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West Bromwich Albion FC Forums => West Bromwich Albion FC => Topic started by: Turkish baggie on September 02, 2011, 07:00:40 AM
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Why from the age of 9 have I supported the Albion? Was my dad a Albion fan? - No, he infact liked Walsall even though he was born in Dudley. Is it because I was born in the black country & really had no choice? - Don't think so. Tipton is as close to wolverhampton as West Brom! Is it because we had all the glamour players? - Again not the case, at that time M.U, Liverpool, Spurs, Everton had the X factor. Was it the strip? Was it that they had a great history? Was it that they always challenged for honours? - Again no! Why did,nt I change has I got older when the Albion plummented down the leagues, crowds fell off & to go to the Hawthorns sometimes felt like going to an intensive care unit. I tell you why I started to support the Albion. When I first went there something catched in my heart, I was young but by the time I was 11 the club was everything to me. I still had pictures of Best, Moore, Charlton & Hurst alonside my pictures of Astle, Hope, Clark & Brown. I climbed out of the bedroom window to go to Forest for my 1st away game & the blue and white blood in my veins just got thicker & thicker!
During the good times I was & still am so proud but strangly I feel more of a supporter during the bad times! Its like having a part of the family in trouble & you stay by them till they get over it. I get frustrated, I complain but only to my 'family'. Yes I know for sure why I will support the Albion till I die & that is I LOVE THEM WITH ALL MY HEART! :D :D
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Fantastic post best I have ever read on here and I agree totally. I started going to the Albion when I was 10 my dad took me up having been a supporter from the fifties and although my first full season was the third division Bobby Gould season I was hooked i think its because for the first ten years supporting the club we were awful and had some terrible players that I appreciate where we are as a club now I never thought those dark days would be over but I had never seen the good times like my dad before me. West Bromwich Albion to me is like a drug. They aren't just a part of my life they are my life.
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brilliant post i have been going since i was 8 back in 1967 and i feel exactly the same as you.agree 100% about how it seemed better when we were not so good. we all stuck together in those days not like now.
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Top post!
The reason I support Albion is I was born in Sandwell, my Dad is an Albion fan, so was his Dad and so was his Dad. (I'm working on my Son becoming a fan too).
I was a season ticket holder under the Buckley - Robson era now days I pick and choose my games, Fulham will be my first game this season I can't wait!
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great postings.
why am i an albion fan?
because, i had no choice to be, and my 2 lads wont have any choice to be either, especially my eldest, his middle name is albion!!
i first went up the albion in feb 1993, vs fulham, and we won 4-0! i then went to wembley in 1993 (what a day!) and had a season ticket for 20 years after that. i have been to 74 league grounds, 99% of them following the albion
i spoke with my mate last night, said i was p'd off we havent signed anyone, then in the next breath i said id got the tickets for swansea! i said i just cant help it, following west bromwich albion, home and away is part of my life, it has been since ive been old enough to know, i have an albion tattoo on my arm, and im so proud to have it there.
ive sat at portsmouth on a tuesday night, 4-0 down at half time, open end, pee'ing down of rain.......still went the follwing week away at grimsby!!
ive sat at sheffield utd, losing 6-0, still singing my heart out, why...? beacuse im an albion fan!!!
as long as ive got an hole in my ass ill support the club that i love.
ALBION TILL I DIE
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My ex-wife gave me a choice, her or the Albion. I still wonder to this day what she is up to nowadays :)
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Why am i an Albion?
I come from a family full of dingles so naturally my first game was Wolves V Tranmere 1991 they lost 3-0 John Aldridge smashed them. Me dad still is a season ticket holder down the wolves begging me to take me, then me uncle massive albion fan suggested he take me to an Albion match with the old man not pleased he finally agreed however he chose the match! October 30th 1993 Albion V Watford, Albion doing terrible in the league and Watford flying ...we smash them 4-2 , ever since i was hooked, been everywhere with the albion. followed them in the dark days and the bad , LOVE THEM TO BITS. But sometimes they really p**s me off ahhaa
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It's all inexplicable really, I come from a long line of Baggies but since I've followed them (1967) there's been more than enough reason to forget them forever! I've got a responsible job, 2 kids and just turned 50 but yet come the day of a game I'm on edge all day, got to know the score and how longs left? Walking up to the ground still makes the hair on my neck stand up, they are a massive part of my life and always will be. Proud to be a Baggie
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Whole family has supported Albion going back generations, bar my Dad who was a Dingle. We made a bet in Christmas 2004 that if we stayed up, he'd get a season ticket for the next season. Cue the Great Escape and him switching allegiances ;D
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Whole family has supported Albion going back generations, bar my Dad who was a Dingle. We made a bet in Christmas 2004 that if we stayed up, he'd get a season ticket for the next season. Cue the Great Escape and him switching allegiances ;D
thats not allowed.
id rather die than be a dingle, i aint joking.
