Page 75 - 368603 LP250721 AWY AWY AWY Book (238pp A5)

There were a few other lads waiting around and when Col arrived the three of us started walking down Fawcett Street towards the ground. We were overtaken by the lads we’d seen outside the station and they asked us for the time. Next thing they turned on us and started thumping and nutting us. Anth got a thick bamboo pole slashed over his arm. We managed to run across the busy street and one or two of them came after us before we managed to convince the arseholes that we weren’t Boro fans. One of them actually said, “Oh, sorry.” Sunderland’s colours had begun to incorporate a black stripe since Mick had given me his red and white scarf, which happened to be the current Boro colours. Talk about irony; the only time I ever suffered from soccer violence was at the hands of our own fans. Still, such folk are so moronic that anyone will do for them. We lost the match 0-1 to complete a perfect evening.
A much happier moment from the summer of 1974 was the arrival of Pop Robson. I remember the moment I heard this news from my pal Les as we stood on a staircase at Bridon Fibres in Roker Avenue (that’s the Ropery to you), where we were working for the summer. It was like feeling really hungry and then having the best Sunday dinner your Mam ever made placed in front of you.
During the 1974-1975 season I was still at university in London most of the time and maintained my keen interest in the team but didn’t get to see many games. I’d been up to Old Trafford in November 1974 to see our epic clash with
67