Queen's ParkSupporters FC

THE CHAOS CUP 1991 

The first Chaos Cup took place on 25th May 1991 and we were lucky enough to be invited to the four team tournament. Leyton Orient(ear) were the hosts of the event and they had also invited Peterborough United and Notts County.

But, why was the tournament called the Chaos Cup ? Well, C.H.A.O.S. is a Waltham Forest based children's charity and the acronym stands for Children's Holidays And Other Specialities.

The tournament was being played at Leyton Wingate FC and we travelled down on the overnight Glasgow to London bus arriving in The Capital about 6am.

A tube trip to Leyton followed and we were delighted to discover two things. One was that Raph the Taff’s gaff was only a minute from the tube station and two the London shops allowed you to buy a carry out from 8am !

The squad decided to walk to the ground where we were playing and so we saw the wonderful sight of Tubsy Raeburn and Davie Nisby Nisbet arm in arm with a Scotland flag draped over them and a can of lager in their hand whilst singing Flower of Scotland !

The opening game of the tournament was between Peterborough and Leyton Orient so we got changed and sat on the terracing to watch with our carry out still being drunk.

Our first game against Notts County was hard fought affair and we started with the following eleven:- Gordon Hunter; Iain Campbell, Paul Stormonth, Stephen Fox, Tam Moon, Stephen McGilp, Stephen Stormonth, David Ferguson, David Grant, Alan Raeburn and David Nisbet (c). Sub: Manager Michael Higgins. The same team played all three games with Higgy making a cameo appearance in all the games.

The long journey and the liquid breakfast took its toll and we were a goal behind early on before fighting back to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Nisby and Stormy. Stormy’s goal was a cracker from 35 yards and his celebration was even better as he ran to the touchline and threw up over the advertising hoardings !

After a short break we were on again, this time against Peterborough. Conditions were hot and sticky but we made light of that and played some superb football with Wacky Grant scoring twice to give us a first half lead.

The first half against Posh was one of the best we’ve ever played as we passed the ball from back to front with unbelievable confidence.

Things changed in the second half and it took a brilliant 30 yard lob from Nisby to seal a 3-2 victory.

The last game against the O’s was a stroll and we ran out 7-0 winners with Wacky helping himself to an amazing six goals with Stevie McGilp getting the other.

At night the CHAOS Cup was presented to Nisby at a disco in a rugby club where we let our hair down bar Big Tam who was too tired and emotional to join in the celebrations.

Tam, however, more than made up for it on the Sunday when he drank lager as if it was going out of fashion. Unfortunately this caused him to slide down the full length of an escalator at one of the main tube stations. Apart from a sore bum, he survived to tell the tale over and over again !

On the Monday Wacky, Nisby and Jazza headed for home while the rest of the squad, plus Raph the Taff, went to Craven Cottage to see Fulham take on Wales in a Testimonial Match for Gordon Davies.

The main event though was a sprint contest between Tubsy and Higgy who, after the real players had finished their game, challenged each other to see who could run the length of the pitch and back first.

Tubsy claimed victory and so did Higgy but it's fair to say that the athlete that is Mr Raeburn did win by a chin.

After this game we were heading to Merthyr Tydfil to stay for a week before taking part in the South Wales Sixes (Friendly Frog) the following Saturday.

The plan was for us to get a lift to South Wales with some of the Merthyr guys who were going to Fulham but they never made it but sent a minibus to collect us instead.

Eventually, at closing time in a pub outside Craven Cottage, the bus turned up and we headed for South Wales along with the Chaos Cup.

It was in the early hours of the morning before we reached Merthyr and split up into our various places we were staying.

Tuesday dawned and there was no sign of the Chaos Cup and nobody knew where it was. A phone call to the bus company didn’t help but, it was eventually found and the Merthyr guys brought it up to Glasgow at that year’s Hampden Trophy.

But, we lost it again in Glasgow and, to this day, it’s never been found !

The following year we defended our trophy but had to buy a new Cup and it remains the one and only time, to date, that we’ve ever won the Chaos and we only had two days with the trophy !

The story of the Merthyr week and our first friendly Frog is for another day but the first Chaos Cup was superb and we’ve enjoyed every one we’ve been at ever since.  

(with the help of a report in The Web Number 65)

More photos in the Photo Gallery