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Posts from the ‘Addicks’ Category

May 9

9 Comments

Red Army

Truly remarkable ticket sales for the two Doncaster games home and away.

The depth of feeling and support from Addicks has been breathtaking this week. In fact it has been far longer than that, but the crescendo this week has been something special.

Good communication from the club and a well organized sale of tickets will more likely see 3,800 Addicks at the Keepmoat on Sunday lunchtime and an almost sell-out at The Valley for the 2nd leg. Hopefully every fan who wanted a ticket will get one.

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May 6

6 Comments

Just can’t get enough

Last summer when Steve Gallen and Lee Bowyer signed Lyle Taylor they signed more than a footballer.

Taylor had a good goal scoring record in League One and below, but what we got was a man who touched Addicks deeper than what he did with a red shirt on. Now, every football fan loves a player that genuinely takes pride in wearing the shirt and chases every lost cause, but once in a while a player shows up, and you get something more than just what you see on a football pitch.

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Apr 28

4 Comments

Fakeover update

There was a Fans Forum meeting last week. Lievan de Turck (LdT) was again in SE7 full of apologies and shrugs.

This time though Ben Hayes from Bromley Addicks led a much stronger range of questioning of Duchatelet’s puppet and there was some interesting ripostes. CL notes from here and CAFC here.

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Mar 21

2 Comments

Valley pride

Great to see Addick Chris Thompson, aka Doctor Kish honoured by the club as their most recent #PrideOfTheValley fan inductee. Chris received a signed shirt from Keith Peacock on the pitch at the Burton game to recognize is undying support since he first went to The Valley with his Dad in 1952.

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Mar 1

2 Comments

Another wow moment

As sure as night follows day, you prod the old yellow-teethed loon and sure enough he reacts. On Tuesday after his property was daubed with graffiti he called into TalkSport and after getting put back in his box by Simon Jordan, he yesterday reverted back to his favourite tool of one-way communication and wrote another mind-boggling statement himself on the club’s website.

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Feb 23

2 Comments

AFC Wimbledon 1 Charlton Athletic 2

Huge, huge win.

Scenes in my kitchen when after a goalmouth scramble Igor Vetokele got the last touch to force the ball over the line to give us our first win for a month. A massive 3 points especially with Peterborough and Blackpool losing and Donny drawing.

However it was a turgid 1st half performance from the Addicks, and the Dons were worthy leaders at half-time, although Lyle Taylor missed what seemed an open goal on his old patch.

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Dec 31

14 Comments

Happy New Year

It’s late morning here in Orlando and ahead of a big night, which is all relative these days, I find myself yawning like a lion. Life would not be the same unless I wasn’t tired, although one horrible habit I’ve picked up as I’ve reached half a century is that of waking up in the middle of night, and not always to pee. Then the old noggin bursts into life and that’s that.

We celebrated our 10th year in Bermuda this past summer, which scares me more than anything, but there are still plenty of things to keep us here. Some more appreciated than others. Possibly the realization of how idyllic and halcyon this island is only hits home when I’m sat watching the world news which follows on from our own unremarkable village-type chronicles and see what kind of crazy shit happens elsewhere in the world.

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Dec 25

1 Comment

Cold meats and pickles

Merry Christmas to you all.

I trust you are getting stuck into some smoked salmon and scrambled eggs and climbing over wrapping paper and not reading this first thing on Christmas morning.

I’m spending Christmas at home this year, just the three of us, although I think Santa may have possibly delivered next door and the door after’s presents down our chimney as well. We could be unwrapping for a while.

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Dec 14

Walking wounded

Last Christmas I gave you my heart
The very next day you gave it away
This year to save me from tears I gave it to Lyle Taylor

Big day for Lyle Taylor tomorrow against his former side for whom played 133 games, and a club he still has strong opinions about. Taylor left Fratton Park on Tuesday night in a protective boot after taking a kick on the foot, but according to the manager nothing will stop Taylor playing on Saturday.

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Nov 28

1 Comment

Burton Albion 1 Charlton Athletic 2

Daylight Robbery last night as we stole all three points from Burton, who dominated the game in almost every way. I listened in on the radio to segments and we couldn’t seem to get any kind of hold on the game.

