'Whitley free-for-all'

[Deleted]

You asked for it. Here it is. It’s a bit long again. Sorry.

For anyone who has not been to Whitley a bit of explanation is necessary. The rink was a great barn of a place. It held 4000 so it was bigger than our old building. The terracing was wooden, not concrete. On one side there were plastic bucket seats screwed to the wood and you paid extra to sit there. On the other side, where the team benches were, there were no seats: you sat on the terracing itself. This side was known as ‘The Cheap Seats’ and was where a fairly raucous mixture of away fans (i.e. us) and Newcastle United fans sat. All of the seats went right down to the front. If you sat on the front row you were right next to the ice and also mad, as there was no netting or glass down the sides.

Anyway, we were playing the Warriors and after two periods we were 6-3 up. Then we let in 6 straight in 12 minutes, including 3 powerplay goals in 1 minute (work that one out). Our lads were understandably a bit tetchy by now and although it was 21 December not feeling very festive. So this massive fight broke out involving everyone on the ice. It gravitated over to the boards on the far side with our goalie Ian Woodward in the thick of it. And as I watched (this is the expensive side, don’t forget), a guy in the crowd who had a broken ankle got out of his seat, hopped down the gangway on his good leg and high-sticked Woody with one of his crutches!

Meanwhile, answering the chant from the posh side of ‘send in the Cheap Seats’, which always accompanied any bother at Whitley, a few of the Toon Army had made their way round to the players’ exit and conjured up a pallet or heavy bench of some kind ready to drop on the Panthers who got thrown out as they headed to the dressing room. But our boys defended themselves stoutly with their sticks. All of this took place in an atmosphere of complete pandemonium, made surreal by the fact it was our Christmas fancy dress trip, so in the middle of it all were, amongst others, Andy Pandy and Fozzy Bear.

Sounds bad, I know, but we all had a laugh about it afterwards. Whitley was always one of my favourite trips. Most folks up there were really friendly but it was a hard, hard place to play. This incident realized 155 glorious minutes and 11 players thrown out. For the record ours were Woody, James Hunt, Layton Eratt, John Bremner, Fred Perlini and the legend that was Jimmy Keyes. Oh, and we lost 10-6, but remembered the night in song for years afterwards with our ‘we survived a Whitley free-for-all’ chant. It was 1986, in case you were wondering. Eee, you young ‘uns brought up on stadium hockey just don’t know you’re born.

Jono – feel free to use this piece in a future edition of your mag. If you want any more of my grumpy old man impressions let me know.

[Deleted]

lol...oh my now that's one game i would have loved to have seen !

Thanks for the story Stef



~Sara~

[newham]

yup, my folks were there! They remember it well. Unfortunately i was only a one year old sprog in those days and wouldnt have understood....

[Deleted]

Stef said:

Jono – feel free to use this piece in a future edition of your mag. If you want any more of my grumpy old man impressions let me know.

You can bet I will use it Stef, thanks a million.
I'm sure I'll be tapping you up for more stories as the printing deadline nears!!

Thanks again,

Jono

[newham]

Jono#72 said:

You can bet I will use it Stef, thanks a million.
I'm sure I'll be tapping you up for more stories as the printing deadline nears!!

Thanks again,

Jono

Jono, what kind of thing would you be looking for to put into the whiskers?

[Deleted]

Newham said:

Jono, what kind of thing would you be looking for to put into the whiskers?

Anything that's got a Panthers or hockey based theme. Articles, Cartoons, Humour, anything at all.

[MP]

Stef said:

Eee, you young ‘uns brought up on stadium hockey just don’t know you’re born.

You bet we want more Stef!

I may not be as young as many on here but my diet has been mostly arena hockey. So I'm all ears for tales from years gone by and rinks in far flung places.

Good stuff - more please!

[Paul]

Maybe (in all seriousness) we should have a "nostalgia" section on the forum for such tales as this

[rebjay]

it always was a bit dodgy going up to whitley bay,I remember the night Toni Rhodes( then girlfriend of Nigel) took exception to a certain big import from Whitley who had threatened her beloved during an altercation on the ice, we girls used to sit next to the bench on the front row( no plexi or nets then) and put our handbags on thr boards, when play moved up our end we moved them! anyway Toni chucked her bag at us, climbed over the boards and set about the Whitley player with her programme, Carson was in charge and trying very hard not to laugh had her ejected from the ice, afterwards we were being seriously threatened by their fans, not the friendliest at the best of times,and so the team lead by simon Hunt and Davie Graham with sticks held in front of then escorted us to thr loo then back onto the bus!!can you really imagine that happening now?? Its much safer and more organized than it ever was in those days but somehow a lot of the fun has gone out of away trips in general, its all interesting memories though.

[MP]

Times sure have changed Rebjay! Very genteel now by comparison.

What did Carson give Toni - 10 min Misconduct or a Game penalty....