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Whole family has supported Albion going back generations, bar my Dad who was a Dingle. We made a bet in Christmas 2004 that if we stayed up, he'd get a season ticket for the next season. Cue the Great Escape and him switching allegiances ;D
To think I sit in a stadium with him :D Interesting story
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My ex-wife gave me a choice, her or the Albion. I still wonder to this day what she is up to nowadays :)
:Dsuperb!
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thats not allowed.
id rather die than be a dingle, i aint joking.
He was more into rugby than football at the time, went to the custard bowl once a year if that. Its not like he was a home and away season ticket sort of supporter, just more of a "keep an eye out for results" one ;D
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He was more into rugby than football at the time, went to the custard bowl once a year if that. Its not like he was a home and away season ticket sort of supporter, just more of a "keep an eye out for results" one ;D
suppose everyone makes mistakes ;D
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suppose everyone makes mistakes ;D
exactly what i have been saying all week ;)
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surely its because i have excellent taste?
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Come from a long line of Albion fans and Players Great Grandad and Uncle both played for us old man (RIP) took me up when i was 14 month's old 1962 first season ticket 1968 now 50 still got one as has the Wife n Daughter ,Taylor (wonder were i got that from) took her up at 8 month's old, you change your house your women your job but never your team .The Hawthorns is the only place on Earth (I've travelled a lot following England ) where i feel at home ,Don't go as much (Away) now still do a few .Just read that back how sad do i seem ;D
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My familys all albion apart from 1 dingle and a hammer..been goin up since 2000, missed the 06/07 season and started again, they do urine me off at times and the prices of tickets is going to be the one which we decides i aint going anymore, and league
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Most of my family are Villa fans, exept me my dad, grandad and my younger brother.
but from that day we played Grimsby in 1996 and my dad took me. i have never looked back
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Come from a long line of Albion fans and Players Great Grandad and Uncle both played for us old man (RIP) took me up when i was 14 month's old 1962 first season ticket 1968 now 50 still got one as has the Wife n Daughter ,Taylor (wonder were i got that from) took her up at 8 month's old, you change your house your women your job but never your team .The Hawthorns is the only place on Earth (I've travelled a lot following England ) where i feel at home ,Don't go as much (Away) now still do a few .Just read that back how sad do i seem ;D
not sad mate as i said in a previous post i have missed weddings birthdays christenings holidays mothers day loads of things to be with the albion was out of work for 18 months until june this year choice of holiday or season ticket mrs said have your ticket so i did working now so taking her away at the end of this month :D
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I did some silly stats last year and came out with Albion as my premier league club to support. Rather absurd club picking method but I haven't looked back just yet.
http://ctne.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/picking-a-premier-league-team-part-1/
http://ctne.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/picking-a-premier-league-team-part-2/
http://ctne.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/picking-a-premier-league-team-part-3/
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id rather die than be a dingle, i aint joking.
I'm with you 100% on that mate. The very thought of anything to do with them turns my blood cold and my stomach over. I wouldnt give them the drippings off the end of my nose and even be-grudge giving them the ticket money for the times when we play them at that sh**heap of a ground.
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when i was a kid me and my mates supported leeds :o. my favourite player was johnny giles, when he went to the albion so did i. :D
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Most of my family are Villa fans, exept me my dad, grandad and my younger brother.
but from that day we played Grimsby in 1996 and my dad took me. i have never looked back
I hate the way villa fans still think they are a great team
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Great first post, and a great thread.
I'm a Baggie because I was born and brought up at Carter's Green, and even though I've not lived in West Bromwich since I was 14, the bug, the love, the passion has never left me.
I go back to 1961 for my first game, against Blackpool including Stanley Matthews, and we murdered them 7-1. At the tender age of nine, I thought ever game was going to be like that.
