The 80s: A raucous era on the terraces

Published on Thursday 9 July 2009 09:15

Disgusting toilets, cramped stadiums and casuals, the 80s left a lot to be desired for football fans . . but they loved it!

THEY were the days of tight shorts, dodgy perms and hangovers – and that was just on the pitch. The terraces rocked to chants of "Robbo, Robbo, Robbo, Robbo, Robbo, John Robertson" (to the tune of Karma Chameleon), and "He's here, he's there, he's every fxxxxxg where, Mickey Weir, Mickey Weir", while on Sunday evening Arthur Montford brought all the highlights to your living room on Scotsport.

Following Hibs and Hearts in the 1980s was a far more spartan and raucous adventure than it is today – not to mention cheaper. You could stand on the terraces for 1.30, or 80p for juveniles and pensioners, in 1980.

Not surprisingly for a decade that began with Hibs banned from wearing their regular home shirt for televised matches – because it carried a sponsor's name (Bukta) – the sport was not awash with money.

That much was plain to anyone who stepped inside Tynecastle and Easter Road, especially if you ventured into the gents.

"There was a really narrow corridor leading to the main stand, with the most disgusting toilet in Edinburgh off to one side," recalls diehard Jambo Derek Watson, 52, a self-employed marketing manager from Inverleith, and current chairman of the Heart of Midlothian Supporters Trust.

"It was extremely dark and extremely smelly."

Walter Robb, 74, a retired council gardener from Liberton, remembers Easter Road in a similar sorry state.

With regular attendances of 8,000, the vast terracing built for crowds of up to 65,000 often looked like a "barren wasteland", he recalls.

"People just weren't coming to the match because the football was so bad," says Walter, with a grim smile, "and they weren't likely to come for the facilities.

"I always made sure I got a good meal beforehand, so I didn't have to go near the pie stall."

There was a choice of Bovril, crisps and mutton pie or . . . mutton pie.

"The toilets were a different matter. If you had to go, you had to go – and the toilets were stinking.

"The facilities at the away games at Tynecastle were even worse. The toilets in the McLeod Street stand used to be above you, and the pee used to drip down the walls towards you."

The grounds may have been decrepit, but they were still places of magic.

Thousands of Hibbies still proudly boast of watching George Best pull on the famous shirt, on days when his name on the teamsheet was enough to add 12,000 to the gate.

"I was at his debut against St Mirren in late 1979. He scored the goal and the stand went crazy," grins Walter.

"He wasn't at his best by any means – he was drinking heavily by then – but he still had a few tricks up his sleeve. I went to see him play against Dundee at Easter Road a couple of months later and he ran rings around Erich Schaedler, who went on to play for us the following season."

Jambos who travelled to Dundee to watch Albert Kidd dash their championship dream in the final ten minutes of the 1985-6 season still live with the trauma.

For many, though, Tynecastle Park never glowed as brightly as the night Hearts beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in the Uefa Cup.

"I remember the night started in the Centre Spot, Gary Mackay's pub on Morrison Street, which was an absolute shrine to Hearts," says Iain Macleod, 51, a BT services manager originally from Drylaw, who still makes it to every home game despite now living in Newcastle.

"In those days, I stood in the enclosure and when you came through the tunnel at night the first thing that hit you was the lights, and then the brilliant green of the pitch.

"When the game started you could see the belief growing throughout the first 20 minutes, and we actually began to believe we could beat one of the biggest teams in Europe.

"The goal, when it came from Iain Ferguson, hit the back of the net like an exocet missile.

"When you were standing on the terrace in those days and Hearts scored a goal there was such an excitement that you could end up 25 yards away from where you were originally standing.

"It was seen as more of a thrill than a danger, although, looking back and remembering Hillsborough, there was a scary amount of people crammed together."

The demise of the terraces provokes nostalgia in many fans.

"There was a feeling of togetherness," agrees Derek, "and it made each match more of a social occasion because you could meet at the grounds and take it from there.

"There was no need to book seats to ensure you would be with your mates. Having to book seats also meant you might be forced to sit next to a local hooligan for the whole match."

Hibby Maurice Doogan, 57, a software engineer from Baberton, agrees.

"We'd all have to change over at half-time, which inevitably meant a huge scramble of 50,000 people over a ten-minute period.

"But there was more singing, more camaraderie. The atmosphere was always electric.

"Even though there was always a smaller number of Hibbies at away matches, we always made a total racket."

The terraces were often the source of the best matchday humour, such as the welcome they gave to one of Hearts extensive old guard in the early 1980s.

"He's big, he's round, he bounces off the ground: Jimmy Bone, Jimmy Bone!"

The introduction of all-seater stadiums in the wake of the Hillsborough Disaster may have robbed the games of some of their rowdy atmosphere, but it also helped drive one of the scourges of the game out of stadium.

