It will be 'free speech' day at The Valley on Saturday, October 29th, the Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) has announced.
CARD is urging fans to bring their own anti-regime banners to the game against Chesterfield.
And following a series of incidents at matches that have seen protesting Charlton supporters targeted and bullied by stewards, CARD is warning the regime that it will be carefully monitoring how the club treats its own fans.
"Free speech is one of the fundamental principles of society, but principles and common-sense are severely lacking at The Valley at the moment," said a CARD spokesperson.
"Earlier this year the club introduced a new clause into the ground regulations specifically targeting banners that are critical of the owners.
"Thousands of supporters protesting peacefully inside the stadium may be inconvenient, and hugely embarrassing, but that doesn't mean the club can ignore fans’ right to protest. Even the club, in a statement it issued in March, admitted that “every supporter has the right to voice their opinion”.
"What’s more, what football club on earth hires private security guards that turn on its own fans? Roland Duchatelet and the inexperienced staff he has appointed have proved they are incapable of running the club - it's time to go."
So far this season the club has threatened to withhold a supporters' season ticket over what it called 'not particularly constructive' comments on social media, confiscated inoffensive banners displayed within the stadium, issued a ban on the recording of meetings with fans, and issued threats to an independent supporters' group about having a dissenting fan on its committee.
Complaints have been made to the police and the club about the heavy-handed tactics employed by stewards and private security guards at the last home match against Coventry City, during which fans disrupted the game by throwing 3,000 pigs onto the pitch. Fans were angered when a supporter was apparently grabbed around the neck and thrown against a wall by privately hired security staff as he was leaving the ground.
In contrast, the coalition enjoys an excellent working relationship with the Metropolitan Police, with multiple protests involving several thousand fans having passed without incident.
Greenwich MP Matthew Pennycook, whose constituency includes The Valley, last week said he was writing to the Football League regarding his concerns about the relationship between the club and its fans.
Now CARD is calling on supporters to devise their own banners for the match against Chesterfield.
The coalition has ideas for one or two of its own, but CARD trusts supporters will be able to bring their own inventiveness and humour to the occasion...
The spokesperson added: “We intend to show the regime what we think of their bullying tactics, and to stand up for free speech.”
Fans should note that banners must be no bigger than 150cm x 150cm to meet fire regulations. CARD also reiterates its opposition to any swearing, misogynistic or xenophobic slogans.
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Comments
Let's see how they deal with this.
I'm sure if I was there Tony would set his coward bully boys on me again as I'm an easy target. I suggested either giving your flag to a child or situating yourself near some big fellas to ensure you won't be bothered.
I have had a fairly rubbish day but this has put a smile on my face.
Off to try and think of something witty and amusing, good job I have until 29th.
Support from Pennycook; seems anti free speech himself .
Good work from card, as ever
I wondered about this. @cantersaddick, when you went to collect your flag did you have to ask for it or did they know it belonged to you?
And we would give a receipt!
I imagine if there were lot of flags etc confiscated they'd have to issue some sort of receipt or there'd be mayhem at the collection point
Ie someone allowed to put a photo of me on a Nazi flag