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As a teenager in the 1980s, I used to go on lovely surfing holidays on the Gower Peninsula in South Wales with my dad, and one time my best pal Tom (a fellow R) came along too. Which is how we ended up standing on a packed North Bank terrace at the Vetch Field watching Swansea thrash Leeds 5-1 on 29th August 1981, a match that has now taken on legendary status. It was the Swans' first-ever game in the old First Division, having been promoted in successive seasons from the Fourth, under John Toshak. Oddly, given that I have no attachment to either club, it's one of the most memorable games I have ever attended, and Tom says the same - the noise and emotion were unforgettable.
Which reminds me... Pat, a close friend of my (now-departed) Mum, is originally from New Jersey, though she has lived in London since the mid- 1960s. She recently told me that she was given a ticket for a game at Wembley soon after arriving in London, which is the only match she has ever been to. She had and still has no interest in football whatsoever. It was the World Cup Final in 1966.
[Post edited 1 Nov 2017 21:07]
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 00:36 - Nov 2 with 4267 views
Ha, got my interest and I wickied up John Toshack. I'd always presumed that Toshack was probably a provincial Austro-Hungarian moniker, low and behold it's a good old fashioned sweaty name.
I think it was in 1958, a few weeks away from my 6th birthday, that I attended a family trip to The Valley.
It was the last day of the season & this 2nd division (now The Championship) had a little bit to play for! Charlton were 2nd, a point above Blackburn, so a winner takes all situation was in play.
As my father was a Blackburn fan, we were to attend to see Ronnie Clayton & Bryan Douglas take Rovers back to the top division.
Titter ye not, but this meant arriving around two hours before kick off to avoid being locked out of a ground that held 80,000!
We managed to find a place near the bottom of the vast open spaces behind a goal & prepared to be entertained/appalled depending on the outcome.
I really don't remember anything about the game except that after 85 minutes Blackburn were winning 4-1 & all was well with the world. After 90 minutes the score was 4-3 & Charlton hit the woodwork with the last kick of the match!
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 10:03 - Nov 2 with 4165 views
In January 1967, my Dad and I went to see Millwall v Plymouth. We lived in Forest Hill at the time, but his Dad had been a director of Argyle and I was getting really interested in football (shortly before my baptism in W12) so it seemed a good idea at the time.
Millwall were on a run of something like 59 games undefeated but Argyle had the temerity to beat them 2-1 and fans got the hump so badly, they smashed up the away coach (the vehicle that is). Quite an experience!
My Dad was finally converted when I took him to LR to see his boyhood team get thumped by Marsh, Keen etc.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 10:05 - Nov 2 with 4161 views
Fulham v Benfica leap year day 1972. My first ever football match when Fulham opened the Riverside stand. Eusebio scored but lost 3-2. A year later I saw Fulham v Santos in Peles only ever game in London. Pele scored but lost 2-1.
A week later I went to my first QPR game against Fulham. Stan Bowles scored as we won 2-0. So in 12 months I had seen 3 brilliant footballers. I only fell in love with one of them.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 10:11 - Nov 2 with 4153 views
Saw Messi's first ever goal at a trip to the Camp Nou. It was glorious. On the plane over I had told the other lads on the stag to look out for him as he would be special. I didn't realise how special, of course. I have since achieved a status second only to Nostradamus.
Introduced with only four minutes to go with Barca holding a slim 1-0 lead and in a tight race as they attempted to win their first title in six years, the tense crowd rose as one to greet him. It reminded me of our 41 New Year's Day win at Man Utd when the crowd roared for substitute Giggs. You just knew that they knew something special had arrived. Instantly Ronaldinho played him in with a sumptuous lob. Incredibly the 17-yr old sold the keeper a dummy and lobbed to the net. Offside. Incorrectly. Then, again, Ronaldinho played him in with a perfect lob, would he have the cheek to lob again....
"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 10:05 - Nov 2 by smegma
Fulham v Benfica leap year day 1972. My first ever football match when Fulham opened the Riverside stand. Eusebio scored but lost 3-2. A year later I saw Fulham v Santos in Peles only ever game in London. Pele scored but lost 2-1.
A week later I went to my first QPR game against Fulham. Stan Bowles scored as we won 2-0. So in 12 months I had seen 3 brilliant footballers. I only fell in love with one of them.
Brilliant.
"The opposite of love, after all, is not hate, but indifference."
