QPR FA Cup '82/March 6th 1982

[Barry]

I was only a nipper at the time but was speaking to a Palace in the pub last night and he was telling me why older Palace fans say Clive Allen is a top draw w@nker.

Apparently loads of Palace descened on Loftus Road for a cup game in '82 and gave Allen loads of stick. When he (inevitably) scored he ran to the Palace contingent behind the goal and stuck up 2 fingers-triggering a mass pitch invasion by fuming south Londoners trying to attack poor little Clive.

A big punch up occured on the pitch with celebrating QPR and outside Palace went nuts and started a riot.

Was anyone there at the time and was it all as bad as the man I was speaking to said? He reckoned Palace fans were overturning cars, destroying shops and starting fires...all cos of Clive Allen!

Sounded like a top day out

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1" FACE="Verdana, Arial">This message has been edited by Barry on 19 May 2001 at 20:01</font>

[Louis]

Yes I was there, and there was a mini-riot.

Clive Allen scored.

Palace fans ran on to the pitch.

QPR fans ran on to the pitch.

Palace fans ran off the pitch.

Didn't see any trouble outside, but I guess there was some.

[Ruskin Old Boy]

The pitch was plastic

So everyone fell over

(You needed the right sort of footwear)

PS it was a replay and they scored 3 mins from the end which made matters worse

[Martin Searle]

I was there also and it's true that Allen ran all the way to the Palace end after scoring to provoke us, promoting a pitch invasion. Didn't Vince get sent off?

[PJ]

Your drinking partner is exagerating a wee bit but it's mostly true. The match was an FA Cup quarter final and there was considerable ill-feeling between the two sets of fans on account of the fact that Terry Venables had jumped ship the previous season when he realised that we were doomed and joined QPR taking loads of Palace players with him. John Burridge, Terry Fenwick, Mike Flanagan, Clive Allen and Tony Sealy are the ones that spring to mind and there may have been others ... anyone remember ?

Being a cup quarter final, there was obviously a lot at stake and the fact that it was played on QPR's poxy plastic pitch made matters worse. About a quarter of the crowd was Palace and there was a fair amount of hostility between the 2 sets of fans. Apart from the goal, the 2 events that stick in my mind was a Palace fan coming out of our end and kicking John Burridge (in the QPR goal) up the arse before being swamped by police and the fact that Vince Hilaire was put clean through for a one-on-one with Burridge in the second half which he missed horribly. Depressingly, with the match entering injury time, Allen hit a weak cross shot on the turn that crept into the bottom left-hand corner of Paul Barron's goal. I was sat at that end, in the 1st row, level with the six yard line and had a perfect view of this appalling moment. It seemed to take an eternity to go in and was completely devastating. The goal was scored at the Rangers end and I don't recall any provocation by Allen but the final whistle sounded soon afterwards and the Palace fans wasted little time getting on the pitch. I left the ground as police horses entered the ground and started ****ting on the astroturf. A truely awful match.

[Mickey Droy's twin]

The wonder kid scored at the far end and ran all the way back to us giving us two fingers.
This and his goal not given at Coventry are the lasting memories of the player that we part exchanged Kenny Sansom for.

[bert head is god]

I was there. Your mate exagerated the post match a little. I didn't see any turned over cars etc., but it was a hell of a fight.

When Allen stuck his fingers up, someone on the upper tier threw what looked like a wine bottle at him, but sadly it missed.

As mentioned earlier, the funniest thing was the pitch. When we ran on it after the final whistle, it was like an ice rink and some bloke skidded into a pile of horse sh!t.

The trouble continued for sometime after the game and, with the exception of a few trips to the Seaside, it was the largest fight, in terms of number of people, I can ever recall at an away game. It earned a lot of media coverage due to the FA Cup/White Police Horse connection and I remember going to Blackburn either the next season or two later and being refused a drink in a pub. The landlord said that Palace were known as some of the biggest thugs in the League and he didn't want our business!

Ah, the power of the media.

[Tony]

Originally posted by PJ:
… and the fact that Vince Hilaire was put clean through for a one-on-one with Burridge in the second half which he missed horribly.

A fair account PJ, except that Hilaire didn't miss. He was pulled down by Glenn Roeder. This was the season before dismissal for 'professional fouls' became mandatory. Roeder got away with it and the free kick didn't trouble the keeper (I'm not sure if it was Burridge – it may have been Peter Hucker, who was an incredible jinx on us).

I've hated QPR with a vengeance ever since and I hope that demotion to division two is not the end of their woes.