We were under the cosh from the off and eventually conceded to a penalty but soon equalized as Grant scored his 10th league of the season. That’s 9 penalties we’ve had so far and we are still in November.

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Nov 20

2 Comments

Charlton Athletic 5 Mansfield Town 0

We showed once again tonight that this Charlton team has goals in it as we crashed five past Mansfield Town to progress to the next round of the FA Cup where we will travel to Doncaster Rovers.

We began with a strong looking line-up which included Billy Clarke and Patrick Bauer. Both were replaced late in the game, after we were 2-0 ahead. One surprise in the starting line up was the inclusion of Lyle Taylor, who had only just flown back from Montserrat. Sarr partnered Bauer, and Toby Stevenson got a whole game in his preferred wing back role. Phillips was in goal.

Fosu, Lapslie, Pratley and Clarke were the diamond shaped midfield and Ajose, desperate for a goal and possibly in Bowyer’s last chance saloon, played up top with Taylor.

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Nov 11

3 Comments

Mansfield Town 1 Charlton Athletic 1

I’m a bit old fashioned and would like us to take the FA Cup seriously and progress a bit, at least until the 3rd Round. In saying that I fully get why Bowyer made so many changes today, many of which were enforced on him.

There were 9 changes from the game at Walsall, and only 5 sat on the bench. Checkatrade hero Toby Stevenson and Taylor Maloney both began in a midfield five. Dillon Phillips got a chance in goal, but the biggest opportunity of all was for Nicky Ajose. Albie Morgan was on the bench that also saw the return of Billy Clarke after 11 months out.

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Nov 6

2 Comments

Walsall 0 Charlton Athletic 2

Nice one. Another straightforward result. This time on the road at Walsall. A clean sheet always gives you a chance and once more the defence, changed from Saturday, was strong and robust, fielding any flurries of Walsall activity.

We started well and grabbed an early goal from the spot. It’s very noticeable that we are winning more penalties than we have for many a year. 5 minutes in. The penalty was won by Fosu and Taylor dispatched. That’s 8 penalties this season. Lyle has scored four, but has missed two. Fosu and young Stevenson have put one away each.

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Sep 29

3 Comments

Luton Town 2 Charlton Athletic 2

That must have been an enjoyable walk through the allotments on the way out!? Absolutely fantastic to see us come back like that in injury time. In a crazy four minutes we hit the bar twice, had one of the line, and could have won a penalty. All before Chris Solly crashed a volley low into the net through a crowd of players.

It must have been brilliant to have been in that away end as the players celebrated wildly next to them, in front of the Luton fans (photo), giving it large after they failed to give us the ball back for the preceeding corner. Ah, football eh?

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Sep 18

2 Comments

Heather Alwen

If you have not caught any of Heather McKinley’s football stories and articles before then you are missing out. The Glasgow based Addick writes mostly for the Scottish football magazine Nutmeg, but somehow finds the time in between running her own strategic marketing business to write some excellent other stuff such as her chance meeting with Roger Alwen’s wife, also called Heather, for football journal The Blizzard.

The article about Heather Alwen’s role in their families ownership of Charlton and the struggle to get back to The Valley is superbly written and stirs some strong memories for me and my own family who lived game by game not knowing if we had a club to support the next week.

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Jul 18

2 Comments

Division

Ah, the new football season. League One football returning to The Valley. Who’s excited?

The curtain of the World Cup has been drawn and after watching Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, we have to settle for Nicky Ajose and Naby Sarr. Oh and playing the role of Vladimir Putin is Roland Duchatelet, still owner, all round loon, and cost cutter extraordinaire.

CARD issued a statement yesterday calling for a boycott of The Valley, with renewed protests to follow if the club is still in the hands of Duchatelet by the season kick off at Sunderland on August 4th.

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May 19

2 Comments

Counting the days

Quite ironic isn’t it that we still have the crackpot nutty professor in charge yet new owners wait on passing the EFL’s ‘Fit and Proper Persons’ test. Andrew Muir’s Australian group plan to complete the takeover of the club within the next couple of weeks, all depending on how long the EFL take to do whatever it is they do.

