Best Away Day Ever!

[Brooksy]

After witnessing the unbridled joy and astonishment of the Yeovil fans on Saturday who were quite rightly having a brilliant time at our expense, it would be interesting to know what your best ever awayday was. That time when your team really turned it on, silenced the home supporters and made it worth all the years of suffering you've had inflicted upon you when following your beloved team.

 

[Sydney Posse]

Beating Argyle 3-0 away in the early 90's when Alan Ball was our manager was special, but the best for me was when we won the league in 89/90 and put 5 past Lincoln at the last away game of the season. Big turn out of Grecians and a massive drink up, my mates still talk about that day today

 

[valefan16]

Tottenham in the cup was decent, took them all the way at WHL with 3000 Vale fans and we’re leading through Leon Constantine until a late deflected effort took us to ET where we tired and lost 3-1.

Mark Goodlad was unreal in goal that night... his career would be all but ended weeks later on a bog of a pitch at Bristol City.

League wise probably Rotherham away... we’d stuttered during our promotion campaign with a couple of bad results heading into this top three battle at the New York but we were superb and two quickfire goals sent us wild, we would conceed but see it out 2-1 and go on a decent run towards promotion.

Further back of course... the last derby... Stoke 0 Port Vale 1. We battered them and should of won by more. We ended up clinging on at the end but was more than deserved.

 

[shoddycollins]

Last season when we won 5-0 at Crewe was pretty good, and the biggest away win I've seen from us. In terms of joy though, nothing beats drawing with Liverpool at Anfield a few seasons ago. They beat us on penalties but that only slightly dampened our spirits. They couldn't beat us over 120 minutes of football.

A mate of mine who is from Kendal and a Liverpool fan was with us, as Carlisle is his second team and he lives in Liverpool now. By the time it reached the second half of extra time he turned to me and said 'at this point I think I'd be happier with a Carlisle win'.

 

[Imp in Branston]

Beating Man City away in the cup when we had John Beck in charge is up there as one of the best away nights ever for me being an Imp.

 

[Si Robin]

Watch this - the last 5 mins of this game are literally the best 5 mins of my football supporting life. Never been so manic at a game:

 

[Hamez]

Most recently for us, Coventry last season was very good. Won 1-0, and was a brilliant atmosphere, best i've seen in following us. Everyone got involved.

Think the combination of a new ground, decent following, easy to get to all made it really good.

 

[Pablosammy]

Embarrassing Everton 3-0 at a packed Goodison... that'll probably never be surpassed for me. Various wins at places like Bolton, Stoke, and to a lesser degree Oldham, Crewe and Stockport were all great fun, but they didn't have quite the same impact.

 

[GTFCfish]

Fuck me is it pre season already?

 

[Andy Proctor]

Chesterfield 0 vale 5 first away win and only away win at chesterfield since 1989 the day of the hillsborough disaster. Stockport 0 vale 5 sent us top of the league that night but stockport were a really poor team. Everton 2 vale 2 late equaliser by ian bogie sent it to a reply which we won 2 1. Leeds 0 vale 0 lost the reply 2 1 think gary mccalister scored both goals.

 

[Indian Dan]

‘Twas me birthday - 12 Apr. We didn’t know it at the time but we were on our way to the PL.

Birmingham at St Andrews. 4-1 down with 25 minutes left.

We win 6-4. The Zulus were not happy!

 

[valefan16]

Chesterfield 0 vale 5 first away win and only away win at chesterfield since 1989 the day of the hillsborough disaster. Stockport 0 vale 5 sent us top of the league that night but stockport were a really poor team. Everton 2 vale 2 late equaliser by ian bogie sent it to a reply which we won 2 1. Leeds 0 vale 0 lost the reply 2 1 think gary mccalister scored both goals.

Forgot about the Chesterfield one! I went after a night out half arsed as I’d been about the four previous visits which we’d all lost without scoring.

Came out the ground stunned. We destroyed them that day. Richards and Davies so much so they ended up signing them both within a couple of years or so.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Chesterfield 1-2 Mansfield 03
Chesterfield 0-1 Mansfield 13
Chesterfield 0-1 Mansfield 18

 

[Fuzzyvalefan]

Was going to say the 5-0 at Chesterfield in our last ever visit to Saltergate.

The 5-2 at Fleetwood in the promotion season was pretty special too. Louis Dodds best ever performance in a Vale shirt. He was magic that night.

 

[RLC]

‘Twas me birthday - 12 Apr. We didn’t know it at the time but we were on our way to the PL.

Birmingham at St Andrews. 4-1 down with 25 minutes left.

We win 6-4. The Zulus were not happy!

I thought it would have been your visit to Prenton Park a few weeks later.

