What a wonderful evocative article GHF. I'm guessing you started your Charlton adventures around about the same time as me 1957, the year we nearly made it back first season losing at home to Blackburn in the last game. Some wonderful characters playing for us then, apart from John Hewie, in my somewhat befuddled memory, The great (sometimes) Willie Duff in goal, Don Townsend, Gordon Jago, Stuart Leary, Sam Lawrie, Johnny Summers et al. I wonder how much our future would have changed if we had indeed gone back up at the first time of asking.
Many thanks !! My first match was at home to PNE on 30th April 1955. I always maintain that I am a lifetime+ supporter as I was born on 29th May 1947, a mere 33 days after our Wembley triumph and therefore my ante-natal period was spent during our one and only successful campaign - surely that must count for something !!
Indeed some great players in the '57/58 side. An immediate return to Div 1 would have been great but I think it would have staved off our eventual demise only for a year or two. The complacency by then had become too deep-rooted. Mind you, what would it have been like to be at that Blackburn match and we'd won ....
Thank you GHF, it's been a long long time time since my Dad left me at two months old outside Crabble football ground in a pram! So much in life has changed but change, as you rightly observe, does not necessarily mean advancement! A good read Mister!
Glad you liked it ! I have to say I hate the way that football is going. Even in the almighty Prem if you're not one of the Big Four but merely a member of the Lower Sixteen at times it's as if you might as well not bother. The literal corruption in the game arising from gambling activities is bad enough, but in the long run it is the basic instability of Big Football which will topple the whole sorry edifice being so lovingly constructed by FIFA and UEFA that threatens us all. I've recently been to a few evening matches at Dulwich Hamlet, once with entry to the boardroom, and it is so much more enjoyable than say going to Wembley these days. And as for individuals, I'd willingly sacrifice a place amongst the big boys if it meant that we retained the likes of decent people like JR, SCP and the honourable Parky and avoided the appalling arrogance and slimy doings of such as the sainted Mourinho (always good for the next headline, bless him) and our own dear cast-off Mr Mildew. Oh no, you got me started again ....
Keith Peacock was my hero as a kid and I used to write to him. He always replied, hand written of course in those days. When I produced those same letters some 40 odd years later to show him at a POTY function, I think he was quite amazed that I still had them. To me he is Mr Charlton and his record is blemished only by that thankfully very short period at WHU.
I'm guessing he had a family to look after and needed a job, so why should his time at another club, whoever it was, blemish his record? Or did he do something terrible whilst there?
Keith Peacock was my hero as a kid and I used to write to him. He always replied, hand written of course in those days. When I produced those same letters some 40 odd years later to show him at a POTY function, I think he was quite amazed that I still had them. To me he is Mr Charlton and his record is blemished only by that thankfully very short period at WHU.
Mr Peacock also managed Gillingham for 6 years (and later, at Maidstone Utd when they were a League club).
And assistant manager at the Tampa Bay Rowdies under Gordon Jago. I can forgive him all those clubs, but WHU is an entirely different matter (I'd better add lol before AddicksAddick gets on my case again)
Not necessary, you've already told me you were joking.
Keith Peacock was my hero as a kid and I used to write to him. He always replied, hand written of course in those days. When I produced those same letters some 40 odd years later to show him at a POTY function, I think he was quite amazed that I still had them. To me he is Mr Charlton and his record is blemished only by that thankfully very short period at WHU.
Mr Peacock also managed Gillingham for 6 years (and later, at Maidstone Utd when they were a League club).
And assistant manager at the Tampa Bay Rowdies under Gordon Jago. I can forgive him all those clubs, but WHU is an entirely different matter (I'd better add lol before AddicksAddick gets on my case again)
Not necessary, you've already told me you were joking.
Harry Gregory for me...I later named my eldest boy after him...dont know why but he always seemd to put a shift in and made a good impression on a 8 year old kid. The 5-3 against Fulham and a 3-3 against QPR stand out from back then.