Unfortunately, over the years, it's not quite worked out like that. But there's something about navy blue and white stripes, the crest with a proud throstle and even just the name: West Bromwich Albion. It sends a shiver down my spine and makes my heart skip a beat.
Through thick and thin.
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My dad was a big Wolves fan and used to take me to The Molineau when I was a kid, I did enjoy watching Dougan, Wagstaff, Knowles etc but at that time Wolves were in the old second division playing the likes of Doncaster and Rotherham. Albion were in the top flight and were pretty much a 'second' team to my old man ( I think on another thread somebody put that this was not unusual in those days - there certainly wasn't the animosity that there is now) and he took me to The Hawthorns one Saturday to see a first division match. Albion lost but I loved watching' Hope, Kaye and Clark' -Jeff Astle scored our only goal and I was hooked, I didn't see us win for another four matches (Everton) but have never looked back. My dad to his eternal credit took it on the chin that I was going to be a Baggies fan and even started taking me to some Albion away games when The Wolves were at home!
As a Result I don't buy into hating The Wolves (sorry guys) but don't even get me started about that lot from Witton - hate them with a passion.
Boing Boing
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I did some silly stats last year and came out with Albion as my premier league club to support. Rather absurd club picking method but I haven't looked back just yet.
http://ctne.wordpress.com/2010/10/24/picking-a-premier-league-team-part-1/
http://ctne.wordpress.com/2010/10/25/picking-a-premier-league-team-part-2/
http://ctne.wordpress.com/2010/11/01/picking-a-premier-league-team-part-3/
What a brilliant way to pick a team :)
I was born into a family of Albion and Villa fans (and a few Wolves fans but we don't speak to that side of the family). My Grandads were both enormous Albion fans and my Grandma used to work in the bakery across the road from the Hawthorns so my Grandad used to be so kind and 'pick her up' after games on Saturdays (my Grandma didn't know he was at games because he picked her up long after the fans had left until one day there was a delayed kick off and he was late.)
I can thank my Mom for being a die hard fan though as my Dad hates football and tried stupidly hard to get me into Tennis as a young kid, but the guy who ran the Tennis coaching also ran an Under 6's football team and got me into football. Been a season ticket holder since I was 6 because my Mom didn't want me playing Tennis on a Saturday, and I've sat next to my Mom and her pensioner mates ever since. We still argue during Wimbledon/World Cup periods, and Dad always loses.
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nothing really evangelical about it for me really, My old man wasnt really into football, and whoever he would have supported, i would have supported the opposite just to be awkward anyway, because to be honest, he was a knob.
just went with some older lads on the bus, boxing day 1977 against Arsenal. i would have been 7 and all i can remember is i couldnt see thing and we lost but loved every minute, just carried on from there really.
My interest has dropped off in recent years due to more and more of my mates not bothering anymore and the seating/atmosphere situation which is alien to what i was used to when i was a nipper. to me nowadays the Albion are like my wife.. love them both to bits but neither of them excite me like they used too.
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When I was younger I loved football but never really had the chance to go to matches so never really supported anyone in particular I just enjoyed watching and playing the game with my mates down the park. My best mate growing up was a Dingle as his whole family was, first game I ever went to was one of theirs when I was about 11 and although I enjoyed watching the game I never considered supporting them.
When I left school and went to college I became friends with a lad on my course and he was Albion through and through, it was the 1999 season we were on the verge of getting relegated from the first division when Megson first arrived. Went up with him for a game as he had a spare ticket and I absolutely loved it and starting going up whenever I could and went to a few away games with him too. Soon I had a season ticket and have been going home and away where possible ever since and can't believe I missed out on supporting a club properly as a youngster but I definitely found the right club for me.
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Do you know my friends when I started this topic it was just me talking out loud & writing it as I talked. Reading how much you all love the club & various reasons why you support them is wonderful! One comment about one week the Albion, one week the wolves is so true. I'm now 56, in the 60's you did support your own team but the hatred was not there then! I saw Dougan make is home dedut against Hull & score a hatrick in a 4-1 win. When wolves got promotion and we played them 2nd match at the wolves & drew 3-3, people stood around the touchline so many there. The express & star put estimated attendance 47,000?