Undercover work by one Addick has unearthed a newly established UK company called Echidna Acquisitions registered by expected CEO Gerard Murphy on April 30th with Australian Football Consortium as shareholder. Two plus two would tell us that this is the vehicle the Aussies will use to acquire the club.

Charlton fan James Dutton, who is Jimmy Seed’s grandson has added some more, seemingly positive vibes, on his Blog here.

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May 15

3 Comments

Lee Bowyer statement

“The last two months have been some of the most enjoyable of my career in football and I’d like to thank everyone associated with Charlton Athletic for that.” (more)

Some may dissect Bowyer’s words for what lies underneath, but for me he never sat in front of the press or us and sounded contrived or pre-meditated, he just came across as calm and considerate and increasingly like a man who was enjoying what he was doing. I’ve made my vote, and would love him to carry on under new owners for no other reason that he will add continuity, knows the club and vitally has earned much goodwill amongst the fan base for doing something that no one has accomplished since Chris Powell was kicked out by Duchatelet, and that is bringing pride and togetherness back across the team and supporters.

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May 13

9 Comments

Shrewsbury Town 1 Charlton Athletic 0

We just weren’t good enough were we?..

Charlton ended the season how they started it back in August. Short on options, quality and goals. Lee Bowyer and Johnnie Jackson brought back togetherness, spirit and pride, but they had no way to address the continuous issues that Roland Duchatelet has besieged every single manager or head coach that has taken the team since the old bastard walked into our lives.

Shrewsbury over-powered us, roughed us up and played to a style that they have perfected under one manager for almost two seasons. We can bemoan that their goalscorer should have been sent off, and we were refused a blatant penalty, but the best team won over two games.

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May 11

6 Comments

It’s the hope that kills you

Struggled today after last night’s disappointment. Hopefully the players are thinking more positively but Sunday is going to need a top Charlton performance, one not just of steely determination and passion, but from somewhere we have to get goals. Pearce’s backside and an Amos big goal kick have provided our only goals in the last 4 games.

On the flip side, it was only a perfect strike from Nolan that broke our defensive stronghold, and Amos again looked confident in goal. We all know what it takes, and I am sure 1,500 noisy Addicks will provide tremendous backing on Sunday afternoon in Shropshire.

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May 9

3 Comments

I woke up this morning feeling fine

How we feeling Addicks?

Yes, me too, and I haven’t got the stress of trying to buy tickets. Got to wonder why the club decided to use Ticketmaster for the home leg, but I long gave up trying to fathom what happens behind the scenes at The Valley and I feel for those working in the ticket office.

Tickets for tomorrow’s home game appeared to be selling well with vast areas of the Covered End sold out. Shrewsbury tickets went on sale today to season ticket holders. My brother and a couple of mates (all lapsed season ticket holders) wait with baited breath.

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Apr 27

2 Comments

Rocking

A week of expectation and unusual optimism from Addicks after last Saturday’s memorable win at Fratton Park, played in front of an away atmosphere unrivalled for many a decade.

I will repeat what most Addicks’ have been asking themselves all week. How many times has the team shown up for a game that really mattered in front of a big following of Addicks? I’ve been going for over 4 decades and there ain’t many.

We are quick to knock our support, in terms of numbers especially, but when it comes down to it we can turn up, and we can also turn up the noise. Fratton Park is a great traditional stadium and Saturday in that covered away end looked and sounded simply magical.

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Apr 21

9 Comments

Portsmouth 0 Charlton Athletic 1

What a difference a week makes..

How an earth is that the same team that we saw last Saturday? Bowyer may well have learnt more from two defeats than three consecutive wins, and he deserves massive credit for turning it around.

That was an outstanding result today by a team that carried out his instructions exactly. I watched the 2nd half on iFollow and there wasn’t one moment when a Pompey player wasn’t surrounded by one or two Charlton ones. They chased and harried every single ball, and when in possession we were clever and precise with it.

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Apr 13

5 Comments

The time has come

For the first time this season I will be at The Valley tomorrow to cheer on Lee Bowyer’s boys. My first Charlton game of the season. I’m shocked by that sentence.

