[cite]Posted By: Sparrows Lane Lion[/cite]Has much changed over the years?
Going back to primary school, 1988-1995, Eltham, I was the only Millwall in my year, no Charlton at all. In the whole school a handful of each.
By far the most popular teams were United, Spurs, Liverpool & Arsenal.
Nothing has really changed has it?
Up here in sunny Kidderminster I'd have been in Middle school at about that time - generally speaking you were either a Utd, Liverpool or Villa fan with the odd WBA or Wolves fan. Seem to remember there was one Blackburn fan and an Everton fan too, plus me the solitary Charlton fan and, weirdly considering it's the west Midlands, a Palace fan. Still remember him gloating cos they'd just spent a million pounds on .... wait for it ...... Bruce Dyer - I mean I was like soooooooooooo jealous. Anyway, I digress - there wasn't a single Kiddy Harriers Fan or at least not someone who listed them as their first team and as far I was aware I was the only kid who regularly attended matches.
It's always been this way - just the massive merchandising drive means all kids have a replica shirt these days so it's more obvious they don't support who they ought to.
I think it's a shame that more kids don't support someone shite - I think it's character building, learning to deal with dissappointment and having the courage to be a bit different to your mates.
At some point the kids in that picture will want to go to a game.
If their lucky one of their relatives will take them to a local game and they'll become a supporter who attends games reguarly and gains an insight into what the game is really about .
The unlucky ones will carry on supporting the big four and resign themselves to a lifetime of wearing overpriced polyster shirts as a fashion item, being mocked by real supporters of their chosen club and repeating the words of Andy Gray to colleagues on a Monday morning in a bid to make themselves sound knowledgable.
[cite]Posted By: Charlton Heston[/cite]I have a 9 year old and he was always Charlton until about a month ago and now suddenly to my annoyance he likes Arsenal like all his mates and I live in Bromley ..
Shame you can't give kids a smack anymore ............
My mate's 9 year old now supports Spurs having had a season ticket at Charlton for 4 years. No loyality there!
Surely you need to exert your influence, you can do it, please do not let your kids support other teams.
I have 2 boys 7 & 5,the eldest comes to the valley with me now and seems to like it. 18 months ago he was saying he wanted a millwall shirt i said he will have to wait till he can buy it himself, but i will buy them Charlton kits every year. When we are at the game he can have burger fizzy drink whatever he wants , i'm just getting CAFC in his blood hopefully it will always be ,i will do what ever i can to keep them charlton fans lets face it they aint going nowhere else on their own.
On August 31st, 1985, I took my eight year old son to his first football match, being born and bred in Sunderland he had some weird idea it would be at Roker Park to see some team called Sunderland, imagine his surprise when we got up early that morning to jump on the bus down to Leeds to see a real football team play...
He was our lucky mascot that season and we won every game we went to and we have some fantastic memories and tales to remember from our travels...
Poor sod was the only kid in his school without a Sunderland top too, I'd probably get done by social service these days for cruelty to children...
Last season we did a nostalgic return to our greatest victory at Carlisle, it was just like the old days except this time we were both pissed...
my son is 12 and he is the biggest charlton fan ever he and his friend have a season ticket and they go to every game on there own..... i took him to his first game when he was eight and has never wanted any thing other than a charlton shirt him even i was suprised that he didnt want a scummy man u shirt because all his friends are man u fans... just shows that some are born to be charlton fans
In fairness, at their age kids have no idea of loyalty etc, they will support whoever their mates support etc, some of them will of course stay as glory hunters, others will change and support their local team. It's down to the parents really, some kids have no choice but to suppor their parents team, other parents don't give a toss.
Look, it's quite simple, you just have to coerce them into being Charlton fans. Make being a Charlton fan a good thing because on the way in you get your favourite sweeets. On the way home you get to hire a DVD. etc etc. If you don't go then you get to stay at home, do the ironing and do the washing up.
If you want one of those other shirts then you lose 40 quid of pocket money: how many weeks' worth is that and is it worth it? Especially when a Charlton shirt comes free with a free trip to the cinema plus an ice cream for every day you wear it for more than 5 hours. If you wear it whilst playing football then you can stay up late.
