Best Ever Day?

[Launceston Gull]

Agree with wivelgull, 16 March 1968, 3-0 victory over promotion challenger Bury in front of the MOTD cameras. Although some 50 years later I`m conscious that being an excitable, impressionable 10 year old at the time may be clouding my judgement......Hmm... Nah I`m certain, best day EVER.

[torregull]

Beating Villa at Villa Park with a great goal from Micky Cave in front of 30,000 crowd is up there with the others mentioned.

[Dutchgull]

Beating Blackpool at Wembley - what a great game that was.
The 3 - 3 F.A. Cup draw with Spurs (I'll rely on Stefano to tell me the year!)
Avoiding relegation in the Bryn the Police Dog Crewe game
First game of the following season under Cyril Knowles beating someone (Swansea? - Stefano's help required again!) 5 - 0
Play off final against Cambridge - 'it's Wayne Carlisle, he crosses, Tim Sills is there - GOALLLLLL" What a magical moment that was.
Play off game against Scarborough - the Rodney Jack game. What a night at Plainmoor that was.
Beating relegation - yet again - with that crucial win at Barnet

Cyril Knowles first game beat Wrexham 6-1 after going a goal down and thinking Oh God here we go again !!!!!

[samuel]

The most exciting and nerve wracking game was the 2-1 away to Carlisle April 2006 and I've been supporting the Gulls since 1962. Never have I more wanted a whistle to sound the end of the game. Can see Kevin and Joeys first half goals now, as clear as day. The second half we couldn't get out of the penalty area let alone our half. It was like the Somme. Anyone there who is on this forum can never forget that day.

[gateman49]

I could go back to the 7 - 1 hammering of the Cobblers in the FA Cup, Robin's five in an 8 - 3 humbling of Newport County, my first ever away win at Gillingham etc etc but they are all consigned, with the ones mentioned above, into my long term memory bank.

Now is the hour and the last few weeks have been phenomenal. Our run in was supposed to be harder than that of Woking but we've risen to that challenge in style. The run in climaxed with the Woking match, previously billed as a play off, and we came through that one to nicely set up Saturday.

I was quite subdued during that one but I'm now riding the crest of the wave. I've just watched the official video and it's brought a tear to my eye again. At the end the unbridled joy of the players sums it up.

So, for me to see (C) by our league table listings is the best!

[wivelgull]

Thinking of the 1968 Bury game. The attendance was over ten thousand (10,000), yet there was no 'silly' about tickets or getting into the ground. You just turned up in Marnham Road, queued, and got in. As no doubt gateman 49 will confirm, the turnstile operators had to cope with many 10,000+ or even 12,000+ gates in those days. Everyone got in. No-one complained.

[gateman49]

Thinking of the 1968 Bury game. The attendance was over ten thousand (10,000), yet there was no 'silly' about tickets or getting into the ground. You just turned up in Marnham Road, queued, and got in. As no doubt gateman 49 will confirm, the turnstile operators had to cope with many 10,000+ or even 12,000+ gates in those days. Everyone got in. No-one complained.

Yes, of course and even more for the likes of Argyle and Bristol Rovers (we never seemed to play Exeter in those heady days as they were in the old Div 4 for lengths of time) but 'Safety Officers' hadn't been born then had they!

[tomogull]

The most exciting and nerve wracking game was the 2-1 away to Carlisle April 2006 and I've been supporting the Gulls since 1962. Never have I more wanted a whistle to sound the end of the game. Can see Kevin and Joeys first half goals now, as clear as day. The second half we couldn't get out of the penalty area let alone our half. It was like the Somme. Anyone there who is on this forum can never forget that day.

Ah - you've jogged my memory! I wasn't at the Carlisle match, but a 'promotion year' away match I was at was Darlington when Frank O'Farrell was manager. It was a 0 - 0 draw, but I swear it is the best 0 - 0 draw I've ever watched. Both 'keepers - Gary McGuire was in goal for us - were their teams' MoM. Both played out of their skins. Even the great Robin Stubbs couldn't find a way past their 'keeper. The old Feethams Ground was packed to the gunnels - no crowd segregation. The draw clinched promotion for Darlington, so there were great celebrations at the end of the game. I think we had to wait until the following week before our promotion was confirmed.

Sad to see the demise of Darlington. It could so easily have happened to us. For many seasons, they have been a struggling side in National North, and lower.

[SuperNickyWroe]

That will be next Monday whe we get presented with our first championship trophy that I will have had the pleasure of witnessing.

