Season 1979/80 - The Fans

Shout Above the Noise

The good start to the season meant that the average home attendance improved by almost 3,000 to 23,711 with the highest crowd 38,784 for the Tyne Wear derby. The calamitous end saw fans leaving in their droves and the lowest SJP crowd was 13,765 for the last match against Luton.

Even when United were riding high in the first half of the season the fans were on the edge . And even when they were top of the table they were occasionally jeered as when they struggled to break down a resilient Shrewsbury side in October.

Former pitman Alan Shoulder sympathised "they're frustrated, we're frustrated, everybody's frustrated."

Not surprisingly the frustration grew as the team slumped and two fans in particular made their feelings felt when United lost 2-0 at home to Watford. They ran onto the pitch, stomped on their scarves and "gestured" towards the director's box.

Smash it Up

There were serious disturbances at the match in Oldham . Fans rampaged through the town before the match and fighting erupted on numerous occasions on the terraces. But worst of all bricks were thrown in the direction of the Latics keeper Peter McDonnel.

Skipper Mick Martin was furious claiming that the players had been distracted by the actions and that "no club wants to be tainted by the antics of these sort of people".

Missile throwing became endemic during the season with linesmen being hit on a number of occasions. A wide variety of projectiles were used including darts, bottles and even a wine glass at one Leeds match. The use of concrete (as at Oldham) was becoming increasingly common and was a sad indictment both of the mentality of some supporters and the dilapidated nature of many grounds.

The most controversial incident involving United fans occurred when West Ham were in town. A petrol bomb was thrown into The Hammers section of the ground; an incident that has been remembered in song.

Not surprisingly the club were swift in their admonishment although they claimed that some of the press over reacted to the incident. Their main concern appeared to be that they would have to spend even more money to improve safety in the ground. Compliance with Safety at Sports Ground Act had already cost the club £350,000 in the last three years.

Faith

The Supporters Club - having been founded just before the 1955 Cup Final - was celebrating it's Silver Jubilee and a commemorative mug was available

Although membership was high the vast majority of travelling fans were not signed up. After the incidents at Oldham an emergency meeting was requested by the club but the point was made that only a fifth of the fans at Boundary Park had made their way on Supporters Club coaches.

Strange Town

A new "Football Trust" was launched which would receive £3.5 million a year from the Pools Promoters' Association. Most of the money would be set aside for the Football Ground Improvement Trust (set up in 1975) with the remainder being specifically designated to tackling hooliganism.

Compliance with Safety at Sports Ground Act had already cost the club £350,000 in the last three years, but it really was a case of papering over the cracks in an increasingly delapidated stadium. The capacity had also been reduced to 38,008 a drop of more than a third from the stat of the decade.

The club desperately needed to generate more revenue and wanted to press ahead with the development of the Leazes End. The Council started "playing up" again and demanded that the club build a corner section first to provide a better "blend" with Leazes Terrace.

The council backed down but the estimated cost of the new stand was now £1.8 million; almost double the original estimate for the complete ground.

Thick as Theives