Anyway I felt it was time to get behind the Addicks as we go in search of a play-off place and what was an ever increase improbable promotion when Karl Robinson was in the managerial seat. We’d won one game of the previous 8 under Robinson and I shake my head at how we are still in with a shout.

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Apr 11

2 Comments

Season tickets. Why would you?

Who knows what marketing brains trust at CAFC decided last week to announce that if the potential takeover doesn’t happen by tomorrow then the club will put the 2018/19 season tickets on sale. Meantime they will put their feet on their desk and wait and watch it being finalized. The Charlton takeover soap opera longer than Emmerdale Farm.

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Feb 18

4 Comments

18

18 years ago today a little shell-shocked and definitely unprepared for what a life-changing experience it was to become, I held the tiniest little bundle in my arms in the maternity ward at Pembury Hospital in Maidstone. A fluff of blonde hair, face all scrunched up and 7lb 4oz of a newborn baby.

My son hasn’t had the most uncomplicated childhood, circumstances have not always been the easiest but incredibly he has grown to be an amazing unassuming, caring and balanced young man. He’s funny too, which he gets from me!

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Feb 18

1 Comment

Golden

The skeleton. Who an earth invented that? Superb from Lizzy Yarnold, who is from a family of Addicks, to claim back to back Olympic gold medals in the skeleton, basically lying on a metal tray with your nose an inch from a frozen downhill ravine travelling at 80 mph. How a girl from Sevenoaks picks that as a career I will never know.

Yarnold is brilliant in front of the camera. Inspirational, self-deprecating and funny, and the country smiled with her yesterday as she smashed the course record at the sliding centre at Pyeongchang to grab gold as teammate Laura Deas won bronze in what was the most successful day ever for GB at a Winter Olympics.

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Feb 14

3 Comments

Olympic marvel

I’m enjoying the Winter Olympics and the shear youth and exhilaration of it all. Although I view summer Olympians with massive admiration and reverence, I truly marvel at these young men and women hurtling down mountain sides and iced tunnels at break neck speed.

Pyeongchang, which looks a pretty awe-inspiring location for the Games, is 13 hours ahead of Bermuda but between NBC and the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) we are keeping up with events even if I’m never sure whether we are watching them in real time or on repeat.

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Jan 8

5 Comments

RIP Craig Norris

Every football fan has an opinion, think they have good ideas, reckon they can do better, but very few put themselves forward and make a difference. Craig Norris did.

Craig was a normal bloke, family man, bright, good job, a huge Charlton fan but he was more than a fan. He made a difference.

Valley Party candidate, chair of Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Club, very heavily involved in the almost dream like at the time concept of Target 10,000, and eventually elected as the VIP fan member of the Charlton board from 1995-97. Craig made a difference.

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Dec 9

2 Comments

Charlton Athletic 0 Portsmouth 1

Typical..

I somehow wonder how we ever won at Wembley and that game 25 years ago you know. You can always rely on them to let you down.

Nonetheless Killer, Super Clive, Jimmy Melrose, Bobby Bolder, Paddy Powell, Colin Walsh etc etc is what 25 years ago is about to us fans. I don’t suspect the average 20-something modern day footballer worries about Valley Party’s and bonfires on the centre circle, but what they should be worried about is today’s league table and how it looks next May. That’s how they will be judged, but by all accounts the class of 2017 never turned up!

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Dec 7

1 Comment

Going back to The Valley

I have noticed from my Blog stats that a few of you kind readers have unearthed this post that I first wrote in 2012. The notion of the piece predates the Back to The Valley game in 1992, but tells of what The Valley meant to me as a child….

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Dec 6

2 Comments

Fan power

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Nov 30

1 Comment

Rosette’s are red

CARD plan to honour Addicks’ fans at the 25th Back to The Valley anniversary game by distributing thousands of red-and-white rosettes to fans outside the stadium. The rosettes are to celebrate the part played by fans in the re-opening of the The Valley in 1992, and particularly the role of the Valley Party, whose 60 candidates amassed almost 15,000 votes in the 1990 local elections, changing Greenwich Council policy in the process.

