To everyone that attended today I personally would like to thank you all for trying to get some answers. Thanks for taking time out of your busy working life or family schedule. Thanks
To who ever said "we are entitled to know why the take over hasn't happened" or words to that effect. No we aren't.
It's potentially a multi million pound deal, with compatative advantage, or other wise, attached. Do you expect chapter and verse?
If the club say its happening, or other wise, you either need to except, or not, that that is the case. You can't expect them to break ndas to keep us happy.
If the EFL were telling the truth today, which I have no reason to doubt, either the club lied at the fans forum, what they said was true then but not now, or the club had been lied to by the potential purchasers.
I honestly think RD thought, from January to as late as August the Australian bid would go through very soon. Maybe he still does.
As I have said many times, there are enough reasons to want RD gone that are factual, the biggest one imo is total break down of any relationship with the fans, so please, every body stop making up reasons.
But we are none the wiser as to why the Aussies have gone into hiding
None the wiser as to whom hasn’t submitted the paperwork
And now even the EFL fella being willing to talk is seemingly worthless due to his links to oysten
I will stick to they haven’t been able to find the relevant Wonga and have fkd off with their ball and chain ankles on the nearest prison ship bloody convicts
To who ever said "we are entitled to know why the take over hasn't happened" or words to that effect. No we aren't.
It's potentially a multi million pound deal, with compatative advantage, or other wise, attached. Do you expect chapter and verse?
If the club say its happening, or other wise, you either need to except, or not, that that is the case. You can't expect them to break ndas to keep us happy.
If the EFL were telling the truth today, which I have no reason to doubt, either the club lied at the fans forum, what they said was true then but not now, or the club had been lied to by the potential purchasers.
I honestly think RD thought, from January to as late as August the Australian bid would go through very soon. Maybe he still does.
As I have said many times, there are enough reasons to want RD gone that are factual, the biggest one imo is total break down of any relationship with the fans, so please, every body stop making up reasons.
I saw Popicon there, and was delighted he turned up. He is a bright man, not a naysayer. Whilst giving out leaflets people were pretty nice about everything, one or two passing even said they were Charlton fans, and a lot more said they knew Charlton fans. It was very posh around there mind, two course lunches for £25 quid, however I scored a nice cup of tea in the cafe over the road for £1 (it's £1.95 in M&S). I counted and recounted those definitely there for the protest, some less conspicuous than others like good old @Dippenhall, and it was at least 50, maybe a few more I missed. The hope for 30 or so was easily passed, so if the point of the protest was a bit of visibility, and a bit of variety in the overall campaign it worked. I would add that every single journo I spoke to was 100% interested and sympathetic, most of them very young and also unaware of the fan campaigns we have had since 1985 or so, but they got it, and were very respectful. One of the blokes doing voice interviews will be going to St Truiden for the elections. I also met Charlton fans at the protest who had never heard of Charlton Life! Got their info from something called twitter whatever that is. Finally Davo55, no false modesty or any praise sought either, I know you are motivated by trying to get things done, but thank you for initiating what was ultimately an organic and honest little event, you are a top bloke in my view.
Generally people are quite negative on here, often making assumptions without asking questions. If I have not agreed, then I have been outspoken about previous protests. This is a forum, it's sole purpose is for debate.
@Davo55 done a fab job arranging this demo, as did @seth plum and others on the ground making the wheels move. It's what we should be doing as fans. Probing the efl, my opinion is they need to be held to account when they allow owners of football club owners to go rougue. It's happened time and time again, Wimbledon, Orient, Coventry, Blackpool, QPR. None of us support Charlton for the glory, the few of us left support Charlton for the love.
Ben Mountain of Paddy Power News was at our protest on Friday, and has written this piece.
He has texted me to say "It was pleasure to come down (to the protest) and I really do wish all the fans at your club the best going forward. Learning about what has been going on at Charlton has been an eye opener. Thanks again.".
PADDY INVESTIGATES: CHARLTON’S FIGHTBACK AGAINST ROLAND DUCHÂTELET
Our writer Ben Mountain has had a deep dive into the issues at the Valley and checks in with Charlton fans on their fight against their club’s owner…
“I had a season ticket at Charlton for 44 years. 44 years. That’s a lifetime, but I’ve given it up. Can any football fan know what that takes?”