[PJ]

Originally posted by Tony:
A fair account PJ, except that Hilaire didn't miss. He was pulled down by Glenn Roeder ... I'm not sure if it was Burridge – it may have been Peter Hucker, who was an incredible jinx on us.

You're absolutely correct about Vince ... my memory playing tricks with me. I just recall being convinced that he'd score and being gutted at the outcome.

Regarding QPR's keeper, I've dug the match program out and the line-ups lists Hucker (no guarantee that he actually played) and indicates that Burridge hadn't started for Rangers since Boxing Day. I definitely recall the incident of a Palace fan aiming a karate kick at Burridge at Loftus Road. Was it the earlier League match that I was also at, in which Burridge definitely played, or did the incident happen in the quarter final match being discussed ? Anyone remember ?

[Neil the Eagle]

No trouble afterwards??? I saw a load of motors that had been trashed and Shepherds Bush Green was like a battlefield when we walked past...

To make matters worse there was a coach load of pi55ed up Taffy's up for the Rugby at Twickers, who were passing through at the time and stopped to get involved.

Horrible scenes.

[Justin]

I have an awful memory about such things but do recall Allen running the length of the pitch after scoring and the first invasion happening immediately. I was crushed against the wall at the front of the terrace. Don't think it was a replay either because I was thinking we could beat them at Selhurst in the replay.

[Pistike]

So a top day out Bazmelda and to think you were but a phoetus.

[eaglejez]

That match sticks out as one which had a lot of trouble...got the impression that the whole ground was fighting (except me & my mate)..even Palace fans amongst themselves at one point (..barmy Wilton Army ?!). I remember that two scantily clad girls walked around the pitch at half time and the announcer asked for any loose change to be tossed into the big sheet they were holding...I can still remember the fizzing noise that the coins made as they rained onto the pitch....also remember a Palace fan kicking a QPR steward in the face after he had been rugby tackled...not one of the greatest moments in our history.

[Pistike]

...or should that be foetus (whatever).

[PeterH]

I will miss the trip to QPR next season. Someone had go though and it wasn't us.

[Papster]

Always a good turnout at their shoebox. Oh well.........

[John from Beare Green]

I remember that the Palace terrace was very packed, far more than normal. It was obvious to me that as soon as the final whistle blew, fans at the front would spill onto the pitch just to get out of the crush, not to cause trouble.

A line of police was stopping peole get very far, but about a dozen Palace fans broke through on the right touchline, ran into the middle of the pitch, didn't know what to do next and ran back again.

QPR fans were all coming on at the other end, and being held back by the police, but I interpreted that as a celebration of victory in the quarter final, not as trouble. I was at the back of the terrace near the exit and I left quickly. I didn't see the police horses and I didn't see any trouble outside the ground on the way to my car. I was amazed to hear the radio reporting a riot - nothing I had seen could be called a riot!

This was the biggest gathering of Palace fans at an away match for a couple of years and I remember feeling really emotionally choked singing "We'll support you ever more" after Clive Allen had scored with two minutes to go. As for the match, I remember nothing except it was awful, ruined by the plastic pitch.

[Sandhurst Eagle]

Instead of a replay on the Tuesday there was a home game against Cardiff (or Wrexham). We won 1-0 (one of Langley's few goals I think) but only about 6,000 of us turned up. I remember spending the whole night thinking we should have been playing QPR in front of a full house.
On the Saturday I'm sure I recall Jerry Murphy putting a great ball through for Mabbutt who should have scored. Murphy was on top of his game that day.

[PJ]

I just checked out the line-up for this match. Wearing the number 9 shirt that afternoon was a certain Jim Cannon. Gilbert and Wicks played so they were presumably the centre backs and Mabbutt's the only recognized centre forward. I was there but don't recall our skipper showing off his famous lightening pace and deadly finishing skills up front. Was this an early experiment with a 3-man central defence or was Jim really employed up-front ? If so, a bizarre (and short-lived) tactical experiment by the then Palace manager, Steve Kember.

[PJ]

Originally posted by Sandhurst Eagle:
Instead of a replay on the Tuesday there was a home game against Cardiff (or Wrexham). We won 1-0 (one of Langley's few goals I think) but only about 6,000 of us turned up.

... Langley did get the goal (it trickled in from about 6 yards out). Years later, I had a mate who was a big Cardiff fan who recounted how he and his mates had gone in the New Stand Enclosure for this match for a spot of cockney bashing. He claimed that one of his mates, who had a broken arm proceeded to clout a few Palace fans in the head with his plaster cast when their allegiance became apparent. I was sat behind so have no idea whether he's making it up or not; from his description of the match, I believe he was there but was anybody in the Enclosure that night who can confirm this yarn ?