Croft Original

Stuart Croft - now pub landlord but once City regular and scorer of the winner in my first away match... 

Later today, instead of paying fifty quid to see The Tigers entertain the reigning Premier League champions, I'll be heading off to the village of Bentley near Doncaster, where my local team Easington United meet Bentley Colliery in a Central Midlands League North fixture.

The Avenue has been a decent ground for us in recent years, with a 2-1 win on each of our last three visits. Making the most recent of these, in April, more enjoyable, was the post-match hospitality provided by the nearby Jet Club. For the host at this establishment was none other than former Tiger, Stuart Croft.

According to Douglas Lamming's "A Who's Who of Hull City AFC 1904-1984", Crofty joined City as an apprentice before turning full professional in April 1972. He remained a City player for nearly a decade before joining Portsmouth in March 1981.

Lamming says: "Developed into a very useful central defender, permanently supplanting Steve Deere in the mid-1970s. Mostly a regular thereafter until his departure to Pompey but left the League scene in a matter of months."

A brief stint at York followed before the player saw out his days with non-league Bridlington Trinity.

Stuart Croft was a member of the first City side I ever saw, against Fulham at Boothferry Park in 1975, as well as in most of the teams I saw in action for a few years thereafter. 

Prominent among my memories of the man, however, was the goal he scored at Elland Road in December 1980. Along with an effort from much-maligned young striker Craig Norrie, it helped City overcome non-league Blyth Spartans at the third attempt. It was also my first "away game" watching City, as recounted below in an extract from my, er, forthcoming book...

FA Cup 2nd Round 2nd Replay: City 2 Blyth Spartans 1

One of very few bright spots in City’s dismal campaign came via a mini-run in the FA Cup. And it was therein that I doubled my Tiger-trekking tally; indeed a good friend of mine still quotes me that year as saying, ‘I support Leeds in the league and City in the FA Cup’. Obviously I refute such allegations.

I’d actually attended Boothferry Park during pre-season, when for the first time I viewed a game from the West (or “Best”) Stand. Grimsby Town were the visitors for an Anglo-Scottish Cup tie on 28th July 1980. A meeting that had drawn over 14,000 to Boothferry in the league the previous term, there were less than half that number in attendance this particular afternoon to see a Nick Deacy header settle things in the Tigers’ favour.

City exited the competition following defeat at Sheffield United and a draw with Chesterfield. They then lost 0-5 at Lincoln in the first round, first leg of the League Cup rendering my next visit to Boothferry – for the return leg – all but academic. As such I have no real memories from the 0-2 defeat that completed a disastrous tie; with the exception of Mike Smith’s slightly strange programme notes  in which he spent more time extolling the virtues of the likes of Nottingham Forest and, in particular, Liverpool than he did trying to explain his own team’s apparent early season deficiencies.

Another four months were to elapse before I found myself back in the ground and standing on Bunkers Hill with my mate Al to watch City eke out a nervy 2-1 win over Halifax Town in the first round of the FA Cup. The draw then paired us with non-league giant-killers Blyth Spartans. It turned out to be an epic tie of the sort no longer seen in the competition.

The programme for the first of three meetings 13/12/1980

Les Mutrie’s late strike cancelled out Keith Edwards’ early goal in a 1-1 draw at Boothferry Park, leaving City – without a win in 34 games on the road – facing a tricky Tuesday trip to the North-East. The teams again couldn’t be separated. Edwards (again) and the much-maligned Craig Norrie twice brought City back from a goal down after spectacular strikes from that man Mutrie and Ray Young had edged Blyth towards glory.  Even now a second replay was only earned the hard way; Tony Norman saving Mutrie’s extra-time penalty.

As was the format back then, the teams reconvened for a second replay on a neutral ground. The venue in question was Elland Road, Leeds and on 22nd December 1980 I attended what could be termed my first City “away” match.

As the self-styled ‘Cottingham Tiger’ recalled in a City fanzine some years later, the game has gone down in Hull supporters’ folklore on account of the “infamous British Rail football special with its unofficial stop and pick-up at Hessle Road flyover, the scenes at the final whistle and on the motorway as we all celebrated a small piece of overdue success”[i].