A man, Nigel, stands bereft outside the London offices of the English Football League. He stands alongside plush boutiques, cars with gleaming onyx sheens and an equally bereft hoard of his fellow football fans. He’s there because his lifelong club, Charlton Athletic, is dying.
Since January 2014, Belgian businessman Roland Duchâtelet has been the owner of this south-London team. His bruising tenure in charge has seen Charlton regress from famously embodying the beating heart of a tightly-knit community to an almost abandoned shell of its former self: hemorrhaging both money and fans at an unprecedented rate.
The club are losing £10m per annum and have seen season ticket sales half in the last four years (now at around 5,000 for a 27,000 capacity stadium).
Roland Duchâtelet therefore stands at the helm of a sinking ship, eyes closed to protect himself from the forthcoming leap to safety. But while he may be content with jumping, supporters aren’t – they’re making a stand.
For over two-and-a-half years now, Charlton fans have protested against the regime that’s suffocating their club. From staged funerals to stopping play with a shower of crisp packets, groups of Addicks – united under the organisation Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet (CARD) – have lead 18 colourful demonstrations against their tyrannical owner.
Receiving little to no support from football’s governing bodies, it’s fallen upon those who’ve followed their club for as long as memory serves to take matters into their own hands. Because while Duchâtelet’s alleged crimes are numerous, they’re going as yet unpunished.
IN CHARLTON’S CASE, THE JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER HAVE ALL BEEN PASSIONATE, BUT ULTIMATELY POWERLESS FANS.
Now, however, things have up stepped up a league. Specifically, they’ve stepped up to the English Football League as fans are calling upon heavier reinforcement against south London’s equivalent to a crushing dictatorship. The current leaders of this particular coup wear polos and trainers, much like most football supporters. What’s needed, however, are those clad in suits and ties: precisely who protestors are targeting.
As if to test whether they’re listening, a black cab – the unfaltering emblem of a working man’s London – rings out its horn as the Charlton contingent respond with their own single-toned reply.
Behind closed doors, the suits and ties will have heard this call-and-response and the call to arms that it encourages. The football fan and cabby, however, have thus far been ignored by the bureaucrat and businessman.
So why should things change now? And just why are the two at loggerheads?
WELL, THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS THAT THE BATTLE’S PERENNIAL. WHEN HAS FOOTBALL EVER EXPERIENCED A TIME THAT BOTH WATCHERS AND WHITE-COLLARS ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY HAPPY ACROSS THE COUNTRY?
For Charlton, their grievances are just part of the latest wave of footballing disenchantment.
Frustrations and the wash of disillusion that’s swept south London lately began when Duchâtelet’s motivation for buying Charlton became clear. Owning Belgian Pro League teams Standard Liège and Sint-Truidense, Duchâtelet sought to make Charlton a ‘feeder’ club for his better loved sides at home.
Jean-François De Sart, who oversaw development at Standard Liège, made this evident for all to see when he claimed that “the objective is to share the players. When a player not good enough for the first team needs some experience he can go to Charlton. When we have a big talent of Charlton’s, he can come also to Standard Liege.”
This wouldn’t rub with the recipients of players needing experience and outsourcers of “big talent,” and so the friction between fan and owner was borne.
Today, the mismanagement of the club sees it currently operate with no executive director, no finance director, a manager – Lee Bowyer – only offered a permanent position after almost six months in the job and an owner who hasn’t seen a game live in four years.
At the base level of club operations, academy players are being refused breakfast and bottled water, staff are having their internet and electricity limited and they’ve recently been refused the bonuses that they were promised over summer.
An anonymous source from the club has stated that “the atmosphere in the office has changed. Staff aren’t feeling valued and people don’t feel like they have any job security due to recent cost-cutting.” Employees have confirmed that the rumoured sanctions recently placed upon them exist, such as no longer being allowed lunch away from the canteen. The reason? The club won’t employ enough cleaners to cover the larger area.
Alan Davis, who led CARD’s protest at the EFL offices on Friday, feels that Duchâtelet’s interference has shattered the very core of what it means to be a Charlton fan. “[Supporting Charlton] means, until Duchâtelet came in, supporting a club that was interested in more than just the football on the pitch. It cared about and had a real engagement with its fans. It cared about and had a real engagement with its community. It treated customers and staff with respect. All of those things have gone out the window with Duchâtelet.”
