Without wishing to condone violence in any way, shape or form, there have been a few classics throughout the years.
Anyone remember Central Park, New Years Day 1981?

No, what happened ?

I seem to remember a bit of trouble outside Starks Park in the 80's when I was a kid...anyone remember ? I remember police vans etc

Scottish cup 1/4 final, Fife v Dundee. That was a rammie and a 1/2. 17'000 and the enclosure was a virtual war zone. Nobody messed with us then. Aberdeen tried it and bottled out and scattered when the YDT charged through the police lines under the enclosure. That'll teach them to beat us 0-3.

Must admit that there were a lot went to the game for the trouble and not to watch the Fife. Back then the pubs closed at 2:30, so guys went to the footie until the pubs opened againg at 5:30. Should bring those laws back just for Saturdays.::))

Scottish Cup third round against Arbroath at Gayfield a few years back. A load of Lichties came around to our end to cause trouble and I complained to a steward that nobody had tried to stop them. He had his ear pressed to what I assumed was a 'walkie-talkie' at the time and I thought he was getting assistance, but no. What I thought was a walkie-talkie was a radio and he was listening to the commentary on the Scotland rugby match at Murrayfield - he'd been so engrossed he hadn't noticed anything untoward happening!
Another incident I remember well was when John Martin, the Airdrie 'keeper, played at Bayview during the miners strike in the 1980's. Martin was a 'scab' during the dispute and behind his goal there must have been about 500 striking miners and their sympathisers chanting 'scab, scab, scab' (as well as other things!) every time he touched the ball. East Fife won 3-0 and Martin blamed Airdrie's defeat on the fact he'd been intimidated throughout the game.

“Scottish cup 1/4 final, Fife v Dundee. That was a rammie and a 1/2.” No kidding – I remember bottles flying everywhere! Easter Road in the cup was no fun either. I also remember being bailed out by some Kennoway guys when there was a difference of opinion outside Tynecastle.
Chink and wee Drew could cause a rammie in an empty ground – the episode in the Berwick social club was the funniest thing I ever witnessed.

Seem ti remember a wee scuffle wi Motherwell fans in the 80s at Bayview.Police stepped in quike and nipped it in the bud.A cup tie at Easter road when both sets ov fans managed ti meet after the game.I jist remember running like fuck doon the road!!!Wiz there no a wee bit a bother in the cup tie wi Hibs when we beat thum 2-0.Remember ma brither telling me that au hell broke loose doon in Dumfries after a cup tie in the earlly 70s after we got beat 1-0.The best wan a kin mind au the same wiz a wee car ,full o Partick Thistle fans tairing oot the school car park wi au its windies caved in,un aroond 20 wee Methilites running doon the road efter it.

The New Year derby rammy at Cowden was an absolute classic.
This was just before the alcohol ban came into force and carry outs were the norm, particularly at New Year.
The Fife fans were congregated in the covered area (now demolished) at Central Park. Just before half-time, with nothing in particular happening either on or off the park, the two polismen in attendance made their way behind the stand for a cup of tea.
All hell suddenly broke loose, with bottles getting thrown and fans wading into one another. This state of affairs continued throughout the interval then began to subside.
One of the more sober participants called for common sense to prevail and a semblance of order was restored. Handshakes and New Years' greetings were being exchanged as the teams took the field for the second-half.
Cowdenbeath's finest then returned from behind the stand, completely oblivious to what had just taken place...

Alcohol ban at Central Park....surely some mistake!

The game at Clydebank where the bus got bricked and a few of us jumped out and caught one of the guys and gave him a right good kicking.I`m sure Tam was involved.

Both F*fe - Raith games in season 87/88 at Bayview. I remember seeing a guy sat against the Lodge with a pint glass filling up with blood.

Nothing compares for Raith than when we played Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup at Stark's in 85 and Hibs casuals came through on the train, pulled the emergency stop cable and jumped from the railway into the Raith and Aberdeen ends.

I was there Jonathan, behind the railway stand, and that didn't happen. A fire extinguisher was thrown from the train by the casuals as it went past Stark's Park. They had been ejected from the ground, and this was their parting shot on the way home.

Seem to recall a stramash at Brechin in the 80s when we played them in the cup - must have been about 1984 or something.

There was a Brechin fan who was labelled as "Joe 90" by the Fife present and was wound up so much he had a go and his mates joined in.

This was serious stuff:

For many Croats, the war of independence from Serbia did not start in June of 1991 as most history books will tell you. The "real" date was May 13th of 1990, when Dinamo Zagreb ultras, the Bad Blue Boys (their original name is in English) stood up against the Serb-controlled police and their foes, Red Star Belgrade followers, that were tearing Dinamo's stadium apart. That was also the day Zvonimir Boban became a legend for a kick without a ball.