With the risk of the true meaning of the game being lost by the club, I am happy to see the return of CARD for the first time this season. Katrien Meire is on record as not caring about the club’s history and has regularly failed to mention the massive role that fans had in bringing the club back to it’s spiritual home.

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Nov 28

2 Comments

Back to The Valley shirt

The original Back to The Valley shirt was beautifully simple, but also underlined how little money the club had in those days to throw around as every penny went on getting our spiritual home ready for the homecoming that memorable day almost 25 years ago.

The club with Hummel, who have been a great partner so far, have combined along with supporters to produce a one-off anniversary kit for the Portsmouth 25-year Back to The Valley game, and they’ve done a good job.

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Nov 24

2 Comments

Robinson has brought the team back but not our club

Happy anniversary to Karl Robinson. After the disappointing draw at home to MK Dons he talked about how far we have come as a team since last time we played Franchise in April. I would rather look at how far we have come in the past year.

In fact just over a year ago I was at, what turned out to be Russell Slade’s last game, Swindon. It was truly demoralizing, and the road down and down under Duchatelet appeared to have no turning points or crossroads. The incompetence of Meire and the vindictiveness of Duchatelet apparently knew no bounds.

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Apr 26

9 Comments

Never give up the fight – Just sell the club

A superbly put together video by The Guardian that will make your Charlton heart beat a little harder. Better public relations than Tom Rubashow can only dream off. It encapsulates simply not just how much Charlton have been ruined by an incompetent owner but many other football clubs as well.

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Apr 5

1 Comment

Charlton Athletic 0 MK Dons 2

Running out of things to write to be honest. Whilst the tribute to fellow Addick PC Keith Palmer made one feel proud to be a Charlton fan the tripe dished up afterwards by Robinson and his players was nothing short of embarrassing.

Despite all the words, heartfelt undoubtably, from Robinson’s mouth before the game, once again despite the significance of the evening he was singularly unable to get the players up for what was a huge 3 points. Fortunately Port Vale are making hard work of their games in hand and Millwall did us a favour at Shrewsbury.

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Mar 29

4 Comments

A tribute worthy of a hero

There has been very little to praise the club over the past three years but the tribute they announced today to PC Keith Palmer deserves applauding.

The club will donate 50 per cent of all of next Tuesday’s ticket sales to the fund for PC Palmer’s family, while Charlton players will donate the entirety of their appearance fees. There will also be a one-minute silence before the game, whilst the Charlton players will wear black armbands, as well as a special shirt which will be emblazoned with hero Keith’s Police warrant number, ‘P204752’, in tribute.
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Mar 7

CARD statement following Belgium and Northampton

The Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) wants to thank the hundreds of Charlton supporters who made the 500-mile round trip to Sint-Truiden to join Saturday’s Unity Protest march through the town, as well as the many other fans who spontaneously demonstrated their own feelings about the owner and his regime during the team’s 2-1 defeat at Northampton Town

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Mar 6

Historic weekend

On my way back to Bermuda now and having time to reflect on a historic weekend in Charlton’s history.

Roland Duchatelet would not have liked the fact that 300 ordinary men, women and children, not louts and irate ex-employees demonstrated against him alongside STVV fans on Saturday in the sleepy town of Sint Truiden, where the 70-year old has always felt he had some kind of power over the people of the town and it’s football club.

Stories and tales from those that made the trip out to Belgium are both heartwarming and of legend and memories made will last a lifetime, especially once we rid ourselves of Duchatelet and Pinocchio. There has been much media coverage both at home and in Belgium and the whole thing was beautifully organized, and perfectly executed and makes me proud to be an Addick. And the lazy and misguided PR men at the club should be embarrased.

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Mar 2

4 Comments

Sint-Truiden or Northampton?

I am back in the UK down at my parents in East Sussex arriving early yesterday morning to a grey but promising South Downs day (photo). My trip back was to see family and join hundreds of other Addicks in Belgium this coming weekend, as it turns out it is now one of convalescing after recent surgery which came about very suddenly.

