Pompey Boot Boys!

Thanks to everyone on this thread, it certainly brought back lots of colourful memories of my teenage years and engaging with various away fans and their hooligan crews who descended on Bloomfield Rd in their numbers in that era, with that visit by Pompey Boot Boys being my first recollection of a military style hooligan crew having an influence on all us young Seasiders and prompting a visit to the barbers for our removal of all our hair and the purchase of Doc Martens, Levi jeans and jackets and Ben Sherman shirts to complete the uniform.

Being brought up in the Revoe area and the Matador Amusement arcade on Central Drive being our young but game crews meeting place, it brought us in to conflict with many away fans not only on Saturday afternoons, but also in to the evening as many of them came back to their coaches on Rigby Rd coach park behind the Mecca worse for the wear of alcohol and still in the mood for one last tear up before departing home for the weekend, we tried to accommodate this final send off.

I'm happy to say we always punched above our weight even though most of the time we were outnumbered and much younger than our opponents, we saw it as we were defending our territory against unwelcome invaders from another land, and I guess if you look at football hooliganism it really is based on defending and attacking the other teams fans territory and we certainly considered it that way back then.

Looking back to Pompey Boot Boys, their lads that day were much older than me as I was still at school so will now be in their seventies, i wonder if any of them will be making the long trek north for today's game, I reckon they'll be back to being skinheads once again albeit not by choice this time. 😉
 
This thread brings back heady memories of attending matches back in the day ! The specific matches mentioned here , Pompey , Blackburn and Man Utd at home , Newcastle and Bolton away I was at all of them and generally rather happy to arrive home unscathed . My friend however wasn’t so lucky being hospitalised after the Blackburn ammonia attack on the Kop , but suffered no lasting damage .
 
Stanmatt said:
The post thread mirrors the exact Graffiti sprayed on Bloomfield road bridge back in 1968/9. As a 13 year old i encountered a day at Bloomfield Road that i still remember vividly. I have lots of memorable moments that have defined my life supporting Blackpool including being at Deepdale when we won promotion. however as a young lad i recall me and my school mates getting off the bus at the bottom of Bloomfield road and walking up and seeing that piece of iconic graffiti. Whats a 'boot boy' we all wondered!. As usual we entered the ground about 2ish , always got there early to savour the build up and atmosphere. Naively we didn't expect many away fans as Portsmouth was such a long distance away. Surely nobody travels that far to watch a football match, do they?. After paying our 1 shilling and 11 pence to get in (poetic license invoked on the exact admission cost), We walked up the back of the Spion Kop , Blackpool fans always seem to favour the right hand stairs back then, or maybe the Junior turnstile was located there. Anyway back in the day , Blackpool fans used to get there quite early to ensure nobody took the 'Kop'. halfway up the stairs we could here lots of chanting and noise, thinking it was our fans. On reaching the of the stairs and entering the Kop, we soon got the answer to what a 'boot boy' was. There in the middle of our Kop was about a hundred lads that might well have landed from another planet. We were mesmerised, just stood there in awe taking in the scene. Big lads everyone of them with a shaved head, big red snarling faces, dressed in grandad vests, levi jeans with turn ups held up with thin braces and steel toe capped boots. obviously we were just a little gang of schoolkids and no threat to them whatsover. they did growl at us though. they all stunk of fags and booze. They were absolutely terrifying. Whenever we got really tough away followings we used to go and stand at the front of the Kop near the pitch. Normally our tough boys used to arrive about 230 and wade in . I dont recall what happened that day though. Back at school on Monday, that,s all we talked about and wanted to be a skinhead boot boy.!! Im expecting a different experience tomorrow when i come out of the Armfield club!!
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12th October 1968.
Blackpool 1 Portsmouth 1 (Tom White)
Att: 16407.
 
69skin said:
First saw the Pompey Boot Boys August 1969. The first game of the season. Went to the barbers on the Monday and had skinhead haircut. Unfortunately that style is not a choice these days. I remember it being lively all over town and many Pompey being arrested. The Gazette reported that the JP In the magistrates court said their ' uniform' was a skit on the Royal Navy. Left a lasting impression on me, hence the username.
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9th August 1969
Blackpool 2 Portsmouth 1 (Burns, Craven)
Att: 15,844
 
69skin said:
The Green came up with some cracking headlines in those days. One that sticks out- ' Points certain thanks to Skirton' .
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“Pool spank Busby babes” was one I’ll always remember when we beat them at Old Trafford
 
ansdellmafia said:
This thread brings back heady memories of attending matches back in the day ! The specific matches mentioned here , Pompey , Blackburn and Man Utd at home , Newcastle and Bolton away I was at all of them and generally rather happy to arrive home unscathed . My friend however wasn’t so lucky being hospitalised after the Blackburn ammonia attack on the Kop , but suffered no lasting damage .
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I was treated in hospital when Blackburn fans threw ammonia. It was a 15 & 16 yr old who threw it. Reading some of the comments I must know some of you from that era has we were involved in a few skirmishes. I don't feel proud or ashamed for what we did in our teens & early 20's it was what happened then and we defended our territory like other fans did.
 
Remember as a schoolboy in the mid-70s having a cuppa in the cafe on the brdige before the Villa game the year they got promoted back to the top flight. Brian Little, Ray Graydon, Keith Leonard era. The road was busy with traffic, and suddenly about 30 Villa fans with joke sunglasses and dummies in their mouths were jumping all over the cars, kicking off number plates, breaking wing mirrors etc. The kop that day was like a Villa home game and we all kept quiet in our part - no pool colours in sight, certainly not ours. They won 0-1 and got promoted. Must've been carnage somewhere after that game.
 
Vince McLean said:
Remember as a schoolboy in the mid-70s having a cuppa in the cafe on the brdige before the Villa game the year they got promoted back to the top flight. Brian Little, Ray Graydon, Keith Leonard era. The road was busy with traffic, and suddenly about 30 Villa fans with joke sunglasses and dummies in their mouths were jumping all over the cars, kicking off number plates, breaking wing mirrors etc. The kop that day was like a Villa home game and we all kept quiet in our part - no pool colours in sight, certainly not ours. They won 0-1 and got promoted. Must've been carnage somewhere after that game.
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It was 0-3 or 0-4 if my memory serves me right.
 
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