Dec 31
A little chilly here this New Year’s Eve morning in Sarasota. It might be a pyjama day, especially as our daughter has a touch of the flu so any plans, as minimal as they were, will have to be shelved.
I’ve never been a fan of ‘amateur night’ as I used to call it back in the day, so cooking and popping open a nice bottle of red later will be good enough for me.
Please click for more2️⃣1️⃣ I enjoyed writing my 20 Players and 20 Places series last year, so I’m off again this time to celebrate 21 years of blogging and I’m picking Addicks from my time as a supporter that I would love to join for a beer or any adult beverage of their choice.
Break some bread, chew the cud, ruminate over the old days, the pleasure would be all mine.
Please click for more2️⃣1️⃣ Recently I passed my 21st year of writing this Blog, which if I stop to think about it, is actually quite crazy. I ran a couple of 20th birthday series to commemorate that landmark, and I plan on doing a couple of different things to acknowledge getting the key 🔑.
To celebrate 21 years I am going to pick 21 current or former Charlton players from the beginning of my time of supporting Charlton in 1975 that I’d love to go for a beer with and talk Charlton.
Please click for more2️⃣1️⃣ Over the next months I plan on running a couple of different series of posts to celebrate this Blog’s recent 21st birthday.
As Chicago Addick came of drinking age, at least in the land of the free, I thought I’d run a series of 21 current or former Charlton players from the beginning of my time of supporting them that I’d love to go for a beer with, someone I’d be delighted to spend a couple of hours listening to Charlton and football anecdotes over a couple of pints or whatever takes their fancy.
Please click for moreChicago Addick becomes 21 today, which means it can drink legally in all 50 U.S. states. Cheers 🍺.
21 years ago today I penned my first post from my Chicago apartment after returning from the pub where Zinedine Zidane had just scored twice in injury time to beat England in their opening Euro 2004 Group match.
That was not the last time this Blog wrote of snatching defeat away from victory!
Please click for moreI am sure most of you have found or heard that Rich Cawley has moved into the freelance world and has a subscription page on Substack.
Rich already has over 2,000 subscribers including me, which tells you how well he’s regarded as a journalist plus how valuable his insight will be into The Addicks’ summer transfer window.
Please click for moreJust as I chose 20 Players I also chose 20 Places that have left an enduring mark on me in my life. All this to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years.
It was Benjamin Franklin that said “either write something worth reading or do something worth writing about” and I’ve lived by that since I penned my first Blog post in June 2004.
Please click for moreI really enjoyed doing this and that was picking 20 Charlton Players that are firm fixtures in my memory from when I began watching these damn Addicks from the 1975/76 season.
They were selected in no order, just 20 Players from almost half of a century of a love affair.
Please click for moreThe last piece of the jigsaw. The list of 20 Places that have left an indelible mark on me is complete, and at no. 20 it had to be Chicago.
I started all this, picking 20 Players and 20 Places to commemorate me writing this Blog, that began life one warm June evening in my apartment in Chicago, 20 years ago.
Please click for moreWe made it. 20 Players that I chose to accompany me on my journey to celebrate my 20 years of Blogging. We are finally there.
Remember, no particular order or ranking but the man occupying the last spot of no. 20 is Paul Mortimer.
Please click for moreBack to my list of 20 Places as I round out 20 Players and Places that have stuck with me throughout my life. In no order, all equally meaningful in different ways.
All this to commemorate 20 years of penning this Blog, and at no. 19 is the Isle of Wight.
Please click for moreHere we are then just two to go to complete my list of 20 Players that I remember fondly over anyone else that has worn the Charlton shirt in my time as a supporter since 1975.
This has been becoming harder because after about 15, I could have chosen about another 15, but I vowed to name only 20, and therefore at no. 19 is Jim Melrose.
Please click for moreThis Blog became 20 years old in June of last year, and to pat myself on the back I decided to list 20 Players and 20 Places that I hold dear deep in my memory.
They are in no order, all important in different ways.
Please click for moreA little bit of self-indulgence here, so forgive me but I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for making these pages part of your regular reading, whether it is for Addicks’ opinion, my travel writings, or simply for whatever random thoughts I translate from my head to the keyboard.
For 20 years this Blog has been a diary, a sounding board, a therapist, a pain and a sanctuary, and although I’ve always said I write it primarily for myself, if no one bothered reading it, I’d have long gone back to writing a personal diary. So, thank you again, especially those that regularly comment and give it a community feel.
Please click for moreWe are coming close to the finish line, we are at 18 of my 20 Places to laud my 20 Years of writing this Blog.
I chose them in no particular order, but each one stands on its own as a place I hold dear. At no. 18 is Miami.
