Oh Tweedle Dee, Oh Tweedle Dum…
Sep 30th, 2010 by 'holic
Some old songs I remember from days gone by at the bus stop in Fulham are ringing round in my head.
Let me take you back to June. The fixtures for the new season were released. I studied them, plotted my preferred viewing. When days at the football cost over a ton you want to make sure you get the best one (or maybe two) per month. October starts at Chelsea, and within minutes I have planted my request with those who may be able to help with away tickets. As a silver member home tickets are not an issue, but I do depend on others to enjoy a day with the magnificent travelling Gooners.
Obviously it was only a few short weeks ago that the allocation was sorted, and a top fella who sorted me out for Fulham last season texted. “Fancy a trip to the bus stop?” Bears would become constipated in the woods before I would turn down the chance of going back to Stamford Bridge. It’s been too long. How good a mate is that?
Growing up in the Thames Valley meant as soon as I turned into a teen I was allowed to go to games alone, and Chelsea was a cheap and easy option when Arsenal played there. The first trip in 1969/70 I got to the ground and looked nervously for familiar faces and soon found myself under the rickety old North Stand.
At the other end I got my first view of the famous Shed. Half an hour before kick-off the fellas around me started moving. “Come on mate, it’s time”. Believe it or not in those days you could walk around the back of the old main stand and into the Shed. For a thirteen year old it was exciting, and Chelsea was a good place for Arsenal supporters in the late sixties and early seventies. Chelsea would have their days at Highbury in the late seventies.
Only once more after that did I go in the North End of the Bridge, to witness the swansong of Malcolm Macdonald, gammy knee as well. Even my last visit, prior to the construction of the all-seater that now exists, I went with an old-school Chelsea mate and we went in the Shed.
That sums up Chelsea for me these days. When I hear some of the younger fans spitting bile about them I smile. The old blues and old Arsenal still have a rapport, and much of that I imagine stems from a mutual dislike of our friends at the other end of Seven Sisters Road. Often I will share a beer with them on the trains from the West Country on match days and chew the fat about more innocent days.
I smiled when I realised I’ll be back in the Shed on Sunday. I know what to expect banter wise, and I have this feeling, that has been growing all week, that we may just be about to get a result there. Since watching Kanu get that hat-trick there to overturn a two goal deficit I have wanted to experience that joy at the bus stop. It’s my turn!
I’ll be back with a preview on Saturday, but if you want a preview of the ‘holic pound take a sneak peek at last night’s drinks. When you do, don’t laugh. Hint, I’m looking at a repeat of two years ago.
Until the weekend, take care ‘holics.
63 Responses to “Oh Tweedle Dee, Oh Tweedle Dum…”
Are we still on Absinthe?
I’m second
Damn you two, I never get here this early!
As an ex-native of Putney, and so I can live my life vicariously now, where is the Arsenal pub on a match day at the bus stop?
I can stretch to 3 absinthes, and one for our host, so rack ’em up please….
Nice touch of history, as ever. Where’s that book ?
Trev, do you want to buy a clinic? Going cheap!
Mind if I tell you where we are drinking on Monday, Catalan đ
Absinthe for me to while it’s going!
Watched part of Chelsea v. Olympique Marseille and the Chavs were a bit sleepy with the exception of Malouda who was looking menacing. While we roast Drogba we can’t forget Malouda too or we could suffer the consequences.
Good point!
I witnessed some fantastic “crowd control” by West London’s finest a few years back. Parsons Green in May – last game of the season and Leeds were down for their last game in the Premiership. They had chosen The White Horse, but hadn’t gone down well with the gentry.
So up turn the boys in blue, calm as you like. Shut the pub, surround the lads, and let them finish their beers. 2 hours later spirits had dampened a little. The guy in charge gets hold of a megaphone. “Can you hear me at the back?” he asks. A few cheers. “Right then gentlemen, hands up who has a ticket.” A smattering of hands in the air. “You gentlemen will be escorted to the game by my colleagues here, where I am sure you will set a shining example”. Off they go. “The rest of you will be shown the way to the train station, where we have a special service to take you home. Thank you for visiting.”