Belgium is still on my and my brother’s mind but we will make a late decision and as an alternative may go to Northampton instead. If my surgeon is reading this then I am at home in Bermuda, sat on the couch reading a book.

I expect the numbers going to Sint-Truiden to swell this week beyond the already committed 250. We were always going to go under our own steam and I expect many others will join up in the Grote Markt on Saturday unannounced.

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Mar 1

Unity Protest. March 4th

For more information email charlton.card@yahoo.co.uk

Feb 10

1 Comment

Make or break,

If last week was a must win game, then tomorrow is, er, another must win game. The Addicks travel to our newest south London rivals AFC Wimbledon on the back of six unbeaten and with Josh Magennis returning.

Wimbledon are not in the best of form, although they have only lost at home in the league once since September and they like Fleetwood are a big outfit and like to knock it long, so we wait to see if Robinson has learned how to defend and counter attack that style of play. It’ll be great to see us take the game to our south London friends and not be on the back foot

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Dec 21

4 Comments

Millwall 3 Same old Charlton Athletic 1

Instead of taxing my mind and creating a new blog post to attempt to explain another capitulation by a Charlton team against our most local of rivals. I decided instead to copy and paste this report from a game we played at the Den on March 13th, 2010. Same old Charlton….
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Dec 15

1 Comment

Legends 

Many of you will know of Kyle Andrews. He is the man behind the compelling words at Chris Powell’s Flat Cap. Kyle from his home in Bukinghamshire, travels up and down country, normally with his Dad, watching Charlton through thin and er, more thin and rarely misses a game.

If watching Charlton wasn’t enough, Kyle on a daily basis is at war with his own personal demons, both mentally and physically and I ask you to read this very emotional and heartfelt blog post he wrote a little while back.
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Dec 10

2 Comments

Bradford City 0 Charlton Athletic 0

A second goalless draw for Karl Robinson today but it was a point that a battling performance deserved and was well received by travelling Addicks’ at the final whistle.

We created a number of chances in the first half but Bradford, unbeaten at home, finished strongly and it took every inch of effort to keep a clean sheet, especially after Patrick Bauer got sent off for a 2nd yellow. Dillon Phillips in particular coming in for high praise.
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Dec 9

6 Comments

Getting to Know The Network

I’m a bit late with this but it is most definitely worth a plug and over 10,000 people have already listened to them I believe but as the pro-Duchatelet brigade get louder and the splits amongst the fan base get a little wider I implore all Charlton fans to listen to the recently released Getting to Know The Network. Whatever your view of how Duchatelet and Meire are running the club these two initial podcasts of an eventual set of four are required listening.
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Nov 14

3 Comments

Taxi for Roland

Yesterday a London cab driven, I am proud to say, by one of my best and oldest mates left The Valley for a road trip to take the ongoing CARD led protests to Belgium, the home of our absent and apathetic owner, and his lying and worse than useless CEO.

12 Addicks with the CARD sponsored taxi leading the way took the Eurotunnel to Belgium and drove last night to St Truiden. My mate reported a “proper good and funny night with a few beers” was had before after breakfast they made their way to the town’s main square to spread Addicks’ message for Roland Duchâtelet to sell our famous football club. 2,000 leaflets were handed out and with black and white beach balls rolling around the square, the group made quite the entrance and received a warm welcome with overwhelming support from locals.

The entourage then moved onto Stayen, St Truiden’s ground, where a whole load of birthday gifts for Roland to celebrate his 70th year were delivered including those gorgeous pink pigs. Apparently security were waiting and Roland has already told the local media that “he is very upset.”
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Oct 31

28 Comments

Nothing

From the age of 8 to my mid 30’s I scarcely missed a Charlton home game and went to hundreds of aways. Other than maybe a late consolation in a stuffing, and there were a fair few of those, the feeling of a Charlton goal would without fail every time drive me to the edge of frenzy.

My brother had a phrase for it. Bro, he would say, when we scored I just didn’t know what to do. I could not celebrate enough. It’s a beautiful thing and something all true fans of football clubs can relate to. My euphoria of a Charlton goal felt no different to me as an 8-year old as it did to me as 35-year old.
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Oct 28

3 Comments

Free speech day

Irony may not be one of Katrien Meire’s rare qualities, although blocking Addicks’ fans calling into a chat show was good old English League One irony at it’s best.

