I won't go on about how bloody depressed I am we all are, but when you play football in the park with your Charlton fanatic 6 year old son and there is not one player he wants to pretend to be, "cause there all rubbish Dad", something as got to be done.
As a club, relative to our size we have achieved arguably more than virtually any other, shared a ground with two other clubs, forming a political party, getting back our home (and rebuilding it). This may not equate to huge success on the pitch but it is what makes Charlton unique and worth (to us at least) so much more than just football.
What are we going to bloody do - DIRECT ACTION
We can't invade the pitch anymore we'd get banned (blessing!) but surely we can do something else. Protests after games, half time etc don't work, lets come up with something different.
There's enough of us on this forum and some (not me) seem fairly bright - I've only come up with adverts in the local press and parking one of the billboard lorries outside the ground (maybe training ground).
We have to consider cost as we'll probably have to have a whip round but I'm happy to take my kids pocket money for a few weeks and chip that in (teach him to pretend to be bloody Ronaldo)
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The club is broke, the Board want out, the manager's useless, the players are (mostly) useless.
Until and unless a wealthy benefactor rides up on his/her white charger and buys the club. Then invests major money in the staff, we're stuck with what we've got.
So it's Div3 football next season, hopefully. Because the alternative seems to me to be, wrap the whole thing up!
Much the same was said about the move to Selhurst Park. We've got no money to do up the ground, supporters have got to be realistic, the directors have invested millions in the club, they are fans too, etc.
The lesson is never to give up.
Exactly! I haven't given up. I have accepted we will play in Div3 next season. Protests against the Board, Manager, team are futile. But if we hound them out, we may find there is no, next season.
Many have already paid for their seasons tickets and might argue, 'well that would be a waste of money!' - but are you getting 'value' for money? Are you enjoying your 'day down at The Valley'? 'Support the players!' others might argue - what these players? The same ones everyone is bemoaning as not having heart, not having passion and not being very good? Why support them? Are you proud to see these various budget signings and short-term loans in the Charlton red?
I'm being totally serious. Mass protest like this is powerful and would have an impact. The only thing is the fans would have to hold their nerve - there might be withdrawal symptoms or, ironically enough, a win might finally occur but, through all this, the broader picture would remain the same and the overwhelming majority should continue with this. Season tickets have been paid for so the club's coffers are already protected - if anyone is worried about that side of things.
An alternative could be doing it for one or two particular games and word would need to be got out - but that can easily be done via local papers, radio stations who will pick up on the story and forums like this and others.
A near empty stadium for a few matches would show Murray, Chappell and Co that they have lost the respect and trust of the fans.
I'm sure a thousand or two fans will still show as they either wouldn't agree or had nothing better to do but that's democracy - not everyone has the same opinion - but a Valley containing just away fans and a sprinkling of home fans, say 1,500 across 24,000 seats, will speak volumes.
My suggestion would be at least two games - one game can be ignored and the Board will possibly just close its eyes and ears to the situation but if they see it once and think it is coming back again in a fortnight, they will begin to writhe in their seats.
This is very sad but if you want to vent your annoyance at the Board's decisions and where it has taken the club in the past two years, then here is a very easy way.
Silent protest - and, in doing so, you can stay indoors, have a cuppa with the family and enjoy doing something other than seeing Charlton shipping even more goals.
Go away for the weekend with your nearest and dearest? The options are endless but your empty seat will speak volumes...
The time would be right for this now. The decisions taken by the Board in recent months, irrespective of the broader financial mismanagment, have left Charlton's reputation as a well-run, stable club in tatters and if you want to demonstrate how that makes you feel, then here is a way...
How many fans are left in the ground anyway after 75 minutes? Especially when the team has been two or three goals down?
It will just look like everyone thinks getting away from their parking space nice and quickly is the key point and the Board will know that an empty stadium for ten or fifteen minutes is hardly headline news - then it's off for the summer hols. Will anyone really notice?
If fans want to take a stand that matters then they have to make some sort of sacrifice or commitment. I don't think sloping off a few minutes early will do that I'm afraid.
No, you're confusing 1985 with 1984. One reason for 1984 was that no one else would invest in the club while Mark Hulyer was in charge, but as events proved the investors were there.
Why not? It seems that the board and some of the players have, so why not us too??