The true fans learned to dodge the casuals, who always stood out like sore thumbs in their Armani, Ralph Lauren and Burberry designer clothes.

There were moments, though, when the violence was impossible to avoid.

Tom Wright, 61, of the Hibs Historical Society, recalls the mayhem when a Celtic hooligan lobbed a CS gas cannister into the crowd just a few weeks after the tragedy at Hillsborough.

"I was standing in the centre stand and we became aware of a commotion at the corner of the pitch, where the old scoreboard used to be.

"We thought it was just some fans fighting but after a wee while our eyes began to sting.

"We were standing quite a bit away from it so we didn't get the full force of the gas, but I dare say it would have been a lot worse if we'd been right in the middle of it.

"On the way out, we saw about a dozen people being treated by paramedics. I had my young daughter with me at the time so I decided to get away sharpish before any more trouble flared up."

The hooligan reputation travelled with fans who went abroad, although the diehards would often win round the locals.

Iain remembers the Jambos winning hearts in Paris in 1984 despite being hammered 4-0 in the first round of the Uefa Cup by Paris Saint-Germain.

"I was on my honeymoon at the time so I took my wife to Paris," he recalls.

"She had no idea the football was on until my mates started showing up. She took it in good humour, though.

"I remember when we got there we were met with riot police as soon we got into Paris.

"England played France a few months beforehand and the English fans wrecked the place, so you couldn't raise your head without seeing guys with overalls, visors and batons. But the Hearts have never disgraced themselves abroad, and I remember seeing a French newspaper the following day with the headline 'O sont les hooligans?' (Where are the hooligans?]."

Plenty of thrills and spills in rugby, athletics and snooker

FOOTBALL may have been one of the city's main sporting passions, but there was plenty happening in the worlds of rugby, athletics and even snooker.

In 1984, before rugby union was given professional status, the Scottish national team achieved the Six Nations Grand Slam – their first since 1925 – at Murrayfield Stadium, the winning try scored by flanker Jim Calder as Scotland beat France 21-12.

Snooker was still being dominated by Steve Davis, who won the World Championship event six times during the 1980s, finally losing his world number one ranking to Capital potter Stephen Hendry in season 1990/91.

In athletics, Liz McColgan impressed the Meadowbank Stadium home crowd when she picked up the 10,000 metres gold at the 1986 Commonwealth Games, before achieving further success at both the World Championships and Olympic Games a few years later.

Local speedway team Edinburgh Monarchs were still based at Powderhall Stadium when they won both the Nation Fours and National League knockout cup in 1981, current team manager Alan Bridgett steering his team to both victories in his first season in charge.

Greyhound racing shared Powderhall Stadium with the Monarchs until it was demolished in 1995. And competitive basketball established itself in the Capital following the formation of the City of Edinburgh Basketball Club in 1988.

'Players would shovel up dogs' dirt before training'

No WAGS but more tackles and dog poo – the world of 80s football as seen by the players:

&#149 Gary Mackay, Hearts

"In the 1980s, there was a passion – now the game is quicker and more physical with greater demand on players. Hearts were in the doldrums during the 70s, so the 80s and 90s represented the rising tide. What is different now is that Hearts have so many different nationalities playing for them. We were all Scottish apart from one or two players."

The attitude to fitness wasn't as relaxed back then as many have made out, he says.

"We used to use a gym in Tynecastle with pull-up bars and a 'speedball' which boxers use to train. I was able to play in 736 games because of all the fitness work that was put in. Tom Ritchie, the fitness coach at the time, had an athletics background, and made sure we were more than fit enough to handle the demands of the game.

"Tackling has now been stamped out, and minimal contact is the norm. If some players from the 80s were playing now they would be lucky to play ten games without being suspended."

&#149 Joe Tortolano, Hibs

"I played for Hibs between 1985 and 1996-7, and the main change has been the stadiums. When you would run out the tunnel for a game against Hearts, Rangers or Celtic, the fans in the stand opposite would be jumping. There was a more lively atmosphere when it was a full house back in the days of terracing.

"The slope was the other thing that has changed. If we won the toss, we would always play downhill, hopefully pulverising the other team before they would have a chance to reply. You always remember the games where you have scored, or made an important last-minute tackle. My most memorable game from the 80s was against Celtic in the Scottish Cup in 1985-6, which we won 4-3. I think I set up three goals with free-kicks.

"We used to train at Dunfermline College and Wardie playing fields, and players would sometimes have to shovel up glass, litter and dogs' dirt from the pitch before we could start.

"There wasn't really a WAG culture back then, although sometimes you might get a new signing with a glamorous wife. Generally, footballers tried to keep themselves low-key."