Please click for moreMy 20th year of writing this Blog that began life on dial-up internet in a rented apartment in Chicago, that didn’t feel like home. My move to Chicago was the genesis for this Blog as was my long-distance continued love affair with Charlton Athletic.
To observe my 20 years of writing I am selecting 20 Players and 20 Places, in no order, that have stuck with me throughout my lifetime, just like that balmy Chicago evening did in June 2004.
Please click for moreI wrote my first New Year’s Eve ‘message’ in 2004, and have done so for each of the 20 years since. It’s makes me immensely proud, and old, that I have kept these pages alive for all of that time.
One of my New Year’s resolutions, normally futile, is to convert at least the first six years into a book. We’ll see.
Please click for moreBack in June I celebrated 20 years of writing this Blog here initially and now on here.
To salute myself I decided to pick 20 Places and 20 Players (Addicks of course) to honour my anniversary. We are on Player number 18 in the series and next up I’ll give you Patrick Bauer.
Please click for moreIn June of this year I reached the milestone of writing this Blog for 20 Years. If I say so myself, that is quite a feat.
To commemorate this I have been selecting, in no marked order, 20 Players and 20 Places that I hold dear in my memories. My next pick for Places, no. 16, is Oman.
Please click for moreAnother Place on my list as we wile our way to the 20 that gave me the most memories. All this to commemorate my 20 years of writing this Blog.
In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 15 is The Grand Canyon in Arizona.
Plase click for moreIn no order I am listing 20 Players that have left an enduring impression on me in my almost half a century of being an Addick.
20 Players to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years and at no. 16 is Darren Bent.
Please click for moreI am moving slowly through my 20 Places and 20 Players to help me celebrate 20 Years of writing this Blog. No order, no rankings.
We are back to Players, and my no. 15 is Claus Jensen.
Please click for moreAnother Place on my list of 20 to commemorate my 20 Years of writing this Blog.
In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 14 is Iceland.
Please click for moreI am picking 20 Places and 20 Charlton Players to celebrate 20 years of this Blog. No pecking order, just those that were memorable.
Number 13 on my list of 20 Places, well it had to feature, is the tiny, often quirky but always idyllic island of Bermuda.
Please click for moreBack onto my series of naming 20 Players. Picked in no order, but are all people that I hold in high esteem to help salute me writing this Blog for 20 Years.
We are on lucky number 13, and my pick is Steve Brown, who never let us down.
Please click for moreBack from a little break for the season’s kick off from my 20 Players and 20 Places list celebrating 20 Years of Blogging. No order, no ranking just those Players and Places that endure.
We had reached no. 10 for Places, and at No. 11 is Paphos in Cyprus.
Please click for moreI am picking 20 Places and 20 Players from the ‘Valiant 988’ ranks to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years.
No ranking, no order and we are on Players currently, and next up at number 12 is Bob Bolder.
Please click for more20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate my 20 years of writing this Blog. No order, no ranking, just those that left everlasting memories.
Next up on my 20 Places was one for the bucket list. No. 9 is Rio.
Please click for moreIn no particular order I am listing 20 Players that left an enduring impression on me in my almost half a century of following the Addicks.
20 Players to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years, and we are at the halfway point. No. 10 is Colin Walsh.
Please click for moreIn no order or rank I am selecting 20 Players who I remember the most fondly in my almost 50 years as a Charlton fan.
I’m doing this to commemorate writing this Blog for 20 years. I’m picking Places too, but this is my Player No.9 – John Humphrey.
Please click for more20 Years of Blogging has compelled me to select and write briefly about my memories of Charlton players I have held in high esteem, and of Places that have stuck with me in my life.
My No.8 pick of 20 Places is Japan.
Please click for more20 Years I have been writing this Blog, and to celebrate my endurance I am selecting 20 Players and 20 Places, in no particular order, that I hold dear.
No.7 in Places is The City of London.
Please click for more20 Years of Blogging and almost 50 years of watching Charlton Athletic, so I am putting together 20 Players who will forever mean the most to me.
Very few lists of Addicks’ memories and moments would exclude my next pick. No.8 is Clive Mendonca.
Please click for moreNext in my series of naming 20 Players that I hold in high esteem to salute me writing this Blog for 20 Years.
That player is ex-turnstile operator Robert Lee.
Please click for moreAnother Place on my list to extol my 20 Years of writing this Blog.
In no particular order, but each one memorable. No. 6 is Napa Valley in California.
Please click for moreMoving on with my 20 Places to celebrate 20 Years of Blogging. No ranking just memorable.
Next up is the Queen of El Plata, the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires.
Please click for moreIn no order I am listing 20 Players that left a enduring impression on me in my almost half a century of being an Addick.
20 Players to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years and at no. 6 is Yann Kermorgant.
Please click for moreThe continuation of my 20 Players to salute my 20 Years of Blogging.