Off they went. Not a hint of trouble, in fact most of the boys were smiling despite themselves!
Hiya Holic nice one on the memories!
I received a poster of all the Highbury teams 1913-2006 which I keep on my clipboard at work. It attracts admirers all the time.
I think we can roast any team on our day. We really need to believe concentrate and take our chances on Sunday.
Our full backs will need full support and midfield will need to keep pressing.
As I said earlier I truly believe Chamakh will be a handful for JT and if we can take our chances, we could really make something happen.
This would be the sort of game Theo would thrive because Cashly hates dealing with him. But everyone is going to need to pull their weight on Sunday!
A light beer please tender
Thanks Catalan Gooner!
1-2 to the Arsenal? Put a monkey on it. Monster, monster, monster. White wine spritzer and I’ll have lager top. It’s not the weekend yet, know what I mean?
The Arshavin brace is off. The Nasri brace is on!!
My recollection of the same song was something like this:
Oh Tweedle Dee, Oh Tweedle Dum,
We are the North Bank and we never run,
We took United’s Old Trafford and the shed,
We will fight Tottenham until they’re f**king dead
Or something like that, memory not being what it was.
By the way I was never involved in any sort or trouble at a football ground, allegedly, I just heard the songs…
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I believe you DC down to the last word.
None of us were DC, none of us were.
Was glad to see Wilshere subbed off mid-week, looks as though the boss plans to use him Sunday; and if our captain does in fact miss out, we’ll need that type of creativity and fight in midfield.
Pint of lager and some hope please, ‘Holic…
We’ve been written off by so many pundits ahead of this game, I can’t help but feel we’re due to serve them some crow, preferably raw.
A pint of Guinness for me, barkeep!
A propos of songs, I was in a bar in New York a few years back to watch our game at the Bridge that year on TV when a small group of Geordies turned up (Newcastle’s game was on after). As Chelsea ran out they gave stirring renditions of “You’re just a small town in Fulham” and “When your Russian goes to jail you’ll be fucked”. They all then took off a shoe, stood on one leg waving their footwear in the air and sang something incomprehensible about the Toon. All completely surreal.
As I was drinking Guinness that day, a pint of the same, if you would, ‘Holic
I recall that game where Kanu hit the sublime hatrick like it was yesterday. All of us sitting in front rows were soaked through as it was pouring down. When Kanu hit his third we went berserk. The rain didn’t matter after that.
Great memories. Oh and the fun we had with the Chelsea fans in the pubs after.
Stella top ta.
‘holic I hate to say it ,but everytime I agree with you about the score we ussualy do badly. So 2 years ago 2-1 to Arsenal you mean? I pridicted that score as well so would you mind changing your pond for another score line? for the benifit of the team not for my bet?
Can I have Hansa please bar man?
from a gooner in arizona. love your website holic
Cheers d,
Much appreciated. G’night all. Here’s to a great October for the Arse!
Catalan, what’s the story with the clinic – are you moving, retiring ? – maybe time to install yourself at Shenley and sort out our long-term sick.
I know they’re notoriously difficult, but Vermaelen is already ruled out for Sunday – yes, that’s the “small, small” Achilles injury he picked up at the beginning of the season. Cesc is apparantly “struggling” now with the hamstring the he brought off as a “precaution” two weeks ago.
What the . . .
Not sure we will ever get the full truth re injuries. No idea why we keep picking them up but something needs to be done somewhere.
Nice article holic.
My 3 favourite Chav moments at the bus stop…..
1) Kanu.
2) Nutty
3) Sylviniho
And let us not forget the “It’s only Ray Parlour” cup final? I was lucky enough to be sat right behind that goal. Fantastic.
Keep the faith.
Thanks for sharing the memories once again, I remember Chelsea as being nothing to really get worked up about when I was a kid, they were a good few years in the second division too, if I remember rightly.