The club deny it of course, but the evidence points to Meire or her PR ‘machine’ obscuring the fans’ right to reply on Jim White’s talkSPORT’s show on Thursday. Rick Everitt did get a right to reply today and a stand up job he did again, with Jim White seeing through the veil of Meire spin and deceit and apparently offering every support to Rick and CARD in an effort to continue to question Meire and more importantly Duchatalet’s motives towards our historic football club.
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Oct 7

Marching on together 

I’m stuck in Texas unable to get to Miami due to Hurricane Matthew, so I’m catching up with the Charlton news and I see that with 9 days to go until the Coventry protest match, Ms Meire has offered to meet CARD next week in an obvious PR effort to stem fan’s disposition to join the likely huge protests. Before CARD could respond Meire with the help of PR firm Pitch leaked the club’s offer to the media.

And CARD’s response was superb. A firm, detailed and exceptionally passionate response that can be read here.

“You had two years to talk and you declined to do so. Now it is time for you to go” is pretty unrelenting way to sign off. Nothing from Meire of course.

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Sep 28

CARD to resume protests

The Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet (CARD) announced today after last night’s most recent on the field disappointment that they will resume their organized protests at the home game versus Coventry on October 15th.

Whilst away from The Valley anti Duchâtelet and Meire songs, chants and flags have filled away ends, the sparse home crowds have been devoid of the pre, during and post match protests we saw last season, although there was a black and white day to coincide with the visit of AFC Wimbledon.

At the beginning of the season CARD said that they would not organize any protests during the opening month of Russell Slade’s reign as manager, and in that time The Valley faithful have seen just one league win from 5 games and a League Cup defeat.

Many Addicks, myself included, have been calling out for a resumption of the protests, especially since Duchâtelet and the so called senior management team appear to have learnt nothing from their previous mistakes.
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Sep 16

Apathetic

A little apathetic at the moment, not helped unusually by it being the middle of September and I haven’t see us play yet. I have a trip booked home for the middle of November and that, the televised game at Swindon, will probably be my first game. I am not alone, but of course Charlton Athletic still runs through my veins, they just don’t feel my head like they used to, hence why this Blog has been a little bare recently as I’m void of thoughts and opinions.

Anyway, a lot of you are still going, which I respect, so I am interested to how we are playing. It certainly appears that Slade has brought some fighting team spirit back, late goals against Bolton and Fleetwood attest to that, and that is a dramatic positive over last season when if we conceded, which was always just a matter of time, then that was it.
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Sep 7

2 Comments

Jimmy Seed Stand

I was pleased to see today that a particular bug bear of mine is going to be righted and that is the replacement of the Jimmy Seed Stand sign. Credit to the club for listening and for the Museum for championing the idea and Target 20k for bringing it to the attention of the ‘Senior Management Team.’ It always bemused me that Roland was spending money on panting steps and changing the horizontal of the nets, yet ignored the disarray of the worn out sign with one of our most famous ever club figures’ name on it.
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Jul 30

2 Comments

The worst relegation

The season just gone was abysmal and depressing, no two ways about it. Yet I only made it back home to a handful of games, the last one in March against MK Dons after when in my mind, our cast was dyed and I vowed not to give Duchatelet anymore of my money.

However back in 1980 I was a 13-year old Charlton nut who refused to miss a game, did a fair few aways, and over a space of an hour and a half my beloved team could make or break my school week. But my, the 1979/80 season was proper abysmal and if I knew the meaning of the word depressing back then, then it was most definitely that as well.

That season was the first I’d ever seen us get relegated as I started going after we won promotion from the 3rd Division in 1975 when after some gentle persuasion my Dad decided to return to The Valley after a break brought on by marriage, small children, and lost interest.
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Jun 6

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Slade appointed as ‘manager’

As expected the club announced Russell Slade today as not the club’s new head coach, but it’s manager. The first time an individual has carried that title under Roland Duchatelet not just at Charlton, but at any of his clubs. He has signed a 3-year contract.