No order, no preference, just 20 Charlton Players that I will remember with a smile on my face, and a knowing nod. No. 5 is Peter Shirtliff.
Please click for moreI am picking 20 Places and 20 Charlton Players to celebrate 20 years of this Blog. No pecking order, just those that were memorable.
Number four on my list of 20 Places is Brussels in Belgium.
Please click for more20 years ago today I was sat in my apartment in Chicago with dial up internet, and using some early Blog templates I penned my first Blog post.
I hadn’t long been back from the pub after watching England concede two injury time Zinedine Zidane goals in the first group game of Euro 2004. You can never accuse this Blog of dripping in football success!
Please click for moreThe continuation of 20 Places and 20 Players to put a stamp on my 20 years of Blogging.
Back to the Places then, and one that will always bring back great memories…. Magaluf in Mallorca.
Please cick for moreTo commemorate 20 years of the existence of this Blog I’m selecting 20 Players and 20 Places that mean the most to me. No order or ranking.
My next in line for my 20 Players is Mark Kinsella.
Please click for moreThe continuation of my 20 Players to salute my 20 Years of Blogging.
No ranking, no preference, just 20 Charlton Players that have left an indelible mark on me. No. 3 Alan Simonsen.
Please click for moreThis Blog began life as a diary of my formative months living in Chicago on my own. 20 years later a lot of things have changed but this journal predominantly still chronicles my support of Charlton Athletic and my travels.
To commemorate 20 years in no particular order I will choose 20 Players and 20 Places that have left a mark on me. Next one of the Places is Los Cabos in Mexico.
Please click for more20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate my 20 years of writing this Blog. No order, no ranking, just those that were meaningful in my life.
This is the first Place of 20 that has stuck with me, the volcanic playground of the Caribbean island of St. Barts, or Saint Barthélemy in the French West Indies.
Please click for moreNo order to these, not even alphabetical but the next one of 20 players picked to commemorate my 20 years of Blogging is Chris Powell.
Loved by Southend fans, lauded by Derby County fans, he was signed by Curbs in the summer of 1998 after we won the play-off final for £850,000 and Powell was instrumental in helping us get back to the Premier League.
Please click for moreRemember these will be in no particular order, but for my first player pick to commemorate 20 years of Blogging, I had to begin with Colin Powell.
Colin ‘Paddy’ Powell was my first favourite player after I starting going to The Valley at the beginning of the 1975/76 season, a year after Powell, Hales and Horsfield had fired Andy Nelson’s attack-at-all-costs Charlton to promotion.
Please click for moreA month from today this Blog celebrates its 20th birthday, for which I have a binary sense of immense pride as well as complete amazement.
I was 30 something when I started penning these pages in June 2004, living on my own in an apartment in Chicago, and England were about to have another ignominious exit from a major championship on penalties.
Please click for moreWe are really pushing the boat out this new year and are spending the night at the north terminal of Gatwick. Sounds of jet engines and people dragging their suitcases down the corridor will replace popping champagne corks.
We travel home to Sarasota tomorrow after a very enjoyable ten days back at home (sic) seeing our family for Christmas.
Please click for moreAs I sit here drinking coffee at my kitchen counter in Sarasota tired from overdoing it on New Year’s Eve Eve, I am pretty pleased to put 2022 in the books.
Normality returned to life as we knew it in 2022 after two pandemic impacted years allowing us to remember again how to do the simple things we took for granted.
I often had to remind those around me, and myself that in times of hassle and intensity, that it was these moments that we’d missed. I love being busy and slightly living on the edge of unorganized and spontaneous, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Please click for moreSo bored of Covid. It has had it’s fun and games, killed loved ones, turned upside down daily life and prevented us from seeing the people and things that make us happy. Please just do one. Of all the hopes and aspirations for 2022 I want Covid to become no more than a nuisance factor and it no longer gets to run roughshod over our lives.
Please click for moreJan 31
I was heartened to see a new fanzine appear this month. I ordered a copy and had it sent to my Mum for review, as I can’t get it sent here, but I’ve already read many positive comments on My Only Desire.
There can never be enough independent Addicks content, and from a Blogging perspective there is a just a few of us hardy souls left these days led by the evergreen Wyn Grant, who was tapping on his keyboard way before I started in 2004.
The year of all years crawls to a welcome end tonight. Sadly nothing will be much different when the sun rises tomorrow, and it is probably going to get worse before it gets better. Still, a new year brings new dreams and hopes of better times ahead.
We have a Chinese guy in our office, and after he returned to Bermuda from being back in China at the beginning of January he was made to stay at home. When he did come back to the office he wore a mask. It was odd to see him walk around with a mask and no one quite knew how to act around him.
