10 years ago this Saturday..................any memories?

[Jimmy]

I think it may have been Colin Blewden who had a shot from outside the box that Bosnich saved.

[John Pearce]

A number of things come to mind. I can remember what a great day out it was. The team did the club proud. It certainly does not seem anything like 10 years ago? Arriving at Villa Park and seeing so many familiar faces from the Gravesend and Northfleet area.

 

I can remember passing what seemed like a constant stream of cars and coaches going up the M1 and M6.

 

and I can remember stopping at the Toddington Service Area, in Bedfordshire, on the way home and meeting two Aston Villa supporters, both wearing Villa shirts, who were full of praise about the 'Fleets performance and then discovering that they both lived in Gravesend.

 

Who can forget the media interest of the club's very own 'lizard' man?

 

I too still have the programme and ticket.

 

Lets hope that its not another 10 years before we can experience such a trip again.

[Stu M]

I think it was Micky Cotter who had the shot... if anyone's still got the Telegraph report, there's a pic of Cotter putting the ball just past Bosnich.

[Graham S]

Still have my ticket, programme & flag.

 

What a run that was: Dave Powell scored a ridiculous number of goals and we nearly went out at Marlow: 3-1 down I believe with only minutes to go. Got the wife to take us away to Gloucester for the weekend of the 1st Cinderford game as my birthday present. Dragged along people from work for the replay, one of whom was only wearing a thin mack over his suit on an absolutely freezing night.

 

Ah, yes. We really must do it again sometime.

 

Graham S

[Rainham Bob]

What I remember is that to$$er Hansen on Football Focus (I recorded it) saying "If they keep it to 5 they will have done well."

Funny he never said anything the following week about how well we'd done.

And please don't get me started on that patronising tw*t Lawrenson!

[Stu M]

While John Sadler in The Sun maintained we didn't deserve a lap of honour cos we couldn't be bothered to play like that every week in the league!

[jc]

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Graham S said: Dave Powell scored a ridiculous number of goals

And was actually the FA Cup's top scorer that season.

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Jimmy said:
I think it may have been Colin Blewden who had a shot from outside the box that Bosnich saved.

Blewden also struck the bar, an incident which somehow didn't make it onto the club's own commemorative video.

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White Van Nistelrooy said:Who can forget the media interest of the club's very own 'lizard' man?

Indeed - my brother still has a Shoot article featuring Mr. Weller on his wall, featuring some pictures of him in a jumper with lots of frogs on it.

Quote:

Chatham Gary said:
They did give us utmost respect, regarding team selection. I remember AV playing about 9 full internationals!!

One imagines that a Premiership side wouldn't put out virtually their first team against us today.

My main regret about the day is that I was a little too young (11) to fully appreciate it. Still, I do still fondly remember hearing the somewhat incongruous 'Here Come The Fleet' blaring out of the Villa Park tannoy as I walked towards the ground.

[Gordon T]

why can't we get that on as we run out at home games anymore

[jc]

It probably doesn't fit in with our new glitzy, cheerleader-led image.

[FleetFanatic]

I have a few contacts on dj mixing forums, etc.

 

Would anybody like it 'brought up to date'?

 

If so, without promising..... I'll see what I can get done!

[American FLEET FAN No1]

"Always look on the bright side of life".......You can hear it clearly on the official video.

I also remember somebody stealing one of their stewards hat, and he got real nasty!

[Alan W (GNFC)]

The unfortunate thing with the penalty was that it occurred in front of the Villa fans at the Holt End - had it been at our end,one suspects we may have got the penalty with 8000 fans rising as one to claim it.

 

It was our 1st attack as well, as early as the 1st or 2nd minute and 5 minutes later we were a goal behind when Andy Townsend's shot somehow slipped under Turner.

 

I remember thinking "Here we go" at the time and feared a real thumping - instead we more than matched them 1st half and going in only 1 down,I had begun to believe we could still pull off a surprise. Unfortunately, Milosevic played a neat 1-2 within a few minutes of the start of the second half & hit a stunning volley past Turner (which was included in the Goal of the month competition).

 

Thereafter it was always a tough ask, but Cotter had that 1 outstanding effort when twisting between 2 defenders only for Bosnich to make an excellent low save and Blewdon hit the bar.

