I used to get that a lot in Asia. A typical conversation would go.. "Where you from?" "South London" "Oh...so what football team you support?" "Charlton" ""Charlton, Charlton, Charlton...oh you mean Chelsea?" "No, Charlton." "Chelsea?" "Oh sod it yes..."
'Who do you support?' 'Charlton' 'Ha?' 'Charlton' 'Oh, ye i remember them when they were in the prem... What league are they in now?'
GETS ME ANGRY
Or the equally as annoying "what happend, you used to be good" - I never really know what to say to this. Do they really want an indepth account of the last five years or should I just say "Ian Dowie" ?
Get it all the time here unfortunately.......then i mention El Kak and Bougherra who both play out here now and it sometimes clicks with them..........sometimes.
'Who do you support?' 'Charlton' 'Ha?' 'Charlton' 'Oh, ye i remember them when they were in the prem... What league are they in now?'
GETS ME ANGRY
Or the equally as annoying "what happend, you used to be good" - I never really know what to say to this. Do they really want an indepth account of the last five years or should I just say "Ian Dowie" ?
definitely this. I feel i need to record myself explaing the decline of Charlton Athletic and just give each person who asks me what happeed that tape/cd/mp3 download. maybe an indepth pamphlet on the subject might do.
I was wandering around Florence wearing a Charlton top when in the space of 20 minutes, three Italians came up to me seperately to tell me Di Canio had left for Lazio. That was before even some of my so called mates back home had texted me!
I couldn't believe Italians would recognise a Charlton kit.
I visited a local company recently & was chatting to the CEO, who was an Arab. We were talking about football & he confessed to being a Manchester Utd fan as they all do. And then he added, totally out of the blue, that he also had a real soft spot for a team called Charlton who played at a place called the Valley!! Turned out he had lived in Blackheath for 3 years & had been a regular visitor during our Premiership years. Absolutely amazing.
Another strange thing about living out here is the daily reminder I get about our near miss with Zabeel. For those that don't know, Zabeel is the name of the exclusive district in Dubai where the ruling family live in a selection of huge palaces. My daily commute to work takes me down Zabeel Road & right through the middle of Zabeel. Every day I still think, if only!
Another strange thing about living out here is the daily reminder I get about our near miss with Zabeel. For those that don't know, Zabeel is the name of the exclusive district in Dubai where the ruling family live in a selection of huge palaces. My daily commute to work takes me down Zabeel Road & right through the middle of Zabeel. Every day I still think, if only!
I remember seeing someone in a charlton shirt when I was in America I got so excited about it I felt the need to shout hello to him. Poor guy thought I was crazy though couldn't get away fast enough
Last year whilst in Romania, my translator introduced me to her husband. She explained that he didn't speak any English but loved football. He was avid Steaua Bucharest supporter. He said something to me and she translated that he asked which team I supported. I said Charlton and he immediately said in English, " Ah The Valley SE7 "
I visited a local company recently & was chatting to the CEO, who was an Arab. We were talking about football & he confessed to being a Manchester Utd fan as they all do. And then he added, totally out of the blue, that he also had a real soft spot for a team called Charlton who played at a place called the Valley!! Turned out he had lived in Blackheath for 3 years & had been a regular visitor during our Premiership years. Absolutely amazing.
I had something similar in Singapore once - a taxi driver told me that his English team was Charlton, naturally I thought he was trying to keep a customer happy but it turns out he'd watched the play off final and adopted us as his club.
I visited a local company recently & was chatting to the CEO, who was an Arab. We were talking about football & he confessed to being a Manchester Utd fan as they all do. And then he added, totally out of the blue, that he also had a real soft spot for a team called Charlton who played at a place called the Valley!! Turned out he had lived in Blackheath for 3 years & had been a regular visitor during our Premiership years. Absolutely amazing.
I had something similar in Singapore once - a taxi driver told me that his English team was Charlton, naturally I thought he was trying to keep a customer happy but it turns out he'd watched the play off final and adopted us as his club.
I've had them all too, Cheltenham FFS! The Chelsea one always makes me laugh. Living in Surrey I tend to get asked who I support and when I say "Charlton" they say "were they local to you at some point?" to which I respond "are you local to Chelsea/Arsenal/Liverpool/Manchester United etc" then they go quiet and then I ramble on about supporting my team through thick and thin/going to real matches in an actual stadium etc and most of them can't grasp the concept and go yet quieter, moral victory achieved I make my excuses and leave. I just put it down to Sky fed glory grabbers who's memory only goes as far back as Chelsea's last managerial change. Knowledgeable genuine football people mostly have only good things to say about Charlton (even real Chelsea fans!!).
Comments
No, i get the:
'Who do you support?'
'Charlton'
'Ha?'
'Charlton'
'Oh, ye i remember them when they were in the prem... What league are they in now?'
GETS ME ANGRY
A typical conversation would go..
"Where you from?"
"South London"
"Oh...so what football team you support?"
"Charlton"
""Charlton, Charlton, Charlton...oh you mean Chelsea?"
"No, Charlton."
"Chelsea?"
"Oh sod it yes..."
'who do u support?'
'charlton'
'ok, but whos ur prem team?'
*hand over eyes*
I get the reply "Cheltenham"
Even my Nan still thinks I support Cheltenham.
definitely this. I feel i need to record myself explaing the decline of Charlton Athletic and just give each person who asks me what happeed that tape/cd/mp3 download. maybe an indepth pamphlet on the subject might do.
example conversation:
"haha, palace lost at the weekend!"
"Yeah, but we are in the championship, which league are you in?"
Come on SCP, lets make it end next year!
Watching a match in a bar in Milan, the fella serving says to me "oo you support in England?"
"Charlton"
Pause. Big smile spreads across face.
"Oh yeah, Paolo di Canio!"
I bought more beer to show I was impressed, well, its rude not to.
I couldn't believe Italians would recognise a Charlton kit.
I do get league 1 all the time at school so I can't wait to say that to Millwall when we go up and they go down.
The gospel has spread!
I just put it down to Sky fed glory grabbers who's memory only goes as far back as Chelsea's last managerial change. Knowledgeable genuine football people mostly have only good things to say about Charlton (even real Chelsea fans!!).
"Proper football".
He didn't say anything else about it, and he didn't need to. I almost cried.