Sunderland 4 Charlton 4 play off final 1997 went with a mackem mate in the Sunderland end
Leicester 3 - Swindon 4 play off final 1993 , had a job stewarding at Wembley, saw the whole match did naff all work
England 2 - Argentina 2 world cup 1998 , my ex girlfriends step sister worked for Fifa , got 2 tickets , surrounded by argies
And Bowles is onside, Swinburne has come rushing out of his goal , what can Bowles do here , onto the left foot no, on to the right foot
That’s there that’s two, and that’s Bowles
Brian Moore
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 11:41 - Nov 2 with 4110 views
1998 World Cup final. Great game. Turned into one of the best nights of my life, wandering through Paris, getting drunker and drunker. Waving our final tickets around in bars got us free drinks. An Algerian drug dealer insisted on taking us to meet his mum. Riding the dodgems at Bastille at six in the morning. The whole city centre partied the whole night.
Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 11:01 - Nov 2 by paulparker
Sunderland 4 Charlton 4 play off final 1997 went with a mackem mate in the Sunderland end
Leicester 3 - Swindon 4 play off final 1993 , had a job stewarding at Wembley, saw the whole match did naff all work
England 2 - Argentina 2 world cup 1998 , my ex girlfriends step sister worked for Fifa , got 2 tickets , surrounded by argies
I saw the play off final in (I think) 1999. Ipswich 4 Barnsley 2. It won't be remembered by too many people outside those two towns, but it was bedlam from start to finish, magnificent entertainment.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 12:41 - Nov 2 with 4065 views
My boss used to have corporate season tickets for Fulham. Not afraid to say it was most probably the best neutral game of football I have ever watched. I did laugh as all they did was sing about us for most of the game though. I remember at one stage being asked by a couple of their fans why I was not joining in and told them in no uncertain terms who I supported.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 13:43 - Nov 2 with 4000 views
Came down to Wembley in 1977,making the journey from Leicester where I was living at the time, to see England v Holland. Stan was in the team and was at the height of his powers so I was looking forward to seeing him (and Dave Clement), playing for England and desperately hoping he’d do well. In the end, he and the rest of the England team barely got a touch. They were chasing shadows the whole game, being given a lesson in passing by what was still the majority of players from the Dutch ‘74 World Cup team, definitely the greatest I’ve ever witnessed live. Johann Cruyff pulled the strings and Neeskens, Krol, Suurbier, Rep and Rensenbrink and co led us a merry dance. At the time I was disappointed that England and Stan hadn’t won but 40 years later I know I should have just realized I was privileged to be watching “total football “ at its ultimate. It was Stan’s last ever game for England too.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 14:13 - Nov 2 with 3975 views
When a student was talked into going to Linfield v Donegal Celtic which turned into a riot. I was on the open terrace to the left with the Donegal Celtic fans who had to be escorted in form West Belfast. I also had mates who invited me to be in the Linfield end.
Extraordinary day. Plastic bullets hitting people a few feet from me and literally scalping them. A bloke ran on the pitch and assaulted a Donegal Celtic player and was then helped back to his seat by stewards who clearly approved of his actions.
I jumped over the back of the stand and lowered myself down and then had to make my way back to the safety of south Belfast by passing through sectarian riots which had broken out in both communities. Stopped and quizzed in both who were confused by my English accent. One woman in East Belfast in the middle of a full blown bus burning riot sauntered out of her house and asked me 'Hey love, do you know what the score was in the match?'
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 15:08 - Nov 2 with 3887 views
Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 10:05 - Nov 2 by smegma
Fulham v Benfica leap year day 1972. My first ever football match when Fulham opened the Riverside stand. Eusebio scored but lost 3-2. A year later I saw Fulham v Santos in Peles only ever game in London. Pele scored but lost 2-1.
A week later I went to my first QPR game against Fulham. Stan Bowles scored as we won 2-0. So in 12 months I had seen 3 brilliant footballers. I only fell in love with one of them.
My dad took me and my brother to that Fulham v Santos game! Amazing to see some of football's all time greats Pele and Edu there in the flesh. Fulham feature in another of my memorable games - for the wrong reason; my brother is a West Ham fan and my dad got him 2 tickets for the 75 cup final. Because we had to be rivals in everything, I supported Fulham that day, and they were absolute dog toffee.
The most memorable non-QPR game I've been to in recent times was when my Spurs supporting mate invited me to White Hart Lane with him and his son. He's a season ticket holder and the invite had been open for some time, but this particular game was the first time I could make it. I didn't have any expectations really, other than I wanted to enjoy a Premier league match for a change. This was 2009 and we were a couple of years into Bernie and Flavio's 4 year plan.
