What was your first Town Match

I cant really remember who we were playing. I was 6 years of age, im now 65. I know Charlie Wright was in goal, Graham Taylor was right back, I also remember, Brian Clifton, Ron Cockerill, Matt Tees , Rod Green, Brian Hill, Dougie Collins, Davie Boylen, Dave Worthington, . My big brother took me, I was in the Boys stand in the Barrets, always remember the smell of woodbines, and a lot of the fans had flasks. I know it was bloody cold, and from that day on, it was the beginning of a love affair with the Club. From then on, I went to the ground during the week to watch them train, George Higgins was always chatting to me, and Charlie Shaw the groundsman used to give me a sandwich from his lunch box. Great memories.

No idea other than it would have been the McMenemy Champ season and I remember I was at the Exeter game and think I attended most Saturday home games that year as my old man would take me in to the main stand for free when he worked on the turnstiles. I would have been 8  I think

Christmas Day 1957. Grimsby 3 (Scott, Whitefoot, Fell) Liverpool 1

We lost 3-2 in the return on Boxing Day.

Until 1959 I was not permanently in Grimsby so only saw the odd match if my dad wasn't working,  but August 1959 was the first season I was allowed to go to BP on my own.

The first 3 home games of season 1959-60 were

Chesterfield - won 5-0
Colchester  - won 4-1
Accrington  - won 4 -0

I thought Town would carry on like that forever.   Soon learned better. It has been a bit of a switchback ride over the past 63 years.

Cardiff won 2-0 August 1975 , felt I belonged still do I think

Preston , April 12th 1963. Town won 2-0. Although I don't remember anything about the game I can remember being completely hooked.

Town 2 Barnsley 0 FA Cup 2nd round replay December 1965.Hill and Green I think. My dad was docking just before the match and was given tickets by Paddy Hamilton . I went with my mum to pick him up. He drove to the ground  and parked on a bus stop. He got a ticket but being a fisherman he'd never taken his test. He made my mum take the fine. We then dropped him off at the Oberon.

I can't be certain but I think it was Boxing Day 1975 with a 4-1 win over Rotherham. My grandad plonked me on the Barrett Stand fence and said "we're in black and white".

I've never forgiven him.

Quoted from BottesfordMariner

February 1978. Town 3 York 2

I grew up in Barcroft Street and could see the floodlights from my bedroom window. I nagged my mum and dad for what seemed forever to let me go to a match.

Mum was always a bit worried about the 'trouble' at football matches. I had a Town shirt- the classic white sleeves of the time. On a match days I would occasionally give a bit of lip to away supporters down our street before peddling off a full speed on my Raleigh Chopper!! Remember one time a couple of Wednesday fans chased me right down Harrington Street.

My dad was a trawlerman originally from Fleetwood and he was a Blackpool fan. So he wasnt that bothered about Town really. Every summer was spent with family in Fleetwood and I had actually been to Fleetwood &  Blackpool games a couple of times before i wore my dad down to talk mum round so he could take me to Blundell Park.

I remember York's claret Y kit. It was a dreary grey day I think and my dad and I stood in the Imperial Corner. It was a pretty good game and I loved it! I couldnt wait to go back. We didnt miss a home game for several seasons after that. After a couple of games we found 'our' spot at the back of the pontoon right behind the goal. Even my dad became a fan and I think he loved it as much as me (except maybe when Town beat Blackpool 4-3 in 1979 ! )

Town just missed out on promotion that season but finished the season quite strongly. I remember we beat the promoted teams Swansea (managed by John Toshack) Southend and Brentford and were unlucky to only to draw against Graham Taylors runaway champions Watford.

Some legends in that Town team Wainman ,Kev Moore, Mike Brolly, Fordy, Drinkell, Terry Donovan, Bobby Cumming , Malcolm Partridge, Geoff Barker...........amongst others.

My favourite player was and still is Joe Waters. He never seemed to have a bad game. And he played for the Republic of Ireland which I dreamt of doing as a kid.

It was a fantastic time to become a Town fan in the late 70's early 80's.

The brought some nice memories flooding back. I loved Joe Waters.  As a kid I tried to be like him but failed dismally as I was never skillful enough.  I was more a Dean Crombie if anything.  My old man wasn't really into footie, so it was left to his brother to take me.  Most memorable matched were Everton and Wednesday the following week.  Unfortunately, my uncle couldn't always make so I couldn't get to as many matches as I would have liked.

My parents were divorced and my mum started seeing a bloke who was into football.  He was a LIverpool fan but followed Town as well.  Town were playing the great West Ham team and it was before you could buy tickets before the day.  Seems unthinkable now.  Anyway me mum was faffing and fussing and we got to the ground latish.  The queue stretched for miles and panic set in as I thought I was gonna miss kick off.  My stepdad who was a bit of a rum sodomist, said F*** this and grabbed of me and brazenly walked to the front of the queue.  My heart was pounding in my chest as we broke one of the greatest English taboos.  Anyway, we got to the front and one turnstile had a bloke twiddling his thumbs while everyone was going through the other.  We got in just as the whistle went.  We got hammered (pun intended) but it was a cracking game and we played well.  just West Hammer were a different class.

As soon as I was old enough I would go on my own.  I did three paper rounds so I could pay my own way even then. My mum said football was just twenty blokes kicking a bag of wind about and that  I was wasting my money.   My dad told her that I'd earned it so I could spend it how I liked.

I joined the RAF when I was 17 so couldn't go to many matches but I always coincidently went home to visit family when we were playing at home. After that I had a penchant for travel and lived in Mexico City.  I used to  travel across town to get the one English language newspaper so I could check the score.  Sometimes there was a short write up. Tinternet has obviously made it easier to follow GTFC and I'm glad of ifollow.  

Some great memories in this thread. Thanks for starting it Yossarian and everyone for sharing their memories.

My first game was the August 1971 League Cup game v Donny which we won 4:3. Glad my sister finally persuaded me to go. My sister,  my grandad (RIP), my uncle and my brother. Stood in the Osmond end I think - would that have been right then?

I could hardly see a thing because as a nervous 8 year old I wanted to stay with my family rather than stand at the front fence. But what a cracking atmosphere. And with the seesaw nature of the game Zi was bound to be hooked (in my unreliable memory it went 0:1 1:1 2:1 2:2 2:3 3:3 4:3).

When this is all over the atmosphere at the first home game is going to be like that first game back in the League in 2016. On steroids.

First game back - Macca not playing bad for a 60year old,  doesn't seem like 25 years since JSF gave the club to the Trust,  Have you seen the plans for the new ground-rumour has it that it's going to be on the site of the old Victoria Street Precinct