Monday, Tuesday, Who The......

Sheffield Wednesday  2  Carlisle United  0

F.A. Challenge Cup – Third Round Replay

The Spion Kop at Hillsborough is an impressive structure.

Back in Seventies it was a huge open bank which rose up towards one end, but then as we moved into the Eighties and Nineties it got extended further to level out the contours, although you can still make out the old outline. It also had a roof put on it to improve spectator comfort, but at the time it was one of the legendary terraces in English football along with the Anfield Kop, the Holte End and the North Bank.

Come In A Taxi.....

Packed to the rafters, Hillsborough has the record crowd for a third tier game in the Country when 49,309 saw the infamous Boxing Day Massacre of 1979 when Wednesday beat City rivals United, the Kop that day was rammed well before the 11am kick off.

The capacity at Hillsborough, a regular venue for FA Cup Semi-Finals due to its size, is now just shy of 40,000, and in fairness the facilities are a bit dated in comparison to some of the new builds we see, but, what an iconic stadium it remains.

The last time I set foot in the ground was March 1999, Derby were playing a First Division game and because of the tragedy of twelve months earlier, the terraces on the Leppings Lane End were closed. As a result we only had a modest allocation of seats tickets and they sold out quickly, so I had to stand with the home fans on the Kop.

An Annoying Pillar

My memory is a little sketchy, I remember losing 1-0 and Dalian Atkinson smacked a 30 yarder past Peter Shilton. I also remember standing near the back of the Kop and thinking how high I was, and what a tremendous view it gave.

I’ll be honest, I’m not the biggest fan of Sheffield Wednesday by any means, and I think that stems back to the period in question when games against the Rams were always tense and controversial affairs. Ok, it wasn’t the same rivalry as Forest, but it was a rivalry all the same, and if you ask any Rams fan from the North of the County, they would probably put the Owls ahead of the Reds in their hated list!

I probably drive past the ground once a week, we have an office less than a quarter of a mile away, but the desire to set foot in it has never arisen. However, as soon as I saw that my ‘favourites’ from Carlisle United had earned an FA Cup Third Round Replay, and, admission was pegged at a very attractive £10, I decided it was time to take a deep breath, have the vaccinations and pay a visit.

Of course, I was always going to go in the away end, with almost 1,000 tickets sold, which in hindsight turned into a very good move as the Carlisle fans made all of the noise whereas all Wednesday did was bang a drum and play a trumpet. Another very good reason not to watch England if you ask me with that lot creating the 'official' atmosphere…..

South Stand Boys Make No Noise

With heavy snow forecast I wanted to be able to make a safe and quick getaway, so parking at the office I took a walk up Middlewood Road, across Hillsborough Park, before finding the excellent S6 Football Programme Shop on Leppings Lane, and what a treasure trove that is. Richard, the owner, is a really sound bloke, and very helpful and knowledgeable with it. I’ll be back, but probably not when a game is on!

Stood at the back of the West Stand, the view out over the field of play was excellent, but, being a dated ground the pillars were a bit annoying. The North Stand was closed, The South Stand was reasonably busy but the top tier was closed, while the Kop was sparsely populated.

The Carlisle Army

With the wind buffeting the snow all around the ground, Carlisle started well and forced goalkeeper Cameron Dawson into an early save but gradually the Owls got a foothold in the game and took the lead in the 28^th minute when Marco Matias rifled a shot home from twelve yards.

Wednesday made the game safe in the second period when Atde Nuhiu slotted home in the 66^th minute, and from then onwards the game pretty much petered out, despite Carlisle’s effort in front of a passionate support that were by now facing a treacherous journey back to Cumbria given the conditions.

The pavements and roads were hazardous as I wandered back to the car, while the mob of teenagers dressed in Burberry clearly thought throwing snowballs at the Carlisle fans would provoke a reaction, it did, and I’ve never seen kids move so fast!

Despite almost taking out a line of traffic waiting by a junction at the bottom of a hill, thanks to the clever yet annoying invention that is anti-lock braking, the journey home was a steady one despite the hazardous driving conditions.

A 29 year gap had been bridged, on that basis I’ll be 74 when I next go, might only be a fiver next visit at OAP rates, that might just be enough to tempt me one more time. Will it be enough to get to me to go on the Kop though?

What do you think?   

Is There A Fire Drill?