TEL - I guess that special team of 68/69 had a player to suit all tastes. Fulham 5-3 - I think they were on their way straight through Div 2 with two successive relegations. In my mind's eye I can still see the scathing figure of Johnny Haynes, hands on hips, shamelessly berating his unworthy team-mates as he looked on powerless to prevent his distinguished career from sliding slowly down the toilet. The previous year and the 3-3 with QPR - where on Earth did that result come from ??? Down 3-1 and with 10 men (no goalie), against a powerful and talented team (in 66/67 I had seen all but one of QPR's League Cup games, including the unbelievable Wembley win against WBA) - somehow in the last few minutes we came back from the brink to snatch a heroic draw. Quite magnificent, and such dramatic games always the sweeter in a London derby.
TEL - I guess that special team of 68/69 had a player to suit all tastes. Fulham 5-3 - I think they were on their way straight through Div 2 with two successive relegations. In my mind's eye I can still see the scathing figure of Johnny Haynes, hands on hips, shamelessly berating his unworthy team-mates as he looked on powerless to prevent his distinguished career from sliding slowly down the toilet. The previous year and the 3-3 with QPR - where on Earth did that result come from ??? Down 3-1 and with 10 men (no goalie), against a powerful and talented team (in 66/67 I had seen all but one of QPR's League Cup games, including the unbelievable Wembley win against WBA) - somehow in the last few minutes we came back from the brink to snatch a heroic draw. Quite magnificent, and such dramatic games always the sweeter in a London derby.
That team in 68/69 was quite amazing to my 8 year old eyes...there was just something about Harry Gregory's do or die attitude. Correct me if Im wrong, but didnt we have two penalties in that 5-3...one saved and one converted? I also remember the huge crowd we had against Derby, the short lived but most memorable cup run...my first and second away games...Selhurst and Highbury. That season completely sealed my fate......Addickted forever.
TEL - Fulham: there's nothing in Home and Away about a missed pen but we certainly did score one. For Derby there was indeed an impressive 30000 crowd. Huge crowds too at Selhurst and Highbury for the Cup games. In a few short weeks Ray Treacy scored three quite incredible goals - they alone would have been enough to Charltonise anybody !
Thank you GHF, it's been a long long time time since my Dad left me at two months old outside Crabble football ground in a pram! So much in life has changed but change, as you rightly observe, does not necessarily mean advancement! A good read Mister!
Glad you liked it ! I have to say I hate the way that football is going. Even in the almighty Prem if you're not one of the Big Four but merely a member of the Lower Sixteen at times it's as if you might as well not bother. The literal corruption in the game arising from gambling activities is bad enough, but in the long run it is the basic instability of Big Football which will topple the whole sorry edifice being so lovingly constructed by FIFA and UEFA that threatens us all. I've recently been to a few evening matches at Dulwich Hamlet, once with entry to the boardroom, and it is so much more enjoyable than say going to Wembley these days. And as for individuals, I'd willingly sacrifice a place amongst the big boys if it meant that we retained the likes of decent people like JR, SCP and the honourable Parky and avoided the appalling arrogance and slimy doings of such as the sainted Mourinho (always good for the next headline, bless him) and our own dear cast-off Mr Mildew. Oh no, you got me started again ....
GHF dureing the few times I now get to the Valley I always gaze down from the east stand and reflect on the important part our club has paid in the history of the game. Since my mother first took me to the Valley as a 3 yr old how many giants of the game have found their way down floyd road to do battle against our own hero's, players of the calilber of Frank Swift,Stan & Tom,Billy Wright,Jackie Milburn, LenShacklton,Peter Doherty,Raich Carter,Wilf Mannion,Leon Leuty,Joe Mercer Niel Franklin, the start of the Busby Babes,Johnny Haynes,Bill Shankleys first Liverpool team all the way to the teams and the top players we entertained during the Curbs years.What about the top mnagers that have sat in our main stand people like Matt Busby Billy Nicholson Ron Greenwood etc and not a howard wilkinson clipboard in sight!. Those were the days that a manger did his coaching in the dressing room and didnt have to shout instructions & abuse from the touchline whilst pushing over a spare part 4th official. We may not have won the e uropean cup (I like GHF hate the term champions league - should be prosecuted under the trades discription act ) but in 1947 we won the highest honour & were the first team to gain promotion through the leagues in succesive seasons & finish runners up in the old 1st division and no one is ever going to equal our achievement on the 21st december 1957 (unless its a far east betting scandle) . Now I do not expect our present national press to remember our history as I think most of the journalist attended the pol pot school of journalistic excellance where the clock was turned back to year zero -the start of the premier league . Perhaps one day the FA & FL will grow a pair of testicles & get the kind of leadership that our wonderful game deserves , meanwhile enjoy our wonderful football team CAFC..