Parenting is like real life: Reward and punishment.
my dad started taking me to away games from age 6. i've never been pressured to be charlton, in fact as a kid i joined junior blades and young owls (very fickle) but ive only ever been to one game that didnt involve charlton. when i was at school 70's-80's my mates were, owls, leeds, leicester, liverpool and one poor lad that supported man yoo and got the piss ripped out of him on a regular basis. i have never met another charlton fan in sheffield (other than family), so i guess i've always been a fan in exile. i think this cemented my love for charlton as they were somehow the forbidden fruit. i now have two girls and neither are interested in football. my nephew who lives in derby has a rams fan dad and he is an arsenal fan. i was born a charlton fan not made!
Two of my kids were wearing Charlton shirts on an Exeter City soccer school course today :o)
Its the same down here, 80% are in Sky 4 kits (including my other son :-( ) or Madrid/Barca/Inter kits, half a dozen in Exeter City shirts plus my other 2.
Kids Supporting the glamour clubs is nothing new. As quite a few of you have confessed to supporting one of them as a nipper. I admit that as a kid i was a gooner (which got up the nose of most of my family who support the yids). It wasn't until i became of age (13) and able to go with my mates to watch games that i started supporting charlton. This has been the case of many a child, along with peer pressure until they move to a more local team as they get older. Today however, we have a big stumbling block. Television. Nowadays you can see every man u/ chelsea/ arsenal game from the comfort of your living room. Growing up as a kid in the 70's, it all depended on which ground match of the day sent the camera crew to cover. So to watch your team play regularly, you had to go to the games, so the natural thing was to support a local club. Now you can live in china and still see every kick of a ball wherever it's being played.Up until 18 months ago, i was living in Co Durham for 5 yrs (don't ask), and for every newcastle/sunderland/boro shirt i saw on a kid there were 10 kids wearing shirts of Arsenal & chelsea, despite the 300 mile distance from these clubs.
[cite]Posted By: jimmymelrose[/cite]Look, it's quite simple, you just have to coerce them into being Charlton fans. Make being a Charlton fan a good thing because on the way in you get your favourite sweeets. On the way home you get to hire a DVD. etc etc. If you don't go then you get to stay at home, do the ironing and do the washing up.
If you want one of those other shirts then you lose 40 quid of pocket money: how many weeks' worth is that and is it worth it? Especially when a Charlton shirt comes free with a free trip to the cinema plus an ice cream for every day you wear it for more than 5 hours. If you wear it whilst playing football then you can stay up late.
Parenting is like real life: Reward and punishment.
Fair enough. But how do you propose to get children into the XXXL shirts that were available at the Superstore at the end of last season?
Our Community approach does a great job of getting volumes through our doors, but is that enough to coax those kids into becoming long-term fans ?
Kids will always support the 'big clubs' at first unless they get strong family direction, the key to me is getting them through the door at the vulnerable age (10-14) where they are likely to switch clubs and then stay with that club.
Kids of that age are not just attracted to the football, but more the atmosphere and everything surrounding it. Though stadium configuration probably ensures it, I'm not sure the approach of sticking them all down the empty end blocks of the East by the away fans help enforce the experience. Kids that age want to me amongst the singing and the swearing.
On Saturday there were about 6 lads aged 14, who must have had North Upper tickets spread around the stand, who congregated on the stair well at the top of J Block by the drum. I doubt one of these kids were Charlton fans, and were moved on to their seats elsewhere within 5 mins. Had they of had the opportunity to be 'amongst the action' for the whole game, joining in the songs etc then i reckon that would have gone a long way to convincing them to come back again the next game.
Whereas many of us growing up could congregate in the Covered End, the Arthur Wait or the North Bank at Wham, none of the 'new kids' are really getting the opportunity to get in amongst the mix of the livliest bits of the ground, and i'm pretty sure that would be more of interest to them than the football on display.
Not sure what the answer is, maybe using the North Lower or the NW Quad more for kids comp distribution, i don't know.
Judging from my 1st visit in two years, the lower north could be a good place to seat various "oiks" groups. There certainly was enough room on Saturday and sitting groups of impressionable young nippers next to the acoustically superb Jimmy Seed has always been self defeating in my opinion, 600 Oldham (or the 40-50 that congregated together for a good sing song), proved that.
Will kids today or in the future ever have the life defining experiences that we did ? Standing in the covered end, literally swept off your feet in the crowd? no. Outside of football, will they ever have the pure joy of their first Raleigh Chopper ? no. Mass battles with mates and their Action Men or Airfix models ? no. The pure exhaulted joy of a Jamboree Bag ? no. They will just have their own life defining experiences that will have little or no merit to us, as we have lived and continue to do so in our own formative times....