Fast forward 12 months and the entire world has been heavily inflicted by Covid-19. This silent terror of a virus has literally changed the world we live in, a film set only previously in the minds of story tellers.
Devastating news today of the passing of Chris Thompson, the one and only Doctor Kish.
It’s been a truly dreadful year for the Charlton community, and Chris, or Ketts as he was also affectionately known is another very sad loss to the Addicks’ family. My sincerest condolences to his family and friends, one of whom is Phil, who wrote a lovely tribute to Chris here.
The original post was titled Sandhurst School, Catford 65 years ago. I wrote this Blog Post 11 years ago today, and I remember researching it like it was a year ago, not eleven.
65 (actually now 76) years ago last week my old primary school, Sandhurst School in Catford, was shockingly bombed by a German fighter plane, eyewitnesses including my grandmother used to say that the plane was flying so low that you could see the evil in the pilot’s eyes.
I often look back at my old Blog posts. I’ve written almost 4,000 since I started out one Sunday evening in June 2004. I pick random dates or search for different topics, but mostly I just click to see what I was doing on this day 5, 10, 15 years ago. Then over Christmas I had a brainwave that I should republish some of those that I’ve written, especially since time is increasingly hard to find to enable me to write the next 4,000!
In early January 2018 my millionth visitor clicked on this Blog. Prior to my move to WordPress in August 2010, I was less popular but still had 350,000 visits when my Blog was hosted by Blogger. In 2018 these pages had 177,649 visits, which means I have passed the 1,500,000 mark. Something to be proud off. And thank you.
Last year’s visit total was up on 2017 by 27%, although not quite as good as my record ever count in 2016.
I was pretty consistent in my output writing on average 17 posts a month. My most active being 20 in January. I did 14 in November. I wrote 207 in total, and still manage to hold down a full-time job!
Renowned Blogger and Addick Wyn Grant has written on his Blog that he is in hospital and seriously ill. Wyn has temporarily suspended Addicks Third Division Diary.
I orginally began this Blog on Blogger in June 2004. After 1,892 posts and 350,000 visits I switched over to WordPress in August 2010, and today the WordPress stat counter passed the 1,000,000 page views mark, which I admit made me feel very proud.
I’ve written 1,778 posts since moving here in the summer of 2010, clearly less prolific than I was in those early days, but the individual posts get a lot more traffic and that has been increasingly true in recent years.
As I sit here in my pyjamas with a beer with far too long to wait until midnight I feel content that I don’t have to go out and pretend tonight will be the best night of my life. Movies are downloading, my daughter sits at my feet and we have a fridge full of snacks. Good enough for me.
I turned 50 this year and we spent a couple of memorable weeks in Rio at the Olympics to celebrate it, although I’ll be honest I’ve struggled moving into the next decade of my life. Not physically, I feel good and I think I look alright but it has made me very introspective and I question myself a lot, especially when I wake in the middle of the night, which happens more and more. Must be old age and my eyes are going and my ears are getting bigger as well….
My 2016 had its challenges. Personally and professionally. Questions without answers. Vacillant sometimes, headstrong other times.
Charlton are no longer an escape for me or sadly for the majority of us. I never ever thought my love for them would wane, but incredibly it has and it breaks my heart.
Please click for more
Indulge me, this is a little self-serving, but I received my Blog stats for 2015 that WordPress package up nicely into a little interactive presentation. Katrien would be proud.
In 2015 I had 190,000 page views, a smidge down on the year before, and I wrote 243 posts. Blimey, I need to get out more. Newsnow and Twitter directed the majority of the traffic, but a big thank you to Dave at Forever Charlton, Ketts of Doctor Kish fame and Ken at CAFC Picks for massively helping to direct readers my way.
Wyn and Dave head the list of the most clicked of those listed over there on the right hand side with Kyle and VOTV not far behind.
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Ordinarily New Year’s Eve is a time for reflection but I sit here this morning ruminating over the future of something I have loved since the first afternoon my Dad walked me down the huge steps of the East Terrace in 1975.
Two years ago today the club was shrouded in rumours of an impending takeover by a mysterious Belgian, one of the richest men in the country. 24 months later hardly a day goes by that further shocks me at what damage this man has caused. The spivs’ CV is widely impressive compared to what has gone on since their departure, but potless and disinterested we all welcomed new investment, enthusiasm, better communication and an opportunity to build on the foundations that Chris Powell and players that etched their name in CAFC history like Yann Kermorgant, Dale Stephens, Michael Morrison, Ben Hamer, Rhoys Wiggins, Chris Solly and Johnnie Jackson had started.
Only Solly and Jackson remain and they cut forlorn figures on The Valley turf at the end of the game on Monday as anger poured down from three sides of the ground. Shiny new seats and painted steps a reminder of how f**ked up this whole journey has been.
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Sarasota, Florida
