief in a game which we'd expected to win. Floodlights in those days weren't that great and one of the things I remember is how dark it was.
Three sides of the ground looked like this when Paine scored:
Amazingly, the next season, in Division One, we beat the other East London team, West Ham's "World Cup winners", including Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters, 6-2. Those were the halcyon days of English football.
I was also at the game at Orient in 1978, when Saints fans smashed the wall down to chase Spurs fans out of the ground (they were our promotion rivals and a few hundred of them made the mistake of turning up to support Orient) but it wasn't as good as 1966.
Best lower league games on 23:20 - Apr 9 by dirk_doone
As we've nearly always been in the top flight in my lifetime (I'm only in my 60s), I will count the Championship/Division 2 as lower league, and the promotion game at Leyton Orient on a Monday night in 1966 was the best.
We took a coach up to Brisbane Road from our school in Fareham. School finished at 3.50pm and we just made it for kick-off because the roads were jammed with Saints fans. It's the only time I've been to a game where almost the entire crowd was made up of away fans. There were 15,000 Saints' fans in a crowd of 19,839 (Orient had nothing to play for and 3 weeks earlier had a home league gate of just 2,280 v Middleborough).
The rare Terry Paine headed goal that clinched promotion came as a massive relief in a game which we'd expected to win. Floodlights in those days weren't that great and one of the things I remember is how dark it was.
Three sides of the ground looked like this when Paine scored:
Amazingly, the next season, in Division One, we beat the other East London team, West Ham's "World Cup winners", including Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters, 6-2. Those were the halcyon days of English football.
I was also at the game at Orient in 1978, when Saints fans smashed the wall down to chase Spurs fans out of the ground (they were our promotion rivals and a few hundred of them made the mistake of turning up to support Orient) but it wasn't as good as 1966.
[Post edited 10 Apr 2020 1:23]
Awesome. Wasn't there that day, as was born a few years later but looks like a great day for Saints fans. Something about those lower league games that brought out those proper real fans, not a tourist in sight. Went to Orient in league one when Lee Barnard scored. There were Saints fans all around the ground. Leyton Orient was a great away day and was as good as any PL away day.
Best lower league games on 23:20 - Apr 9 by dirk_doone
As we've nearly always been in the top flight in my lifetime (I'm only in my 60s), I will count the Championship/Division 2 as lower league, and the promotion game at Leyton Orient on a Monday night in 1966 was the best.
We took a coach up to Brisbane Road from our school in Fareham. School finished at 3.50pm and we just made it for kick-off because the roads were jammed with Saints fans. It's the only time I've been to a game where almost the entire crowd was made up of away fans. There were 15,000 Saints' fans in a crowd of 19,839 (Orient had nothing to play for and 3 weeks earlier had a home league gate of just 2,280 v Middleborough).
The rare Terry Paine headed goal that clinched promotion came as a massive relief in a game which we'd expected to win. Floodlights in those days weren't that great and one of the things I remember is how dark it was.
Three sides of the ground looked like this when Paine scored:
Amazingly, the next season, in Division One, we beat the other East London team, West Ham's "World Cup winners", including Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore and Martin Peters, 6-2. Those were the halcyon days of English football.
I was also at the game at Orient in 1978, when Saints fans smashed the wall down to chase Spurs fans out of the ground (they were our promotion rivals and a few hundred of them made the mistake of turning up to support Orient) but it wasn't as good as 1966.
[Post edited 10 Apr 2020 1:23]
130 states on his fact sheet the 15,000 (12,000 that intended to travel according to the local Rag and 3000 who made their own way up) Little Pompey took to Liverpool is the record away attendance.
That's 4 he's got wrong now then
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Best lower league games on 23:59 - Apr 9 with 2362 views
Best lower league games on 23:52 - Apr 9 by hedgeend61
130 states on his fact sheet the 15,000 (12,000 that intended to travel according to the local Rag and 3000 who made their own way up) Little Pompey took to Liverpool is the record away attendance.
That's 4 he's got wrong now then
In reality, Little Pompey probably took less than 10,000 to Liverpool, which I've seen Saints exceed at several way games, including the FA Cup game at Nottingham Forest in 1977, when we took 13,000 there out of a crowd of 38,000, when Forest's average home gate that season was 18,064.
