Just signed up here, this is my first post, but have been following the various debates for a while. I'm 55, started supporting in the 69-70 season and was a regular at Selhurst, often walking the 8-9 miles from Blackheath, because I was young and was fit. I was at Wembley against Sunderland and before that St Andrews against Leeds. All that seems a long while ago now of course, but can someone - and this is the purpose of my post - remind me of the circumstances in which the Belgians took us over, on what basis the previous owner sold to them, and if there aren't any legal rules and regulations within English football governance that can be used to hold football club owners to any kind of account? Do English football clubs, which play like Charlton such a major role in the local community, really have to be exposed to the shoddy practices we're seeing now? Is there really no legal protection available to us from the English football powers that be?
A lot of what happens in football I find totally absurd the older I get. It's meant to be a serious sport, this is the home country of football, the country that invented the game, it's a core passion within the English population.....and yet games are still allowed to be refereed on an amateur/incompetent basis, with games more often than not decided more by referee mistakes than by any actions of players; and the clubs within the sport are clearly allowed to be exposed to business incompetence by the likes of the owners CAFC has now, when their business model for running us is clearly a failing one.
I remember the days of Hillsborough when football was openly despised by our political leaders and which of course led to all those shameful deaths due to the cynical uncaring attitude of the authorities. Sure, Hillsborough and Heysel and the Bradford fire and all those other terrible events forced change in terms of the physical safety of fans, but the mistreatment and abuse of fans still clearly exists justin the example of what's happening at The Valley. It seems that nowadays, as long as you don't get actually physically killed by the authorities at a football ground, everything else goes.
ATB all, Dave
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Jimenez & Slater sold Charlton to Duchatelet, because the money had run out, we were heading for administration and bills were going unpaid. J & S of course didn't have enough money in the first place.
Slater was employed by Kevin Cash (google him) and was the real money man, but didn't want it known.
The rules governing football ownership are the fit & proper rules and only seem to cover illegal activities.
So as long as they do not have unspent criminal convictions (mainly financial I believe), they are free to run the club as they wish. They can be totally incompetent (they are) and the football authorities will not intervene.
The above may not be 100% accurate, but if not it pretty much answers your questions.
Welcome on board.
Didn't he come over all peculiar and start writing articles for some E-rag shortly after selling?
And what a little gem this paragraph is !!
"As custodian of Charlton Athletic, I felt a great responsibility that we should only relinquish control to someone in whom we have faith and feel can make a positive difference to the football club.
This has taken some time, and patience. The majority of interest and offers received has come from timewasters - or people who we did not feel adequately fit those criteria."
I know he wasn't liked, so this was probably the biggest 'UP YOURS!' he could muster.
Well played Tone.
(....Oh for a timewaster!....)
Was it Roland too Charlton
Or was it Charlton too Roland.
No chance of Greenwich Council helping out financially then? If you could force all boys living within the Greenwich area to be Charlton fans and make it an offence to support anyone else, and then maybe levy a local CAFC tax from all their parents - that might enable us to take back control of the club. Sorry, I've got no better ideas. Question - how much would someone have to cough up to overtake the club? Whatever the sum, surely there's a few or a couple or at least ONE rich enough supporter out there, with the money it takes? Here's hoping.
Slater and Jiminez were 2 complete dick-heads that messed up financially and could no longer fund the club properly or adequately - thanks. Then obviously they route for the highest bidder for the club (Roland) hence the time wasters comment.
But...
THEY put faith in the right people for Charltons success on the pitch. For the rather limited pocket they had, in comparison to most clubs in the division, on footballing matters they spent well. We over achieved from the resources we had.
The pitch was a complete state in the end but if they couldn't afford to sort it out...then they couldn't afford to sort it out.
Now, 2 not so great guys like that, have actually taught us a lesson.
Wealth helps, but it doesn't buy success. A relatively normal business brain does.
They were crap but have completely showed this regime up.... on how to run a football club.
The copper was a Charlton fan.
Frankly anyone who is willing to pay £38m for our club plus take on board the investment needed in the team, lacks financial credibility and needs to stay away!