I was there...

[Wowbagger]

The famous line from a Max Boyce song.

I've been looking at some videos of famous sportspeople from yesteryear, and it occurred to me that I've seen quite a few of them in real life.

The first sporting event I ever watched live was, I think, Essex v Glamorgan, 1969 at Chelmsford (I had to check this - I had it in my mind that it was 1968). Certainly, Keiths Fletcher & Boyce were playing for Essex, and both scored centuries, the latter in 103 minutes. Utterly thrilling! The Jones brother, Alan & Eifion, were playing for Glamorgan, as were Don Sheppard, Tony Lewis and Majid Khan.

The year I left school, 1972, a friend and I watched all three days of Essex v Notts, and therefore had the great privilege of watching Garfield Sobers at the end of his illustrious career, and Derek Randall at the start of his. I was dabbling with b & w photography in 1976, and have some prints I developed myself including Basil d'Oliveira and Imran Khan playing at Chalkwell Park.

I've watched very little professional football. The odd game at Blackpool; I watched Jim Holton get sent off for headbutting Malcolm McDonald, and attended a match at Goodison Park when Jimmy Hill was on the commentary box. I was at the Southend 0 - 0 Liverpool game in the 1970s.

I've watched quite a few rugby internationals including all the great Welsh players of the 1970s, and was at the Cardiff Arms Park when the Pontypool Front Row first played en masse for Wales, in a record win v Australia.

Anyone else got any fond sporting memories?

Edit: completely randomly, I saw Joe Bugner in action at a national youth event of some sort in Chelmsford in the 1960s. I think he was a shot putter* or something, and was leading his county (London?) and was holding the flag out, one-handed.

*Wikipedia suggests discus.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The famous line from a Max Boyce song.

I don't know about Max Boyce, to me it sounds like a line from a not particularly good and completely irrelevant sort of calypso.

https://youtu.be/E_uArb9fwwA

[Wowbagger]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ro4BKLn5AJM&ab_channel=EvynNoosa

[alfapete]

Wiggins and Cav winning the World Champs Madison in London, 2008. Cav crashed with 11 laps to go but they still held on. Best sporting atmosphere I've ever been present at, though plenty on the telly come close.

[T42]

Archie McQuilkin clean-bowling Conrad Hunte for ~30 runs during the West Indies' match against a Norn Iron eleven in 1963.  Can't remember the final score but I bet McQuilkin went weeks without having to buy his own Guinness afterwards.

[Mr Larrington]

1993 European Grand Prix at Donington.  Sitting in the infield stands overlooking the Craner Curves and the Old Hairpin, turning to each other after the cars came back into view after the opening lap and asking “What the fuck just happened?”  Answer: a Mr A Senna da Silva of Monaco and Brazil done overtake cars driven by, to be fair, a Mr M Schumacher from the German part of Germany, a Mr K Wendlinger of Austria-on-Danube, a Mr D Hill of the London area of Hampstead and a Mr A Prost of France.  In what, to be fair, the space of two and a half miles.  Possibly because it done be raining*.  Mr Senna da Silva then done proceed to win what, to be fair, was the race from Mr Hill and Mr Prost, who done spend almost as long in the pits as he done on the track.

* My grate frend Parry quickly regretted going to the circuit from our base in Belper on his motorbike

[Little Jim]

At the London Olympics warm up event in the new velodrome in the not-quite-finished Olympic Park in about February 2012.  Last race of the night, Women's Omnium, the elimination race.  I had no idea what it was before the gun went off, and was most surprised, along with most of the crowd when an unknown English woman eventually won it, having just made it over the line in second-last place by the skin of her teeth on several occasions.  The atmosphere was absolutely electric, and the noise was deafening.  That English woman was called Laura Trott.  No idea whatever became of her after that race...

[Nuncio]

Day 4. Headingley. Ashes. 2019. Stokes. (And Leach.) Exciting, nail biting, heady, joyous entertainment.

[CAMRAMan]

1999 Cricket World Cup semi-final, Australia v South Africa. I was at work and my good friend 'Gubby' Allen (no, not the real one.) phoned me up at work to offer me a ticket, plus a spot in hospitality with greedy bastard portions of both food and drink. I quickly got a colleague to cover my classes and hopped into a taxi to Edgbaston. The game ended on a knife edge and when the final ball was bowled, nobody knew who'd won - even the players - for a few moments. Epic.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Cricket_World_Cup_2nd_semi-final

[Wowbagger]

I recall a cliff-hanger in Chelmsford in (I think - I know I bunked off school to watch it) 1971: Essex v Lancs in the Gilette Cup. They were pretty much the two best limited over sides then, and Lancs definitely had the edge. Clive Lloyd scored a century, after having been caught behind on 37. Lancs recovered from 59 - 6 (or so) to win the game by not many runs. I think it was the same year's final in which David Hughes knocked huge numbers of runs as the sun was setting.

[Flite]

Jens "shut up legs " Voigt on a solo break up the Col de Grinton on day1 of the TdF.
Massive crowds and atmosphere.
Annamieke van Vleuten on her solo break to win the Worlds Champs in Yorkshire.
At West Tanfield with an enthusiastic crowd including the T.rex and baked potatoes from the WI.
Riders who had done their teamwork for the day pootling up Hartside chatting away as if it was a club run when the TofB finished at the top.
Edvald Boasson Hagen won that stage.
Beryl on her way to winning one of her many National Champs Road Races, viewed from somewhere off the back of the bunch.
It was so long ago it wasn't called a peloton....
Eileen Sheridan getting scratched by our cat just where it would show in her low-cut ballgown.
Ray Booty standing dripping in our kitchen having arrived by trike. He was very tall, and I was very small.