He’s not alone either. Ben, a 27-year-old Charlton fan, tells us that “the community aspect from the club has just completely fallen down. Young kids from the academy aren’t given breakfast. This is an inner-city club: the kids in the academy are not rich lads, they could do with a helping hand.”
BECAUSE WHILE THE ADDICKS MAY BE FAMOUS FOR THEIR POSITIVE IMPACT IN THE SOUTH LONDON COMMUNITY AND BEYOND, IT’S ALL DOWN, AGAIN, TO THE FANS; NOT THE MANAGEMENT.
When Charlton were relegated from the Premier League in 2007, the Charlton Athletic Community Trust separated their finances from the club’s and became a privately sponsored organisation that could survive in an economic crisis.
Wherever Duchâtelet’s been involved, he’s cut. Had he had a hand in the Trust, it’s doubtless that cuts would have been made there too, regardless of the impact that they would have had on locals, their children and their wider community.
Clearly concerned, Ben explains this further: “the fans have kept the Trust going but the club used to be properly involved. Red, White and Black Day made us one of the first clubs to properly stand up to racism on a large scale. We’ve got Charlton Invicta which is our gay and lesbian team, we’ve got the Charlton Upbeats which is the Down Syndrome team. All of these things are now done by fans alone: there’s nothing from the club.
“THE KEY IS NOT ABOUT RESULTS, WE JUST WANT A CLUB WE CAN BE PROUD OF AGAIN.”
Ian stands alongside Ben, holding a stack of flyers which explain the protest to puzzled, primly dressed onlookers. He, for Charlton’s standards at least, is relatively new to the club having started to support them only in his forties.
“When I first moved to south east London, you’d go to the park and see Newcastle, Blackburn, Manchester United and Liverpool shirts. After a few years of Charlton doing a lot of community work, suddenly there’s Charlton shirts because they’d been working so hard to get the fans back. It seems to me that what Duchâtelet is doing is making it difficult to love the club. He needs to go.”
Everyone we speak to talks with the underlying twang of a south-London accent, passed down from father to son like the inexplicable love of a football club. Their relationship with Charlton goes beyond match-days and enjoying games, it’s part of who they are. It’s an identity, a community and a source of belonging that once burnt the brightest as these everyday people’s passion in life.
Supporting Charlton means spanning and uniting generations, bringing whole families and neighbourhoods together under one shared belief.
LOSING THAT IS NOT AN OPTION.
Alan’s whole family are Charlton and have been for over 100 years. “When my grandad was demobbed from the First World War, his address was Floyd Road, Charlton. Within a year Charlton were playing opposite his house. When I was a kid, I lived in Charlton with my mum and dad. Dad was an Addick. So it’s Grandad, Dad, me, my youngest son and now he’s got a baby on the way. You can guess what their first kit will be.”
Perhaps it’s this unflinching rod that runs through the families of Charlton fans motivating them to save their club and ensure that there’s a team their children and grandchildren can care about in years to come. Perhaps it’s the unwavering community support.
Perhaps, however, it’s a simple reenactment of David against Goliath. Ben says, “if you look at our history we’ve always been an underdog and we kind of relish that. We’ve got a small fanbase, but it’s noisy. We don’t have a huge away following but we give it our all.”
THE GOLIATHS OF THE CORPORATE WORLD ARE CUTTING OUT THE HEART AND SOUL OF CHARLTON ATHLETIC AND SUBSEQUENTLY ITS ENTIRE COMMUNITY. BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THEY’VE PICKED THE WRONG CLUB TO FIGHT WITH.
The fans, like David, are winning against the giants and the EFL have now promised that they’ll sit down to meet with Duchâtelet so they can sanction his actions and encourage the selling of the club sooner rather than later.
The meeting may prove to save Charlton’s future: a rare victory for the underdog, for the small but noisy fanbase. It’s a victory for Alan, for Ben, for Ian, for every caring football fan in England.
And for Nigel, it’ll soon mean that he can return to his home of 44 years: back to the Valley and back to Charlton. Back to football and back where he belongs.