Have to say I have already voiced my disgust by not renewing my st a while back. When my second child arrived I decided enough was enough. The johnny come lately effect that The Valley Express has had may well of put much needed money in to the club but it has had a negative effect too with shocking home atmospheres. Couple the aforementioned and finally getting membership with the MCC meant that I would rather pick an away game or two, enjoy my son more often and watch cricket in the summer in the pavillion at the home of cricket !!
If Airman Brown himself and many others like him had given up in the 1980s we might not be watching Charlton at The Valley, or possibly even at all. He was of course part of a movement that used politics as a lever to help force the local council to allow us back into the borough - the story is part of the Charlton annals now...
Fans don't have to merely trudge down to the ground week in week out and accept the inevitable at the moment.
People like Inspector Sands may say, 'The Board have put their money in so they can do as they please, unless you won the lottery roll-over on Saturday' etc..
BUT fans, customers, clients, make ANY business go round and if the 'support base' starts venting dissatisfaction then that gives any sane-minded General Manager or CEO food for thought.
I'm not suggesting the game boycott above as a 'must', not at all, but I'm saying that Charlton Athletic's supporters DO have a voice and they are are not nearly as impotent as some seem to think they are. Indeed, there are options at their disposal which wouldn't even inconvenience them greatly.
It's up to the general consensus of fans if they want to engage in such steps. That's all.
As a club freshly relegated and with the inevitable lessening of finances in Division Three it begs the question who would want to buy the club? If we continue as we are oblivion could come before salvation. At the very least a spirited "future of the club depends on us turning this around" stance is the only acceptable one. Pardkinson is not the man to lead any last stand on survival, his tenure has been a total embarrassment to us all. Under him futilty is the only thing which is growing. How very sad it all is.
Les Berry's Tash's son is correct though, why would he want to pretend to be a Charlton player in the park kick around, with a couple of exceptions they are all indeed-rubbish and most aren't fit to wear our shirt.
But after that ? I'm going to miss Cardiff and Plymouth home games on Feb 7 and 14, anyway, as I'll be skiing...
Of course, it is just possible that we will go into the Cardiff game on the back of victory v Palace and heroic away wins at Burnley and Bristol City. But it's so improbable that I promise here and now to give up my skiing hol if we do...
Half-time would have more impact. Just stand up without acknowledging the team and walk out. Even if you are a season-ticket holder what have you lost? Half a match at the end of a shit season, what's that out of your life/pocket? Follow it with an organised, loud but peaceful protest outside the players entrance to underline our dissatisfaction.
If you thought about the numbers travelling on Valley Express and the overall crowd you'd realise that this makes no sense. To quote the annual report, an average in excess of 1,100 were using it last season - that's about 4 per cent of the crowd.
Taking into account that a good percentage of the people travelling on the coaches have been Charlton fans as long as me (that's 40 years), I think it's a bit harsh to blame them for the lack of atmosphere in the stadium.
I would like to see a fans continual vigil at the gates to the training ground in Sparrows Lane Eltham. Basically we try to ensure at least one person there, in their colours, from, what, errr 8.30-9.00 am when the managers and players swoop by in their old jalopies, to about 2.00pm when they go home after training. We should have one sign;
WE KNOW YOU ARE HURTING MORE THAN US. COUNSELING AVAILABLE HERE AND NOW FOR YOU.
If anybody stops for counseling tell 'em what you think, and their hurt will then become less (than yours!!).
SHAME THEM with a dignified and silent vigil, especially on Thursdays when the press conference before games happens.
An idea anyway, best I can do for now.
People could either stay in the pub a bit longer or even just hang about on the concourse watching the game on the screens.
A silent protest.
Come in the ground, do what you want up till kick off, clap Red Red Robin, all that. Then once the ref blows, keep schtum. Maybe chat to your mate if you keep it down, but nothing else. All trhose who've ever been to the reserves will know the strange feeling of players calls. The away fans will love it, fine, but how many will Plymouth bring or, if it's still needed, Doncaster on a Tuesday night.
Maybe a rubbish idea. Boycotts won't work because people will go and anyway they've had our money. I like also the idea of getting down the training ground but a few security guards and that one's over.
How am i supposed to beat the traffic if you all start doing that?
Let me know when it's happening and i'll leave after an hour.
;-)
That's not a bad idea. Might be like trying to herd cats, mind.