Kicking off

One fan who has lived through every step of this revolution is Jordanian Wael al-Qadi, who first saw the Blues when their best player was called Spackman and no more than 12,000 would bother to show up for a Division 2 game. With the launch of the new football film Awaydays, which charts the hooligan movement in 1979, we asked for his insight into how the game, and the club he loves, has changed in that time.

 

Wael al-Qadi: I was really into football before arriving to study in London and living in Chelsea meant I would keep an eye out for the local club – even though they were close to being relegated into Division 3 and had to win one of their last two games of the season to stay up. They did, and I became officially hooked. Had I judged the team on the stadium or infrastructure, I guess I would have definitely looked to someone like Spurs. God forbid!

 

WQ: It was in the old Division 2 against Barnsley. The following season, I went to Highbury to watch our first game back in Division 1 against arsenal, the atmosphere was amazing and it felt like two-thirds of the stadium was Chelsea. We drew 1-1 thanks to a goal from the legendary Kerry Dixon.

 

WQ: Chelsea fans had this thing for “running” the ends of the home supporters [the section of the home stadium where the hardcore fans would stand – Ed.] I first saw this at Crystal Palace. Chelsea fans would get into the home supporters end and then attack, creating a big void in the terraces when the home fans ran. The same would happen to away fans at the Bridge, especially if it was West Ham or Tottenham. After a game as I was walking down the steps of Leicester Square tube station, I was attacked from behind by a group of Spurs fans – although in the end, bystanders had to pull me off of them! Unfortunately, I broke a watch my father had given to me while punching someone – so that was quite an unpleasant experience.

 

WQ: There was a range of fans back then. I belonged to the school kid/teenager group, but most were middle class guys, all had jobs, some of them were even city brokers and bankers; most had the money to not only drink huge amounts of beer before the game but travel pretty much anywhere in the UK or Europe to watch Chelsea play. The terrace chants even distinguished between class and social standing. When we played teams from the North, like Liverpool where unemployment was rife, we’d sing songs about how they lived in slums and chants like “What’s it like to have no job?” 

 

WQ: I do miss those days. I keep on searching for pictures, videos and books about all things Chelsea in the early 80s. New Chelsea fans are lucky these days, they never experienced the trouble or the lows we went through with our team over the decades!

WQ: Probably away at Luton, which was brought forward to 11am kick-off to avoid the potential for crowd trouble. It meant leaving home – on my own – at 7am. At Victoria Station, all the Chelsea fans simply hurdled over the barriers to get on to the special trains without paying, while at the other end, we were met by an army of policemen with German Shepherds, police wagons and horses. We were escorted from the station to the streets all the way to the ground – not to protect us, but to protect the town from us! The windows in the houses we passed leading up to Kenilworth road were all boarded up and anyone trying to break ranks would be beaten by a police baton. The buzz was so incredible, that by the time I got back to London, at 3pm, I went straight to a QPR game – and watched from the away end!