Comments
It's potentially a multi million pound deal, with compatative advantage, or other wise, attached. Do you expect chapter and verse?
If the club say its happening, or other wise, you either need to except, or not, that that is the case. You can't expect them to break ndas to keep us happy.
If the EFL were telling the truth today, which I have no reason to doubt, either the club lied at the fans forum, what they said was true then but not now, or the club had been lied to by the potential purchasers.
I honestly think RD thought, from January to as late as August the Australian bid would go through very soon. Maybe he still does.
As I have said many times, there are enough reasons to want RD gone that are factual, the biggest one imo is total break down of any relationship with the fans, so please, every body stop making up reasons.
But we are none the wiser as to why the Aussies have gone into hiding
None the wiser as to whom hasn’t submitted the paperwork
And now even the EFL fella being willing to talk is seemingly worthless due to his links to oysten
I will stick to they haven’t been able to find the relevant Wonga and have fkd off with their ball and chain ankles on the nearest prison ship bloody convicts
I think the efl need to appoint an independent panel that oversees acquisitions of football clubs.
Said panel should also have the ability to punish owners who do not abide by pre-set conditions of running a football club.
visibility,
because we can,
to show we wont go away,
to show solidarity with supporters of clubs in a similiar state to our won
all of the above were achieved regardless of what powers the EFL have or dont have, the alternative of doing nothing does not appeal .
The EFL need to be tangible, no empty or convoluted statements.
That in itself made it worthwhile.
@PopIcon was at the protest yesterday, and very welcome he was too.
I think he posed the question, and then answered it. He wasn't questioning the protest.
Whilst giving out leaflets people were pretty nice about everything, one or two passing even said they were Charlton fans, and a lot more said they knew Charlton fans.
It was very posh around there mind, two course lunches for £25 quid, however I scored a nice cup of tea in the cafe over the road for £1 (it's £1.95 in M&S).
I counted and recounted those definitely there for the protest, some less conspicuous than others like good old @Dippenhall, and it was at least 50, maybe a few more I missed. The hope for 30 or so was easily passed, so if the point of the protest was a bit of visibility, and a bit of variety in the overall campaign it worked.
I would add that every single journo I spoke to was 100% interested and sympathetic, most of them very young and also unaware of the fan campaigns we have had since 1985 or so, but they got it, and were very respectful.
One of the blokes doing voice interviews will be going to St Truiden for the elections.
I also met Charlton fans at the protest who had never heard of Charlton Life! Got their info from something called twitter whatever that is.
Finally Davo55, no false modesty or any praise sought either, I know you are motivated by trying to get things done, but thank you for initiating what was ultimately an organic and honest little event, you are a top bloke in my view.
And well done Poplcon and everyone else who attended.
If I have not agreed, then I have been outspoken about previous protests. This is a forum, it's sole purpose is for debate.
@Davo55 done a fab job arranging this demo, as did @seth plum and others on the ground making the wheels move. It's what we should be doing as fans. Probing the efl, my opinion is they need to be held to account when they allow owners of football club owners to go rougue.
It's happened time and time again, Wimbledon, Orient, Coventry, Blackpool, QPR.
None of us support Charlton for the glory, the few of us left support Charlton for the love.
He has texted me to say "It was pleasure to come down (to the protest) and I really do wish all the fans at your club the best going forward. Learning about what has been going on at Charlton has been an eye opener. Thanks again.".
https://news.paddypower.com/football/2018/09/16/paddy-investigates-charlton/
PADDY INVESTIGATES: CHARLTON’S FIGHTBACK AGAINST ROLAND DUCHÂTELET
Our writer Ben Mountain has had a deep dive into the issues at the Valley and checks in with Charlton fans on their fight against their club’s owner…
“I had a season ticket at Charlton for 44 years. 44 years. That’s a lifetime, but I’ve given it up. Can any football fan know what that takes?”
A man, Nigel, stands bereft outside the London offices of the English Football League. He stands alongside plush boutiques, cars with gleaming onyx sheens and an equally bereft hoard of his fellow football fans. He’s there because his lifelong club, Charlton Athletic, is dying.