Unless the visiting team is a big glamour team, like Liverpool or Man United, you only have to look at the home team's average gate that season to see whether the tall tales of massive away followings are true or not and you can soon see that Little Pompey's are gross exaggerations. It's amazing how quickly their boasts of massive away support disappeared when the Football League started reporting actual figures for away attendances.
Best lower league games on 23:59 - Apr 9 by dirk_doone
In reality, Little Pompey probably took less than 10,000 to Liverpool, which I've seen Saints exceed at several way games, including the FA Cup game at Nottingham Forest in 1977, when we took 13,000 there out of a crowd of 38,000, when Forest's average home gate that season was 18,064.
Unless the visiting team is a big glamour team, like Liverpool or Man United, you only have to look at the home team's average gate that season to see whether the tall tales of massive away followings are true or not and you can soon see that Little Pompey's are gross exaggerations. It's amazing how quickly their boasts of massive away support disappeared when the Football League started reporting actual figures for away attendances.
[Post edited 10 Apr 2020 0:06]
Yes, went to Forest game on Football Special train, had whole Trent End and half of one side.
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Best lower league games on 00:05 - Apr 10 with 2335 views
Didn’t we take over 10,000 to Sheffield Wednesday for a game that was live on Telly in The fa cup in 84?
Plus the game at white hart lane v forest in the second reply we were meant to have 20,000 or so. My dad went to that on a cos he from his work and says about how the roads were full of saints fans and saints fans outnumbered forest by snout 10 to 1.
I was was definitely born in the wrong era, football wise anyway.
TUIs only reliable source of ITk news. #bewareoffalseprophets
Didn’t we take over 10,000 to Sheffield Wednesday for a game that was live on Telly in The fa cup in 84?
Plus the game at white hart lane v forest in the second reply we were meant to have 20,000 or so. My dad went to that on a cos he from his work and says about how the roads were full of saints fans and saints fans outnumbered forest by snout 10 to 1.
I was was definitely born in the wrong era, football wise anyway.
My first ever Saints game was 1963 but I was just a child so missed those great FA Cup games. But, the whole city seemed to move when we had a big away game in those days. I remember our first top flight game at White Hart Lane when we packed the whole Park Lane End (supposedly Spurs' home end) with 10,000 Saints' fans. They just had a few hundred fans singing at the side on the halfway line.
Yes, we also took 10,000 to the FA Cup game at Sheffield Wednesday in 1984. There would have been more but that was the maximum number of tickets we could get.
Best lower league games on 00:12 - Apr 10 by dirk_doone
My first ever Saints game was 1963 but I was just a child so missed those great FA Cup games. But, the whole city seemed to move when we had a big away game in those days. I remember our first top flight game at White Hart Lane when we packed the whole Park Lane End (supposedly Spurs' home end) with 10,000 Saints' fans. They just had a few hundred fans singing at the side on the halfway line.
Yes, we also took 10,000 to the FA Cup game at Sheffield Wednesday in 1984. There would have been more but that was the maximum number of tickets we could get.
[Post edited 10 Apr 2020 0:29]
Yeah he sadly passed away 4 years ago but would be in his late 70s so went to all those games, the semi final v Man U, 76, charity shield, 79, few European games. It’s funny how you think your parents never leave the house but I can imagine the stories he told me about stuff they got up to are son friendly versions and not a lot different to everything I did, which I told a parent friendly version of 😉
TUIs only reliable source of ITk news. #bewareoffalseprophets
Didn’t we take over 10,000 to Sheffield Wednesday for a game that was live on Telly in The fa cup in 84?
Plus the game at white hart lane v forest in the second reply we were meant to have 20,000 or so. My dad went to that on a cos he from his work and says about how the roads were full of saints fans and saints fans outnumbered forest by snout 10 to 1.
I was was definitely born in the wrong era, football wise anyway.
You can't see exact numbers here but filled Leppings Lane End, a fella near me got thrown out for throwing a flare.
Easy 10,000 there
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Best lower league games on 00:37 - Apr 10 with 2270 views
Best lower league games on 00:29 - Apr 10 by hedgeend61
You can't see exact numbers here but filled Leppings Lane End, a fella near me got thrown out for throwing a flare.
