Allan Simonsen.....

Tarn

Who had the pleasure of seeing this great footballer represent Chrlton in the 80's. Was he as good as they said? I heard that Charlton's sponsors, FADS, couldn't afford to pay him every week and so they had to choose which games he played in. .... Is this true?

Arry Addick

I had the pleasure...he stuck out like a sore thumb! Way too good for us, but what an impact he had...9 goals in 16 games.

FADS were the shirt sponsors, but it was Marman (owned by then chairman Mark Hulyer) that run out of cash! The attendance levels they were expecting never materialised and we had to release him. The whole episode nearly bankrupt the club....no idea whether Barcelona received the full transfer fee (£300k??).

Cardinal Sin

Me! Just as good as they said, although he was too good for our side at the time - hardly anyone was on his wavelength. I believe his agent told him not to get on the coach to one away game because he hadn't been paid. The readies were forthcoming in cash and he travelled and played. I think it's fair to say we had a Del-Boy running the club at the time and cash-flow was invariably a challenge. He thought like a fan and believed by signing Simonsen alone, fans would return in their tens of thousands and our fortunes would change.

Harry Gregory

oh he was as good believe me, unfortunately some of the players around him were not clever enough to read his play. I only saw him four times or so play for Charlton but boy was he good.

Harry Gregory

Strangely enough I have had a good drink with Mark Hulyer and his drinking buddy, at the time, Eddie Youds on Blackheath a few years ago. I did not mention his tenure as chairman and neither did he but he was still season-ticket holder in the late nineties.

Goonerhater

It will never happen again that a European footballer of the year will be in a CAFC team. Those of us that saw him were so lucky. 2,500 turned out for a silly naff all reserve game against Swansea when he first came to us. If the press in London hadnt been taking the usual piss out of us and got on board it good have worked. Well done Mark H for giving us a true great to watch all be it briefly.
He was 6 feet and 5 mins in thought before anyone else at the club or in that division. 5/4 and scored the winning goal in E.U Cup Final with his head. A great player not like the majority of the over paid tossers today who just think they are great.

PragueAddick

5-2 demoliton of Chelsea. Pretty much single-handed. Without him we'd have lost, but instead it was one of the best Charlton performances I've seen.

mid_life_crisis

Absolute class player and great to watch but, unsurprisingly, his team-mates lacked his speed of thought and vision.

Still, it was a privilege to see him play for us.

cblock

Remember him selling Terry Butcher a superb dummy when Ipswich were div1,prpoper div1 and butcher an England
international, in fa cup at the valley, think we lost 3-2

Oggy Red

What a quality player ........his first touch and tight control was a joy to watch. He was tiny, too.

Mr Prague Addick mentions that 5-2 Chelsea home game.

2-2 at half-time, I think I remember .....but in that 2nd half, Simmo's performance was out of this world.
Scored twice, one goal when receiving the ball just inside the box with his back to goal, killed the ball instantly, spun leaving a lunging defender for dead and weaved past another two desperate challenges and placed the ball on the floor in the tightest of angles between keeper and post - all in the space of about 5 yards, no kidding.

He could hit a shot from outside the box too, I think it was his Charlton debut (which we lost 3-2 at home to Boro),
where he struck the ball from 20 yards with virtually no backlift - keeper had no chance. Sweet.

LoOkOuT

Oggy mate, you're thinking of Jesper Blomqvist ;-)

LargeAddick

[cite]Posted By: mid_life_crisis[/cite]Absolute class player and great to watch but, unsurprisingly, his team-mates lacked his speed of thought and vision.

now, you think the Manager would have done the decent thing and dropped him, don't you? Thank God Parky wasn't in charge at the time eh.

Leroy Ambrose

I was still quite young then (9/10) but had the bizarre experience of watching him play for Barca one season and Charlton the next ) I think it was a half-term we went over to see my nan (sadly now departed) and I went with my uncles to see Barca beat Valencia (I think) - Simonsen played alongside Maradona and the noise of the stadium was absolutely overwhelming. I always wondered what it must have been like for him to turn out in a stadium that was never more than a quarter full - though I guess when he went to some of the further-flung reaches of Spain with Barca there were plenty of stadiums half-empty. My best memory of him for Charlton is putting slide-rule passes through for players who were so far off his wavelength it was comical )

BrentfordAddick

Yep. The reserves against Swansea with the police van there. the Chelsea, all that. Would love to know how it looked from his perspective.

Paul Walsh 79

[cite]Posted By: PragueAddick[/cite]5-2 demoliton of Chelsea. Pretty much single-handed. Without him we'd have lost, but instead it was one of the best Charlton performances I've seen.