It was quite surreal to be stood on the Gelderd End, Leeds fans’ own “Spion Kop”, with a couple of thousand Hull City supporters for a game against a bunch of Geordie part-timers. At least I enjoyed a winning start to my career “on the road”, goals from Stuart Croft and Craig Norrie securing a 2-1 win. The Tigers marched on, Blyth returned home with reputation enhanced and Mike Smith, in perhaps his best decision as manager, immediately signed Les Mutrie for City.

From the City v Doncaster prog, FA Cup 3rd Round, 03/01/1981

The third round draw threw up a home game with Yorkshire rivals Doncaster Rovers, managed by Billy Bremner. It drew a near-11,000 crowd to Boothferry Park, the biggest of the season. The figure again included Al and me, indulging in our pre-match ritual of shopping for singles at Sydney Scarborough[ii] before enjoying lunch at The Gainsborough fish restaurant (how very sophisticated!). Nick Deacy’s solitary strike settled matters and earned City a glamorous tie at First Division Tottenham Hotspur in the next round. Al and I wouldn’t be going to that one. Two thousand City fans did and saw the Tigers bravely bow out to two Spurs goals in the final seven minutes.

I had travelled to Leeds for the Blyth game ‘door-to-door’ thanks to the fact that Easington bus company Connor & Graham was the operator chosen for use by coach organiser Simon Gray. Simon was – and still is – something of a cult figure among a generation of City supporters thanks partly to his trademark “red and white jacket” but mainly due to his insatiable appetite for organising coaches, which would enable him to follow his team almost anywhere. It’s impossible to say just how much this must have cost him over the years; especially when I remember the pitiful numbers present on some of those I travelled on at the time.

That particular night’s coach to Leeds was full and everyone was in good spirits as we arrived at the ground. Everyone that is except Simon whose walk across the coach park was interrupted by an irate man who I later realised must have been the infamous “Mad Eddie”. Bus driver for the City Psychos referred to in Shaun Tordoff’s Hull “hooli-lit” contribution[iii], he proceeded to accuse our “operator” of having shopped him to the police for allegedly drink-driving his coach to the previous week’s replay on Tyneside. The nearby presence of members of the local West Yorkshire constabulary ensured Simon suffered nothing more than a vocal assault but it wouldn’t be the last scrape I’d have cause to witness involving the man.

My regular “Tiger Trekking” days were about to begin…

---

[i] From “Home Alone – The 1980’s”, Issue 3 of the Tiger Rag fanzine 

[ii] Hull’s famous independent record store based under the City Hall

[iii] ‘City Psychos - From the Monte Carlo Mob to the Silver Cod Squad: Four decades of Terrace Terror’

According to what I was told on my last visit, Stuart has been "mine host" at The Jet for over a decade. On the evidence of our meeting in April, he remains a most genial chap who couldn't wait to reminisce about his City days when prompted. Depending on our performance at Bentley today, I may just get in early to have another catch-up with the man again...

"Transit Van From 'ull" (The Caravan of Love remix))

#CityinEurope was a much too short-lived experience but at least it witnessed the revival of an Eighties classic...

You could say I was a bit down following City's premature exit from the Europa League. As I tweeted in the immediate aftermath of the defeat on away goals to Belgian side Lokeren: 

"Home. Bitterly disappointed and angry that it's seen as some sort of blessing. It's not, it's a missed opportunity. #TypicalCity #hcafc." 

I have no truck with those who say an early European exit will ultimately help City’s survival in the Premier League. Partly this is because I never have seen it as an either/or argument; surely Steve Bruce has assembled a squad strong enough to cope on both fronts, even more so after an amazing transfer window. I also had very personal reasons for feeling short-changed by the defeat, as I again made clear on Twitter: 

"On purely selfish grounds, I'm also gutted that I won't now get chance to sing #CaravanofLove on a Europe-bound ferry full of #hcafc fans!" 

Caravan of Love is suddenly an in-vogue track among City fans, with many - including those noble chaps at Amber Nectar - campaigning with some success for it to be played pre-match at the KC (although on the evidence of first airing against Lokeren I don't believe City have used the best edit). To get a better idea of how the song could be utilised, you probably had to be one of the many Tigerfolk aboard the aforementioned P&O Ferry to Zeebrugge en route to the First Leg. Thanks to a @Kurtis Rial via Twitter, some footage of what I mean is now available on YouTube. 