Easy 10,000 there
Some great fa cup ties that year.
Forest away, 9,000 at fratton where as usual we owned them off the pitch too, then Blackburn on a Friday night, 10,000+ at Wednesday, then smashing the blue half of merseyside on the pitch at highbury, such a shame we never won the cup that year but off the pitch must have been our best ever season.
TUIs only reliable source of ITk news. #bewareoffalseprophets
Was in the home end (side at that ground!) for this game. The Brighton fans all going on about how they were champions and we wouldn't go up.Had to keep quiet when we scored but loved watching the celebrations from our fans. My son was in the away end and remember going mad when we met outside, much to the annoyance of some of the home fans! Good times.
The meat’s the same, the gravy’s different
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Best lower league games on 09:38 - Apr 10 with 2160 views
I'm lucky enough to have done just about all of those away games with the big followings, we used to go everywhere particularly in the 70s and 80s, in recent times in the lower leagues, any London games were a good day out, Orient and Millwall were standouts.
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Best lower league games on 12:27 - Apr 10 with 2104 views
Forest away, 9,000 at fratton where as usual we owned them off the pitch too, then Blackburn on a Friday night, 10,000+ at Wednesday, then smashing the blue half of merseyside on the pitch at highbury, such a shame we never won the cup that year but off the pitch must have been our best ever season.
My favourite seasons were late 60s/ early 70s.
I think you always enjoy the football years the most from when you were in your teens and twenties. It's the same with music.
Forest away, 9,000 at fratton where as usual we owned them off the pitch too, then Blackburn on a Friday night, 10,000+ at Wednesday, then smashing the blue half of merseyside on the pitch at highbury, such a shame we never won the cup that year but off the pitch must have been our best ever season.
The thing I remember most about the Sheff Wed game was the police escort all the way to the stadium, or was it from , at about 10mph, but what a cup season. The long drive in one hit up to and back fromBlackburn as well on a Friday night. Absolutely knackered and slept in a service station on way back. And as you say, all our games that season were on tv Great support and memories
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Best lower league games on 12:40 - Apr 10 with 2084 views
Best lower league games on 00:12 - Apr 10 by dirk_doone
My first ever Saints game was 1963 but I was just a child so missed those great FA Cup games. But, the whole city seemed to move when we had a big away game in those days. I remember our first top flight game at White Hart Lane when we packed the whole Park Lane End (supposedly Spurs' home end) with 10,000 Saints' fans. They just had a few hundred fans singing at the side on the halfway line.
Yes, we also took 10,000 to the FA Cup game at Sheffield Wednesday in 1984. There would have been more but that was the maximum number of tickets we could get.
[Post edited 10 Apr 2020 0:29]
And to think about the Sheff game, we were packed in to the Leppings Lane end and look what happened there a few years later
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Best lower league games on 12:49 - Apr 10 with 2072 views
Best lower league games on 09:38 - Apr 10 by Mushty
I'm lucky enough to have done just about all of those away games with the big followings, we used to go everywhere particularly in the 70s and 80s, in recent times in the lower leagues, any London games were a good day out, Orient and Millwall were standouts.
Orient in the 78 promotion year was a goodun. I got a train down from the midlands as at college up there and was amazed at how many other Saints fans on the train both wsys that lived in that area I also found my programme for that one the other day during a clear out
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Best lower league games on 11:14 - Apr 11 with 1990 views
Best lower league games on 12:49 - Apr 10 by kingslandstand1
Orient in the 78 promotion year was a goodun. I got a train down from the midlands as at college up there and was amazed at how many other Saints fans on the train both wsys that lived in that area I also found my programme for that one the other day during a clear out
Yep '78 saw some big followings, estimated 15,000 at Orient, 10,000 at Luton and Fulham, were the standouts. Back in those days we could take thousands away one week and then the following week, just a few hundred if north of Brum! Forest and West Brom away in the cup mid-late 70s saw 10,000 away followings.
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, at about 10mph, but what a cup season. The long drive in one hit up to and back fromBlackburn as well on a Friday night. Absolutely knackered and slept in a service station on way back. And as you say, all our games that season were on tv 