                               

[liam_whippet]

The famous line from a Max Boyce song.

Edit: completely randomly, I saw Joe Bugner in action at a national youth event of some sort in Chelmsford in the 1960s. I think he was a shot putter* or something, and was leading his county (London?) and was holding the flag out, one-handed.

*Wikipedia suggests discus.

Joe Bugner was a boxer.

"[He won] 18 consecutive fights in under two years during 1968 and 1969." Went on to be British, Commonwealth and European heavyweight champion, after beating Henry Cooper. Was probably one of the top 5 heavyweights in the mid-70s, though beaten by Ali, Frazier and Foreman.

[Wowbagger]

Yes, he later became a boxer. He was about 14 or 15 when I saw him in an athletics event. Wikipedia says discus.

Bugner excelled in sports at school and was the national junior discus champion in 1964.

I think it was in Chelmsford that he won that title. Essex hosted the games (Junior National Athletics Championships or some such) and my dad was somehow involved in part of the organisation, as a teacher locally. We put up 4 kids in our house, I think, two girls, who were sprinters IIRC, and a couple of lads, all from Lancs.

[Legs]

1993 European Grand Prix at Donington.  Sitting in the infield stands overlooking the Craner Curves and the Old Hairpin, turning to each other after the cars came back into view after the opening lap and asking “What the fuck just happened?”  Answer: a Mr A Senna da Silva of Monaco and Brazil done overtake cars driven by, to be fair, a Mr M Schumacher from the German part of Germany, a Mr K Wendlinger of Austria-on-Danube, a Mr D Hill of the London area of Hampstead and a Mr A Prost of France.  In what, to be fair, the space of two and a half miles.  Possibly because it done be raining*.  Mr Senna da Silva then done proceed to win what, to be fair, was the race from Mr Hill and Mr Prost, who done spend almost as long in the pits as he done on the track.

* My grate frend Parry quickly regretted going to the circuit from our base in Belper on his motorbike

I was at the British GP at Silverstone in 1991, sitting at Stowe to see Mr Senna da Silva being overtaken by Mr Mansell midway through the race, then running out of fuel on the last last, and jumping onto Our Nige's sidepod for a ride back to the paddock.

[Mr Larrington]

IIRC we were at the qualifying for the 1991 GP.  Took us three hours to get out of the circuit 

[Wowbagger]

I remember going to watch a rugby match, Southend v Gloucester. Phil Blakeway was playing for Gloucester, and it was a much closer match that the two sides' status would suggest. The game was shown on Rugby Special, and Nigel Starmer-Smith, who famously had a number of craps for England (Jimmy Hill slip-of-the-tongue) was providing commentary. The highlight for me was seeing my bike on the television the following day, and also one of my teaching colleagues, whose husband had been (I think) president of Southend Rugby Club.

And here's the programme.

[Snakehips]

I was there at the Cottage in 1959 when the aforementioned Jimmy Hill scored three with his head in the classic 6-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday to effectively guarantee Fulham's promotion to the First Division as it was quaintly named back in those days.

[Jaded]

Day 4. Headingley. Ashes. 2019. Stokes. (And Leach.) Exciting, nail biting, heady, joyous entertainment.

^ Win

[Jaded]

Cardiff. Ashes. 2009. Last day.

If you cannot bowl Panesar out twice, you shouldn't win...

[Jaded]

Grand Slam. 5 Nations. Calcutta Cup. 1980.

[Jaded]

Ryder Cup 2002. Belfry
Ryder Cup 2010. Celtic Manor. Mud and glory.
Ryder Cup 2014. Gleneagles.

Solheim Cup 2019. Gleneagles. Last putt win.

[Jaded]

Too many favourites, the best posted above, but as a sporting memory - this.

Not often you give a standing ovation to a member of the opposing team. 

https://metro.co.uk/2015/07/09/the-ashes-2015-england-fans-troll-mitchell-johnson-with-standing-ovation-after-posting-0-100-5287808/

[Psychler]

I remember going to watch a rugby match, Southend v Gloucester. Phil Blakeway was playing for Gloucester, and it was a much closer match that the two sides' status would suggest. The game was shown on Rugby Special, and Nigel Starmer-Smith, who famously had a number of craps for England (Jimmy Hill slip-of-the-tongue) was providing commentary. The highlight for me was seeing my bike on the television the following day, and also one of my teaching colleagues, whose husband had been (I think) president of Southend Rugby Club.

And here's the programme.

I know a few of the Southend players in your programme, having played with or against a few of them.  Dave Gregory [ex Saracens], Dave Wookey, John Stokoe and Kevin Gregory [all ex Blackheath], Phill Brennan, Graham Spittle and Nigel Branch on the bench [he went on to play for Saracens].  Also Dave Robinson, the touch judge.

[Flite]

Worrying lack of memories of famous cycling people on here.

[Peter]

Well, the significant cycling events are held abroad.  If it helps, I and 10,000 others watched The Tour go by Rochdale in 2014.  I was also once in the same room as Brian Robinson.  I think somebody's mentioned Cavendish and Wiggins and Jens Voigt.