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Before the game, Chelsea supporters were issued a warning by the UK government that they were not allowed to bring drinks, poles, flares, weapons and CELERY in to Sparta Prague’s stadium.
But celery has been thrown at Stamford Bridge (and plenty of other venues where Chelsea end up playing) for many years, accompanied with a saucy chant.
In 2007 Chelsea banned it from their ground after the Football Association launched an investigation following several instances of celery being thrown on the pitch. And the UK government had no choice but to follow when issuing instructions to Chelsea’s travelling support.
No one quite knows how the celery throwing started, but most people suspect just one man: legendary Chelsea supporter Micky Greenaway.
“I have found more vocal support away from home because there is not the atmosphere at the Bridge for shouting for the Blues. If everyone capable of cheering would shout powerfully at every home game (especially early on in the game), then Chelsea will know they have supporters on the terraces and Chelsea would be inspired by such support” Greenway writing in the match programme for Chelsea’s match with Workington, December 1964.
Micky Greenaway was born in the shed. Not literally. That would make him Jesus. But ‘The Shed’: Chelsea’s south stand and home to its hardcore supporters.
Greenaway was a larger than life character, often dressed in pinstripes and spotted carrying a briefcase even though he was not a businessman.
He had been born just a few streets from Stamford Bridge in 1945, brought up by a Chelsea loving step-father, and made a mascot of the club when just nine years old. By the time he was a man, he a devoted fan, and all through the 60s, 70s and 80s he would lead the Chelsea fans in song. When the fans were quiet, he would sing even louder to implore them to join in.
To make them sing even louder, and jealous of the noise generated by fans at Anfield, he helped recreate the famous atmosphere of Kop at Stamford Bridge, by encouraging supporters to join together in the Fulham Road Stand, which he christened the Tram Shed, and now famously known as just ‘The Shed’.
Greenaway started many of the songs Chelsea sing today, including the ‘Zigger Zagger’, derived from the ‘oggie, oggie, oggie’ chant. In his booming voice he would bark out the call and the crowd would reply:
“Zigger zagger, zigger zagger, (oi, oi, oi,)
Zigger zagger, zigger zagger, (oi, oi, oi,)
Zigger, (oi,)
Zagger, (oi,)
Zigger zagger, zigger zagger, (oi, oi, oi!)”
Greenaway also started the supporters singing ‘One Man Went To Mow’. At first it was a joke, a tape he’d brought to soundtrack a pre-season tour of Sweden in 1981. For a laugh, the fans on tour started singing along whenever the tape was played. When they returned home, they sang it again for Chelsea’s pre-season game against Exeter to remind them of the Swedish tour. From there it was picked up by other fans and by the end of the season it was heard at home games. When Chelsea won the Champions League in 2012, 60,000 fans sang along to what was now the club’s unofficial anthem.
Sadly, Micky Greenaway died in 1999. The 90s were not kind to him. He was named in the News Of The World as a leader of a Chelsea firm and involved in organising riots, though many say he was not, yet the club banned him Stamford Bridge, he lost his job, and he never worked again.
For a man who once wrote to the club programme to implore fans not to swear during games, it was a devastating blow.
“I wish to reply on behalf of the ‘Shed’ regarding all the things that have been said in the press recently about Chelsea supporters. First, let me say that I personally have made persistent attempts to curb the bad language that has been used at various matches, and there is now a crowd of us who will stamp this out with our own methods. There will be no need to persist with the use of Special Branch detectives in plain clothes mingling with the crowd” Greenaway writing in the club programme in October 1966.
Greenaway never saw the club he loved transformed by Russian billions. He never saw them lift the Premiership trophy or find success in the Champions League. Perhaps he wouldn’t have recognized the club Chelsea has become. A club that once was feared but now bans celery. He died penniless and alone in a bedsit in Catford. He is buried today in a pauper’s grave, forgotten by most but remember by all in hearts and song.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5rhE5MxPxUU
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About the Author
After too many years as season ticket holder at Parkhead, Andy Todd renounced the SPL three years ago to support Queens Park. One team is a rank bunch of amateurs who play in a state of the art stadium and the other is…(I think we can all see where this is going).
Andy has been performing comedy for 18 months but is currently ‘between gigs’ while he writes a book on Scottish property law to be published in Summer 2012. Its potential audience will be less than 300 but his mum will be very proud.
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Check out Andy’s website: www.toddandy.com
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great article about mickey greenaway. me and some mates came up to Scotland for Chelsea’s 1980 pre-season tour. we played hearts, raith rovers and Dundee united. we based ourselves in Edinburgh. when we arrived in Edinburgh at the main station (forget the name) we bumped into greenaway who came with us and booked into a guest house. for the rest of the week when Chelsea weren’t playing he dragged us round all sorts of grounds just to say he’d been there. we went to Dunfermline, cowdenbeath (think they played Cardiff) and hampden, ibrox and many others. he was great company and a real legend. I don’t think clubs really appreciate how some fans are as much heroes as some players.