As for football, I have ALL the answers. Well I don't and that was a lie. The fact is my and your football is no more, it is a fond and treasured memory. Our experiences in the past will always exagerate and distort our expectations in life and football and so it goes. After what I saw in person on Saturday, I personally despair of our game but I can still dream of seeing the Valley fully redevloped and full to the brim with Charlton supporters watching top flight football. I ain't giving up hope until the fat lady sings. Until then I am just an old fart that is deapairing of Autumn and all those unused conkers lying around, not being harvested by the Playstation generation. Each to their own.
[cite]Posted By: The Prince-e-Paul[/cite]my dad started taking me to away games from age 6. i've never been pressured to be charlton, ....................................... i was born a charlton fan not made!
I went a bit overboard but you get the gist of it.
I was taken to Charlton by my big brother. He never made me go but seeing as I had a choice between going out with my two brothers or staying in, I went. It probably wouldn't have mattered where they were going, I would have always gone with them. I guess that my relationship with my brothers was a bit like most with their fathers. Like one of my brothers now, his oldest son just wants to be with him and that's totally natural. So it isn't a case of 'forcing' at all but just them realising that it's the best option.
I remember a conversation at bedtime with my big brother. I was trying to choose whether to support Arsenal or Charlton, probably because my best friend was an Arsenal fan. He replied simply that it was up to me; I could be a Charlton fan and go with him every week, or be an Arsenal fan and stay at home.
They must be different down here and fair play to them. I live near Portsmouth and I would say 90% of the shirts etc I see are Pompey, Southampton not as much but still about 80%.
When I was at school, Charlton Manor 67-71 I can't remember anyone who didn't support Charlton, even the teachers!
At secondary school, Eltham Green 71-76 it was different, we had kids from Lewisham, Catford etc and had a few Millwall but also the top teams started appearing, still mainly Charlton or Millwall though.
Of course, replica kit wasn't so available in those days.
My own choice was much easier, I could go to Millwall with my old man or Charlton with my brothers.
I think that the kids are influenced by their parents and the parents want their kids to look cool and wearing a succesful team like Man U or Chelsea shirt helps with the image. Shame really cos kids would develop their own personality supporting a less successful but local team, it certainly did with all the people I know (well, most of them!) and turned them into right nutters with great personalities!
Of course, replica kit wasn't so available in those days. D-F-T.. quote Replica maybe not exactly, but you could buy Charlton 'kit' at Nobles in Deptford and Club sports at Woolwich. ( I remember the socks being really itchy!). I am sure it was pretty poor by todays standards, but I loved it, bit like your favourite 'Sloopy Joe' or 't shirt'....... jumpers for goalposts!
Yes Ken you could, the first Charlton kit I had was all red but it could have been Liverpool or any team in all red cos it had no badge and the shorts were a kind of nylon.
I remember Nobles, what a shop....full of wonders, I loved it!
Wouldn't worry about that picture. When I was a kid my Dad didn't really follow a team and so I naturally supported United because of Peter Schmeichel (being a goalkeeper). One day I went to the Valley with my sunday league team on a end of season day out and got my Dad to take me the week after. Since then its been Charlton all the way.
My first football top was bought in 1966, it was red with white neck and white cuffs and although it wasn't so sold as such it was so obviously Manure I detested it...
Drawing CAFC on it with a biro made it a lot better...
Having 3 young sons (the oldest is 4.5) and living in essex it would break me if they ever thought about following another team
I have no idea what I'd do cos they're bound to have spurs/west ham/arsenal mates when they're older and gonna wanna be with their mates rather than their old man
My 4.5 and 2.5 year old are trained into getting excited when they see the charlton badge but when they get a bit older they might see through it all and be lead to the brighter lights elsewhere
I think I'm gonna use the bribery routes suggested above cos no one in their right mind would chose to follow us atm :-)
I remember reading a Millwall thread just like this a few years ago and the gist of it was, "Hook the little buggers early. Why should they get away with a lifetime free of pain and embarrasment?" Same applies to us now. Kids will always identify with winners, it boosts their fragile self esteem and makes them feel good when their team wins. I said to my sprog "yeah support Arsenal as your number one team but come and see the Addicks." Wearing the Charlton shirt and attending matches at the Valley soon made the difference and he soon forgot about the gooners.
Just taken my girlfriends little brother down the park for a kickabout, even in Wigan there was loads of kids wearing arse/chelski kits, in Wigan ffs!!!! I know it's mainly a rugby town, but come on, even utd woudlnt be so bad!!