As with many aspects of current City-related topics, watching the above immediately transported me back in time to my own days of regular Tiger-trekking. and more specifically to the year when we first made this Housemartins classic our own...in a fashion.
“Caravan of Love” was originally released in 1985 by Isley-Jasper-Isley, a “splinter group” born out of legendary Motown act The Isley Brothers. The Housemartins’ classic acapella version of the song was released a year later and became their only Number One single (although not a Christmas chart topper as many people mistakenly believe – it was knocked off top spot by Jackie Wilson’s classic “Reet Petite” the weekend before Christmas).

I can’t recall who came up with the lyrics for our version of the song. Perhaps, as often happened, it was a group effort hatched over a pint or three. Whoever was responsible, the “Transit Van From 'ull” became our own take on the Hull band’s effort and we hoped it would become another terrace favourite.

If my memory serves me correctly, the song was first aired with conviction at Selhurst Park, home of Crystal Palace, on 13th December 1986. It was on the old open terrace behind the goal that formed the away section back then. I’m guessing there were between four and five hundred of us, our numbers – as usual – bolstered by the Hull City Southern Supporters Club, and we were in good spirits...well, at least, prior to kick-off!

Our particular crew had travelled down on one of Simon Gray’s legendary “London All-Dayers”, which involved being deposited in the capital around lunchtime, enjoying the usual pre-match lubrication then finding our own way to the game. Afterwards, there were six hours to be spent trying to sup London dry before meeting up with the coach at the Embankment for the journey through the night back to Hull. They were traditionally very enjoyable excursions, though not without menace as was the case with most away trips in the 1980s.

Still, everything had passed off fine in the hours before kick-off and we negotiated our way to this particular corner of "sarf Landan" trouble-free. And so, on a cold, miserable winter’s afternoon, with Christmas just around the corner and vocal chords suitably lubricated, the travelling contingent treated the rest of the 4,839 in attendance to the following Festive chorus: 

Every woman, every man,
Join the transit van from ‘ull
(Tigers) Tigers
Tigers
Every living City fan
Join the transit van from ‘ull
(Tigers) Tigers
Tigers

I know, I can’t believe it never really caught on either ;-) Anyway, we enjoyed it, which made it about the only part of the afternoon we did. City were awful, slumping to a 5-1 defeat with player-boss Brian Horton sent-off. To compound our misery, we were then attacked en route back to the tube station and therein, resulting in some of us ending up almost on the rail track. Still, no lasting damage was done and the usual tea-time meet-up was made in "Polar Bear, Leicester Square" before the pubs of the capital were subjected to further renditions of our new-found terrace anthem.
And it wasn't only the pubs. The nearby branch of Ann Summers received a visit, while a local pizza restaurant was treated to Pozzy the Punk setting a new record for devouring a twelve-inch pizza in one (long) mouthful. I can still see the girl at the next table finding it hilarious whilst her boyfriend was rather less amused. 
Then there was the pub where the landlord told us we could stay for one but to make it quick as he had a private party of Chelsea Headhunters in the function room upstairs. He kindly locked the door on them to allow us to finish our pints - and him to take our money of course.
Of course, age could be playing havoc with my memory and some/all of the above could have occurred the following August when we revisited Selhurst (these London trips have almost merged into one with the passage of time). 
One thing that certainly did happen on both occasions was the post-match kick-off. Following a 2-2 draw, we found ourselves under attack at the station for the second time in just over eight months. This time several of us were actually forced into hiding under a footbridge further down the line while the local loonies scoured the area in search of us. We then found shelter in the home of a student who provided us with tea and sympathy (and access to BBC's Final Score) before it was felt safe enough to venture back out on to the same line. Here we were picked up by the next passing train and transported - in the guard carriage - to Victoria Station where the Met were waiting for us. After a brief inquisition and the obligatory warnings as to the dangers of walking along railway tracks (we weren't on there by choice officer!) we were free to go on our way. Ah, we did laugh about it...later.

I can't quite remember whether we sang “Caravan of Love” that day :-)