On that Sunday afternoon Red Star traveled to Zagreb with a long-disputed League title already in their hands and some 3000 Serb fans came too, headed by their leader Arkan. Arkan, real name Zeljko Raznjatovic, was a notorious gangster, later to become a Serb warlord in the Balkans conflict and was indicted by the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Hague before being assassinated in Belgrade in early 2000.

In Zagreb, Arkan and his comrades were at the peak of their power. The hours leading up to the game saw numerous street skirmishes between home and visiting fans, but the real trouble took place at Maksimir Stadium. Initially the Serb ultras, Delije (Tough Guys), tried to provoke the crowd by shouting nationalist slogans like "Zagreb is Serbian" and "We'll kill Tudjman" - the newly elected pro-independence President of Croatia.

Zagreb fans at first reacted with similar slogans, but when Delije started tearing plastic seats and throwing them (along with a few stones) at the spectators on the terrace above them, the home fans were incensed.

There was a strong contingent of the Serb-controlled Yugoslav police in riot gear facing the North stand where Dinamo's faithful were situated, but not a single officer tried to stop Red Star hooligans from running riot at the opposite end. There was no intervention even when Delije smashed the fence dividing them from the peaceful local fans on the South stand, and attacked them with knives.

Delije savagery coupled with police indifference proved too much for the passionate Croatian ultras. In their thousands they took on the huge fence separating the North stand from the ground and under the weight of many bodies the fence gave, exposing the police - and the Serb fans - to the Croatian wrath.

There followed one of the biggest field invasions in the history of soccer. Thousands of Dinamo fans assaulted several hundred riot police and many broke through their ranks on the way to the South stand, where the "Serb invaders" were desecrating the "sacred soil" of the Maksimir Stadium. The police were in turmoil, but very soon reinforcements arrived with more men, armored vehicles and water pumps.

Boban Becomes A Hero
The pitched battle lasted for 70 minutes with hundreds of injured on all sides. While Red Star players promptly retreated to the dressing rooms, some Dinamo players stayed on the pitch and Zvonimir Boban made that famous gesture seeing a fallen Bad Blue Boy being thrashed with a truncheon by a policeman.

With a kung-fu kick later emulated by Eric Cantona, Boban knocked the officer from his feet, allowing the fan to get up and flee, and then himself retreated surrounded by his ad-hoc bodyguards - the Bad Blue Boys.

Even though the policeman on the receiving end of Boban's boot turned out to be a Bosnian Muslim rather than a Serb (many years later he would publicly forgive Boban, saying that he completely understood his action), the 21-year-old player immediately became a hero for all Croats and a villain in Serbia.

Already pre-selected for the World Cup in Italy, Boban was suspended for six months by the Yugoslav (Serb-dominated) FA, and the police filed criminal charges against him.

These were the times of the wind of change and two weeks after the event the newly elected Croatian Parliament replaced most of the non-Croats in the police. Boban was never prosecuted, but he did serve a good part of his suspension and missed out on the World Cup, where Yugoslavia reached the quarterfinals.

The Yugoslav League would survive for one more year, affected by many minor incidents, before the real fighting started in Croatia and Bosnia and the disintegration of Yugoslavia began.

"The game that was never played will be remembered, at least by the soccer fans, as the beginning of the Patriotic War, and almost all of the contemporaries will declare it the key in understanding the Croatian cause," wrote Zagreb daily Vecernji list marking the 15th anniversary of the event. It must be, the historians claim, that the Croats saw in the fans' actions and Boban's intervention a symbol of the resistance against the 70-year long Serbian domination.

We went to play Hibs at Easter Road 2 days after they had beaten Hearts 7 nil. We played with 1 up front & packed our defence & held them out. John Brownlie broke his leg in challenge with Ian Printy & things turned pretty nasty. The small band of Fife fans was surrounded by Hibs thugs & a couple of minor scirmishes took place but we all knew that it would really kick off at full time. Alan Gordon scored with the last kick of the ball & the Fife fans joined the Hibees ones in celebrating the goal!!!! Everyone went home happy, them with their 2 points, us with our heads still on our shoulders.
I also got chased out of Starks Park when I cheered Aberdeen's winner in a Cup tie, forgot I was in the Rovers end!!!! Laughed like fuck as I was running though!!

Joe 90 was a hoot. AMAZING specs. Easily wound up. The bother was at Glebe Park. Jocky Millar either ended up at the hospital or the police station. The cops boarded the supporters' club bus on the way home. Then Joe turned up at Bayview, and we were all rolling about the place. When he got worked up his glasses steamed up. I have always had a guilty feeling that he might not have been the full shilling.