 

[RebornKirtonRed]

any time their team wins away at the real St James Park .

 

[Moomin]

Last season when we won 5-0 at Crewe was pretty good, and the biggest away win I've seen from us. In terms of joy though, nothing beats drawing with Liverpool at Anfield a few seasons ago. They beat us on penalties but that only slightly dampened our spirits. They couldn't beat us over 120 minutes of football.

A mate of mine who is from Kendal and a Liverpool fan was with us, as Carlisle is his second team and he lives in Liverpool now. By the time it reached the second half of extra time he turned to me and said 'at this point I think I'd be happier with a Carlisle win'.

I’m sorry he’s not a Liverpool fan if he wanted his ‘second’ team to beat them. Bleddy plastic.

 

[ValiantRob]

For me 2-2 at Anfield with 9000 fans with us for a night match, oh for those days again.

 

[les.gtfc]

I've had some amazing away days following The Mariners over the years.

Winning 1-0 at Everton in 1984, who were THE team at the time, had won their last 10 games on the bounce and went onto win the league and The Cup Winner Cup, with an 89th minute goal from Paul Wilkinson, having been absolutely battered for the previous 88 minutes.

Coming from behind to beat Middlesbrough, who were Top 10 in Division One and we were bottom 4 of Division Four in The FA Cup in1989. That game would have got a lot more publicity but it just happened to be the same day that Sutton United beat then top flight Coventry.

Beating Newcastle at St.James Park in 1992 with a last minute 25 yard screamer from Jim Dobbin, to stop them setting a new record for most consecutive wins at the start of the season.

Beating Liverpool 2-1 in The League Cup in 2001 with a last minute Phil Jevons screamer having gone behind to a Gary McAllister penalty in extra-time.

There's also the Wembley Double season of 1998 and the FGR win in 2016 to get us back in the league and a few other great days out too but for my favourite away day I'm going for the 2-1 extra-time win at Reading in 1989 in The FA Cup.

We were Fourth Division and they were Third Division and we'd drawn 1 all at home on the Saturday. The replay was the next Wednesday at Elm Park (8 o'clock kick off). I worked until 3pm that day then picked up 3 mates and drove down there. I was expecting about 3 or 4 hundred Town fans but we filled the open terrace there. Must have been the best part of 1500 fans that night. It was right at the start of the inflateables craze and there was a various assortment there including a couple of inflateable fish which would go on to become our own Harry Haddock inflateable which was to take over Plough Lane, Wimbledon in the next round.

We scored to go 1 nil up and were still hanging onto the lead as we went into the last 10 minutes. Our players were knackered having given it their all and when they equalised with less than 10 minutes to go, it seemed there was only going to be one winner, but then, with only a few minutes of normal time left Kevin Jobling seized on a dodgy backpass and rounded the keeper. We were celebrating before he'd even kicked the ball and thankfully he just rolled it into the empty net to spark memorable scenes on the away terrace never to be forgotten.

It seemed to take an age to get out of the ground and away after the game and I remember driving back down the A1 about midnight and getting abuse from my snoring mates as I had the windows open to keep me awake.

 

[BlackHaddock]

All of the above plus putting 6 past Boston United (my Dad was a season ticket holder there at the time, he left at half time for another pint!).

 

[les.gtfc]

Newspaper cuttings from a couple of the above games.

 

[denzel ecfc]

Beating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1. Just the manner of the win, the fact that it meant we finished so high in League One and that we had a great piss up afterwards.
Though the win at Wembley might top that

 

[Greenacres]

That newspaper clip is pretty interesting, as it also features Bradford beating Spurs, plus one of the greatest cup shocks of all time with Sutton knocking out Coventry.

 

[les.gtfc]

That newspaper clip is pretty interesting, as it also features Bradford beating Spurs, plus one of the greatest cup shocks of all time with Sutton knocking out Coventry.

Here's the back page of that paper with all the results and tables of the day.

 

[Greenacres]

I always think it is interesting to look back that far and see compare where teams are now, four of the current Premier League were in division three back then and Burnley were in the basement. Quite a few of the current Division Two were in the comparable division, though their paths have taken vastly different courses in the intervening decades. Where did those thirty years disappear to...it doesn't seem that long ago!

 

[TrinidadsNumberOne]

The ones I tend to remember fondly are the ones where we caused opposition fans to berate their own manager loudly and call for his head.

Bristol Rovers 2-5 Crewe and Preston 1-3 Crewe in the space of a year are therefore two I remember very very fondly for this reason. Paul Buckle ended up getting the sack after our rampant display down there, whereas Graham Westley lasted a few more weeks in charge of Preston.