No one was witness to see if Meire’s nose grew bigger but she said: “Russell has vast experience in the division and is a two-time League One Manager of The Year. He joins us as Manager on a long-term contract and his appointment represents the start of an exciting new era at the club under his guidance.”

This certainly spells a change of direction from the owner, and also from Meire who from only weeks ago was telling customers not to raise their expectations has now charged her new employee with a target of promotion.

“We don’t underestimate the challenge of getting Charlton back into the Championship.We believe Russell is the man to help us achieve this and, with the help of everyone involved in the club, ensure that Charlton have a successful 2016/17 campaign.”
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May 30

7 Comments

League One set for next season

What an absolutely heart warming story AFC Wimbledon’s rise from the ashes is. The real Dons will be a honour to join in League One next season.

With Millwall’s defeat on Sunday to Barnsley the make up of next season’s League One is now complete and with the Dons and Lions with us, it does give the league a much more geographical north/south spread. The furthest the Addicks will travel is to Fleetwood, one of two teams we have never played before. AFC Wimbledon being the other.
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May 7

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Charlton Athletic 0 Burnley 3

A 3-0 defeat. Probably could have got evens on that before the game. Congratulations to the Clarets on their title.

Anyway enough about the game. What an awesome day for Charlton fans as chaos reigned at The Valley. Despite sniffer dogs, over zealous searches, 100’s of additional security, aggressive stewarding, a net behind the length of the Covered End and more police, with some bazaar crowd control tactics, than SE7 has seen for many a long year, it was a landmark day for Addicks as we thrust our plight into the forefront of the national media and the conscious of fellow football fans everywhere.
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May 3

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One last stand

Congratulations to Burnley. Proper little club (pop: 87,000), owned by local businessmen with a grounded but forward thinking vision. A club that didn’t flaunt FFP to win promotion last time, and did not risk it all once in the big time, but made friends by playing the right way. Very much like us after relegation in 1999, they held onto players, added astutely and boldly in the case of Andre Gray, but most importantly the owners backed their very bright and visionary young manager.

Part of me was hoping that Burnley would still need to win at The Valley on Saturday. I love the drama. But I’m glad we can park that side story and the Clarets will deservedly be promoted whatever happens. In fact as in now tradition they will wipe the floor with us and win the title. 
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May 2

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1,025 votes for Cousins enough

There had been a fair bit of ill feeling towards hosting a Player of the Year award this season, for obvious reasons, but it is important to remember that this is a fan-organized event outside of the club’s grubby hands. In fact Katrien Meire attempted to have the evening taken in house but that was rebuffed by the joint organizers Jean Heulin and Ian Wallis, who work tirelessly to put the event on.

This has always been a fan’s ‘do’ and began in 1971 and has continued through other relegation’s and the period away from The Valley.
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Apr 24

25 Comments

Solly being forced out

News breaking this morning by someone close to the situation that yesterday before kick off Chris Solly was dropped from the squad and Johnnie Jackson from the starting XI. This at the insistence of Ms Meire. The reason? Both Solly and Jacko were a little bit too honest at Thursday night’s sponsors’ dinner. 

A lot of stuff came out of that evening with almost every player that was willing to talk about off the field activities damning in their comments of the leadership and direction of the club. Almost to a man they agreed that this is the most unnecessary of relegations. 
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Apr 21

2 Comments

The day after the day after

Whilst relegation has been an obvious outcome to a calamitous season, I am finding it hard to digest. Looking at that League One table and the top of League Two does not scream ‘Ooh a new ground’ it shouts ‘up yours.’

The days after the Bolton game have produced a whole range of stories, with I am sure many more to come. Roland Duchatelet was at The Valley today and meetings continue with what Meire called the Senior Management Team this afternoon in a London hotel. Undoubtedly whilst it should be Meire’s future on top of the agenda I would expect it to be Jose Riga.

It is also understood that Paul Elliott planned to meet with Duchatelet, although there will be no uplifting videos or media meetings. The owner was greeted this morning at The Valley gates by a flashmob of Addicks complete with banners. Good work.
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