I'd been going to football for 16 months at the time, but that WBA home game was the one that got me hooked on football and falling in love with the FA Cup.
Other memories include:
The 3-3 at Barnet in 1996. We looked dead and buried at halftime but came back to draw. The replay was also great.
Eastwood, better best forgotten, but still memorable for all the wrong reasons. Feeble is kind.
I was at the Watford match.Stood on the big open terrace at Vicarage Road end I believe. If memory serves it was one of Watford,s largest attendances in years.
For the WBA replay (I'd gone up with my manager who was also a Wycombe fan, he was driving) we'd been stuck for ages trying to exit the M5 at the awful roundabout with A41, close to the ground, when a WWFC supporters coach arrived escorted by police motor cycles.
I forced my manager, against his normal instinct, to tailgate the coach and escort through the gap created in the traffic by repeatedly shouting at him rather loudly. Once we'd exited the traffic jam and parked he said that was a side of me he'd never seen before!
I told him I was only warming up my voice for the match.
I can't remember much, if anything about the Bournemouth home game, but the replay is in my top five greatest games. First of all, it was a longish away trip during the school week, it was so exciting.
First half we were under siege, conceded quickly and it was a miracle we went in only one down. Brian Lee apparently gave the team a rollicking, injured Bournemouth keeper Kevin Charlton was replaced by a forward and we dominated the second half. I've probably never seen such a turnaround in control. The winner was a Micky Holifield shot going wide, hit Steve Perrin on the head and wrong footed the keeper.
What really stands out for me was a police sergeant in peaked cap, probably in his fifties, standing with us behind the goal. When we scored the first goal he tried to stop us jumping around, the terrace celebrating. I think he gave up for the second one. To this day I can't think why he wanted to do that.
We were floating on the journey home on the coaches, we took eight of them.
I do think queueing for tickets really added to the anticipation of a match or a gig.
Whilst online ticketing is way quicker and easier, the camaraderie and excitement of getting up early and queuing with like minded fanatics really raised the excitement levels.
Not a second round memory, but in the list of players you thought would make it big, Ben Townsend's turn as emergency full-back at the tailend of the FA Cup run to the semis briefly marked him out as a star of the future. Sadly that never came to pass...
Excellent. According to the Official History, 23907 was the attendance with around 5000 from Wycombe. The largest attendance at Vicarage Road since Man United visited in 52.
I was at Vicarage Road for that game, I was 12 years old. I also went to the Bournemouth replay. Like @Steve_Peart we had the police concerned about our celebrations. In our case, we were strongly advised to leave the game before the end to avoid the home crowd. We crept away, keeping very quiet until we got to a pub in the New Forest, when we really enjoyed a drink!
Looking back to those days when the replay was usually the midweek after the original game, all FA Cup replays seemed to be special. The original game was still fresh in your memory and the draw for the next round had been made on the Monday lunchtime.
Going down there knowing that if we were to win we would be in the third round with the top clubs for the first time ever and were at home to one of the very best teams in the country at that time I can remember gave a whole range of emotions (back then i still believed we would actually win games I was going to watch).
To be honest whilst I can remember all the post-match feelings driving home with my father - scarf out the window -seemingly endlessly hooting at similarly scarf trailing cars heading back to Wycombe I had very little recollection of the game other than jumping around stupidly when we scored.
But @Steve_Peart has reminded me about the electric surge of optimism (after a chastening first half) that went through the terraces when people started to realise that they didn't have a 'proper' goalkeeper in the second half.
A great evening/night. I probably did go to school the next day but I am pretty sure my attention levels that day were substantially lower than my usually minimal awareness of what was going on.
I can never hear The The’s Beaten Generation without thinking it refers to the few Beeton Believers who fleetingly thought he was on his way to Liverpool or Benfica.
2-0 win v Chelmsford mid-80s was my first FA Cup second round experience.
From memory the first half was a non-stop riot on the hospital end terrace and resulted in the clock + advertising hoardings being torn down and the hospital radio commentary box being reduced to matchsticks.
This story may have grown legs over the years. But I think it’s 70% accurate?