A kid has been coming to the home games on our coach for five seasons now and has rarely missed one. He's very fussy about which Charlton shirt he will wear and knows his stats about Charlton inside out. Met him in town and was surprised to see he was wearing a Man U shirt. Asked his mum later why he was wearing it and the answers seemed quite simple. He didn't want to be teased or have his street cred knocked. He's just too young to resist peer pressure at the moment. But he'll still want to be on the Charlton coach.
[cite]Posted By: stilladdicted[/cite]A kid has been coming to the home games on our coach for five seasons now and has rarely missed one. He's very fussy about which Charlton shirt he will wear and knows his stats about Charlton inside out. Met him in town and was surprised to see he was wearing a Man U shirt. Asked his mum later why he was wearing it and the answers seemed quite simple. He didn't want to be teased or have his street cred knocked. He's just too young to resist peer pressure at the moment. But he'll still want to be on the Charlton coach.
How old is this kid? I assume old enough to get a coach on his own?
[cite]Posted By: stilladdicted[/cite]A kid has been coming to the home games on our coach for five seasons now and has rarely missed one. He's very fussy about which Charlton shirt he will wear and knows his stats about Charlton inside out. Met him in town and was surprised to see he was wearing a Man U shirt. Asked his mum later why he was wearing it and the answers seemed quite simple. He didn't want to be teased or have his street cred knocked. He's just too young to resist peer pressure at the moment. But he'll still want to be on the Charlton coach.
How old is this kid? I assume old enough to get a coach on his own?
Comments
Up here in sunny Kidderminster I'd have been in Middle school at about that time - generally speaking you were either a Utd, Liverpool or Villa fan with the odd WBA or Wolves fan. Seem to remember there was one Blackburn fan and an Everton fan too, plus me the solitary Charlton fan and, weirdly considering it's the west Midlands, a Palace fan. Still remember him gloating cos they'd just spent a million pounds on .... wait for it ...... Bruce Dyer - I mean I was like soooooooooooo jealous. Anyway, I digress - there wasn't a single Kiddy Harriers Fan or at least not someone who listed them as their first team and as far I was aware I was the only kid who regularly attended matches.
It's always been this way - just the massive merchandising drive means all kids have a replica shirt these days so it's more obvious they don't support who they ought to.
I think it's a shame that more kids don't support someone shite - I think it's character building, learning to deal with dissappointment and having the courage to be a bit different to your mates.
Even he thought that was weird and he's only six.
He also won the player of the week award which aint bad considering one of the players kids was there
If their lucky one of their relatives will take them to a local game and they'll become a supporter who attends games reguarly and gains an insight into what the game is really about .
The unlucky ones will carry on supporting the big four and resign themselves to a lifetime of wearing overpriced polyster shirts as a fashion item, being mocked by real supporters of their chosen club and repeating the words of Andy Gray to colleagues on a Monday morning in a bid to make themselves sound knowledgable.
You can lead a horse to water...
Surely you need to exert your influence, you can do it, please do not let your kids support other teams.
I have 2 boys 7 & 5,the eldest comes to the valley with me now and seems to like it. 18 months ago he was saying he wanted a millwall shirt i said he will have to wait till he can buy it himself, but i will buy them Charlton kits every year. When we are at the game he can have burger fizzy drink whatever he wants , i'm just getting CAFC in his blood hopefully it will always be ,i will do what ever i can to keep them charlton fans lets face it they aint going nowhere else on their own.
He was our lucky mascot that season and we won every game we went to and we have some fantastic memories and tales to remember from our travels...
Poor sod was the only kid in his school without a Sunderland top too, I'd probably get done by social service these days for cruelty to children...
Last season we did a nostalgic return to our greatest victory at Carlisle, it was just like the old days except this time we were both pissed...
Hot bed for Charlton support in Bromley
If you want one of those other shirts then you lose 40 quid of pocket money: how many weeks' worth is that and is it worth it? Especially when a Charlton shirt comes free with a free trip to the cinema plus an ice cream for every day you wear it for more than 5 hours. If you wear it whilst playing football then you can stay up late.
Parenting is like real life: Reward and punishment.
Its the same down here, 80% are in Sky 4 kits (including my other son :-( ) or Madrid/Barca/Inter kits, half a dozen in Exeter City shirts plus my other 2.
Fair enough. But how do you propose to get children into the XXXL shirts that were available at the Superstore at the end of last season?
