Birmingham pub bombings | Page 3 | Vital Football

Birmingham pub bombings

JuanPabloAngel said:
Merged for you OVB - there were three, but from ages ago.
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Thanks JPA, A good friend of mine and a true Villa man is at the forefront of JTF21. I had a beer with me a few weeks ago and he explained how they got to where they are now and how the authorities tried to shut them down continuously
 
BodyButter said:
It's almost 50 years ago now. He would have been 19 at the time. He's had his whole life.
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Its always the same, young kids plucked up and made to do the bidding.

Curious what sort of remorse, if any, he has. I went to Belfast and did the tours of Shankill Rd. etc. the guys said so many who were involved on both sides committed suicide for the things they did. Horrific brutal stuff as well, the type of crazy stuff I think people would associate with genocide in Africa.

Its crazy, all-out war 3 hours from my front door.
 
I was still living in Brum in 1974 and I remember the whole awful night only too well and the aftermath bad feeling towards the Irish in the city. It was also a bad time for my hard-working Irish parents and all the other decent hard-working Irish people.

It ended up being one of the deciding factors for me to leave the city and start a new life on 1st January 1975 in Bournemouth.

Bless those poor innocent souls.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1462364885686403079


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https://twitter.com/x/status/1462081012599607297
 
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I think it's time to let it go now, I was 16/17, I'd just started work and yes there was very much an anti-Irish feeling about at the time and for many years afterwards to be fair. I remember a lad who was an appro a year younger than me spouting of about being Irish and pro-IRA. Our foreman had to have a serious word with him to basically shut up or he'd have no option but to sack him as he'd wound up so many people to the point his own safety was in jeopardy. The lad lived with that all his working life, I last saw him at Landrover 10 years ago and he was still an absolute unpopular twat and most people didn't even know him of old. Just a nasty bastard with a big chip on his shoulder.

As I said time to move on , no forget but move on
 
All well before my time, but I'm still aware of the horrible history we share. Sad times.

Out of curiosity, was there ever any resentment or hostility towards Irish players that played for Villa in the years after?
 
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
All well before my time, but I'm still aware of the horrible history we share. Sad times.

Out of curiosity, was there ever any resentment or hostility towards Irish players that played for Villa in the years after?
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No, I don't think so, I don't think we see the Irish as any different from the Scots or Welsh. I've never had a problem, normal banter stuff Jocks Paddys and Taffs stuff, Footballers who play for your team are all "ours" nationalities don't count.

I never get this sectarian stuff Rangers and Celtic, most of us don't as we are not taught about it

Believe it or not, I can get on with nearly everyone, I'm almost impossible to pick as to when I'm joking or serious which the odd person can't handle but most realise I'm winding them up, even my Granddaughter who is 5 says is Grandad joking me, Mum.
 
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
All well before my time, but I'm still aware of the horrible history we share. Sad times.

Out of curiosity, was there ever any resentment or hostility towards Irish players that played for Villa in the years after?
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As I said I left Brum 2 months after that night aged just 20 years old to start afresh somewhere else ( I never felt safe in the city anymore) so I didn't get too many home games for a year or two but I don't recall any hostility and on reflection, I don't think we had any Irish players 74-75 season only several Scots.

In 1978 Eamonn Deacy became a member of the first-team squad and I don't recall him getting any abuse but maybe regular attending Villans know more?

I moved to Bournemouth and in the summer of 1975, a military band was playing in the grandstand in Bournemouth gardens which was being enjoyed by hundreds of people sitting around in the sun.

Unfortunately, all I could see was the potential for a bomb to go off and I left quickly so I was obviously still affected by what happened in Birmingham

Anyway, I sincerely hope the families one day get closure from the awful events of that night.
 
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Sort of with 57 here. There's never going to be real justice or closure, even if they went on a Hillsborough run and just got a few random names to blame without any real justice being served either.

I get it probably keeps them going, but possibly better all round now (given total Gov idiotic ignorance) to keep it as a memorial now, rather than anything more. However horrible that sounds.

