Palace v Millwall - 1985 & 1986 games

[LukaLukaLuka]

Excitement about this weekends fixture has taken my mind wandering back to the 1985 and1986 games at Selhurst.

As a young teenager these were 'character building' days out, diving into the chippy for cover while 100s of fans ran past chasing their rivals, chasing police - or possibly the other way round ! .

On the pitch it was electric, in the1985 game Palace were 0-1 down and down to 10 (Mickey Droy sent off). Phil Barber and Andy Gray to the rescue late on to give us the win... and start a riot.

In October 1986 , freshly signed from Millwall, Anton Otulakowski hit a great free kick in another 2-1 win. 8000 was considered a really big crowd, there must have been lots of gaps but it felt packed

Can anyone else remember back this far ?, as a youngster these were special days , if not a tiny bit frightening

 

[NMPalace]

Excitement about this weekends fixture has taken my mind wandering back to the 1985 and1986 games at Selhurst.

As a young teenager these were 'character building' days out, diving into the chippy for cover while 100s of fans ran past chasing their rivals, chasing police - or possibly the other way round ! .

On the pitch it was electric, in the1985 game Palace were 0-1 down and down to 10 (Mickey Droy sent off). Phil Barber and Andy Gray to the rescue late on to give us the win... and start a riot.

In October 1986 , freshly signed from Millwall, Anton Otulakowski hit a great free kick in another 2-1 win. 8000 was considered a really big crowd, there must have been lots of gaps but it felt packed

Can anyone else remember back this far ?, as a youngster these were special days , if not a tiny bit frightening

Remember both games well.

Barber curled in the winner with his right foot, a collectors item.

Was it the Otulakowski goal (his only one for the club) that sparked a fight in the Arthur with Millwall fans in the Palace end? Most of our fans climbed onto the pitch to get away

 

[LukaLukaLuka]

I think you're right. 100s on the pitch and the game had to be stopped.

Found this old paper cutting.

 

[BromleyMonkey]

Excitement about this weekends fixture has taken my mind wandering back to the 1985 and1986 games at Selhurst.

As a young teenager these were 'character building' days out , diving into the chippy for cover while 100s of fans ran past chasing their rivals, chasing police - or possibly the other way round ! .

On the pitch it was electric, in the1985 game Palace were 0-1 down and down to 10 (Mickey Droy sent off). Phil Barber and Andy Gray to the rescue late on to give us the win... and start a riot.

In October 1986 , freshly signed from Millwall, Anton Otulakowski hit a great free kick in another 2-1 win. 8000 was considered a really big crowd, there must have been lots of gaps but it felt packed

Can anyone else remember back this far ?, as a youngster these were special days , if not a tiny bit frightening

My first league away trip was Millwall away first day of the season in 1977, we won 0-3 and I would say it was much more character building back in the 70’s. There was more Millwall in the away end than palace. After surviving that as a 12 year old the average game after that all seemed a bit tame

I remember though coming out of selhurst after a 0-0 in 78/79 and my mates grandad walking along clapping his hands and shouting out really loud ‘hahaha up the palace’ several times, not realising we’d strayed into and was surrounded by Millwall coming out of the Whitehorse, he kept on and on and all I kept saying to myself was. ‘Pleeeeease shut up ffs’ 🤣

Jim Cannon equalising in the last minute at their place in the mid 80’s made it quite ‘interesting’ getting out alive after the game

 

[Zimeagle]

Let me take you back to 1965 at the old Den. Peter Burridge dived to nod a last minute winner and mayhem ensued.
There was no fan segregation at that time but most Palace fans were at the end closest to New Cross Gate station, Cold Blow Lane end I think.
Teddy Eagle mentioned on one of the other threads that bottles containing recycled beer were weapons of choice for some; well, they were that day, along with bricks. I was standing behind the goal about half way up the terrace but managed to get out unscathed. It was very intimidating though and remains the scariest match I've been to.
This match does have real history. My dad told me about the rivalry at Palace v Millwall games at the Nest just after World War 1. In fact, the Nest was closed for a while following crowd violence although I'm not sure if that was following a Millwall game.
For me, probably due to my age, this is the real rivalry as a Palace fan.