Kids will always support the 'big clubs' at first unless they get strong family direction, the key to me is getting them through the door at the vulnerable age (10-14) where they are likely to switch clubs and then stay with that club.
Kids of that age are not just attracted to the football, but more the atmosphere and everything surrounding it. Though stadium configuration probably ensures it, I'm not sure the approach of sticking them all down the empty end blocks of the East by the away fans help enforce the experience. Kids that age want to me amongst the singing and the swearing.
On Saturday there were about 6 lads aged 14, who must have had North Upper tickets spread around the stand, who congregated on the stair well at the top of J Block by the drum. I doubt one of these kids were Charlton fans, and were moved on to their seats elsewhere within 5 mins. Had they of had the opportunity to be 'amongst the action' for the whole game, joining in the songs etc then i reckon that would have gone a long way to convincing them to come back again the next game.
Whereas many of us growing up could congregate in the Covered End, the Arthur Wait or the North Bank at Wham, none of the 'new kids' are really getting the opportunity to get in amongst the mix of the livliest bits of the ground, and i'm pretty sure that would be more of interest to them than the football on display.
Not sure what the answer is, maybe using the North Lower or the NW Quad more for kids comp distribution, i don't know.
Will kids today or in the future ever have the life defining experiences that we did ? Standing in the covered end, literally swept off your feet in the crowd? no. Outside of football, will they ever have the pure joy of their first Raleigh Chopper ? no. Mass battles with mates and their Action Men or Airfix models ? no. The pure exhaulted joy of a Jamboree Bag ? no. They will just have their own life defining experiences that will have little or no merit to us, as we have lived and continue to do so in our own formative times....
As for football, I have ALL the answers. Well I don't and that was a lie. The fact is my and your football is no more, it is a fond and treasured memory. Our experiences in the past will always exagerate and distort our expectations in life and football and so it goes. After what I saw in person on Saturday, I personally despair of our game but I can still dream of seeing the Valley fully redevloped and full to the brim with Charlton supporters watching top flight football. I ain't giving up hope until the fat lady sings. Until then I am just an old fart that is deapairing of Autumn and all those unused conkers lying around, not being harvested by the Playstation generation. Each to their own.
I went a bit overboard but you get the gist of it.
I was taken to Charlton by my big brother. He never made me go but seeing as I had a choice between going out with my two brothers or staying in, I went. It probably wouldn't have mattered where they were going, I would have always gone with them. I guess that my relationship with my brothers was a bit like most with their fathers. Like one of my brothers now, his oldest son just wants to be with him and that's totally natural. So it isn't a case of 'forcing' at all but just them realising that it's the best option.
I remember a conversation at bedtime with my big brother. I was trying to choose whether to support Arsenal or Charlton, probably because my best friend was an Arsenal fan. He replied simply that it was up to me; I could be a Charlton fan and go with him every week, or be an Arsenal fan and stay at home.
When I was at school, Charlton Manor 67-71 I can't remember anyone who didn't support Charlton, even the teachers!
At secondary school, Eltham Green 71-76 it was different, we had kids from Lewisham, Catford etc and had a few Millwall but also the top teams started appearing, still mainly Charlton or Millwall though.
Of course, replica kit wasn't so available in those days.
My own choice was much easier, I could go to Millwall with my old man or Charlton with my brothers.
I think that the kids are influenced by their parents and the parents want their kids to look cool and wearing a succesful team like Man U or Chelsea shirt helps with the image. Shame really cos kids would develop their own personality supporting a less successful but local team, it certainly did with all the people I know (well, most of them!) and turned them into right nutters with great personalities!
Replica maybe not exactly, but you could buy Charlton 'kit' at Nobles in Deptford and Club sports at Woolwich. ( I remember the socks being really itchy!).
I am sure it was pretty poor by todays standards, but I loved it, bit like your favourite 'Sloopy Joe' or 't shirt'....... jumpers for goalposts!
I remember Nobles, what a shop....full of wonders, I loved it!
Drawing CAFC on it with a biro made it a lot better...
I have no idea what I'd do cos they're bound to have spurs/west ham/arsenal mates when they're older and gonna wanna be with their mates rather than their old man
My 4.5 and 2.5 year old are trained into getting excited when they see the charlton badge but when they get a bit older they might see through it all and be lead to the brighter lights elsewhere
I think I'm gonna use the bribery routes suggested above cos no one in their right mind would chose to follow us atm :-)
How old is this kid? I assume old enough to get a coach on his own?
Just 12yrs at the mo. - goes with g'dad.