It is rubbish to continue about the old days, as not so may years after this the fighting started but does anyone remember going to the derby with a wolves fan? I have & when we beat them he should have dug a hole to stop the torment. Another time we drew 2-2 at the hawthorns and bull scored last minute, I was with my brother in law (a wolves fan) & the wives, so much sorrow that we did'nt win but a lovely meal after & few beers great!
I'm not a soppy old foggy as coming from Tipton you had to look after yourselves but I do wish the problems at Albion & wolves matches did'nt exist!
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Some great memories there Turkish :)
I saw that 3 - 3 at Wolves also; the famous match when we were losing 3 - 1 with minutes to go, got a goal back then it was Alamo time. Terrific scramble at the South Bank end and Bomber handled the ball into the net. Everyone saw the hand ball except the ref who let the goal stand. Pandemonium! In the ensuing melee, Parkes, the Wolves keeper pushed the ref and got sent off. When things settled down Wagstaff (I think it was) went in goal and had to make a decent save from Bomber deep into injury time...
My dad was pretty quiet on that journey home.
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i was born a baggie, my dad was, my grandad was, and my grandad couldnt get to the villa one occasion so went the albion instead, and i thank god everyday he couldnt
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My dad, grandad and great grandad were all from Netherton and all followed the Albion.
My kids follow the Albion, and hopefully one day so will my grand children.
For the life of me I cannot understand how anyone would allow their kids to follow anyone else.
There was a lad in the club shop when we played Man Ure with their shirt on whilst his dad wore an Albion shirt. The guy thought he could take him in the Albion end and was surprised when the stewards said no chance! Ended up having to buy a tee shirt.
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i dont have a particularly good reason. my family dont really follow footy; a couple of my cousins follow arsenal, but i knew they werent right for me. i was never much of a football fan until last year, when i started paying more attention to the EPL. I started following albion from the chelsea away game last season, and from then on something just felt right. soon enough i went to my first game; man city in the carling cup at home last september, where i was taken aback by the likes of tchoyi and cox. that win gave me a huge rush, and ive never looked back since. every matchday gets me nervous as much as excited. im depressed when we lose, jubilant when we win, and im hoping to get to 12 or so league games depending on money and free time from uni this season. its a rollercoaster, its exciting, and it wouldnt be albion without it, would it?
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This is why we support Albion COYB!!!!
IN MEMORY OF DAD
A poem by John Homer, Chairman of the Albion supporters club
If I had a wish, I’d wish that I were a lad,
Walking up Halfords Lane, holding hands with me Dad.
It’s another cold Saturday at twenty to three,
But the cold doesn’t matter when it’s my Dad with me.
Weaving past boys and hard working chaps,
With duffle coats and scarves, rattles and caps.
Then in through the turnstiles with a smile on my face,
And onto the “Smethick†End, me and me Dad in our usual place.
Then the smell of the pipe smoke pervading the air,
The banter, the chatter, there’s noise everywhere.
Me Dad sees a mate and he shouts out “aye ayeâ€,
Then the teams reach the field and up comes the cry!
“Play up the Baggies†I yell and I shout,
But Dad says “Ode up or yower vice ull gie outâ€
The match is just bostin, we sing and we cheer,
And I tell me Dad, “I’m glad that we’re here!â€
At the end of the game I chant and I sing,
Brown scored the winner, but ASTLE’S the King.
Holding on to me programme I race home for tea,
By a November fireside, with Mom, Dad and me.
Now wishes are pipe dreams, but I really don’t care,
‘because all of this happened, I know I was there.
I’m grateful it did, ‘because there’ll always be,
Memories of match days, ASTLE the King and my Dad and me.
To my dad on his passing, March 1998.
John Homer.
COYB!!!! “We know who we areâ€
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Really enjoyed that the 60s were when I started, you couldn't beat a Saturday down the Albion see the match then the walk home following some bloke with a radio to get the final scores.
Get home have some tea then nip around the corner to wait for the Argus to arrive read it from cover to cover then watch Match od the Day, pure bliss!
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Some really good posts, really good to read about other fans connections to the club and what it means to them. Good to see that we are not alone.
For me it's personal, a part of my life that's always been there and a connection to family that sometimes I have found it hard to talk to about anything else but the baggies. It's about family to me and a place thats always been there no matter what, a lifetime full of memories.
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Really enjoyed that the 60s were when I started, you couldn't beat a Saturday down the Albion see the match then the walk home following some bloke with a radio to get the final scores.