The game was against Wigan. If you can remember the result, you'll understand why my mate asked me to come more regularly. Spurs beat Wigan 9-1, with Jermaine Defoe netting an almost unbelievable 5 second half goals. I'm not a Spurs fan in any way, but it seemed churlish not to join in the chants of 'we want 6!', 'we want 7!', 'we want 8!', 'we want 9!' and then, comically, hilariously, 'we want 10!'. One of the maddest matches I've ever been too.
(Edit: I forgot to mention it was only 1-0 at half time, which made the final score even more crazy.)
Hayes 3 - 1 Enfield. The day that Hayes went into The Conference. For some reason I travelled down from Wolverhampton for the day (visiting father in law) and then went back up there.
Did I ever mention that I was in Minder?
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 16:06 - Nov 2 with 3809 views
I had a yam yam work colleague who got me a ticket to go and watch this with him and I had a brilliant day, I even joined in with the Steve Bull song during the afternoon LOL Great atmosphere and I was with the winners.
[Post edited 2 Nov 2017 16:07]
The grass is always greener.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 16:29 - Nov 2 with 3780 views
I travelled up from my home in Eastbourne to watch QPR vs Manchester United only to find when I arrived at the ground the match had been called off due to a frozen pitch.So instead of wasting my day and my train fare I travelled across London to watch Arsenal vs Newcastle.It was Malcolm McDonalds first time in an Arsenal shirt playing against his old club Newcastle where he was a legend.About the best match I have ever seen Arsenal 5 Newcastle 3.Malcolm McDonald scoring a hat trick for Arsenal
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 17:04 - Nov 2 with 3747 views
Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 15:08 - Nov 2 by hubble
My dad took me and my brother to that Fulham v Santos game! Amazing to see some of football's all time greats Pele and Edu there in the flesh. Fulham feature in another of my memorable games - for the wrong reason; my brother is a West Ham fan and my dad got him 2 tickets for the 75 cup final. Because we had to be rivals in everything, I supported Fulham that day, and they were absolute dog toffee.
The most memorable non-QPR game I've been to in recent times was when my Spurs supporting mate invited me to White Hart Lane with him and his son. He's a season ticket holder and the invite had been open for some time, but this particular game was the first time I could make it. I didn't have any expectations really, other than I wanted to enjoy a Premier league match for a change. This was 2009 and we were a couple of years into Bernie and Flavio's 4 year plan.
The game was against Wigan. If you can remember the result, you'll understand why my mate asked me to come more regularly. Spurs beat Wigan 9-1, with Jermaine Defoe netting an almost unbelievable 5 second half goals. I'm not a Spurs fan in any way, but it seemed churlish not to join in the chants of 'we want 6!', 'we want 7!', 'we want 8!', 'we want 9!' and then, comically, hilariously, 'we want 10!'. One of the maddest matches I've ever been too.
(Edit: I forgot to mention it was only 1-0 at half time, which made the final score even more crazy.)
[Post edited 2 Nov 2017 15:24]
I know what you mean about getting swept up with the excitement of the locals. I was a bit reluctant to mention this, but one weekend in 1986 I was at a bit of a loose end so I agreed to go to a game with a college friend and his work colleague. Brian Clough had put together an exciting new Forest team with the likes of Young Nigel, Neil Webb and Franz Carr, and it was a chance to see them for myself. So for the first and only time in my life, I stood in the home end at Stamford Bridge.
The vermin had nearly won the league the year before and after 10 minutes were 2-1 up, but by halftime, Forest had zoomed out to a 5-2 lead. They only scored once more in the second half but switched early into complete psstake mode. The locals were not happy, and any of their players who came near copped some serious abuse. It seemed rude not to join in; in fact, they seemed to appreciate it. Oi Rougvie, you useless c*nt. Speedie, you're a f*ck*ng *rs*h*l*. Great day out.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 17:23 - Nov 2 with 3726 views
Having started this thread, I'd just like to say what a great read it's turned into today, with such a variety of evocative, considered, well-written responses. A good example of why LFW is such a brilliant forum.
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Memorable Matches You Have Been to NOT Involving QPR on 18:28 - Nov 2 with 3670 views
When Arsenal used to play their Champions League games at Wembley I got 3 tickets in the away section for the game against Fiorentina. Brilliant night. Me and 2 mates (Spurs fans) in the thick of it with the Viola ultras. Flicking the Vs to the Gooners, dodging various items being thrown around and a great game with a great goal by Batistuta. Seem to remember a great save by Toldo near the end which put arsenal out! Possibly the craziest fan experience ive had!
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