Here’s hoping the ‘holic pound goes forth and multiplys (they were good odds you quoted on the last blog) but I’ll take a victory however it comes.
Lager please sir.
Cheers.
Regarding our injuries I’ve heard enough of the victim mentality. This is one of two chances to inflict some injuries on Chelsea, so let’s hop to it. When those 50/50 balls come along, we need full commitment in the tackle or we will be the ones getting the majority of the injuries.
Sorry if I seem to be parroting Sam Allardyce in my last post, but I’ve had it with our team playing the sitting ducks. If injuries are to be inflicted, let the victims not be us.
These, too, are innocent days. (Maybe it’s just that I have a kindergartner and a one-year-old. Do you have kindergarten in England?)
Can’t stop thinking about this game…
A loss would be devastating. 7 points at this stage would be horrible.
It would be horrible from a morale point of view but Chelsea’s got some tough fixtures after us – Villa away, Blackburn away and Anfield.
Those fixtures would be our chance to close any kind of a gap that might be.
@North Bank Ned
must have been Nevada Smiths, their Toon Army support is legendary, even when they were relegated they would get 50 odd watching their games they even gave them downstairs. I was last there for the thrashing of Everton @Goodison and hoped it would have been a better moment of my previous the Eduardo game at Birmingham City!
Great pub and loads of funny supporters, there is one American Gooner who makes up his own songs!
Although for some reason their WHU support hate everybody, including us when most of the Hammers I know, spend most of their time hating the lilly’s.
bit early for a drink to be honest, but am looking forward to Sunday!
Indeed these are innocent days, 433, and yes we do.
Actually, the unmentioned point of that was that the ‘violence’ in those days was actually little more than a letting off of steam. There were no weapons, and people could avoid it quite easily.
It became a lot less innocent from the late seventies onwards.
WELL DONE HOLIC , ALWAYS LIKE READING UR POST, YOU ARE ALWAYS POSITIVE ABOUT OUR TEAM NOT LIKE OTHER BLOGGERS WHO ALWAYS CONDEM THE TEAM WHENEVER THEY DID NOT PLAY WELL. KEEP IT UP MATE. A BOTTLE OF GUINNESS STOUT PLEASE BAR MAN
Great blogging Holic as usual…
Guys you will hate for this but I have to come clean, in 2001 when I got back from Down Under (I travelled for 6 months) I lived in Putney at that time, well I stayed with a friend. I hooked up with a Job agency and guess what work they found for me?
Temping @ Chav box office…..I know I know it does sound bad
I had to take it at the time as I was really poor financially with huge overdraft that needed paying off asap. Anyway it wasnât for long only a month until I found something better, however I did witness few match games and one in particular stuck in my head. They played Toons at home that evening and we were instructed not to sell tickets to away supporters for obvious reasons. One Geordie came up to the counter, the box office glass is a very thick one as far as I can remember, he didnât disguise himself at all, his jacket zip open and his Barcodes jersey in my face:
Hello Sir how can I help you….I asked to that he replied: I want a ticket anywhere here is my credit card, with those words I noticed he had quite a few drinks already as standing still proved to some difficulty for him. I tried explaining to him that he is not allowed to sit with the home fans and itâs against the rules. Did he listen to me, not a chance. This bloke wasnât small nor was he big, he was huge, he gestured I get closer to the glass and asked very nicely that he needs to watch the game. I had no choice I had to tell him again itâs no go. At that point he didnât take too kindly he raised his big arms and started smashing the glass and I tell you what if it wasnât for the fact that it was so thick he would be inside that box office within second. Eddie Barnett who was an utter nutter of a bloke was the famous box office manager there from what I have been told raised the alarm quickly and poor Geordie was quickly removed by the officials.
There you go some story ah?
Barman a very hot tall latte for me please…
Sharing a beer with Chelsea fans on the train from the West Country?
Reminds me of a Fulham. I would have shared a beer with you that day if I wasn’t so completely wasted that morning!
