As we celebrate 20 years back at The Valley today there will be no toast in the Charlton boardroom, no celebratory dinner in the magnificent north stand lounge. Fittingly, perhaps, it has been left to a group of supporters to organise their own Valley party in Bartram’s, while the players of 1992 are said to be holding an event of their own in a pub up the road.
The communications team will produce a special programme on Saturday, as the club did on the return itself and again ten years ago, and I don’t doubt it will be a worthy publication. But much of what it celebrates will be new to the people at the helm of our football club. There is no guarantee that they will understand or even care what it is about.
Out of four directors and two newly appointed senior managers, only one is a Charlton fan. Richard Murray is the last survivor from the boardroom line-up that returned to The Valley, and he must worry that he is seeing the club he oversaw as chairman and the people who supported him professionally and personally fall away.
Extraordinarily there has been a great deal of debate on Charlton Life in recent weeks and months about whether this matters. Surely, it is argued, all that has happened is that new owners are bringing in fresh ideas and upgrading the quality of management within the business, as they are entitled to do. It’s the football that matters. It’s time to move on.
And it is true that the team shows encouraging signs of establishing itself back in the Championship, which is all most of us want of it in the short term. Chris Powell is still here as manager despite rumours that his days were numbered, and who cares if the people running the club no longer engage with supporters like the old regime? It’s not as if we have any right to demand otherwise.
Have we so soon forgotten then that we are the supporters who fought for The Valley? Should not we, of all football fans, know better than to dismiss identity and passion as mere sentimentality and to accept any unexplained turn of events as simply the workings of “business”? Wasn’t that exactly how the apologists justified the move to Selhurst Park in 1985?
As a reminder then here’s what a more impartial observer, Simon Inglis, wrote in the 1996 edition of his Football Grounds of England and Wales.
“The Valley is . . . a monument to community, continuity and struggle. I doubt if the supporters or staff of any other club know or understand so well the geography or history of their home ground.
“ For example, in the commercial office, who do we meet? One of the former back to The Valley activists and fanzine writers, now working for the club. And who is the stadium manager? A former central heating engineer and ex-chair of the supporters’ club. Running Clubcall? A former Valley Party candidate. On the board? An elected representative of the Valley Investment Planners.
“These individuals, and the latest Charlton directors, are all of a one. Battlers and benefactors together, they may even agree privately that however much the club suffered, their seven-year exile may just have been the best thing that ever happened to Charlton Athletic. Once they were just another struggling club. Now, and possibly for all time, they are special.”
Those words were written well before Charlton reached the Premier League, but the truth of them remained intact for all of the following decade and more. Steve Dixon, Roy King and Mark Mansfield have long moved on, but they were followed by Ben Tegg, Ian Cartwright, Rachel Kleinman, Darren Risby, Wendy Perfect and others. The principle held firm and served the club well. A succession of supporters’ club officials served on the board. And around the table with them almost every other director was a long-serving supporter doing their bit.
For make no mistake, not just The Valley in 1992 and over the following decade, but the club itself was rebuilt by fans on the board working with fans in the stands and on the staff, in the local press, on the local radio and outside the ground selling fanzines.
There are other clubs today that are owned lock, stock and barrel by their supporters, and some like AFC Wimbledon that can be rightly proud of what they have achieved out of adversity. But none has yet risen to the heights that we did, driven on by the investment, commitment, ingenuity and, yes, the expertise of its supporters, who knew the Charlton business inside out.
The foremost of these was Peter Varney, managing director from 1997 and later chief executive until 2008. Like Richard Murray, he was a keen reader of Voice of The Valley. They understood that a business which understands and communicates with its customers is more likely to succeed than one that doesn’t.
In the mid-1990s and again in recent years, the club harnessed that local knowledge, to drive and hold up attendances and revenues, not only when the team was winning but also when it wasn’t.
continues . . .
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Comments
Of course it has to be acknowledged that things eventually went wrong on the pitch and that the Charlton supporters in the boardroom were very much to blame. They made bad appointments as manager and a poor choice to lead the business. Some good people lost their jobs as a result of relegation, but still those that remained were fired by the same spirit that had driven the club on for so many years and the damage was contained.
Investment was needed and acquired in 2011 and the team came surging back, but manager Powell’s passion for Charlton was surely as crucial an ingredient as the cash which funded the renaissance. Vital too was the part that Varney played in getting in the players he wanted.
It is certainly true that there is more than one formula for success, as clubs like Blackburn Rovers, Chelsea and Manchester City have shown. But there is no evidence that anyone with pockets as deep as their benefactors is funding Charlton.