Get home have some tea then nip around the corner to wait for the Argus to arrive read it from cover to cover then watch Match od the Day, pure bliss!
For me, my dad and brother, when we arrived home after the match, mom would have a mixed grill ready to serve up and without asking the result she would know the outcome of the match by how we approached and eat/left our tea, so very happy days.
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My twin uncles took me up to my first match in 1964, aged 8, started going up on my own when I was 11 climbing over the toilet wall in the smethwick end to get in.
I remember scrounging the match program for the cup vouchers every home game and getting enough to get the tickets to Wembley in 1970 for the 3 of us and being inconsolable for weeks after we lost to Man City
I'm still a season ticket holder now, still suffering for the love of my life.
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Baggies fan due to the standard 'all family are Baggies'
My dad, my grandad, my great grandad etc
Grandad and Dad born and raised Halfords Lane, i was born and lived on the less glamorous 'Concrete Jungle' estate. Moved out of there to Cape Hill/Bearwood and never looked back. Always been my local team wherever i've moved.
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That 1978 team has a lot to answer for ... for me it was a simple choice Albion or villa
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That 1978 team has a lot to answer for ... for me it was a simple choice Albion or villa
You definitely made the right choice, regardless of the viles success that we will never be allowed to forget, ever, ever, ever :D
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I'm from a football agnostic family and uncle bill from next door offered to take me down the Vile when I was about 7, we were stood on the grass / mud bank which was the witton back then (how stadia have changed - amazing) . the vile lost 1-0 to preston, the game was rubbish (as I vaguely remember it)and I hated the experience.
Where we lived in Great Barr, when I played out the front we could see the Vile and West Broms floodlights and I loved standing outside and hearing the roars coming from west brom about 2 or 3 miles across Sandwell valley - mysterious & magical !
I was footy mad and one saturday I arranged to meet some older kids from school and go to the match, Number 6 bus to west brom and heard thick black country accents for the first time, the long walk upto the ground, see men and lads piling out of pubs, the smells, the chants, the surges, knees up mother brown, songs I couldn't decipher, John Osborne was like my football card, I loved every single minute, hooked, hooked, hooked and hooked again.
I have enjoyed mad days out, dire days out, long days out (Ipswich away 7-0 loss, on a double decker bus). Terrible weather, Bury fogged off, Grimsby on a freezing wet wednesday night, brilliant cup matches, heart breaking cup matches the full gamut ! the lows of Pulis, Gould and Howe, the romance of Atkinsons dream football, and Meggo's warriors, Throughout it all theres been 1 constant, the fans, my tribe, my family.
The club frustrates and enchants in equal measure, but I know 1 thing, I will always be Albion as long as I draw breath, or have my fackultees
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I'm from a football agnostic family and uncle bill from next door offered to take me down the Vile when I was about 7, we were stood on the grass / mud bank which was the witton back then (how stadia have changed - amazing) . the vile lost 1-0 to preston, the game was rubbish (as I vaguely remember it)and I hated the experience.
Where we lived in Great Barr, when I played out the front we could see the Vile and West Broms floodlights and I loved standing outside and hearing the roars coming from west brom about 2 or 3 miles across Sandwell valley - mysterious & magical !
I was footy mad and one saturday I arranged to meet some older kids from school and go to the match, Number 6 bus to west brom and heard thick black country accents for the first time, the long walk upto the ground, see men and lads piling out of pubs, the smells, the chants, the surges, knees up mother brown, songs I couldn't decipher, John Osborne was like my football card, I loved every single minute, hooked, hooked, hooked and hooked again.
I have enjoyed mad days out, dire days out, long days out (Ipswich away 7-0 loss, on a double decker bus). Terrible weather, Bury fogged off, Grimsby on a freezing wet wednesday night, brilliant cup matches, heart breaking cup matches the full gamut ! the lows of Pulis, Gould and Howe, the romance of Atkinsons dream football, and Meggo's warriors, Throughout it all theres been 1 constant, the fans, my tribe, my family.
The club frustrates and enchants in equal measure, but I know 1 thing, I will always be Albion as long as I draw breath, or have my fackultees
That’s a fantastic post Albionic, glad you are in touch and recall so vividly your roots :)
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13/03/1993
WBA 2 - 0 Leyton Orient
First football match my Dad ever took me to. Clearly remember running up and down the terraces in the Brummie End and hearing the crowd celebrating when the Albion scored during that cloudy Saturday afternoon.