Since January 2014, Belgian businessman Roland Duchâtelet has been the owner of this south-London team. His bruising tenure in charge has seen Charlton regress from famously embodying the beating heart of a tightly-knit community to an almost abandoned shell of its former self: hemorrhaging both money and fans at an unprecedented rate.
The club are losing £10m per annum and have seen season ticket sales half in the last four years (now at around 5,000 for a 27,000 capacity stadium).
Roland Duchâtelet therefore stands at the helm of a sinking ship, eyes closed to protect himself from the forthcoming leap to safety. But while he may be content with jumping, supporters aren’t – they’re making a stand.
For over two-and-a-half years now, Charlton fans have protested against the regime that’s suffocating their club. From staged funerals to stopping play with a shower of crisp packets, groups of Addicks – united under the organisation Coalition Against Roland Duchâtelet (CARD) – have lead 18 colourful demonstrations against their tyrannical owner.
Receiving little to no support from football’s governing bodies, it’s fallen upon those who’ve followed their club for as long as memory serves to take matters into their own hands. Because while Duchâtelet’s alleged crimes are numerous, they’re going as yet unpunished.
IN CHARLTON’S CASE, THE JUDGE, JURY AND EXECUTIONER HAVE ALL BEEN PASSIONATE, BUT ULTIMATELY POWERLESS FANS.
Now, however, things have up stepped up a league. Specifically, they’ve stepped up to the English Football League as fans are calling upon heavier reinforcement against south London’s equivalent to a crushing dictatorship. The current leaders of this particular coup wear polos and trainers, much like most football supporters. What’s needed, however, are those clad in suits and ties: precisely who protestors are targeting.
As if to test whether they’re listening, a black cab – the unfaltering emblem of a working man’s London – rings out its horn as the Charlton contingent respond with their own single-toned reply.
Behind closed doors, the suits and ties will have heard this call-and-response and the call to arms that it encourages. The football fan and cabby, however, have thus far been ignored by the bureaucrat and businessman.
So why should things change now? And just why are the two at loggerheads?
WELL, THE SIMPLE ANSWER IS THAT THE BATTLE’S PERENNIAL. WHEN HAS FOOTBALL EVER EXPERIENCED A TIME THAT BOTH WATCHERS AND WHITE-COLLARS ARE SIMULTANEOUSLY HAPPY ACROSS THE COUNTRY?
For Charlton, their grievances are just part of the latest wave of footballing disenchantment.
Frustrations and the wash of disillusion that’s swept south London lately began when Duchâtelet’s motivation for buying Charlton became clear. Owning Belgian Pro League teams Standard Liège and Sint-Truidense, Duchâtelet sought to make Charlton a ‘feeder’ club for his better loved sides at home.
Jean-François De Sart, who oversaw development at Standard Liège, made this evident for all to see when he claimed that “the objective is to share the players. When a player not good enough for the first team needs some experience he can go to Charlton. When we have a big talent of Charlton’s, he can come also to Standard Liege.”
This wouldn’t rub with the recipients of players needing experience and outsourcers of “big talent,” and so the friction between fan and owner was borne.
Today, the mismanagement of the club sees it currently operate with no executive director, no finance director, a manager – Lee Bowyer – only offered a permanent position after almost six months in the job and an owner who hasn’t seen a game live in four years.
At the base level of club operations, academy players are being refused breakfast and bottled water, staff are having their internet and electricity limited and they’ve recently been refused the bonuses that they were promised over summer.
An anonymous source from the club has stated that “the atmosphere in the office has changed. Staff aren’t feeling valued and people don’t feel like they have any job security due to recent cost-cutting.” Employees have confirmed that the rumoured sanctions recently placed upon them exist, such as no longer being allowed lunch away from the canteen. The reason? The club won’t employ enough cleaners to cover the larger area.
Alan Davis, who led CARD’s protest at the EFL offices on Friday, feels that Duchâtelet’s interference has shattered the very core of what it means to be a Charlton fan. “[Supporting Charlton] means, until Duchâtelet came in, supporting a club that was interested in more than just the football on the pitch. It cared about and had a real engagement with its fans. It cared about and had a real engagement with its community. It treated customers and staff with respect. All of those things have gone out the window with Duchâtelet.”