 

Had the draw come up today, of course, we almost certainly wouldnt have been allowed to switch to Villa Park as we had been drawn at home - and I suspect it would have been a live TV game as well. As it was, MOTD showed only clips of the goals as I seem to recall Villa had some sort of dispute over cameras at the ground at the time,so we really missed out on the chance of even greater publicity.

 

The other memory of mine was of the boring Villa fans who wouldnt join in with our repeated Mexican waves !

 

A great day,though, and one can only hope that this can be repeated in the not too distant future (hopefully with a shock win as well!)

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

Yep great memories indeed..

 

We had a coach from a pub in Swanscombe , all mates with the vast majority, fans of the various London clubs rather than ardent Fleet fans. remember great day out and drinking in pub full of fellow Fleeteteers about 10 mins walk from the ground, which is normally a Villa pub. The pub didn't know what hit it, with Gravesend, Northfleet and Swanscombe faces everywhere.

 

the abiding memory is that all the lads were saying how great it would be if we all supported the same club, the majority are still going to games but unfortunately still the London clubs.

 

We could all support the same club, but the Fleet have still have not managed to win them over yet.

 

 

Up the Fleet, and we must do it all again soon.

[Alan W (GNFC)]

I also recall the local police (I think) complimenting our 8000 fans on their good behaviour - I believe there was not 1 arrest that day and it was,I believe,the 1st time this had happened (Memory confuses this,so forgive me if this is slightly wrong).

[Wobbly Wayne rides again]

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Had the draw come up today, of course, we almost certainly wouldnt have been allowed to switch to Villa Park as we had been drawn at home - and I suspect it would have been a live TV game as well.

 

Our empty Plough terrace would look good on TV wouldn't it.

If we had of been drawn at home , I think we would have had to suffer the embarrassment of being told our ground was not up to staging it. And we would have had to go to Priestfield ( The shame of it)

[Andy Y. (G&NFC)]

Great memories indeed! Was it really 10 years ago?

 

I recall that they tried out a method of busing the supporters coaches from the M6 and out again with a police escort which was really impressive!

 

I dont think I was the only one to be tearful after the game and yes it was a dfinate penalty as well!

[Fleetbabe]

My Dad and his mates organised a coach from Cliffe, and people from the village who'd never been to a football match before went to Villa Park. He said he vividly remembers the penalty appeal, and one of the guys he works with says that he started the "Always look on the bright side of life" singsong.

I've also been told many a time about the police escort that the coaches recieved as they left through Birmingham, they closed off all the traffic lights and stopped the traffic on the M1 (I think it was the M1 anyway!)

[jc]

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Alan W (GNFC) said:5 minutes later we were a goal behind when Andy Townsend's shot somehow slipped under Turner.

Mark Draper scored it actually. For the record, Tommy Johnson scored the third.

Yours,

A. Pedant

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FleetFanatic said:Would anybody like it 'brought up to date'?

Sacrilege!

[REDolent3]

Well by now we would have been some way into the second half. Strangely enough I think that early Villa goal may have worked for us in that some of the pressure may have been taken off them slowing the game down & possibly giving us time to get into it somwhat - their supporters certainly showed frustration on the half-time whistle. What I must say & its already been touched on is what a day the Villa establishment put on for us (I know we were really at home) but the stewarding was very friendly (a far cry from Orient a couple of years earlier) & the PA chappie built the exitement up with the party songs - hi-ho silver lining at 2-45 ! Must admit I too dropped my "hard-man" image & probably blubbered a bit when our players did the lap of honour after the final whistle.

Other memories that spring to mind are the inflatable doll, the coach spotters at Stonebridge Road & hundreds of our supporters at the motorway services once the coach actually found a parking place. Some Southhampton fans we encountered found it hard to believe we were non-league.

One question to pose - was that the day when Northfleet became Gravesend & Northfleet or even just Gravesend ?

I`m off to look at the scrapbook again.

[Harry J Allstars]

My memories of the game are few. I sat in the Doug Ellis stand, with the Villa fans, and the Fleet fans were to my right.

 

I can vaguly remember the first goal because it was after about three minutes. I think it was a well worked move down the left and the scorer bundled it in with his left foot? Correct me if I'm wrong.