And that’s how it started...💙
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Really enjoyed that the 60s were when I started, you couldn't beat a Saturday down the Albion see the match then the walk home following some bloke with a radio to get the final scores.
Get home have some tea then nip around the corner to wait for the Argus to arrive read it from cover to cover then watch Match od the Day, pure bliss!
This could have been written by me as it exactly echoes my own early days at the shrine in the late 1960s. Used to queue for the Argus at local newsagents. It used to arrive at around 6.15 and I was excited to get it. Such happy days.
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My Dad was a baggie and in 1991 when I was 11 he entered a competition in the free newspaper The Sandwell Herald to win tickets to a game and be presented with a strip by a player on the pitch. He put my name down 'for luck' and I won!
The game was against Notts County and it ended 2-2 and the player who presented me with the strip at half time was Colin West!
My dad took me to several other games that season, Hull, Leicester and Newcastle
and despite the season ending in our relegation to the 3rd tier for the first time in our history the blue and white was in my blood
We got season tickets from there on starting with an eventful opening game the following season where we beat Exeter 6--3!
I remember my Dad saying how sad he was that we were in that division after only 12 years or so earlier we were amongst the elite and competing for the first division title with Liverpool and Nottingham Forest and beating Valencia with Mario Kempes in Europe
After watching the Gould, Burkinshaw, Buckley, Smith and Little eras as as a season ticket holder I have always been a glass half full supporter having seen us at our lowest for so long I never dreamt I would see us play in the tip flight let alone us spend so many seasons there since 2002.
Sadly my Dad passed away suddenly in 2009. The greatest gift he ever gave me was entering my name in that competition and beginning my journey as a baggie.
My favourite games watching us with him are the Swansea play off semi at the hawthorns the best atmosphere I have ever witnessed live in person and the play off final at wembley vs port vale.
Juat like me he loved the Ardiles and Mowbray seasons and I know he would have enjoyed last season and been a fan of Super Slav.
As he always told me even during those dark days of the 90's keep the faith!
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;D
My ex-wife gave me a choice, her or the Albion. I still wonder to this day what she is up to nowadays :)
;D My ex said something like "Its me or the Albion?" My reply was "I'll help you pack your bags"
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;D ;D My ex said something like "Its me or the Albion?" My reply was "I'll help you pack your bags"
My current wife as I refer to her, just to keeper on her toes, once said to me (yes you've all heard it before ;D) "you think more of the Albion than me." My response, "I think more of the vile to be honest love!" :D
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I was born in West Brom.
Simple as that.
No romantic love story for me to provide.
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I was the only sensible one from a family of Stoke fans!!!
My dad moved down from Stoke, settled in Tipton and had me (too late for my older brothers, poor souls), I just loved football and fell in love with the team of the 70's. Dad started taking me with a few of his Baggies mates and I was hooked. First game 1978, need I say more?
Loved it and hated it in equal measure every since but wouldn't have it any other way.
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Born and bred down Halfords Lane, by the junction of Oxford Road. The estate? (a lot of 2 bedroomed terraced houses) was known as "The Barracks" opposite Hopes' Glass Works.
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Runs in the family, the family support started with the formation of the club, family from Warley, Bearwood and Smethwick area so they knew the players back then.
An old Auntie used to date Teddy Sandford.
Its runs in the family and has done for generations and will continue too.
Only blot on the copybook was Great Uncle Fred, he was a Vile supporter, rest of the family used to give him stick over it all the time.
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Nice to see the resurrection of this 2011 thread!
My old man was born in Wrexham and came to West Bromwich when he was around 8/9. He used to go every week to The Hawthorns during the 50's and 60's. Went to the Cup Finals. He's 80 now and still lives and breathes The Baggies. Like many where it's passed down, there was no choice made by myself. I was born Blue and White. Same with my twin daughters, they are 10 now and go "urghh" when they see anyone wearing the W*lves badge! Chips off the old block :D
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Born and bred down Halfords Lane, by the junction of Oxford Road. The estate? (a lot of 2 bedroomed terraced houses) was known as "The Barracks" opposite Hopes' Glass Works.