Liam, I remember your role in some aggro at a Partick Thistle match at Bayview, mid 1980s. No segregation, bit of a stand off, getting more tense as the game went on but no violence. Then a couple of Partick boys tried to kick it off. One of them was a punk, looked like he meant business. There was more than a hint of apprhension in the air. Liam shouts at him: "Think you're a punk rocker, son? Yer just a big LASSIE!" Huge roar, everyone laughing and jumping around, breaking into a chorus of 'Thistle boys, everywhere, wave your handbags in the air!' The punk had a face like thunder. One of the best-delivered and most effective put-downs I have ever witnessed.

Would love to claim the credit for that one but
unless senility has really set in, it wisnae me!!

Please see your doctor. It was definitely you!

What about the rammy down Perth High Street against St Johnsone in the 1970's. I've heard a few folk talk about it. East Fife won 1-0 against the run of play and the supporters bus' wondows were panned in.

Anyone confirm ?

Not condoning violence in anyway but this is a great thread hahah

Great story by Stewart. I can't believe the coincidence of this thread. I am on a drilling rig offshore India working with 2 Croats. One is a diehard Dinamo supporter. I asked him last month to bring some football stuff from Dinamo for the pub. He brought me some scarfs. One is Blue with Dinamo "bad boys" on one side and you'll never walk alone on the other. Another scarf has a different name when the government attempted to change the name from Dinamo to Zagreb Croatia, which the fans succesfully managed to reverse.
I showed him Stewarts post and he remembers the story so well. He was there that day when the trouble started and the reminder of it brought tears to his eyes. The game never actually kicked off and the football powers that be later awarded Red Star a 3-0 win???
I will take some photos of him with his scarf and post it for the thread. One things for sure, he will remember a wee team from Scotland called East Fife with supporters that have a passion not only for their own team but care about other football fans no matter where they are.

I remember footage of it and the pictures of Boban attacking the riot policeman was quite crazy. Good to hear you've got a couple of Croats on our side now spreading the news about East Fife further afield.

Look forward to seeing the scarf in The Wellesley.

I remember being shit scared up at Montrose this season. There was a group of causuals in the back row of the stand, behind the Fife fans. The causual were given us serious jip, and I thought it was all going to kick off. Lucky for us though, big Kenneth was with us and he managed to sort them out before it came to anything

Agree with Scooby Doo there. We always seem to get bother at Montrose. But our saviours Kenneth and Chris always come to our aid. Things would have got nasty if Kenneth hadn't pointed his finger at them though.

If things did kick off we might have had to send in our heavy mob (or Lee as he is known).

The best rammie I have saw following the Fife is Exile V Joe Savage at Cliftonhill.

Wullie Broon v Unknown Cowdung fan at Bayview. I don't think that would have gone past round 1.

Aye Stewart, a Dinamo scarf in the Wellesley in Methil and an East Fife scarf in the Vellelsykokoff in Zagrab.

That post about Croatia is immense. Was in Dubrovnik in 2004 and you can still see the damage caused by the war. Such friendly people the Croats though. Nice to know they have a Fife connection now.

I mind when we played St Mirren in the cup in the 80's (the famous "If only Kevin had kept his head" headline) when some trouble broke out and some skinhead with a swastika on his forehead came flying down the terraces and landed at my feet. Scary!

GOF

I remember the St Mirren game when they all pilled up from the front & one pushed past me. I shouted what the f*** and he turned. Next thing, my dad just tapped him & said " Jist f~~~~~n try it son!" & he bolted up the back!!

Also mind big Baz Hancock & the Alloa fans who were goading him at the fence. Big Baz just calmly walked out the Bayview end, along Wellesley Rd into the School End & right up to the Alloa fans. The looks on the faces were priceless that he had done this!

Also Jonathon, I recall the Raith V Aberdeen game and hate to say it but you were correct! Seem to remember the Kirkcaldy boys giving them a right hammering as the came into the Rovers end!!

Who else remembers Chink & the Mirror at Brechin?

I remember a game at brechin when one of the fifers had a pub mirror under his arm behind the goals under that wee enclosure. Two police came and took him away. Heard later they had broke his arm when they twisted it around his back!!! The mirror was stolen from the social club by the way.

Boab

Spot on!! The best bit was we were losing 4-0 (I know thats not the best bit before you all say!!)when the mirror was produced to the classic comedy line " THIS IS TO LET YOU SEE HOW PISH YOU ALL ARE!!" before being led away!!

Classic stuff!

Liam, your one liners are legendary. You used to give us all such a laugh in the 80's at Bayview. I think you should own up now and stop being so modest!

I remember a cup game against Killie in the early 90s at Bayview, mainly because my pus still bares a scar from being squashed against the segregating fence on more than one occasion.

I think it was more handbags at 10 paces and too violent but I will never forget going out of the ground at full time whereupon a casual ran across the road towards a Killie bus "C'mon then ya Killie Ba$^ard" and proceeded to smash his head against the bus.