TRANMERE.............BLOODY TRANMERE
About 1994 ? 1st away match of the season.
Went up to with 2 workmates. Arrived in the area of Prenton around mid-day. Straight to the pub where we had a few beers and a good laugh with the locals. So far so good and at about 2.30 we left for the ground. On the way my 2 mates Chris & Clive both disappeared down an alley for a piss, not surprisingly seeing they had drank about 2-3 pints more than me.
Arriving on some open land outside the ground i dipped into my pocket to pay at the turnstile. When i looked around to talk to the others they were both being arrested and put in the back of the van. This was my lift home ffs!!!!! so i immediately started arguing with a nearby copper on why they had been nicked. In a gruff scouse accent he put his hand on my head and said ' get inside the ground lad because you are getting on my nerves ' . One more word from me and i'd have been joining my mates.
The game was a blur ( lost 1-0 ). My concern was how to get home.
On the day i thought i'd took enough money with me. After buying rounds in the pub, giving the driver some petrol money, and paying at the turnstile i had about £18 left.
On normal away days i would always see plenty of people that could have helped me out to get back home. For some strange reason i only saw one person that i knew. His car was full so he offered to lend me a tenner, which i gratefully accepted thinking that with £28 i could get the train home.
So the journey started. Luckily i have decent knowledge of where places are so i realized my best bet home was to get to Liverpool lime street. From Prenton Park i walked about 2 miles upto Birkenhead before arriving at the underground network that serves Liverpool. I payed £1 to take the trip under the Mersey to Lime Street. At the ticket office i asked for a train back to Leicester of which the attendant said ' that will be £28 '. I had £27 left.
Surely this wasnt right so i asked ' no i only want a one way ticket not a return '............' no sir its the same price' he replied. I never did understand that.
At this point, being in a totally alien place i felt like sitting on the floor with a homeless tag around my neck to raise the extra pound needed. The miserable git wouldnt let me off so i had to pay £18 to get back to Nuneaton. At least i would be closer to home.
On the first part of the trip home i sat quiet as a mouse, as i was in carriage completely full of Sheff U fans who had just been to Everton. Arriving at Nuneaton good old dad saved the day for the rest of the trip home.
To conclude, the lads i believed were arrested because someone radioed onto the ground about them having a piss in a public place.
In the back of the van they suffered terrible intimidation by the police. Chris was constantly goaded by a copper who kept flicking Chris's nose.
They pleaded not guilty to the charge and were found not guilty and awarded £20 costs. £20 ffs!!!! . The police ruined everyones day and it cost the lads 2 trips upto merseyside (petrol, and the loss of earnings because we were on piece work).
A little while later i read a fanzine article which was headlined ' Tranmere terrors '. This was referring to a game about a Friday night Tranmere/ Leicester match. It was full of comments referring to the heavy handed policing by the Birkenhead force.
So anyone visiting Tranmere, unless the police have changed their attitude you have been warned.