I remember him picking the ball in our half and dribbling and running past four Chelsea defenders and then finishing.After the humiliation some Chelsea Tossers damaged his sponsored car .It was empty of course.His goal against Newcastle when Keegan played was pure class.That was two European Footballers of the Year playing each other
at the Valley.
He was brilliant even though he was carrying an injury when he joined us.

Pedro45

I bumped into him (literally) after that Chelsea game in a pub in Chislehurst (he lived in Yester Road) and had a chat to him. He was shy, very modest and willing to chat but that was his penultimate home game for Charlton, as the money ran out. The highlights were of course that game, plus the 3-2 defeat to (top of the league) Ipswich in the cup (to a last minute goal after being two up);) his debut goal in a 3-2 loss to Middlesboro; the one he scored in a 2-0 televised home win against Newcastle (when Keegan was meant play but was injured); a fantastic goal at Bolton in a 4-1 loss; and sadly, the 7-1 loss to Burnley away when Hales and Aizlewood were sent off. Great player, poor team; strangely, one of the only players who could understand what he was trying to do was Terry Bullivant, who was useless prior to his arrival and after he left.

allez les addicks

Well before my time but 9 goals in 16 appearances ain't too bad.....

Who would people that saw him say he was most like? Di canio?

east terrace peanuts

The Swansea reserve game was a special memory......who is he most like?.....of the top of my head .....Zola...?

Simonsen

His finishing was brilliant. The two goals against Chelsea were pretty similar and belonged to a different planet. He could also run with the ball and his ability to take a ball and turn in one movement took him to the next level. He didn't really seem to have a position, one minute he'd be in midfield, next minute he was out on the wing, next he was in the box. If we could only have had a player like him when we were in the Premier League, playing with players like Jensen etc, then we'd have been quite some force. I'd say on balance, he's the best I've ever seen at Charlton.

TEL

Great player just 2 passes in front of the rest of his team mates. Thanks for the memories

Kap10

[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]

[cite]Posted By: mid_life_crisis[/cite]Absolute class player and great to watch but, unsurprisingly, his team-mates lacked his speed of thought and vision.

now, you think the Manager would have done the decent thing and dropped him, don't you? Thank God Parky wasn't in charge at the time eh.

Lol, Behave!!!

Richard J

The best player I've seen play for us and would be the first name on my all time team. I felt going forward both Derek Hales and Carl Harris linked well with him ,but agree there were not many others who could not understand him . The Chelsea game was one of the best individual performances I've seen from a Charlton player.

I always felt it was a shame that he wasn't around for Lennie's first division team between 86/90 .I believe Simonsen there would have made a similar impact to Di Canio nearly 20 years later .

Paul Walsh 79

There is a similiarity with Di Canio.Both extremely gifted but at his best Simmo could be more comparable to DelPiero and Zola.
Thanks for the memories.

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: Simonsen[/cite]I'd say on balance, he's the best I've ever seen at Charlton.

With that user name, you're definitely biased!

charltonkeston

Best player I have ever seen in a Charlton shirt.

Shame, it was like using a race horse as a cart horse

Oggy Red

[cite]Posted By: LoOkOuT[/cite]Oggy mate, you're thinking of Jesper Blomqvist ;-)

No, LoOkie .......Simmo didn't have a beard.

Addickted

As Pedro said - he lived in The Fo'castle in Yester Road and was my neighbour. I used to go jogging with him regularly on a Sunday back when I could jog. Really decent bloke, but a least a foot shorter than me. Best technical player I've ever seen at Charlton.

Helen Shapiro now lives in his old house.

Redmidland

Without doubt the best player I've seen in a Charlton shirt. He oozed class and as others have said we didnt have a team that could match his skill, speed of thought and passing ability. His game against Newcastle was just pure class - after all the hype of Simonsen v's Keegan, and against Chelsea.....well its been well documented by others on here. Such a pity he came to us at the wrong time.....money running out etc. If I remember rightly I think it was Alan Green on the forerunner, I believe, to 5 live that said something along the lines of "its just a publicity stunt, what a mess football must be in if a team like Charlton have agreed to buy the European footballer of the year yet it is well known they are skint and a poor team" that is not an exact quote.
Pity indeed he didnt stay longer, but at least when he was with us he gave it everything he could.

sygonrima

I only got to see him the once Chelsea 5-2. He never got out of first gear, pretty much walked throughout the entire game, and was in such a different class to the other 21 players on the pitch it was impossible to rate how good he was.

Bedsaddick

Without a doubt one of the best players i ever saw play for The Addicks. Far to good for us at the time.

Nicholas

Just in case anyone is interested, on sky anytime there is a programme called football transfers that shocked the world. There is a decent bit about Simonesen's transfer to us in 1982.