Wouldn’t say it’s a core Wycombe memory but Darren Currie’s sublime chip in the Second Round tie vs Notts County in 2001 sticks out. Freezing day with Currie in his pomp. And having made the Hayes goalie look silly in the previous tie, he came up trumps again. This came only a week after the crazy 5-3 win against Brentford. It really seemed like Sanchez’s side were going to take things to another level, with some super stuff played in the first half of that season (at home at least). Sadly, it was very much a false dawn and we know how things went thereafter!
@arnos_grove I have a slightly different memory. What you described seemed to remind me more of the previous round v ColU - and as a result of the disgraceful scenes of open fighting on the hospital end terrace, there was segregation imposed (possibly the first time we ever had that at LP, where they opened up a turnstile at the back of the shed and Chelmsford had a section of it?) I don't think that stopped all the trouble, but i thought there was more carnage from our blue and white striped friends in the previous round... As you say, long time ago, and memories fade ("but the scars still linger")...
The 85 cup run was just when I'd starting watching Wycombe and was probably what got me hooked. I remember lots of crowd trouble at both games. Col Utd was more scrapping on the terraces, whilst the Chelmsford fans tried, but failed to get to the Wycombe fans (segregation having been added after the 1st round trouble). I think the trouble was more in the town with the Chelmsford fans rioting. I'm sure they smashed up our newly opened McDonalds! Could be wrong, I was far too young to be heading into town on my own to witness it all!
One thing that stands out was that the draw for the 3rd round was on the the Saturday evening. I ran home from Loakes Park hugely excited as to whom we could be playing only to listen to us being drawn away at York. Rather put a dampner on the celebrations.
I always remember it being Colchester fans causing trouble in town, and indeed I thought that game was the start of our rivalry, although it was obviously the Conference season we fought for the title with them where that rivalry increased.
Comments
I'd been going to football for 16 months at the time, but that WBA home game was the one that got me hooked on football and falling in love with the FA Cup.
Other memories include:
The 3-3 at Barnet in 1996. We looked dead and buried at halftime but came back to draw. The replay was also great.
Eastwood, better best forgotten, but still memorable for all the wrong reasons. Feeble is kind.
(That was the joke!)
I was at the Watford match.Stood on the big open terrace at Vicarage Road end I believe. If memory serves it was one of Watford,s largest attendances in years.
For the WBA replay (I'd gone up with my manager who was also a Wycombe fan, he was driving) we'd been stuck for ages trying to exit the M5 at the awful roundabout with A41, close to the ground, when a WWFC supporters coach arrived escorted by police motor cycles.
I forced my manager, against his normal instinct, to tailgate the coach and escort through the gap created in the traffic by repeatedly shouting at him rather loudly. Once we'd exited the traffic jam and parked he said that was a side of me he'd never seen before!
I told him I was only warming up my voice for the match.
I can't remember much, if anything about the Bournemouth home game, but the replay is in my top five greatest games. First of all, it was a longish away trip during the school week, it was so exciting.
First half we were under siege, conceded quickly and it was a miracle we went in only one down. Brian Lee apparently gave the team a rollicking, injured Bournemouth keeper Kevin Charlton was replaced by a forward and we dominated the second half. I've probably never seen such a turnaround in control. The winner was a Micky Holifield shot going wide, hit Steve Perrin on the head and wrong footed the keeper.
What really stands out for me was a police sergeant in peaked cap, probably in his fifties, standing with us behind the goal. When we scored the first goal he tried to stop us jumping around, the terrace celebrating. I think he gave up for the second one. To this day I can't think why he wanted to do that.
We were floating on the journey home on the coaches, we took eight of them.
I do think queueing for tickets really added to the anticipation of a match or a gig.
Whilst online ticketing is way quicker and easier, the camaraderie and excitement of getting up early and queuing with like minded fanatics really raised the excitement levels.
Not a second round memory, but in the list of players you thought would make it big, Ben Townsend's turn as emergency full-back at the tailend of the FA Cup run to the semis briefly marked him out as a star of the future. Sadly that never came to pass...
Excellent. According to the Official History, 23907 was the attendance with around 5000 from Wycombe. The largest attendance at Vicarage Road since Man United visited in 52.