And FYI for any newbies, I could very well not be here had that bomb gone off earlier and I'm sure the same is true for quite a few of us.
 
i remember it well, and felt so ashamed, i was blessed with a brummie voice and all my mates stayed close to me and also the neighbours on the bromford, and down the holt, it was a harrowing time for everyone and still is today, seanie
 
mike_field said:
Sort of with 57 here. There's never going to be real justice or closure, even if they went on a Hillsborough run and just got a few random names to blame without any real justice being served either.

I get it probably keeps them going, but possibly better all round now (given total Gov idiotic ignorance) to keep it as a memorial now, rather than anything more. However horrible that sounds.

And FYI for any newbies, I could very well not be here had that bomb gone off earlier and I'm sure the same is true for quite a few of us.
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Whoever did it is probably dead by now, or if not has to live with what they did every day of their lives
 
CDX_EIRE said:
Its always the same, young kids plucked up and made to do the bidding.

Curious what sort of remorse, if any, he has. I went to Belfast and did the tours of Shankill Rd. etc. the guys said so many who were involved on both sides committed suicide for the things they did. Horrific brutal stuff as well, the type of crazy stuff I think people would associate with genocide in Africa.

Its crazy, all-out war 3 hours from my front door.
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I didn't know about the suicide thing. I suppose it makes sense. We know that addiction and suicide rates are very high among squaddies and they committed their acts of violence for King and Country.

It's all such a horrible period of time with no winners and everyone losing. As terrible as the actions by the terrorists (on both sides) were, the British Government's actions are an absolute disgrace. I don't think prosecuting the individuals involved makes much sense but some kind of truth and reconciliation to expose what happened would be a positive step.

Fitting up the Birmingham 6 let the bastards who murdered those innocent people walk free.

The Kincora Boy's Home proves how corrupt and vile the state can be. People should be swinging from ropes for that.
 
BodyButter said:
I didn't know about the suicide thing. I suppose it makes sense. We know that addiction and suicide rates are very high among squaddies and they committed their acts of violence for King and Country.

The Kincora Boy's Home proves how corrupt and vile the state can be. People should be swinging from ropes for that.
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Plus you then hear the anecdotes, a woman I worked with from Belfast told me she had a gun pulled on her by her "own people" for dating a protestant lad. So naturally enough she out of the North once she was done with college.

My dads uncle was sent to Artane and while he never spoke about it to any of his family my dad is certain he was abused. He took to the drink, he fell on very hard times and he said that every Christmas he'd spend it alone in my grandparents backroom drinking and crying.

All my grannies siblings were sent away after their mother died because as you know back in them days they would take kids off the husband saying he wasnt fit to raise them. My Grandmother was the only one who stayed in Ireland and my Granddad was the only one in his family to stay in Ireland too. My dad knew a girl sent to the laundries too, never saw her again.

We still have a lot of problems.
 
We really are a ridiculously stupid species aren't we? We are all the same, and yet we look for differences (that shouldn't exist, so are made up) in order to be able to find reasons to hate.

And that is all I have to say on the matter.

:tophat:
 
Stephen Jay Hawkings said:
All well before my time, but I'm still aware of the horrible history we share. Sad times.

Out of curiosity, was there ever any resentment or hostility towards Irish players that played for Villa in the years after?
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I remember the Irish lads at work had it rough for a time, but don't recall anything re footballers in general who were Irish.
I had grown up with Irish families as our neighbours, and some of my mates were Irish and they were as horrified as everyone else.
It was a bad time in Brum and obviously more so for the families involved.
 
BodyButter said:
Fitting up the Birmingham 6 let the bastards who murdered those innocent people walk free.

The Kincora Boy's Home proves how corrupt and vile the state can be. People should be swinging from ropes for that.
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I was watching Omagh recently and it's the same thing, they get away with it. Although in the case of Omagh they knew something big was going to happen, they knew a bomb was crossing the border, but did nothing about it.

I read Joe Cahill's biography years ago, and from what I remember there's some very shady stuff going on in all of this, from both governments and MI5.
 
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