Cheers, enjoy the bus stop hopefully and see you in a couple of weeks.
Strong black coffee please, boss.
DC and ‘Hols – speaking of mixing it with the opposition, I’m reminded of a stand up sketch by Omid Djalili the Iranian comedian. He talks about hooliganism from a middle aged, middle class perspective – it’s probably on you tube. You’ll wet yourself!
Oh the Irony if LWCs squat in East London, I bet todays news will go down well with their Fanbase, At least they will leave North London to a proper succesfull football club đ
Unlike our dear neighbours to try and get a good deal !!
Chelsea, I live on the outskirts of london in a hotbed of Chelsea support as you say the old timers are of a certain class whos hatred for the LWCs is very close to our own but the younger side of the fanbase are in fact chavie little blighters – they do their peers no favours,
Although weve had great results over the Bridge in the past the one result that i dont think ill ever get out of my sytem is when i watched us murder them under Graham only for them to win 2-1 and destroy our chance of going the season unbeaten that hurt !! Every victory since ive thought back to that day đ
Ill settle for a point but an Arshavin inspired Arsenal will win 2-1 !! (I Hope) !!!!
I fear, ‘holic, that you may be in for a rough time on Sunday. I’ve been to most of our games there over the last 10 years and it can be a nasty place to visit.
Prepare to have abuse hurled at you whilst queueing from idiots who, arms stretched, will ask if you “want some” (only from the other side of a police barrier of course). It’s not as bad as visiting the LWCs but it’s a hole nonetheless.
That said, it’ll worth it if we win – I still remember walking out into the rain and belting out “Kanu from the corner flag!”
I’ve tried to find a better link but it appears Fabregas, Almunia and Gibbs will not appear v Chelski on Sunday.
Fabregas will also not feat for Spain during the break. I am glad we have chosen not to rush him back and that he has been declared unfit for Spain so he can come back fitter and stronger.
His return will collide with that of RVP, T.E.O and B52. As Ti-ti would say ” I love this cloob”
Here’s to a midfield to be played on Sunday with bags of skill, ability and technique. Also here’s to the hopeful return of fearsome quartet around after the break. Oh and Manuel, Verminator and Gibbs of course, although no return time has been estimated for them as of yet that I know about
NB: Gibbs and Almunia are not confirmed in this article but was during Wenger’s PC this afternoon.
A lunch time special please Holic!
http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/48314.html?CMP=OTC-RSS
AFC 74 …. you mean this one? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC1g6ctSMa0
I’m sure there’s a longer version somewhere
Fabregas is out….damn I was hoping he would be ok…
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/fabregas-ruled-out-of-chelsea-clash
No Cesc, Almunia and Gibbs and more worryingly that TV5 is no nearer being available. So that’s TV5, Wally, Bendtner, RvP and now Cesc (played in Mexico too early) being lost to internationals in recent times.
How times have changed in visiting the Bridge. We used to go there and usually win, but it’s different these days and it will be another tough one on Sunday. I hope that they underestimate us, but I fear that the are far too professional for that.
An uncharacteristicly dogged performance is required and maybe the invention of young Jack and Nasri may provide an opportunity or two for Arsh and Chamakh the Knife.
A Guinness extra cold please, whilst I wait for the resumption of the Ryder Cup.
CoYRRR’s
Trev, Catalan, please help us, before it gets too late… We have an injured squad that can beat any team in the EPL… We just need them fit :(.
TV, Gibbs, Cesc, Ramsey, Walcott, Bendtner, RvP…. This is too much to handle.
Snir Geuli@46 –
Thats a good team out
I can’t wait for Rambo to play his first game!
A pint for Snir please barman!
What’s everyone drinking?
Vodka please barman to calm my nerves. If Fabianski can just give us the chance we deserve I’ll be satisfied.
Lovely post `Holic. It made me reconsider my views of Chelsea, that is the opinion I had of them pre-oligarch. Of course they’re still CSKA London as far as I’m concerned.