[Paul]

I remember going up there the year Adey got submarined by one of the Ord brothers & there was a lot of paper talk stirring up bad blood between the teams.

Anyway, it's the last game of the play-offs we needed a draw to go through to the finals having beat Durham the night before.

We're standing in the queue & all of a sudden my brother is clapped on the shoulder & whirls round thinking it's friend of ours who was making the journey up & he's met by a big Geordie who opened the conversation with "cracking result for your lads last night"& we had a chat about our mutual dislike of Durham.

So, Whitley fans weren't all bad but you were well advised to take your car ariel off before you went in.

Now Durham fans...

[andysmith]

Yes Stef we remember it well it was some night, but we had many of those. Durham was always fun even if we very rarely got a result.
Similar layout to Whitley seat’s one side, big steps on the other but boy was it shabby.
The wall at the back of our side of the rink (none seated) was incomplete and draught proofed with black plastic sheet’s full of holes.
The ladies had to take turns holding the toilet door on for each other as none of them where on the hinge’s.
The plastic spoon in the tea bar was attached to the bowl with string, not that you needed to pick up any sugar as there must have been quarter of a pound attached to the spoon.
Pigeon’s flying around in the roof leaving there mark if you where unlucky.
The list could go on!!
Jono if you want some stories just get a few of us old timers together over a pint and you will have enough for years to come.

[MP]

AndySmith said:

Pigeon’s flying around in the roof

A bit like our Olympic rink then....

[Paul]

AndySmith said:

Jono if you want some stories just get a few of us old timers together over a pint and you will have enough for years to come.

Andy,

I've been telling him this for ages. Come on Jono, how about it?

Anyone else remember the mural at Billingham/Cleveland/Teeside?

[Gareth (Gotham Panther)]

That really is top writing Stef. Really paints a vivid picture. Is this the Stef - timekeeper at NIC? If so, you must have a wealth of stories from your experience betwixt the penalty boxes?

[Stormie D]

does anyone have any video footage or photos of these "events". sounds damn good, sounds more like arsenal vs man utd if you ask me. was martin keown one of the players??

[Deleted]

Gareth said:

Is this the Stef - timekeeper at NIC?

Yes it's me, I'm afraid, although I've moved on from timekeeping to announcing these days.

Actually, there aren't that many stories from the bench, especially these days as players are pretty focused on the game even when sitting penalties. However I have found that almost without exception, the harder/tougher/dirtier a player is in a game, the more polite they are as a person. For example:

1) In the old place we on the bench had no netting, glass or anything between us and the ice, so there were sticks, pucks and occasionally players flying all around us. Sometimes we'd get hit, and in all the years I sat there only one player - Panther or visitor - ever came to ask if we were ok. Answer below.

2) We have always made it our practice when we have a player in the box to tell them when they have 1 minute, 30 seconds, 15 seconds and 10 seconds to go, before counting down the last 5. When I did the penalty box as well as the announcing (mainly the away team), only one player ever said thank you for the reminders and final count. Answer below.

Scariest moment was when we were playing London one time and I had Nieckar and Ware in the box (ooer). Ware had about 5 seconds left in his penalty and with no door/glass/netting in front of the bench Barry starts telling him to get on the ice. So I instinctively grabbed Ware's shirt to stop him going on. It was a long three seconds, I can tell you.

Answers: 1) Denis Vial. 2) Scott Allison. Both absolute gentlemen.

[Alf Garnett]

you got me reminiscing now Stef.

Leyton Erratt: Scored THAT gaol at Birmingham NEC against Fife flyersin the old autumn cup final for a 5-4 O/T win.

Jimmy Keyes:seem to remember Durham Wasps trying to wind him up and he replied by thumping 5 goals in in a 6 - 3 win.Ice hockey news review quoted a durham player as 'take out the f-word not a lot' when asked what then coach Tommy(?) Smith thought of his teams performance

[Ian]

Don't get me started on Jimmy Keyes, Andy! An absolute hero!

Not the most gifted player in the world by any means, but no-one has ever worked harder on the ice. Battled like you wouldn't believe for our team. He was tough and niggly - opposition players and fans hated him so he must have been doing something right. But he could score and make goals too. And, as Stef said above, like most players who are tough cookies on the ice, an absolute gentleman when it came to dealing with the fans.

A genuine professional, who was proud and privileged to represent the Nottingham Panthers and repaid us many times over.

[RS72]

Whitley Fred Perlini one of his first games 2 mins for leaving the ice at the wrong place on his way to get his face stitched up. Never walk the corridors and never drink in the rink, the club out the back were always hospitable.

[mouth]

Bloody hell WHitley and Durham were terrible rinks. Even n the 0;s when we used to go for kids games they were bad. How Whitley still stands as a structure I'll never know.

The NHL players who get to play in the annual Winter Classic think they're privileged to play without a roof over their heads. Former Wasps/Warriors used to do it every week.

[scoobydoo]

I got some of the game on video