I was at Vicarage Road for that game, I was 12 years old. I also went to the Bournemouth replay. Like @Steve_Peart we had the police concerned about our celebrations. In our case, we were strongly advised to leave the game before the end to avoid the home crowd. We crept away, keeping very quiet until we got to a pub in the New Forest, when we really enjoyed a drink!
Looking back to those days when the replay was usually the midweek after the original game, all FA Cup replays seemed to be special. The original game was still fresh in your memory and the draw for the next round had been made on the Monday lunchtime.
Going down there knowing that if we were to win we would be in the third round with the top clubs for the first time ever and were at home to one of the very best teams in the country at that time I can remember gave a whole range of emotions (back then i still believed we would actually win games I was going to watch).
To be honest whilst I can remember all the post-match feelings driving home with my father - scarf out the window -seemingly endlessly hooting at similarly scarf trailing cars heading back to Wycombe I had very little recollection of the game other than jumping around stupidly when we scored.
But @Steve_Peart has reminded me about the electric surge of optimism (after a chastening first half) that went through the terraces when people started to realise that they didn't have a 'proper' goalkeeper in the second half.
A great evening/night. I probably did go to school the next day but I am pretty sure my attention levels that day were substantially lower than my usually minimal awareness of what was going on.
I can never hear The The’s Beaten Generation without thinking it refers to the few Beeton Believers who fleetingly thought he was on his way to Liverpool or Benfica.
2-0 win v Chelmsford mid-80s was my first FA Cup second round experience.
From memory the first half was a non-stop riot on the hospital end terrace and resulted in the clock + advertising hoardings being torn down and the hospital radio commentary box being reduced to matchsticks.
This story may have grown legs over the years. But I think it’s 70% accurate?
Wouldn’t say it’s a core Wycombe memory but Darren Currie’s sublime chip in the Second Round tie vs Notts County in 2001 sticks out. Freezing day with Currie in his pomp. And having made the Hayes goalie look silly in the previous tie, he came up trumps again. This came only a week after the crazy 5-3 win against Brentford. It really seemed like Sanchez’s side were going to take things to another level, with some super stuff played in the first half of that season (at home at least). Sadly, it was very much a false dawn and we know how things went thereafter!
@arnos_grove I have a slightly different memory. What you described seemed to remind me more of the previous round v ColU - and as a result of the disgraceful scenes of open fighting on the hospital end terrace, there was segregation imposed (possibly the first time we ever had that at LP, where they opened up a turnstile at the back of the shed and Chelmsford had a section of it?) I don't think that stopped all the trouble, but i thought there was more carnage from our blue and white striped friends in the previous round... As you say, long time ago, and memories fade ("but the scars still linger")...
The 85 cup run was just when I'd starting watching Wycombe and was probably what got me hooked. I remember lots of crowd trouble at both games. Col Utd was more scrapping on the terraces, whilst the Chelmsford fans tried, but failed to get to the Wycombe fans (segregation having been added after the 1st round trouble). I think the trouble was more in the town with the Chelmsford fans rioting. I'm sure they smashed up our newly opened McDonalds! Could be wrong, I was far too young to be heading into town on my own to witness it all!
One thing that stands out was that the draw for the 3rd round was on the the Saturday evening. I ran home from Loakes Park hugely excited as to whom we could be playing only to listen to us being drawn away at York. Rather put a dampner on the celebrations.
I always remember it being Colchester fans causing trouble in town, and indeed I thought that game was the start of our rivalry, although it was obviously the Conference season we fought for the title with them where that rivalry increased.
Pretty sure he was always shit
I Visited Britain’s Most Depressing Football Club
I think it's pretty funny that this YouTuber (a Norwich fan I believe) decided to figure out the most depressing British club, and picked Colchester.
He’s a big Leeds fan, but he is from Norfolk. He’s not wrong though, Colchester are pretty depressing at the moment
There but for the grace of god. I often think about where would we be now if that day at Torquay had turned out differently.
We are a very fortunate club indeed.
Not to mention the same day at The Mem (horse punching aside). Still think a ‘Sir Colin Daniels Day’ would be a crowd pleaser at AP.