The 1984/85 season was a very strange affair indeed. One where we reached our first Wembley final since that glorious day in 1973, but we also suffered relegation down to the ‘Canon Division 2’.
The history books will show that despite beating our Milk Marketing Board League Cup rivals Norwich City 3–1 only a week earlier, we lost that ‘friendly final’ 1–0, Clive Walker penalty miss et al.
Indeed, in what was otherwise a poor season, after that final, we only won one of our remaining 12 fixtures. We would end the season on 40 points.
But it was the semi-final on 4 March away at Stamford Bridge which urged complaints to the F.A. on two fronts. Both were documented in the Sunderland Daily Echo on Thursday 7 March. The Mayor at the time, Coun. George Elliot, was scathing of the organisation of the fans on the evening.
Sunderland fans were spread thinly, surrounded by Chelsea fans, and they were subjected to coins and even bricks being thrown at them. Chelsea fans also entered the pitch, and the Mayor was full of praise for the travelling fans, who didn’t respond to the goading. In what he referred to as a ‘night of terror’, he said ‘Not one Sunderland fan went onto the pitch, and but for the efforts of the police, I shudder to think what might have happened.’ He also took aim at the then Chelsea chairman, a certain Ken Bates, who criticised Sunderland in his match-day programme notes. He claimed some Chelsea fans had been turned away at the turnstiles at the previous leg at Roker Park (one in which The Lads had won 2–0 thanks to a brace from Colin West). Bates also took grievance with some coach companies, who had refused to take Chelsea fans to the Sunderland away leg. This in itself only serves to underline the reputation that Chelsea fans had at that time.
Following on from the Mayor’s comments, a Sunderland Supporters’ Association official made a formal complaint to the F.A. about the violence that had marred the semi-final. The F.A., as it was, were already in the process of carrying out their own investigation into the game.
Steven Woolston, who was secretary of the London branch of the SAFC supporters association, said he had never been so scared, or seen such bad organisation, as he had witnessed that night. He added that he would never encourage anyone to travel to Stamford Bridge ever again. ‘The whole evening, instead of being one of the most memorable for football, turned out to be one of the most frightening.’
Ken Bates
Photo by Allsport UK/Getty Images
Another tale of the violence that night was when a brick hit one fan, who had to be hospitalised and received 14 stitches. Unfortunately, this made him miss the supporters club bus! But in a show of unity and compassion, a phone call from The Echo to Chelsea FC brought personal assurances from the London club that they’d give the Sunderland fan the funds to return home. As it turned out – those funds weren’t forthcoming, and a hospital social worker made it his own business to make sure the injured fan was able to get back to the North East.
The F.A. did indeed investigate the chaotic scenes, leading to a ‘severe reprimand’ for the Stamford Bridge club – whatever a severe reprimand was in those times. You can be sure that scenes of such violence and fear and pitch invasions today would see a club punished in a much harsher fashion. I guess it was a sign of the times that violence described in some reports, and the horror described, was almost par for the course in the 70s and 80s.
The violence and poor organisation reported and highlighted on 7 March threw up two ‘characters’ of the game in the 80s – namely Ken Bates, the Chelsea owner, and Ted Croker, effectively the Chief Executive of the F.A. Both of these gentlemen bring my late dad to mind, as he described them both whenever they appeared on TV as ‘bums’. I think you could rightly call them both ‘dinosaurs’ in today’s parlance. The aforementioned Bates, blamed by some as stoking the violence in the first place, was certainly a marmite personality. He purchased Chelsea in 1982 for £1 – and sold it to Abramovich in 2003 for £18m. Although he did leave a debt burden of £80 million! He certainly didn’t sit on the fence, and was once quoted as saying, ‘I shall not rest until Leeds United are kicked out of the football league. Their fans are the scum of the earth – absolute animals.’ Say it how you feel Ken! Strange that he went on to purchase Leeds United after selling Chelsea. At one time he had wanted to erect an electric perimeter fence around Stamford Bridge, but it was dismantled when the council refused him permission to turn the electricity on! Can you imagine such discussions in this day and age!?
Ted Croker was just a typical F.A. ‘man in a suit’. He was effectively in charge from 1973–1989. Much of his time was dogged by problems, namely the Heysel Stadium disaster and the demise of the Home International Championship. The P.L. still don’t get a lot right, but I’ve a feeling if Croker and his cronies were around today, current incidents like the abuse Romaine Mundle recently received might just have brought a ‘severe reprimand’!