[tomogull]

That will be next Monday whe we get presented with our first championship trophy that I will have had the pleasure of witnessing.

Yep - that will be good. Even I wasn't around when it last happened in 1927 ..... but I suspect Wivel was.

[gateman49]

Ah - you've jogged my memory! I wasn't at the Carlisle match, but a 'promotion year' away match I was at was Darlington when Frank O'Farrell was manager. It was a 0 - 0 draw, but I swear it is the best 0 - 0 draw I've ever watched. Both 'keepers - Gary McGuire was in goal for us - were their teams' MoM. Both played out of their skins. Even the great Robin Stubbs couldn't find a way past their 'keeper. The old Feethams Ground was packed to the gunnels - no crowd segregation. The draw clinched promotion for Darlington, so there were great celebrations at the end of the game. I think we had to wait until the following week before our promotion was confirmed.

Sad to see the demise of Darlington. It could so easily have happened to us. For many seasons, they have been a struggling side in National North, and lower.

I was at both matches that you mention and at Darlington Stubbsy did get one past their keeper but Ron Barnes was flagged offside although he was nowhere near play and wide out on the wing. I recall listening to cricket updates on a crackly radio after the match, and on the coach via another crackly radio listening to Henry Cooper v Cassius Clay (as he was then) in the evening as the convoy of coaches (was it six or seven) wended its pre motorway way back through the night. There was another twist (literally) later that night as we did use an early stretch of the M5 south of Birmingham - it was only two lanes on those days - and the front driver didn't realise that it turned right at Strensham (the river Avon viaduct hadn't been built then) and became the M50.

So there we all were heading towards Cardiff instead of Gloucester. There weren't any central barriers in those days so we all stopped on the hard shoulder for a conflab and the drivers decided to do a U-turn straight across the central reserve and back the way we came to regain our route!

[desperado]

Not sure what time your supporters coaches got home Gateman but remember being on Kingskerswell bridge to welcome the team coach back on Sunday morning. Luton were the only team who could catch us and had about 3 games left and needed about 5 points, Newport beat them 3-1 in midweek to send us up

[gateman49]

Not sure what time your supporters coaches got home Gateman but remember being on Kingskerswell bridge to welcome the team coach back on Sunday morning. Luton were the only team who could catch us and had about 3 games left and needed about 5 points, Newport beat them 3-1 in midweek to send us up

Presumably that was the old bridge (there are some nice photos of it in the Lord Nelson pub). We must have got back at about the same time after our detour. It was some time on Sunday am but it was 22nd May by then so there was plenty of daylight. I also remember waiting for the Newport result on that Wednesday evening and jumping about when it came through. Don't forget that a few weeks later we won the World Cup so there was almost a full year of football!

[samuel]

What a memory Andy and Tomogull. I was 13, just, on that Darlo trip. Here is my diary entry for that day 'Woke up in a coach at different intervals in the early hours. Went in motorway cafe. Ate heartily. Arrived in Darlington at quarter to ten. Went to football match. Torquay drew nil nil with them. Great match. Got in coach.
Stopped in Leeds and another motorway cafe. Went to bed eight o'clock Sunday.' on the Sunday I report 'Henry Cooper lost to Cassius Clay in the 6th round last night in Arsenal Stadium. '
Amazing to think mum used to let me go off with a couple of similar aged mates aged 13 to Crewe Darlington etc. No adult. The older fans kept a weather eye on us though. What fun.

[tomogull]

What a memory Andy and Tomogull. I was 13, just, on that Darlo trip. Here is my diary entry for that day 'Woke up in a coach at different intervals in the early hours. Went in motorway cafe. Ate heartily. Arrived in Darlington at quarter to ten. Went to football match. Torquay drew nil nil with them. Great match. Got in coach.
Stopped in Leeds and another motorway cafe. Went to bed eight o'clock Sunday.' on the Sunday I report 'Henry Cooper lost to Cassius Clay in the 6th round last night in Arsenal Stadium. '
Amazing to think mum used to let me go off with a couple of similar aged mates aged 13 to Crewe Darlington etc. No adult. The older fans kept a weather eye on us though. What fun.

We gotta hang on to those memories, including last Saturday's celebrations. They don't come around very often! Nowadays, I doubt that a group of 13 year olds would be allowed to go on their own to faraway destinations like Crewe or Darlington. Yet they would be just as safe as you were back in the mid 1960's.