Nor indeed is it even apparent that those now leading our club are principally motivated by dreams of success on the field. The board now comprises one Chelsea, one Manchester City and one Burnley supporter, alongside Murray. If their motivation is primarily financial then for now their objective is likely to be in line with ours, but what of the future? And how will they respond if the paradise of the Premier League is indefinitely postponed?
The recently departed chief executive Steve Kavanagh wasn’t a Charlton fan either, but over ten years he became committed to the cause and I can vouch that his integrity is beyond doubt.
I have the advantage of having met all our current directors, albeit one very recently, and have formed my own opinions of them over time. Regardless of that, it does seem very odd that some who do not know them at all appear determined to place their trust in them regardless of the pregnant silence surrounding the summer departures of Messrs Varney and Kavanagh.
No individual can ever be bigger than the club. And many people who were once prominent, like Roger Alwen and Martin Simons, to name two more important contributors to the Valley return, have now drifted to the margins. So it’s inevitable that the likes of Varney, Kavanagh and Everitt will recede as well. The point is who replaces them when they do.
For the record I don’t overlook the continuing roles at the club of my good friends and fellow supporters Mick Everett, Matt Wright and Dave Archer, as well as Colin Powell and Keith Peacock, former players who must also be considered fans. Neither do I say that because others aren’t Charlton fans that their contribution should necessarily be disregarded.
But can anyone honestly say with confidence of this Charlton, on the 20th anniversary of what I firmly believe to be our greatest achievement, that we are still “all of a one”. Is it really still the case that “Now, and possibly for all time, they are special”?
I no longer believe so. And because of that, it is time for me to pledge my support to the new Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust. I also say to anyone who is willing to listen to me that the spirit of 1992 is needed now as urgently as it ever was.
Yes, we are doing well on the pitch but you can't help but be aware that the people running the club are primarily after making money rather than for any philanthropic reasons. That just doesn't sit comfortably with me at all. I will also be joining the Trust to try & ensure that the club survives long after the current incumbents of the board room have moved onto other moneymaking ventures.
I am grateful to Messrs. TJ & co. They saved the club from almost certain extinction. Are they what I want for the future of the club? In the ideal world, no.
Airman, you will have noticed from some of the crass comments that some of your postings receive that not everybody on here agrees with you. I can only assume that these people have either forgotten about, or never really understood, the spirit of 1992.
Flipping heck, 20 years!
There is a connection between manager and supporters. And players to an element. But I suppose the knowledge that the club is now being run by businessmen, rather than businessmen who are also CAFC supporters, is the big change.
Slater being at Real Madrid v Man City and getting assaulted by the police was a bit galling given I think we were away at Derby that night. Surely as a chairman you attend your club's games, regardless of who you support. (Apologies if I have got that wrong and it didn't clash).
The last sentence of that article reads too ominously for my liking though.
As Red Pete says, it does seem that over time, people can forget the past. I truly hope we don't have to contend with a repeat of the events of 85 and the 7 subsequent years ever again.
1. No longer having people at the helm who are fans and who were involved in saving the club from a nightmare scenario
2. No longer having a board that is communicative
The first is unfortunate, but like the money thing probably unavoidable. I suspect that many, if not most, clubs nowadays have boards that are in it for reasons other than love of the club. The second is wholly unavoidable, it just needs someone at the top to do a bit of talking and a bit of listening. Sadly, being communicative doesn't seem to be one of the principles that they wan't to run "their" business. They can run it in a clandestine manner precisely because it is "their" business, and that's where the special feel really takes a nosedive.
Probably more croissant men then, I guess. Bloody prawn sandwich brigade.
I will make a speech at tonights launch and post it some time tomorrow giving my own views on this post and the future for the trust and fan participation at our club.
BR
and as i have said from day one it is all about the exit plan as to how good the new lot really are and what state we will be left in, clearly with the recent success on the pitch and investment in the youth academy they have brought and earnt some leeway
but only the blind can't see that there is smelly stuff happpening behind the scenes , varney and kavs silence , when leaving, does not bode well imo and the musings of Rick and the Wendy situation do not make good reading to me
it's better to be pro active than reactive and that is why i have joined the CAST
it doesn't just happen , the return in 1992 took some hard graft by some good people who LOVE Charlton and the heart of the club needs to beat forever cos i don't know who else i'd support , here's to the next 20 years at The Valley!
Our specialness could not stay at the heights reached during the 90s - once we'd become 'established' (hah!) in the Prem, while we were still a model and likeable club, the romance couldn't possibly last in quite the same way. I'm quite certain that at one point we were among the most boring of Prem clubs, with Curbs grinding out 2-0 away wins at Birmingham to our immense satisfaction and everyone else's apathy (try going to your local on a Monday night & having to ask them to put the TV on, so you can watch us play Blackburn away). Likewise, there's nothing special about being just another stop on Marcus Bent's tour of lucrative dressing rooms.
