After being introduced to life as a Hatter, by my father, back in the late 1960’s, things didn’t get much better than being promoted to the old First Division, in the 1973 / 1974 season.
As a thirteen-year-old I’d now progressed to attending matches with a group of schoolmates and, during the summer of 1974, we purchased season tickets for the Maple Road terrace.
The 1974 / 1975 season was the Hatter’s first back in top-flight football since the 1959 / 1060 season and it was a season that was eagerly anticipated by the Luton support.
But, for me, one game was to see me experience an unexpected turn of events.
On 11 January 1975, Chelsea were the visitors to Kenilworth Road and the West London club brought enough supporters with them to make the attendance of 23,096 the biggest of that particular season.
Having purchased a season ticket, we spent that particular season right at the front of the Maple Road stand in a little space right next to the Luton Town dug-out, standing with two ladies, one of whom was the sister of the Hatters player, Bobby Thompson.
But, with the biggest crowd of the season crammed into Kenilworth Road, the atmosphere had an edge to it and things started to turn nasty when the Chelsea support invaded the pitch, clambering out of the open terrace stand heading towards the Oak Road stand.
As a nervous thirteen-year-old, I didn’t quite know what to make of it all.
But with hundreds of Chelsea supporters on the pitch, I was soon to have a close encounter with one of them!
One away supporter strayed too close to the Hatters dugout and was forcibly pushed back into the crowd by an enraged Roy McCrohan, Harry Haslam’s assistant.
Unfortunately, the individual landed right on top of me and the pair of us were soon on the floor with several gentlemen around me being only too willing to stick the boot in, I’m sure I got kicked more than him before I was hauled to my feet.
Dusting myself down, I managed a wry smile as Bobby’s sister made sure I was okay.
As for the game, it ended 1-1 in a season where the Hatters were relegated by the narrowest of margins.
More memories to come from what was a heck of a season in articles to follow in this ongoing Nostalgia Corner series.
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