Reg,
after reading the below from thisis i was wondering, have you ever been arrested for fighting?
Young bucks like Banbury aren't old enough to remember the golden days of the mid to late 60's...before fences before segregation...crews would attempt to take an end...either by turning up early to occcupy space, infiltrating groups or individuals, or a charge from another part of the ground....nobody wore colours, so it was a case of you knew your lot, perhaps by what they wore...then punch ups would break out.
Old Bill used to stand in lines or at the back and when scraps happened wade in and drag out culprits which usually then involved the old helmet getting knocked off and thrown around.
A mate of the old man was an old school copper at the time, used to go in the TE and giving a lad a bit of a slap or thump was considered fair play.
A particular favourite of mine was v Charlton when there had been a fair bit of toing and froing and rucking in the TE, when at the end of the game their top boy and crew went round shaking everyone by the hand thanking them for a good scrap....quality.
Another fave was about 67 when 1st game of the season a bunch of Brighton lads turned up wearing Sergeant Pepper jackets..in bright red, love and peace wasn't their stuff though and being somewhat obvious in the TE, got a right kicking even though they put up a good show.
Another epic was Blackburn in the Cup around the same time...lots of acne riddled, greasy lank haired, pasty faced norverners came and had a go...think it was a score draw.
Away games often were a case of loot and pillage in the town centre before the game....early years O*ford being especially fine as they didn't have a football culture and didn't know what was going on...they soon learnt.
To get agood spot in the TE then it was often neccesary to queue a good hour or so before the gates opened....and the temperature generatee dfrom body heat meant nothing more than a grandfather vest was necessary even in winter.
