Tuesday 9th January 1979 Chalrton Athletic 1 (0) (Flanagan 77) Maidstone United 1 (1) (Coupland 13) The Valley. Att 13,457.
Charlton: Wood, Shaw, Campbell, Gritt (Peacock 61), Shipperley, Berry, Brisley, Hales, Flanagan, Madden, Powell.
Maidstone: Guy, Kinnear, Edwards, Hill, Aitken, Merrick, Silvester, Gregory, Coupland, Fusco, Budden. Unused sub: Wallace.
Referee: B Martin (Notts)
Sent Off: In circumstances certainly unprecedented in Charlton's history, Flanagan and Hales were sent off for fighting each other in the 86th minute.
The two players had words after Hales had been caught offside and as they walked back to the centre cirlcle, they continued to argue and Hales suddenly lashed out a couple of times at Flanagan who replied with a punch. These events were all witnessed by the referee, who, after consulting his linesman, sent both players off.
Three days after the game, Chalrton sacked Hales and fined Flanagan £250. Hales was later reinstated and fined two weeks wages. Later that month, Flanagan walked out over the handling of his transfer.
Replay:
Monday 15th January January 1979. Maidstone United 1 (0) (Coupland 87) Charlton Athletic 2 (1) (Campbell 23, Robinson 53) The Athletic Ground. Att: 10,591
Charlton: Johns, Shaw, Campbell, Gritt, Shipperley, Berry, Brisley, Peacock, Robinson, Madden, Powell. Unused sub: Warman.
Lights failure: With only 70 seconds remaining the floodlights went out and the game was suspended for 19 minutes.
Record crowd: The attendance was a record for Maidstone, but many more climbed fences to gain entry.
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Comments
They had scored early through Coupland (who if I remember rightly was a school teacher at Ramsden school and a mate of Lennie Lawrence)
I had a really bad feeling that they were going to dump us out and the ignominy of that. We didn't look like we were going to score and the game was moving closer and closer towards the end when Flash scored our equaliser.
This stirred the crowd but the play didn't improve. Suddenly there was mayhem as Killer and Flash squared up to one another and punches were thrown. I think Killer threw the first and Flash retaliated. In stepped the ref and off they both went.
A kind of hush decended on the crowd, borne out of disbelief. I remember thinking "blow the f*king whistle Ref and put us out of our misery". We didn't have long to wait.
It was a surreal end to a bad dream. One to tell your kids about although not for the right reasons.
The next day the papers were full of it.
The club/Nelson made a statement and announced that Killer would never play for us again yet retained his registration; this led to the club being held in restraint of trade and thus Killer was later reinstated. Flash was to be fined. It was an unholy mess.
I didn't go to the replay. I didn't think I could stand it if we lost.
I seem to remember they kissed and made up at the first game back at the Valley, there were those of us who wondered what would happen...
I stood in the covered end just to the left of the goal in our normal spot and about five minutes before kick-off a couple of dozen familiar faces from Maidstone strutted across towards 'the right side'. A minute or two later was a bit of dancing and prancing that was about it as I recall.
I'd have never lived it down had we lost.
At the replay there was quite a bit of agro when the lights went off. Never realised it was for that long though. We all swore blind that they'd done it on purpose to get the game replayed again and I vowed to go down there one evening and dig the pitch up it they got it abandoned.
Kenny Hill who played in both games is now quite a good mate.
So come on then, you tease, what happened? Whisper it if its too scandalous to publish.
I remember it all well, particularly the replay at Maidstone. There was a train strike kicking in from later that night and because of the floodlight failure only just made it back to London in time for the last train back to Basildon. It was all pretty hostile at the game, and I remember it being pretty crushed in the ground. Greenwich Council would have had a great time with their health and safety rules.
Tel, I don't remember the punch ups at the Valley to be honest. On the other hand they used to happen pretty regularly at that time and I wasn't caught up in it so it probably just hasn't registered in my memory.
:-) (for the record...I didnt either).
We were all amazed that it had actually came to blows and players from both sides tried to pull them apart.
The referee didn't seem to know what to do at first, he was just as bewildered as everybody else.
After an age discussing with his linesman, he pointed to the dressing room and even though both players went separately, they were still shouting at each other across the pitch - so God only knows what happened in the dressing room....
Brunello, mate, spill the beans - after nearly 30 years I don't suppose it will matter?
I remember I sided with Flanagan initially but changed my mind after. It was an extraordinary bit of man management to get them two playing together again.
Come on Brunello.... Dish it.
Tel ... don't recall the trouble at the Valley ... although I was in the Covered End --- where you should have been! Spending time with a girlfriend at Charlton ... whatever next!!!
Still remember the Maidstone players Chuckling and standing there as they did not have a clue what to do--
They had to be one of the best Frontline partnership CAFC have had
My mind immediately went to this and so I was calling for them both to be sent off. But they just got a talking to! Inconsistence plagues referees!
The replay was a lot better though, we went down on a Lewis coach and there were loads just jumping over these really low walls to get in. The Charlton section was packed solid, couldn`t move in there and I can remember the goals and then the lights going out and the fences that separated us from Maidstone got ripped down during the blackout.
As someone said earlier, just par for the course in the life of Charlton Athletic.
All I remember were the endless stories about the fight in the Kentish Times afterwards!
Thought was going to die in the Maidstone replay after our second goal. Massive surge and everyone fell on top of each other. I reckon I had 3 people on top of me and I was face down on the terracing. Thought nothing about it at the time as was milking the goal, but if it happened now post Hillsborough, would be panicking big time.
Memories! Sigh.................................
Over 2,500 on NYD against Sittingbourne is an incredible crowd for that level of football.
All it needed was a ground back in the town! A disgrace that it took this long!!