Henry Hope and Sons were a bit more than a glassworks......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hope_%26_Sons_Ltd
http://www.hevac-heritage.org/victorian_engineers/hope/hope.htm
...... a little light reading :D .
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Henry Hope and Sons were a bit more than a glassworks......
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hope_%26_Sons_Ltd (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Hope_%26_Sons_Ltd)
http://www.hevac-heritage.org/victorian_engineers/hope/hope.htm (http://www.hevac-heritage.org/victorian_engineers/hope/hope.htm)
...... a little light reading
Thank you, very interesting.
I was 9 years old when we left Smethwick and moved to Handsworth. We lived just down the road from Bobby Robson.
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Grand parents, and so by default me dad, lived over the road from the Blue Gates Smethwick high street so there was never ever going to be any other outcome than me being a lifelong Baggie
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I remember posting this a few years ago, but here is my reason;
When I was 5 I went to school and was quite surprised to find other folk there my age. I was just getting used to my classroom surroundings when one day' just before class a kid called Steven Bishop came over to the group I was with and asked this one kid who he supported, 'Aston Villa' he said and Bishop promptly punched him in the face. He went to the next kid and asked the same question, 'Birmingham City' was the response, and more mindless violence ensued. By this time my rear was twitching like a rabbits nose when the lad next to me received the potentially fatal question, 'West Bromwich Albion' he mumbled, and with that Steve Bishop greeted him like a long lost brother. My turn next, and being sharp as a tack and witnessing the previous carnage, I blurted out 'West Bromwich Albion' and momentarily waited for my not so unexpected encounter with his fist, which didn't happen.
We were firm friends that day but I had to go home and ask my family who West Bromwich Albion were, which did not go down well with a load of bluenoses.......
So here I am ;D
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Grand parents, and so by default me dad, lived over the road from the Blue Gates Smethwick high street so there was never ever going to be any other outcome than me being a lifelong Baggie
My sister used to live at number 12 Stony Lane.
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Some of these stories are just ace. It's what it is all about too despite all the business rubbish going on right now.
I am sure I've told my tale on here, but I left the Midlands when my parents moved to Fleetwood in 1967 to run a hotel... a brave move and one that was really fun for me between the ages of 2 and a half to 10 years old.
But our family were incredibly close back then and the Black Country lot would visit frequently and we did likewise. My grandad George was an ardent Baggie and despite my mum's side of the family being all Wolves (I know, bloody West Side Story) dad's side won hands down with us lot. Thanks to my grandad I saw my first match when I was about three years old, not as cool as our kid who used to be allowed to sit on the trainer's bench (prior to leaving Coseley). My nan May was secretary of the fan club of the time for a while and I have a newspaper clipping of them boarding a coach to go to the 54 Cup Final. My cousin Doug has his ticket in his wallet.
Grandad died in 1980, aged 80, and he never lost his passion for the Baggies. I've thought about him a lot this week - his birthday was 6th October - and I wonder what him, my dad and brother would be thinking of the state our business side is in right now. No matter what though, they'd be behind them. Same here. Can't do anything else.
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My Nan lived in Hales Cresent, Derek “The Tank†Kevan, lodged a couple of doors away with her neighbour.
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In the late 1960's the M5 was completed from the midlands down towards Bristol where I lived. A neighbour talked about all roads leading to the Hawthorns and on Easter Monday in 1970 my neighbour took me to the Hawthorns to see Albion and the King demolish Chelsea 3-1. I was at primary school at the time and despite previously seeing both Bristol clubs it totally changed my life as there was just no comparison to Eastville or Ashton Gate. Since then Albion have near dictated my life. Roll forward a few years and I applied to go to university. Why Aston was the first question I was asked in 1977? Well it was the nearest university to the Albion ground I replied. Then the senior lecture left the interview room with me to take me to the top of the highest building on the campus, some 20 floors up. There is the blues ground he pointed out, then Villa Park, finally on the horizon the Shrine. Get specific grades I was told and I was in.
50 years later after first seeing Albion, and university at Aston, I still live for the Albion but now live much closer.
When asked why the Albion? I always claim to be a glory hunter, this is true if you compare our fortunes with Bristol Rovers or City!