But none of this should detract from Airman's main point that the current management set up and lack of communication is not healthy (and as he, Prague & others point out, not good business generally). Hence the reason to support the Trust & keep up the pressure & scrutiny.
Admittedly it didn't help that the club screwed up so many things thereafter, but I think that was the day we became a normal football club again.
Here's to the next 20!
When Curbs left, another link to 1992 went, we became just another of those clubs who appoint and sack managers regularly.
Finally, the exit of the board and replacement by new outside investors. Inevitably, they would see things differently and want to change things, not having the same historical or emotional links with 1992.
Yes it's a bit sad, but not necessarily a completely bad thing, but the balance has to be kept between respecting your history, and changing for the future. Under Michael Gliksten, the club fossilised and slowly was dying, so sometimes change is necessary.
I agree pretty much with what DRF said.
However, I would offer the opposite answer and say ‘no’.
We are probably now no more unique than what any other fan thinks or could argue is unique about their club.
Be proud of your history, and rightly flag and celebrate it. But things evolve and you have to move with them otherwise you get left behind.
Whether it’s right or wrong that there is only one person on the board who is a fan, it’s certainly not an argument that there is only one person there from 20 years ago. Not many boardrooms maintain continuity over that period of time, and I don’t see that as a negative.
As for DRF’s (correct) point about it being the fans that make clubs special. There will be around 15,000 home fans there on Saturday against Brighton. How many of those were at that historic first game back at The Valley 20 years ago ?
1 in 10 ? Probably less than 1,500.
We still have our strong memories of that period, but it is not an umbrella majority feeling that runs through the active support base anymore. And things haven’t just changed through the last few months by losing a few red-blooded members or staff or board members, it has been eroding for years.
We haven’t had an active supporters club for over 10 years, and despite the return and despite the recent prem spell, in the last 20 years we still haven’t carved out any real territory are which you could call a ‘Charlton heartland’. More local kids are growing up Man U, Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs or Millwall fans than they are Charlton, and I can’t see that changing anytime soon.
So no, I don’t think we are a special club anymore, but not for the reasons stated.
And in London it's hard to be the dominant player anywhere. Round my way (Surrey/London border) for example, while Chelsea is clearly #1 (the training ground is very near), there are loads of fans of other teams
I guess history can help shape those values but the influence of wider society beyond Charlton has an effect too.
Whatever side of the "flare" thread you find yourself I think it can be stated with a fair degree of certainty that 20 years ago most Charlton fans would condemn such action. 900 odd posts are testimony to that certainly not being the case now.
So, 20 years on, what are "Charlton" values if indeed they still exist?
Is Charlton special still? Yes because of our history, pretty much everything you see at the Valley today is a result of that specialness, without it we probably not be here.
Perhaps we got lazy, the supporters club was allowed to decline, but every revolution gets old as does every generation, we couldn't form a Trust before when in retrospect we most needed it a few years ago - I rue this personally as I didn't get involved due to just having my first child at the time. But all is not lost.
We can unite, we can rebuild and revitalise. We don't have to do it with fireworks, sacking the board, tearing down the club house. We can do it gently and with quiet determination. We can work with whatever situation, ownership and environment.
Little by little we can rebuild our fan network and revitalise our supporters with new blood and new ideas. We can work with the club to help in whatever way we can to make our club a success and keep the wolves from the door in the bad times. Sure we will have something to say when things are not right but only if we are able to do so in possession of facts and answers, not just complaints or rumours however worrying they are.
All our fans can do this, it costs nothing to subscribe and nothing for under 16s, and only a measley fiver a year to own a piece of the Trust and become a full member. Ask yourself when you come on Charlton Life or have a chat down the pub, how much you take the club and yes its various benefactors over the years for granted. Can we really moan about them and their real or apparent motives if we do nothing to help ourselves.
This is our club, we just need to show it by what we do to help it and not just take it for granted year on year. No one else will do it for us.
I hope we can bridge the gulf that has opened between fans and owners, tonight we will celebrate what the union of those two interests can achieve with our launch and back to the Valley celebration. It is this that I will fight for as long as people who support the Trust want me to do that as Chair, and as long as I can in whatever capacity outside of that.
The building blocks are in place, all we need now is You. Spread the word.
BR
Would you care to expand on this, or is it yet another cry of dire portent.?
Correct that did happen 20 years ago. Maybe there were angry phone calls on Charlton Chat, or letters from Angry of Tunbridge Wells in Voice of The Valley back then.