Reidy's Bottle Of Grecian
The Unobstructed View
i watched this 'documentary' the other night, about fans travelling down to the Milk Cup Final in 1984.
YouTube - Home and Away - Everton vs Liverpool (milk cup 84) part 1
an event that came at the height of a time when, for a lot on merseyside there seemed no future. yet they somehow managed to scrape enough together to get down to london to watch a football match (and put their hands in there pockets to help striking miners families as i remember).
it was a time when blues and reds could mix, cos lets face it most had a lot more to worry about than to hate each other. what that day said to the nation and the people in power was look, you've thrown everything at us and destroyed our region yet our spirit remains intact, we are here and we're gonna party with a big 2 fingers to the establishment.
then it continued for the following years, with both teams to the fore, the city couldn't be just swept aside and forgotten because here were the people on the box every week and thriving (in a footballing sense), and when they play each other it's like a great big party that the nation wants to be a part of. when the spirit of the region was flagging it was the 2 teams that kept everyone going, with no real hatred for each other just a rivalry, the only hatred being directed towards the establishment and those who liked to mock the regions plight due to not being able to do it on the pitch.
as the economic stranglehold started to affect other parts of the country, the incidents at football started to increase, all sorts of methods were tried to combat it, i.d. cards,alcohol bans on transport, banning of away fans from drinking (within 15 miles of the stadium rings a bell) total away fan bans, all of which seemed to just offer a chance of beating the system for merseyside football fans, another chance to raise 2 to the people in power.
and so it continued until the tragic day in sheffield, here the government finally saw an opportunity to quell the masses, make it so they have to sit down to calm their raucous behaviour. in making stadiums all seater, i doubt if they actually realised it at the time but they had managed to set in motion the breakdown of something that was unique in the footballing world, 2 sets of fans that could watch the game side by side without resorting to fisticuffs (save for the odd scuffle), the insults were still there and probably just as bad, but the reaction to the insults and songs was different, you'd just shake your head, mutter "bastards" then hit back with your own devastating repartee. with the all seater stadia came the segregation that existed when you played other teams, due in the main to the smaller stadiums being sold out each week and no extra tickets available, as the mixing stopped and only a couple of thousand getting to the away derby's, the special day changed, with partizan crowds that got worse with their hatred for the others as each year passed, until we are in the situation we are these days where a lone fan in colours in the wrong end will be either set upon or ejected.
that my friends, is what i reckon was the death knell for the Merseyside Derby as we once knew it, it wasn't Heysel 'cos we carried on standing on their hill for years without it turning into armageddon, and 5 years after the 1st Wembley Derby we were all still making our way down there (many spending their giro's to get there), spirits unbroken and fingers still raised.
so the gov. finally managed to split the masses "divide & conquer", but for me, when we stood together and sang "merseyside" it was the people of a region letting the government know that we were united and it was them that we held the disdain for.
i've avoided pointing the finger of blame at any person in particular so far but 'she' knew what that rendition of merseyside meant and 'she' couldn't wait for the chance to ruin what we had.
i would love it if when she finally carks it there is a BIG derby about to take place as it will be like a liberation for us all, a chance for the 2 sets of fans to unite again and sully her memory, a bit like when franco died and the catalans dusted off their banned flags for a night of celebration.
YouTube - Home and Away - Everton vs Liverpool (milk cup 84) part 1
an event that came at the height of a time when, for a lot on merseyside there seemed no future. yet they somehow managed to scrape enough together to get down to london to watch a football match (and put their hands in there pockets to help striking miners families as i remember).
it was a time when blues and reds could mix, cos lets face it most had a lot more to worry about than to hate each other. what that day said to the nation and the people in power was look, you've thrown everything at us and destroyed our region yet our spirit remains intact, we are here and we're gonna party with a big 2 fingers to the establishment.
then it continued for the following years, with both teams to the fore, the city couldn't be just swept aside and forgotten because here were the people on the box every week and thriving (in a footballing sense), and when they play each other it's like a great big party that the nation wants to be a part of. when the spirit of the region was flagging it was the 2 teams that kept everyone going, with no real hatred for each other just a rivalry, the only hatred being directed towards the establishment and those who liked to mock the regions plight due to not being able to do it on the pitch.
as the economic stranglehold started to affect other parts of the country, the incidents at football started to increase, all sorts of methods were tried to combat it, i.d. cards,alcohol bans on transport, banning of away fans from drinking (within 15 miles of the stadium rings a bell) total away fan bans, all of which seemed to just offer a chance of beating the system for merseyside football fans, another chance to raise 2 to the people in power.
and so it continued until the tragic day in sheffield, here the government finally saw an opportunity to quell the masses, make it so they have to sit down to calm their raucous behaviour. in making stadiums all seater, i doubt if they actually realised it at the time but they had managed to set in motion the breakdown of something that was unique in the footballing world, 2 sets of fans that could watch the game side by side without resorting to fisticuffs (save for the odd scuffle), the insults were still there and probably just as bad, but the reaction to the insults and songs was different, you'd just shake your head, mutter "bastards" then hit back with your own devastating repartee. with the all seater stadia came the segregation that existed when you played other teams, due in the main to the smaller stadiums being sold out each week and no extra tickets available, as the mixing stopped and only a couple of thousand getting to the away derby's, the special day changed, with partizan crowds that got worse with their hatred for the others as each year passed, until we are in the situation we are these days where a lone fan in colours in the wrong end will be either set upon or ejected.
that my friends, is what i reckon was the death knell for the Merseyside Derby as we once knew it, it wasn't Heysel 'cos we carried on standing on their hill for years without it turning into armageddon, and 5 years after the 1st Wembley Derby we were all still making our way down there (many spending their giro's to get there), spirits unbroken and fingers still raised.
so the gov. finally managed to split the masses "divide & conquer", but for me, when we stood together and sang "merseyside" it was the people of a region letting the government know that we were united and it was them that we held the disdain for.
i've avoided pointing the finger of blame at any person in particular so far but 'she' knew what that rendition of merseyside meant and 'she' couldn't wait for the chance to ruin what we had.
i would love it if when she finally carks it there is a BIG derby about to take place as it will be like a liberation for us all, a chance for the 2 sets of fans to unite again and sully her memory, a bit like when franco died and the catalans dusted off their banned flags for a night of celebration.
