The Great Escapes

[Badge1878]

You can't get a ticket there on match day can you?

 

[formerly manx toffee]

I was on crutches after ACL surgery for the Wimbledon game listening on the radio I think (or Grandstand ?). When we scored THAT goal I ran into the garden and fell over in agony !!

Happy days

 

[COYBL25]

To be fair, if Liverpool were going to be relegated at Anfield, I wonder how many Blues would turn down a ticket?

Tbh, they mean that little to me, I wouldn't be arsed.

They're an irrelevance and most of the time you actually forget they exist.

 

[jaycee]

I don't know why, but I wasn't that worried about the Coventry game, but the Wimbledon game will be burnt into my mind forever.

The Wimbledon team bus going on fire the night before at the hotel in Daresbury, the lads up the trees in Stanley Park, trying anything to watch the game.

The feeling of utter despair when their second goal went in, then the mayhem when our third went in.

People everywhere crying and hugging strangers at the end.

Then into town for one of the biggest party nights ever.

The cars up and down Hardman St, horns blaring and flags out of the Windows / sunroofs.

The city centre was blue that night, not an RS in sight

Weird that we felt the complete opposite about the 2 games,Wimbledon I felt before the game IF we were going to drop we would go kicking and screaming,whereas the Coventry game,I felt like there was no heart or fight left in the club or the supporters,it was a wet miserable dark day and the whole atmosphere felt that way

 

[Mikey_Fitzgerald]

Tbh, they mean that little to me, I wouldn't be arsed.

They're an irrelevance and most of the time you actually forget they exist.

There's a thread on here with 6537 pages that suggests otherwise...

 

[COYBL25]

You can't get a ticket there on match day can you?

From memory I think you could, as I remember massive queues around the away end.

 

[SpongeBob brown shoes]

I was at the Coventry game in 98, I was 14 and we where sat in the top balcony, Farrelys goal was a beauty then I think it was Dion Dublin who scored for them, I was gutted, when the whistle went and we knew we were safe I just seen people running down the aisle towards the pitch so we ran down all them stairs in the balcony out of the ground and back in through the family enclosure, it was amazing being on the pitch and looking up at the top balcony it just looked huge, everyone was touching the post that Farrelys shot hit then I noticed people ripping up the pitch for keep sakes haha, the good bits had gone like the centre spot and penalty spot so I just pulled up a random piece, I remember walking home in the pissing down rain with a piece of turf made up, I tried to keep it in a plant pot in the back yard but the cat took a dump on it then a weed grew in it,

I remember the 'we want Johnson out' shouts too, nearly ruined us that horrible kopite

This video brings the nerves back, great to see Howard Kendall also

 

[COYBL25]

Weird that we felt the complete opposite about the 2 games,Wimbledon I felt before the game IF we were going to drop we would go kicking and screaming,whereas the Coventry game,I felt like there was no heart or fight left in the club or the supporters,it was a wet miserable dark day and the whole atmosphere felt that way

I think it was the fact that for the Coventry game a draw would do and we had to win the Wimbledon game

 

[jaycee]

I think it was the fact that for the Coventry game a draw would do and we had to win the Wimbledon game

It could well have been that,for the Wimbledon game I had 2 spares as a couple of the lads didnt want to be there,said they couldnt bear the thought of seeing us relegated,so 2 of my nephews asked if they could go to their 1st game,come Saturday morning they are ready to go at 8,shirts on,faces painted and Im sitting there thinking"how can I be responsible for inflicting this life of pain on them",half time one is a blubbering mess,the other is about to join him,Im geeing them up saying we will win,luckily we did,the next season they both got season tickets and have kept them since,though now and again I catch a glimpse of hatred toward me for giving them the blue bug

 

[zzr45]

Wimbledon game I was left at my grandads for the game. Was in tears at 2-0 and went out in the back garden to play. He called me back in when it got to 2-2 and the rest of the game was on tenterhooks. When my mam came to pick me up I remember bounding down the path and giving her a massive hug.

Still harbour a grudge against Dion Dublin. I would have been 11 at the Coventry game and was absolutely knackered by the end of it, god knows how the players felt.

