Anyone else on here been to away games by transit van?

Back in about 79, Gillingham away, about 15 in transit, drove overnight after clash or two tone tour(can't recall which) at Lancaster university.
Saturday evening in the west end, arrived back in Blackpool like death 5 am Sunday morning ☠️
Never again 🥴
 
Loads of times in the 80's; the only way to travel!

Most memorable being Oxford in the FA cup; 20 of us packed like sardines in a small Bedford van. 17 in the back plus a barrel of beer from a pub in Garstang that we set off from.

Very eventful day! 😉
 
Lincoln in the back of a Ford Luton in December.
Absolutely freezing.
Broke down on the M55 on the way back and thumbed a lift off a passing car.
Can't think of anything worse now.
 
Surely we have someone from the legendary Tranny van to Torquay in the early eighties on here, I missed that classic weekend but tales of kidnapping, stolen four poster beds, brawling with greasers and general mayhem were the talk of the town for many years after.
 
A couple that spring to mind were Notts County on a Sunday in a transit and Chester in one of those Luton box vans.
 
Levi501 said:
Think I can top that, we went to a few local away matches in the late 60’s early 70’s in our mates invalid carriage, me lying one way whilst my mate lay opposite way on the step, with our invalid mate driving! 20togo will know who I mean. 😉
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I know who you mean as well.
 
Another one for Avesco van hire ,ended up delivering a sofa (that was the luxury seating in the van) to a house in Nobberville ,they werent happy. 😂
 
Levi501 said:
Think I can top that, we went to a few local away matches in the late 60’s early 70’s in our mates invalid carriage, me lying one way whilst my mate lay opposite way on the step, with our invalid mate driving! 20togo will know who I mean. 😉

Yeap I went tHuddersfield with him, last game of season. On way home somewhere on the Yorkshires moors having only seen sky for an hours or so the driver asked "any idea where we are"
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Standard way to travel in the 80s and no tickets needed.
Sometimes went to pub with no plan to go to game and then get kidnapped.
Remember landlord let us load a pub picnic table into the back of a transit so just carried on drinking as we were.
Sometimes stood up all the way with a tide of spilt beer ebbing each time we braked.
Also recall having to limbo a van under a height restriction bar which wasn't there we parked (like Italian job with lads shuffling in a bunch to lower roof height at different points).
Too many other memories to recount. Great OP, made my day thinking back 🤣
 
Lincoln away at the ill fated 91/92 match,parked up at the lights and a fist comes through the back window!. We were with some real animals who ordered us to get out and fight or they will fill us in themselves,so I got out and did a little window shopping.
 
Levi501 said:
Think I can top that, we went to a few local away matches in the late 60’s early 70’s in our mates invalid carriage, me lying one way whilst my mate lay opposite way on the step, with our invalid mate driving! 20togo will know who I mean. 😉
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Dare I say it Levi..... (no you don't).
Port Vale away mid 80's. Night game, returned after the game to find police round it & the van on it's side.
Coming back from Springfield Park Wigan. Back doors opened & a lad had a tom tit out the back at 70mph+ with lads holding his arms. Class 😳
 
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Yea loads of times back in the day. A few times with Bennys who had the habit of travelling with the back door open , i used to shit myself about falling out on the motorway.

Other times with the “Garstang Mafia” which was eventful. When you got picked up and got in the back the smell of the ole weed used to knock you out or made you physically sick! The driver used to drive with a crash helmet on ?! hahaha. Like someone said the service stations were eventful

We went to Arsenal in one with the Over Wyre lads that was very civilised; chairs, cushions and duvets in the back and lads tucking into their packed lunches along the way!
 
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Willie Mcgrotty said:
Dare I say it Levi.....spaz chariot 🙉.
Port Vale away mid 80's. Night game, returned after the game to find police round it & the van on it's side.
Coming back from Springfield Park Wigan. Back doors opened & a lad had a tom tit out the back at 70mph+ with lads holding his arms. Class 😳
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Bit un PC nowadays Willie.😉
 
SpionKop said:
The driver used to drive with a crash helmet on ?! hahaha. Like someone said the service stations were eventful
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I took the helmet to Oxford after the running battle with a van load of Knobbers on the way back from Gainsborough the previous round.
They played Scunny I think and we had a go at them on a roundabout and they scarpered, but the cowardly fuckers bricked us leaving Hartshead services and destroying the van.

