When your average kid in the street thinks of scooters he will imagine these vile, waspish,
plastic twist-and-go machines that annoy the crap out of every road user. Talk to someone of a certain age and his eyes will mist over with memories of gleaming, chrome-laden classic Italian Vespas and Lambrettas that used to transport hordes of parka -clad mods around the roads of this fair island.
There is a vibrant revival scene which encompasses the scooters, the fashions and the music, alive and kicking today. In fact the scene which started in the 60's was resurrected by virtue of the film "Quadrophenia" and never really went away after that point.
The link between football and scooters came about in the 60's with the advent of terrace mobs. The mods were transforming into the skinheads and retained the music tastes and some of the fashions, the most important accessory being a scooter. The skinhead terrace fashions of Doc Marten boots, hitched up Levis supported by red braces, checked Ben Shermans or 3-button vests/Fred Perrys were what it was all about.
The East End was full of fans sporting these clothes. Apply the 1/16th of an inch crop and some "mutton chop" sideburns and we were the dog's bollocks. Add a liberal sprinkling of away fans and you had the recipe for a complete afternoon's entertainment. 500 a side punch ups were not uncommon as warring tribes competed for the home end. I'm pleased to report we seldom lost the East End. I never forget a particular visit to Swindon where we occupied the Town End and the PA system even treated us to reggae at half time to accompany the aggro.
A visit to the "Never On Sunday" café in town would provide a display of all the above listed fashions, take a look outside and you would see the real deal - rows of gleaming scooters. Lambretta LI's ,TV's and SX's, Vespa GS and SS's. As they were kick started into life the smell of 2 stroke wafted through the air.
Of course the scooters rarely remained as standard. A full range of accessories was available:Fly screens, copious amounts of mirrors, front racks, back racks, crash bars, florida bars, spotlights, air horns, graphics, performance exhausts, whip aerials, and the all important foxtail.
Bristol nightlife was centered around the Locarno and Top Rank. Bands of the time performed and the DJ's pumped out soul/ska/reggae sounds. The dance floors were a mass of bobbing bald heads hopping to the rhythms. Quite often rucks would start and yes, you've guessed it, City vs Rovers was on the bill. This often spilled out into town. Friday nights at the Centre were not for the faint hearted.
Sometimes these warring factions found a common enemy - the greasers. Anyone who rode a motorbike was fair game and visa versa from their perspective. I recall riding my Lambretta home from town and an obnoxious greasy bastard swinging a lump of 4 by 2 at my head as he was sat on the pillion of a BSA. as it roared past me. I remember the worst insult you could chant to away fans was "Greebos"this was guaranteed to provoke a reaction. The great Fred Wedlock's song about skinheads related to City's support of that era and featured the immortal line "The devil is a greebo and he rides a motor bike".
Gradually as fashions changed so did the mode of transport. Gone were the skinhead fashions to be replaced by long hair, flares and platform shoes. Lambrettas were horrendously unreliable so along came cars. Besides you could get a bird into the back seat for a leg over.But back it came with the aforementioned Quadrophenia in '79. New ska/punk music burst onto the scene. Iconic figures like Weller were soon parading around on classic scooters.
The love of scooters helped get our arses out of jail a few years back. We were at a certain dismal northern hole to follow our beloved City. During the game we were growled at by their somewhat Neanderthal element. After the game we proceeded to a pub and we were suddenly outnumbered 4 to 1 by a bunch of knuckle draggers. This was one to make our collective arseholes pucker. The landlord contacted the plod who managed to calm it down somewhat. One of the knuckle draggers noticed that one of our lads was wearing a Vespa hat and greeted him like a long lost friend. We were soon treated to pictures of his Vespa and conversations about past rallies rather than a kick in the bollocks.
The common ground between football and scooters relates to fashion, particularly that of an Italian nature. Vespas and Lambrettas were first produced in Italy. Now take a look at terrace fashion over the years and you will find Italian labels such as Tacchini, Stone Island, CP Company and Armani.
Talk to any young snot about Lambretta and he will tell you that it is a clothing label - WRONG. Scooterists generally refuse to wear their produce as Lambretta is a fucking scooter not a shirt. It's a travesty that the marque was sold to an Indian company in the 70's who then sold it on to the rag trade, nuff said!
The scene today is buzzing with weekenders all over the country. The age range of participants is quite fascinating - anything from 18 to 60 odd. The fashions are still there as is the music. The best part is the mass ride out with literally hundreds of scooters buzzing in convoy and disappearing into a blue haze of burnt 2 stroke.
On these scooter rallies there is plenty of football representation which is kept strangely under wraps. With people coming from all over the country for a common cause it is felt best not to flaunt your allegiances , although once the booze has flowed and people start talking the inevitable question is asked "so what team mate ?" Past differences are put aside for the weekend - hell I was even chatting amicably with a Gashead and one of the Soul Crew on one weekender. Mind you had the circumstances been different it could be another story!
Next July there will be a national rally in Weston Super Mare so keep an eye out for that one. Weston is also home to the Lambretta museum which is well worth a visit.
CIDERHEADED FACTUS MAXIMUS - Bristol City won the Welsh Cup in 1934. CIDERHEADED MAXIMUS FACTUS