He’s not alone either. Ben, a 27-year-old Charlton fan, tells us that “the community aspect from the club has just completely fallen down. Young kids from the academy aren’t given breakfast. This is an inner-city club: the kids in the academy are not rich lads, they could do with a helping hand.”
BECAUSE WHILE THE ADDICKS MAY BE FAMOUS FOR THEIR POSITIVE IMPACT IN THE SOUTH LONDON COMMUNITY AND BEYOND, IT’S ALL DOWN, AGAIN, TO THE FANS; NOT THE MANAGEMENT.
When Charlton were relegated from the Premier League in 2007, the Charlton Athletic Community Trust separated their finances from the club’s and became a privately sponsored organisation that could survive in an economic crisis.
Wherever Duchâtelet’s been involved, he’s cut. Had he had a hand in the Trust, it’s doubtless that cuts would have been made there too, regardless of the impact that they would have had on locals, their children and their wider community.
Clearly concerned, Ben explains this further: “the fans have kept the Trust going but the club used to be properly involved. Red, White and Black Day made us one of the first clubs to properly stand up to racism on a large scale. We’ve got Charlton Invicta which is our gay and lesbian team, we’ve got the Charlton Upbeats which is the Down Syndrome team. All of these things are now done by fans alone: there’s nothing from the club.
“THE KEY IS NOT ABOUT RESULTS, WE JUST WANT A CLUB WE CAN BE PROUD OF AGAIN.”
Ian stands alongside Ben, holding a stack of flyers which explain the protest to puzzled, primly dressed onlookers. He, for Charlton’s standards at least, is relatively new to the club having started to support them only in his forties.
“When I first moved to south east London, you’d go to the park and see Newcastle, Blackburn, Manchester United and Liverpool shirts. After a few years of Charlton doing a lot of community work, suddenly there’s Charlton shirts because they’d been working so hard to get the fans back. It seems to me that what Duchâtelet is doing is making it difficult to love the club. He needs to go.”
Everyone we speak to talks with the underlying twang of a south-London accent, passed down from father to son like the inexplicable love of a football club. Their relationship with Charlton goes beyond match-days and enjoying games, it’s part of who they are. It’s an identity, a community and a source of belonging that once burnt the brightest as these everyday people’s passion in life.
Supporting Charlton means spanning and uniting generations, bringing whole families and neighbourhoods together under one shared belief.
LOSING THAT IS NOT AN OPTION.
Alan’s whole family are Charlton and have been for over 100 years. “When my grandad was demobbed from the First World War, his address was Floyd Road, Charlton. Within a year Charlton were playing opposite his house. When I was a kid, I lived in Charlton with my mum and dad. Dad was an Addick. So it’s Grandad, Dad, me, my youngest son and now he’s got a baby on the way. You can guess what their first kit will be.”
Perhaps it’s this unflinching rod that runs through the families of Charlton fans motivating them to save their club and ensure that there’s a team their children and grandchildren can care about in years to come. Perhaps it’s the unwavering community support.
Perhaps, however, it’s a simple reenactment of David against Goliath. Ben says, “if you look at our history we’ve always been an underdog and we kind of relish that. We’ve got a small fanbase, but it’s noisy. We don’t have a huge away following but we give it our all.”
THE GOLIATHS OF THE CORPORATE WORLD ARE CUTTING OUT THE HEART AND SOUL OF CHARLTON ATHLETIC AND SUBSEQUENTLY ITS ENTIRE COMMUNITY. BUT IT SEEMS LIKE THEY’VE PICKED THE WRONG CLUB TO FIGHT WITH.
The fans, like David, are winning against the giants and the EFL have now promised that they’ll sit down to meet with Duchâtelet so they can sanction his actions and encourage the selling of the club sooner rather than later.
The meeting may prove to save Charlton’s future: a rare victory for the underdog, for the small but noisy fanbase. It’s a victory for Alan, for Ben, for Ian, for every caring football fan in England.
And for Nigel, it’ll soon mean that he can return to his home of 44 years: back to the Valley and back to Charlton. Back to football and back where he belongs.
Well done to all those whose interviews provided the material for this article. You've done yourselves, and all Addicks, proud.
Bit like saying "Nick, a 14 stone Charlton fan".
(Was a different Ben btw)