I got the hire van back to the place I hired it that night and posted the keys as per usual left some stones lying around so it looked like it had been damaged after I left it. 🤗
 
Remember the England v Holland game Fayboy. Stopped at a service station on way home and one lad stuffed a doughnut in his mouth in one so he didn't have to pay at the till. Next minute it was like a plague of locusts, the shelves were bare in seconds and everyone trying to swallow the evidence. Remember police explaining to the catering manager "what do you want us to do, arrest a 50 of them? besides where's the evidence".
Wrong? yes. But the prices were ridiculous and no CCTV back then 🤣
 
Loads.

The most amusing time was when I wasn't in the van. It was a Luton with the back rolled up and a number of Rammy Boys stood at the back drinking cans and generally being, err, Rammy Boys. I was in a car in the next lane, sat in the back with my G/F with her Mother and Step Father in the front. Some in the van recognised me and started waving and stuff. I can't quite remember my answer to 'Are they waving at you FCB?', can't have been that bad as I've been married to her for, jesus, far too long.
 
Simonized said:
I took the helmet to Oxford after the running battle with a van load of Knobbers on the way back from Gainsborough the previous round.
They played Scunny I think and we had a go at them on a roundabout and they scarpered, but the cowardly fuckers bricked us leaving Hartshead services and destroying the van.

I got the hire van back to the place I hired it that night and posted the keys as per usual left some stones lying around so it looked like it had been damaged after I left it. 🤗
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hahaha excellent. Well after 40 years i now know! Do u remember Rochdale we were still travelling round their town centre at 9pm and then someone thought it would be funny to throw a brick of sorts at the big GRE insurance window - sirens going off everywhere!
 
SpionKop said:
hahaha excellent. Well after 40 years i now know! Do u remember Rochdale we were still travelling round their town centre at 9pm and then someone thought it would be funny to throw a brick of sorts at the big GRE insurance window - sirens going off everywhere!
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Nutty times and the yoof of today wouldn't have a chance of getting away with a fraction of what we did with CCTV and mobile phone cameras these days.
I would have done time with all the shit I was involved in at games now.
 
dodgy_surname said:
Travelled to Chester in a luton from the anchor with load’s of mates
Cracking day out👍
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I don’t know if that was the same trip but I travelled with my mates from the New Anchor to Chester on a coach.
We stopped at a pub on the outskirts Chester.
We met a farmer with a pick up truck with Hay on the back about 8 of us sat in the back of a pick and another 4 in convoy in a taxi into central Chester.
The lads in the pick up threw eggs at the window of the cab…..I was in the cab the driver…..not happy I think the games was a Saturday Feb/March 1995.
Blackpool fans went on Tge Chester end….me included…..it’s was all “handbags” but a great laugh🤣
I got kicked out once put on the Blackpool end by the police for being “gobby”……who’d have thought that??🤣🤣
I went to the back of the end and used a piece of gauze steel concrete reinforcement hanging out of Seaksnd Rd as a ladder & got straight back in.
One home it was straight to “The Mariners”🍺……..Great Memories!!…..I have “grown up” a bit since but ONLY a “Bit”🤣🤣🚌🚌🧡🧡
 
Fatboy said:
England v Holland at Wembley in the 80s, with two barrels of home brew !
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If that van went from the Boars ?
Then I was the driver.
Very lively around the West End that day .... as it was a no show from the Dutch ... so all the English kicking off with each other !!
 
Hatchet Man said:
If that van went from the Boars ?
Then I was the driver.
Very lively around the West End that day .... as it was a no show from the Dutch ... so all the English kicking off with each other !!
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No, it went from the Squirrel , and was run by Steve Wood .
 
Back in the 80's, can't remember if it was Bury or Rochdale, we got back to our van which was parked near home fans. Bricks were flying at vehicles around us until they realised we were Pool fans. "Leave it they're Blackpool" someone thankfully shouted. It was carnage walking back to where we'd parked up, a car had been turned over and several windows smashed. Run of the mill really in the good old Bisons days 🤣
 
Blackpool Are Back! said:
When you think back now, it was a horrible way to travel.
Up to around 14 lads cramped in the back and no windows.
The mucker types today, would turn their noses up.
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I toured round in a transit van when i was the singer of a bad in manc, always the same 3 unfortunates in the back. No windows, barely any safety measures, terrible way to travel if you ask me! For some weird reason it actually increased our morale somehow!
 
Blackpool Are Back! said:
When you think back now, it was a horrible way to travel.
Up to around 14 lads cramped in the back and no windows.
The mucker types these days, would turn their noses up at that form of transport today.
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Had a few trips back in the mid 60s like that but also you could drink to your hearts content on a coach
 
Not a transit van but a laundry van all the way to Oxford. Around 15 of us in the back with no windows. Took over 5 hours to get there with the van swaying side to side along the motorway. The worst thing was knowing we'd got the same tortuous journey back to the Gold Coast. Oh and Pool lost 2-1
 
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