Name: Brian Scott
Age:
52
Team Supported:
Ipswich
mostly, but Colchester is my second team. I would recommend that every supporter
of a bigger club should have a second team in a lower league to see how the
poorer clubs exist!
First League Ground Visited & When:
Portman
Road, Ipswich. 2nd January 1965, Ipswich 3 - Norwich 0. It was a very cold and
frosty day and the pitch at the Churchmans end of the ground was partly frozen.
Norwich defended this end during the first half and their goalkeeper Kevin
Keelan had let in two goals as he slipped around. During half time the
referee asked for salt to be spread in the goalmouth to try to make it less
slippery. Norwich fans, who in those days were put in the Churchmans stand,
objected and some ran onto the pitch and tried to stop the salt being spread.
They kicked the buckets over so spreading the salt themselves!
Last Ground Visited to complete
the 92:
The
Vetch Field, Swansea 2 - Mansfield 0. My son Mark, had written to Swansea to
tell them that this was my last club to complete the 92. The two of us received
tickets and an invitation to watch the match from the Directors Box. Before the
match we were given drinks in their bar, and at half time had tea and
sandwiches! I was also featured in the programme, my name and what I had
achieved were announced over the tannoy, and they presented me with a
football autographed by the players. All this from a club who were in dire
financial straits at the time. (Probably still are.)
From The Swansea Programme:
Date Completed:
16th March 2002
How Long Has It Taken You
To Visit All 92?
37 years! Actually I only heard about the 92 Club and started my quest in earnest in 1992 after Ipswich won promotion to the new Premier League. So really it should be 10 years.
Best Ground visited (& why).
I went to The San Siro Stadium in Milan with about 10,000 Ipswich fans on the 6th December 2001. Its a very impressive stadium, but the facilities for fans were not up to much in the section we were in. The toilets do not have a seat and bowl and even ladies have to squat down and do everything over a ceramic hole in the floor! In the UK it must be The Stadium of Light, Sunderland. The ground looks impressive, the view is good, and when the home fans sing the noise is awesome.
Poorest Ground Visited:
The away supporters section at Carrow Road, Norwich is absolutely appauling for a club of their standing. One toilet area, small catering area, terrible view of the pitch, and we are always kept behind for about 20 minutes after the game. Thank goodness this awful stand will soon be no more. Overall, I suppose Layer Road, Colchester is very poor, closely followed by Gay Meadow, Shrewsbury. Many other poor grounds have now gone or been improved.
Best experience on your travels:
I've already mentioned how friendly they were at Swansea. Another memorable occasion was when I went to Scarborough. It was in 1994 in the days before they built the new stands at each end. The Colchester supporters were on a big open terrace on the right as viewed from the TV cameras. There were only about 40 of us and all spread out. When Colchester scored the only goal of the game I was caught on camera jumping up and down. I was also on TV when Colchester visited Chester in 1998, but we lost that one.
Worst experience on your travels:
This occurred on the 11th March 1978 at The Den. It was the F.A. Cup 6th round and Ipswich won 6-1. The home fans rioted and bombarded the Ipswich fans with missiles, especially those in the seats. I was lucky, as for some reason those Ipswich supporters who had come off the Ipswich train were put in an enclosure diagonally opposite to where the trouble occurred. I know that after the match Ipswich coaches were stoned. It is very fortunate that both Milwall and Ipswich wear blue, or there could have been even more trouble outside the ground. Ipswich went on to win the cup in 1978.
Funniest experience on your travels:
I got talking to a steward at York. He told me that he was not a bit interested in football, but he liked the job of a steward. He did stewarding for Leeds United and at rugby grounds as well.
Most Goals Seen In One Match:
Nine. Ipswich 8 - Avenir Beggen 1 U.E.F.A. cup qualifying round 2nd leg at Portman Road 29th August 2002 Once Ipswich had scored their first goal against the part timers from Luxembourg it was a foregone conclusion that we would win. For a really exciting match it has to be one I was lucky to watch at Layer Road. Colchester 5 - Bristol Rovers 4. The lead kept changing from team to team with the U's scoring the final goal right at the end. You pay your money week after week in the hope of seeing a game like this one!
Best Match Seen:
This has to be the play off
semi final second leg at Portman Road in 2000. Ipswich beat Bolton after extra
time. Bolton had come with the intent of kicking Ipswich players off the pitch.
They ended up with 3 penalties being awarded against them, (2 scored) and
by the end of the 120 minutes only had 9 players left on the pitch!
The F.A. Cup final in 1978 when Ipswich beat Arsenal 1-0 was another truly
memorable occasion. It had long been one of my ambitions to see Ipswich running
round Wembley with the Cup and it occurred that day. Supporting a club like
Ipswich, when success does occur it makes it all the more memorable. How many
times have Man Utd or Liverpool won the cup or league? No, can't remember can
you? I bet you know how many times one of the smaller clubs have won it!
Best Goal Seen:
Wembley,
play off final 2002. When Martijn Reuser scored our 4th goal we knew that
Ipswich were in the Premier League. There was no time for Barnsley to score two
more to even equalise. Now Barnsley are in Division 2!
Best
Player Seen:
George Best, the best dribbler of the ball there has ever been in this country. Such a shame that he was allowed to get into trouble with drink. He needed a tough manager such as Sir Alex Ferguson to keep him under control.
Stupidest Chant
Heard:
Not
really a chant as such, but the whole unreal atmosphere at Liverpool last May
2002 when Ipswich were the visitors. It was the last day of the season and to
stay up Ipswich needed to win, and Sunderland had to loose. Quite early on we
heard that Sunderland had scored, and then Liverpool scored against us. We knew
then that we were going down. Liverpool ended up as 5-0 winners, but the Ipswich
fans had a party! We cheered every move, even when it led to yet another goal.
We kept chanting right up to the final whistle and afterwards. You would have
thought we had won the league, not been relegated!
Any tips for those attempting to visit the 92?
When you still
have lots of grounds to visit, make sure you know who else in the area you are
visiting are at home just in case something happens and you can't see the game
you intended. I set out once with my son Ian by train. It broke down just after
it left Stowmarket and sat there for nearly two hours. We had intended going to
Gillingham and ended up at Leyton Orient. The good thing was that we got our
rail fare refunded plus money off the next trip!
On another occasion I set off by train to Nottingham to Notts County. I had rung
up earlier and they told me the match was on. When I got there it was all
locked up. So I rang up Lincoln City and they told me that they had a pitch
inspection at 12 noon. So I set off there by train from Nottingham in the hope
that it might be on. No luck! Thankfully that was the only day that I have set
out to see a match and been unsuccessful.
Make your last club a small club. Inform them what you are doing and when you
want to visit them. Then see if they make your day out special as Swansea did
for me.
These days it is always advisable to buy a ticket before travelling, you never
know when a match may be declared all ticket, and if you do not come from the
immediate area of the club you may not get to know about it. When I went to
Ninian Park it was for a third round F.A. Cup match against Yeovil. I had
telephoned well in advance and was told that it would be pay through the
turnstiles. I travelled down by train and I had decided that I would
support Yeovil being the underdogs. It's a long way from Suffolk to Cardiff, and
when I arrived at the ground at about 2.30 I found that to my horror it WAS all
ticket. I was directed to a ticket office to buy a ticket, but was told that I
was too late they were sold out. Then for some reason I found a turnstile in the
home section that was open and accepting cash on the gate. Wow that was a close
thing!
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