1. I ran onto the pitch. Not through thuggery, aggression or an instant urge to cause trouble. But for the sheer joy in seeing Charlton end a brilliantly-exciting season, by claiming promotion. And in typical Charlton-style too: in a game we had to win, we missed a penalty and fell behind, before ending up 3-1 winners. The build-up was very “Charlton” too. Unknown to the fans, one of Charlton’s star players was dropped from the team and not even given a seat on the bench. He slunk off home before kick-off in Charlton’s biggest game of the season. The star midfielder, axed before kick-off who can’t be bothered to support the team. Whereas I, along with the rest the crowd screamed and shouted; supported and assisted; willed the team on to win. And we did.
2. Roll on a few years. We’re at Wembley. My first visit. The players stroll onto the pitch. Team photograph. And back into the dressing room for the pre-match talk. Only one of the players is missing. He’s not playing. He’s not even on the bench. So what does he do? That’s right. Like the episode above, he disappears. Can’t be bothered. Goes home. The crowd? Oh yes, we give it everything. But, then again, we don’t know any better, do we?
So who were these two players? They might play for the club, but they don’t really care, do they?
It’s we fans that make the difference. We’re here through thick and thin. Our voices; our support; our cheering; our backing: that’s what counts. If a player appears to be having a bad game: support him. If we think it’s not going right for him: cheer him on the next time the ball goes near him. When a player is taken off, get on your feet; give him support; make him desperate to play next week. Because, in the end, it’s you and me that steer where we go. Your voice and mine; your support and mine. Your choice of when to cheer and whether to boo. We make more difference to our club than the players who disappear when they see they’re absent from the team sheet.
It’s our club. We own it. Not just those of us who have the piece of paper with “shareholder” at the top of it. All of us. We’re all more Charlton than those players who left early. Because we care, we support, we stay.
So the message is: keep supporting. It’s troubled times at The Valley. We’re in it up to our necks. But we’re all in it together. However much we might want different players, a different manager, even (heaven forbid) a different board, it’s our club and we make the difference. We prove, every week, that we’re more “Charlton” than those players who clearly just didn’t care enough. So, who were they? In the first game, against Preston North End in 1975, it was a useful midfielder called Keith Peacock. And the Wembley game? The Full Members’ Cup Final against Blackburn Rovers. The player who didn’t care? Alan Curbishley. Every week, we prove we care more about Charlton than even these two Charlton legends. Let’s carry on showing it, right to the very end.
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Comments
Like you, I was also at both those games and you had me scratching my head trying to remember who played and who didn't.
Your revelation was quite revealing and it puts things in perspective.
Playing football is their job, just like if a supporter worked for Tesco or Barclays Bank. No different.
You are right. It's the supporters that make the difference. We're the ones with the love affair in our hearts.
Very clever post
;o)
He watched the Preston match and went into the dressing room afterwards to congratulate those who had played.
What HE DIDN'T DO was attend the promotion pissup in The Valley Club.
Spot on re Curbs though and your point is well made.
Glad you said that Len as that didn't seem like Peacock who was and is a fan.
And I don't even blame Curbs if that is in fact the case. Since Len has questioned the first example I have to question the second.
yes, he should have taken it like a man, put a smile on his face and supported his mates but maybe he was hurt that he was missing out on playing at Wembley. I wonder if he remembered that feeling when he picked the Play-off final team.
And I think what he did for the club afterwards maybe just about puts him credit.
Otherwise, good post. Keep the faith, Chizz
Does this mean that he is allowed to post again ?
The Curbs one is true. Curbs himself admits as much in his book.
I must have fallen asleep at that point.
Apologies Chizz for doubting you.
Not only does he admit that he walked out (took the tube home to Essex and was back indoors well before Blackburn scored the winning goal, he tells us). But he also admits that the night before the game he got pissed with Jim Smith, even though he was in the squad and had Walsh, Peake or George Shipley got injured on the morning, he would have been drafted into the side.
He has never revealed if or how Lennie Lawrence disciplined him but he was almost immediately sold to Brighton and didn't play for Charlton again until Lennie resummoned him in a coaching role almost three years later.
The events in the book were almost 20 years in the past by the time he wrote them up. But I remember beign shocked when I read his account and wondering if it was wise to reveal his past transgressions so candidly to young players he might himself have to discipline as a manager. Then again, he probably calcualted very few of them would ever read it...
He also refers to the time before the Play off Final when he had to tell John Robinson he was to be on the subs bench. Not happy.
I really must have skimmed read it.