So I checked their history and it turns out that Chelsea was a second-tier club until an ex-Arsenal player (Ted Drake) took things in charge in the early fifties and guided them to their first bits of silverware and they maintained their competitivity up to the early 70s before entering a dark period where they fought to avoid relegation to the 3rd division. Ruud Gullit and his team of mercenaries brought them back in the limelight in the 90s, enough for their chairman to cash in handsomely when the oligarch bought himself a new toy with his shady fortune.
So obviously their arrogance is just the classical attitude of the “parvenus” but as it turns out they were a decent club until recently. I also found out that their supporters were as you remember. According to their official biography, in the 70s “further problems were caused by a notorious hooligan element among the support, which was to plague the club throughout the decade”. To be fair they were not the only ones. The wikipedia article on football hooliganism states we also had our share of hooligans
So did we have hooligans among our midst too?
Matt, you have a mail at the address you leave on your posts. If that is not genuine can you drop me a line to gooneratgoonerholicdotcom.
Every club has some ‘lively’ supporters, and we were no different. Lots of us were ‘lively’ youngsters and those were different days. Nowadays the matchday experience is very different, and we all go for the game and the atmosphere, don’t we?
Personally I enjoy the mixture of people, the drinking, the food, the social aspects of the game. Most these days do.
Cheers.
Trev… retiring? I wish. Just getting rid of UK headaches so that I can concentrate on having fun with the Barcelona clinic…
Don’t we all have skeletons in our closet đ
Back to CSKA they owe a lot to the oligarch but even more so to Ken Bates who lifted them from the bottom of the pit to the heights of the premiership.
I guess the youngers fans attitude towards Chelski is understandable though. I keep reading other clubs blogs and forums from time to time and you would not believe the change of attitude of Citeh fans since the sheikh took over. Any youngster discovering what Citeh fans are about now would have a hard time getting over the arrogance they’re displaying… They looked like really nice fellas not so long ago though.
In an otherwise wonderful existence Joe Strummer liked Chelsea….even the greats have some weakness.
John Lydon of course supports Arsenal.
@Tim: Wow, I looked up famous Arsenal supporters and you are not kidding.
From http://www.arseweb.com/other/celebs.html
Some names there are really surprising! Did you know you shared the same passion as Bin Laden, Fidel Castro and John Gotti?
Tim, and John Stevens. Top Gooner.
Almunia is not being considered because he has not taken part in a proper training session according to AW. I am sure I am not alone with being extremely surprised with this statement. Does Arsene seriously expect us to believe that our keepers actually practice?????? Come on Arsene. Us fans have had the wool pulled over our eyes on several occasions. Please, don’t take us for fools……..
Keep the faith.
yeah Usama (Osama) was always North Bank lower West….always having a go at Paul Davis…unfairly I thought as Davis was my favourite at the time…
Can’t believe they scheduled this one for Sunday. What the point of having to wait another 24 hours? Another vodka please barman!
Just read a couple of interviews of Ryan Giggs because I confess I have a lot of respect for the guy. He’s quite blunt on young footballers, ours would benefit so much if we had a guy like him around.
“My job was to clean the apprenticesâ changing room, they were left last and the place would be a total mess. Iâd collect the bibs, cones and first-team balls. I had to pump them up and once I put in too much air. Our then-goalkeeper, Peter Schmeichel, came in looking for me because they were flying all over the place. Youngsters donât do that any more â God knows why not, they should. They should be cleaning boots and painting lines on the pitch or whatever. It disciplines you and teaches you respect.”
Why have so many players lost touch with reality? “Too much money at a young age,” he says instantly. “It just takes your eye off the ball. And you’re not as hungry as players used to be. You think you’ve made it before you’ve done anything. Even me, I still feel I can do things, there’s still unfinished business.”