It's why I never understand why people chant 'Going Down' at other teams. Having been through it, it's the absolute worse feeling as a fan and not something you ever wanna go through.

 

[brieverton]

Wimbledon - I felt the illogical calmness you feel when all hope felt lost at 0-2. Was just resigned to our fate. Obviously what unfolded was unbelievable. It was a bittersweet day, obviously filled with relief that we had escaped but even now recalling us being in those dire straits makes me embarrassed.

Coventry - I had a bad feeling about the game. After Dublin scored I admit I could not stand the tension. It was not the same feeling of jubilation afterwards, we only drew and just staggered through the game really. My memories are of Colin Harvey and the F.A. Youth Cup Final earlier in the week, telling a young kid that we would "be alright", I'm not sure if that was said in hope or expectation. Also remember a West Ham fan calling one of the phone-ins the week before the game, saying he was hoping we would go down, as we had gotten away with it for too long, Hans Segers etc. Of all people, a West Ham fan.

To me, those two occasions will only really mean something when we win the title again. To look back and know that we survived the apocalypse for a reason, and to see us take our rightful place at the top again.

We would probably have come back up, but its credible to think with the mess we were in that it wouldn't have been for several years, if at all.

 

[jaybx1878]

I was at both, the ques for the Wimbledon game were absolutely crazy, I managed to get into the St End just before they closed and got a seat by the corner flag as it was sit anywhere back then, utter despair at 2-0 turned to elation at the final whistle, my first venture onto the hallowed turf, I remember how massive the pitch seemed. I left the ground by the exit by St Luke's and the first person I saw standing by the railings was my arl fella who didn't manage to get in, i ran up to him and gave him a big hug, he's passed away now and I often think about that moment when I walk past that part of the ground.

The Coventry one was horrible when they equalised, I was convinced they where going to score again, proper head in hands time at the end, when the final whistle went we were on the pitch again, I saw one of the lads on and he jumped on me causing me to fall on my back on the muddy pitch with him on top of me, ended up covered in mud, terrible side that 1998 one, incredible how they stayed up really.

 

[chrismpw]

Yeah as you guessed from the thread title, this is about our last day matches in 1994 and 1998 when we were staring relegation in the face.It's pretty scary to think how close we came to it, because it might have finished off Everton.But thankfully everything worked out fine in the end!The purpose of this thread is not to revel in negativity but i would just like to hear peoples stories about those day's.The fans climbing the trees at Stanley Park to try and get a view of the action.Brian Labone pacing up and down Goodison Road because he wasn't able to stick out the last 10 minutes.They were two horrible day's but they were memorable and happy occasions at the same time if that makes sense.I'll just say this much didn't Gareth Farrely pick the right match to score his only goal for Everton?lol

Both times I went down to my sister's house on the south coast because I'd noticed that we always get a good result when I'm there. It worked twice.

No need to thank me.

 

[wilfjacko]

Both times I went down to my sister's house on the south coast because I'd noticed that we always get a good result when I'm there. It worked twice.

No need to thank me.

Thanks.

 

[No Alla Violenza]

I don't know why, but I wasn't that worried about the Coventry game, but the Wimbledon game will be burnt into my mind forever.

The Wimbledon team bus going on fire the night before at the hotel in Daresbury, the lads up the trees in Stanley Park, trying anything to watch the game.

The feeling of utter despair when their second goal went in, then the mayhem when our third went in.

People everywhere crying and hugging strangers at the end.

Then into town for one of the biggest party nights ever.

The cars up and down Hardman St, horns blaring and flags out of the Windows / sunroofs.

The city centre was blue that night, not an RS in sight

Exactly the same as you mate - wasn't worried about the Coventry game at all, I just assumed that was because I was extremely stoned though

Wimbledon game was a different story altogether - I missed a mates wedding for that game (he's still not properly talking to me, even now). Afterwards I remember asking my Dad if he would have renewed his season ticket if we'd have gone down. He said he would have done after seeing how much it meant to everyone who was there. I don't remember any RS being in the Upper Bullens though, not heard that one before...