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I grew up, from age 7, in Halesowen, before that we lived in Erdington but fortunately my Dad hated football, he was a rugby man. I was incarcerated in a rugby playing boarding school until I was 16, so had no contact with football. A neighbour in Halesowen was an Albion season ticket holder and one day he asked me something about football and when I replied that I had never been to a game, he said “Right, we’ll put that right on Saturdayâ€! He took me to The Hawthorns and I was hooked, that was 1963. Lucky me, had my Dad been into football, back in the early years of my life in Erdington, I may well have taken to Vile Park!
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My Dad is an Albion fan, his Dad was an Albion fan, his whole family are Albion.
My Mom and her Dad were both Walsall, but most of her family (including my Uncle) are Wolves.
I support Albion because my Dad got me to a game first, and I was hooked from the first moment. Even when it's awful, it's still good just being there. We've had so many great moments, I can't really imagine supporting anyone else.
If I'd gone to the Wolves first, maybe I'd have followed them. But I have a feeling I wouldn't have felt the same (and I couldn't have taken my Dad rubbing it in after every Black Country derby anyway).
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because i was born in West Bromwich and wasn't influenced by Liverpool on the tv growing up
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I grew up, from age 7, in Halesowen, before that we lived in Erdington but fortunately my Dad hated football........ Lucky me, had my Dad been into football, back in the early years of my life in Erdington, I may well have taken to Vile Park!
I grew up in Smethwick before we moved to the outskirts of Oldbury. Our family were all Albion. My lad grew up in Erdington with an Albion supporting dad. He was given a choice between supporting West Bromwich Albion, Albion or the Baggies. He chose wisely. He's luckier than he'll ever know that his dad is an Albion supporter from Smethwick, I saved him from 'those'.
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My Grandad Harry lived in Hayes Street in West Bromwich, his Dad apparently passed away during a game at the Hawthorns - must have been a bad game or a sign that Pulis would one day serve up his brand of football in the future......
Anyway, Harry and Mary had 4 children, 2 of each, all staunch Albion fans and my Mom met my Dad who’s from Oldbury ( after dating one of the Albion players in the 60’s prior! )
They got married in 1969 and moved to Kingswinford outside Stourbridge before again moving to Wombourne in South Staffs in what is largely Dingle territory. So I grew up in the 80’s as the middle of 5 children all supporting the Albion and the only fans in a 750 strong comprehensive in Wolverhampton. Never wavered. Character building stuff. First game was Wolves at home in ‘83 when we lost 3-1 and they stormed the bottom of the Brummie after HT, where I used to stand on the concrete bund wall and watch the game through the caged fence with the other Albion kids.
Did the teenage and my 20’s Albion games, Charlton in the cup 1990 and the puddle goal, 30,000 against Stoke and Everton, ,91 relegation, Wembley 93, Pompey away 94 to stay up ....
Fast forward to 2011 and emigrated to Australia with the wife and my 2 boys, who stay up/ get up to watch every game on TV with me.
It’s in the blood. ATID
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I'm 71, supported Albion since seeing them on TV against Honved (?) in 1958 and the picture of Ronnie Allen in beautiful blue and white stripes in my brother's football annual and the wonderful name West Bromwich Albion. Hadn't a clue where they came from as I lived in Guildford, Surrey. The great night at Upton Park in '66 in the League Cup Final and then the dismay at Wembley v QPR '67 and City '70 Finals. Only saw them when playing in London and then in '73 actually got to the shrine! Great memories of trips around the country and never even thought of packing them in during the bad times. Took my 4 yr old son to his first game at Millwall in '93 - thought I wouldn't get attacked if I had him with me! He's now a true Baggie and both go to games when we can.
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My Dad was a toolmaker we lived in Penn. Dad and Mom wanted to run a pub. Globe in Tamworth then to the Nelson in Halesowen. Dad not a big football fan but the supporters club Chaired by the late Mr Don Beddard used to meet up in the Nelson and Don asked if I would like to go to a game. Hooked that was 67.
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My dad took me when I was about 6or7.
I don’t remember asking to go and my dad didn’t go regularly (although he did as a kid)
Sat in the old rainbow stand and we played Blackpool. Instantly fell in love with the ground / crowd. I don’t Remember the game but the love has never gone away
I don’t much like football - only the albion. I love everything about going. The anxiety in the build up. Prematch in the sportsman. The row in front and behind and either side of my seat. I’ve seen so many kids grow up around me over the years and it is another family. I miss all of em