Although I’d been to my first match at Boothferry Park a year or two previously, the first game of any significance that I can recall is the famous FA Cup sixth round against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in March 1966.
A group of four school mates at Hull Grammar School all aged 14, decided to make the trip, by rail, although I cannot recall whose original idea it was. My companions were Rob Carmichael, Geoff Close and Kev Tock, and I seem to think it was Kev who guided us on the journey, including travelling on the underground – it certainly wasn’t me, as I would have been clueless, and we’d probably have ended up at the wrong ground!!
As for the match itself, every City fan over a certain age will know that we snatched a 2-2 draw, courtesy of two goals from Waggy in the last ten minutes, which sent the Tiger fans wild with delight.
The journey home was full of anticipation about how many we would put past Chelsea in the replay; it was also memorable for Rob C., who was a big lad for his age, managing to get served with several cans of Double Diamond in the buffet carriage. If my memory is correct, I seem to think we managed to get back home in time to watch some highlights on a 14″ television.
As for the replay, the match itself didn’t fulfil our dreams. Amazingly, it seemed about half of Hull Grammar left school early!! We arrived at Boothferry Park around 4.30pm and finally got into the ground around 7.15pm, some of our group to be seated on benches around the pitch. Although the game was well lost 1-3, at least we scored the best goal of the match – a 30 yard thunderbolt from Chris Simpkin.
Rob Milner, Hedon
PS. I am still in contact with Geoff Close, but I would love to see Rob Carmichael and Kevin Tock. If anyone can help, please contact me at rmilner@totalserve.co.uk