Coventry 0-3 Crewe in the JPT Northern final for the sheer shithousery of our win. Steve Phillips had the game of his life then we destroyed them three times on the counter attack. An incredible night. Still laugh that Sky decided to show Leyton Orient vs Southend with a crowd of 5,000 over the 31,000 watching Coventry implode.

As a kid though, when we beat recently relegated Leeds 2-0 on New Years Day 2005 to go 8th in the Championship in rampant form and sit only 4 points off the playoffs. The same Leeds who just under 4 years before were 90 minutes away from the Champions League Final. A Leeds team that were one of the first teams I remember in football growing up. Being a kid you're oblivious to the harsh realities of football, so overexcited me really thought we could make the playoffs and potentially get promoted to the Premiership.

Of course, after that game, we sold Dean Ashton to Norwich for £3 million and then failed to win another game till the final day against Coventry. We stayed up by one goal...

 

[GTFCfish]

I've had some amazing away days following The Mariners over the years.

Winning 1-0 at Everton in 1984, who were THE team at the time, had won their last 10 games on the bounce and went onto win the league and The Cup Winner Cup, with an 89th minute goal from Paul Wilkinson, having been absolutely battered for the previous 88 minutes.

Coming from behind to beat Middlesbrough, who were Top 10 in Division One and we were bottom 4 of Division Four in The FA Cup in1989. That game would have got a lot more publicity but it just happened to be the same day that Sutton United beat then top flight Coventry.

Beating Newcastle at St.James Park in 1992 with a last minute 25 yard screamer from Jim Dobbin, to stop them setting a new record for most consecutive wins at the start of the season.

Beating Liverpool 2-1 in The League Cup in 2001 with a last minute Phil Jevons screamer having gone behind to a Gary McAllister penalty in extra-time.

There's also the Wembley Double season of 1998 and the FGR win in 2016 to get us back in the league and a few other great days out too but for my favourite away day I'm going for the 2-1 extra-time win at Reading in 1989 in The FA Cup.

We were Fourth Division and they were Third Division and we'd drawn 1 all at home on the Saturday. The replay was the next Wednesday at Elm Park (8 o'clock kick off). I worked until 3pm that day then picked up 3 mates and drove down there. I was expecting about 3 or 4 hundred Town fans but we filled the open terrace there. Must have been the best part of 1500 fans that night. It was right at the start of the inflateables craze and there was a various assortment there including a couple of inflateable fish which would go on to become our own Harry Haddock inflateable which was to take over Plough Lane, Wimbledon in the next round.

We scored to go 1 nil up and were still hanging onto the lead as we went into the last 10 minutes. Our players were knackered having given it their all and when they equalised with less than 10 minutes to go, it seemed there was only going to be one winner, but then, with only a few minutes of normal time left Kevin Jobling seized on a dodgy backpass and rounded the keeper. We were celebrating before he'd even kicked the ball and thankfully he just rolled it into the empty net to spark memorable scenes on the away terrace never to be forgotten.

It seemed to take an age to get out of the ground and away after the game and I remember driving back down the A1 about midnight and getting abuse from my snoring mates as I had the windows open to keep me awake.

Here you go Les just for you, after 18 Everton corners and 27 shots we go and nick it 1-0.
Scenes in that away end!!

 

[les.gtfc]

Here you go Les just for you, after 18 Everton corners and 27 shots we go and nick it 1-0.
Scenes in that away end!!

Amazing night that. I was in the lower tier of the away end and got soaked as it rained most of the game but I don't think anyone cared! Still the most one sided game I have ever seen where the team on top lost!

The other thing that strikes me about that video is how quick everyone got back into position for the restart. Can you image what would go on these days!

 

[GTFCfish]

Amazing night that. I was in the lower tier of the away end and got soaked as it rained most of the game but I don't think anyone cared! Still the most one sided game I have ever seen where the team on top lost!

The other thing that strikes me about that video is how quick everyone got back into position for the restart. Can you image what would go on these days!

Did you go to West Ham for the 1-1 cup game when Brian Laws was manager Les?
One of my favourite away days that for how we somehow survived that second half onslaught, bar, post, shots off the line, how we survived I’ve no idea.
Then we smashed em 3-0 in the replay, happy days.

 

[les.gtfc]

Did you go to West Ham for the 1-1 cup game when Brian Laws was manager Les?
One of my favourite away days that for how we somehow survived that second half onslaught, bar, post, shots off the line, how we survived I’ve no idea.
Then we smashed em 3-0 in the replay, happy days.

I did. The first game was played at the 2nd attempt as it was originally snowed off. I was on a coach that got halfway down the A15 (it had to go that way as the A46 was shut at Cabourne) when we heard it had been called off. That 3-0 game was the evening of the most awkward handshake in history between Laws and Bonetti.