Marching

"Half an hour to 45 minutes after the game, Chelsea's Babs showed – the one-armed, half-caste man with the big reputation. We didn't care about the rumour that the one arm had a meat hook attached. The road hushed. Both mobs shaped to go. We were all itching, scanning One-Arm Babs, thinking the first one in on him could be a new name to talk about when the time came to recite the story of the day.

"You've got to give One-Arm Babs his front, because he called it on: 'Where's Bill Gardner [the West Ham terrace legend]? I want Gardner!' He was seriously fronting us all, taking one step forward then eight backwards as Gardner came out of the crowd. The next thing – the Old Bill pushed them away.