“When I made my debut, I was on YTS, earning ÂŁ29.50 a week, and ÂŁ10 expenses. Forty quid, and I was in the first team. It didn’t bother me. And the manager promised me that the more you play, the more I’ll reward you. That’s gone out of the window now. It’s not just the players, it’s the culture. Sometimes it’s the people around them; the people who are looking after them â the money they’re given. Some of the families give up their jobs and live off their sons. That would never have happened 10 years ago.”
“I was cocky, confident; Iâd just left school and I wanted to go out with my mates and have ladsâ holidays. Then you get recognised and followed or photographed. Girls sell their stories to newspapers. I rapidly realised it was something I didnât really like so I made a conscious effort to settle down and keep a lower profile.”
“I was lucky when I came through because I had players like Bryan Robson and Steve Bruce around me who were a great help, theyâd put an arm round me. If Iâd had a bad game in London or the manager had had a go at me and there was a four-hour bus journey home, Iâd sit at the back and sulk. Then one of them would stroll back and sit with me and say things like, âDonât worry, you can put it right next week. The Boss only does it because he wants you to be a better player. Theyâd give you a little lift and itâs something I try to do now to younger players. It can be putting an arm round them or giving them a kick up the backside.”
He says Ferguson told them time and again how lucky they were, how they could never become complacent… I ask if he’ll do an impression of Fergie’s famous “hairdryer” blasting? “I couldn’t even begin to do an impression. I met him when I was 13 and now I’m 36, so the relationship is totally different. He was a lot more scary then.”
What’s the worst thing Ferguson has said to him? “He might have said a couple of times, ‘You’ll never play for the club again.’ ” What had he done to merit that? “I don’t know. Probably shot when I should have crossed! The thing about the gaffer is, he’s had loads of gos at me, but the next day it’s forgotten.”
“What you’ve got to realise is that footballers, and me in particular, have seen everything in the changing room. Everything. I’ve seen the manager kicking off with the players, the players kicking off with him, players fighting each other, managers fighting, everything.”
“I don’t think that’s just football. Celebrity culture, it’s everywhere, isn’t it? It’s reality TV, Big Brother. I didn’t become a footballer to be famous, I became a footballer to be successful. I didn’t want to be famous. Now people want to be famous. Why? Why would you want people following you about all day? I couldn’t think of anything worse.”
“Always, in any sport, the top people get paid top dollar. The problem is now that average players, young players, are getting paid top money as well⌠When I first got into the team, I didn’t know what so and so was on, I didn’t really care, but now everybody seems to know.” It leads to a spiral of greed, he says. “It makes players go to agents and say, ‘That average player’s getting so and so, I want some of that.’ Never mind, ‘I want to play at the same club 10-15 years’, it’s just, ‘I want to earn that money.’ ”
“People like Rooney and Ronaldo get away with murder now â stuff they wouldnât have got away with when I was 19. Football has changed. Itâs just jokes, but Wazza (Rooney) will say things like, âI want to be captain.â The kind of thing you wouldnât dream of saying when you were that age.”
“When I came through, money wasnât an issue â all I wanted was to play for Manchester United. Young players today are eventually going to find out the hard way about losing money on cars and flash suits they only wear once.
“Fifteen years ago, players were going to Italy and their clubs dominated, now, the best players come to Britain and we have the best league â itâs a great spectacle. Itâs fast and furious, but thereâs decent technique. The spotlight is on everyone and patience is in short supply. You have one bad game and itâs a disaster.”
I mixed bits from two interviews here http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2010/oct/02/ryan-giggs-interview and here http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1041816/The-Life-Ryan-Giggs.html
What he says rings true everywhere and at Arsenal too, don’t you think?
matt awesome post mate
Matt spot on mate Didn’t Giggsy go out with Dani Behr when he was young about 15 years ago and Fergie gave him a clip round the ear cos he was in the papers all the time? Respect to Giggsy great pro as said unlike too many players today.
Morning all. Busy day as I have to do the management’s bidding until late afternoon. Trip to Chelsea has to be earned đ
Will probably do the preview after this afternoon’s matches.
Come on, ‘Holic. Raise your game. My preview’s done and I’m itching to post!