I love the flicking the V story, it is what football is all about. The "product" has slowly been sanitised to the point where most of the fun has been taken out. Imagine if a player did it now days, he would be hung, drawn and quartered on MotD.
Dunno about that BWP told Glynne Jones to FO from the pitch a couple of seasons ago!!
I love the flicking the V story, it is what football is all about. The "product" has slowly been sanitised to the point where most of the fun has been taken out. Imagine if a player did it now days, he would be hung, drawn and quartered on MotD.
Dunno about that BWP told Glynne Jones to FO from the pitch a couple of seasons ago!!
Anybody else remember Craig Bellamy telling his then manager Graham Souness to FO live on tv when we played Newcastle one monday night in the prem
Fossdene - you are quite right that our club played an important part in the national game. For 20 years (war years aside) we were at the top table, despite which, and it will never be forgotten or forgiven, Sam Bartram was never selected to play for his country, just in the same way that Richard Rufus was overlooked in later years. Unforgiveably, the ambitions shown by the Glikstens pre-war were never followed up in what turned out to be golden years for football. And what precisely was the competition ? Crystal Palace (or do we call them Crystal Pulis now?) were well below our mark, as were that strange and unappealing tribe over in New Cross. Those maestros at West Ham were stuck in Div 2 from 1932 to 1958.
Nowadays the modern game is radically different to what it was then in those wonderful times, when its popularity was reflected in often colossal crowds. We played host to the greatest names in the sport, and of course we had some great players of our own, especially the South African guys. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and with it we can see that there was only a brief window when we could have permanently established ourselves as proper football giants. Even so, from time to time, when for a few short months we found ourselves doing well - Oct 63 and 68/69, for example - the bigger crowds soon started rolling up.
Oh what might have been, eh ?
(Btw, you haven't yet replied to my comments about your Hewie letter in VoTV. I would really like to know what you think, because I genuinely remember that letter so well and the thought of it always makes me smile.)
Keith Peacock was my hero as a kid and I used to write to him. He always replied, hand written of course in those days. When I produced those same letters some 40 odd years later to show him at a POTY function, I think he was quite amazed that I still had them. To me he is Mr Charlton and his record is blemished only by that thankfully very short period at WHU.
Mr Peacock also managed Gillingham for 6 years (and later, at Maidstone Utd when they were a League club).
Wasn't he voted Gillingham's best ever manager or something like that?
Comments
Indeed some great players in the '57/58 side. An immediate return to Div 1 would have been great but I think it would have staved off our eventual demise only for a year or two. The complacency by then had become too deep-rooted. Mind you, what would it have been like to be at that Blackburn match and we'd won ....
Sorry.
Yeah too much to ask eh.
TEL - I guess that special team of 68/69 had a player to suit all tastes. Fulham 5-3 - I think they were on their way straight through Div 2 with two successive relegations. In my mind's eye I can still see the scathing figure of Johnny Haynes, hands on hips, shamelessly berating his unworthy team-mates as he looked on powerless to prevent his distinguished career from sliding slowly down the toilet. The previous year and the 3-3 with QPR - where on Earth did that result come from ??? Down 3-1 and with 10 men (no goalie), against a powerful and talented team (in 66/67 I had seen all but one of QPR's League Cup games, including the unbelievable Wembley win against WBA) - somehow in the last few minutes we came back from the brink to snatch a heroic draw. Quite magnificent, and such dramatic games always the sweeter in a London derby.
TEL - Fulham: there's nothing in Home and Away about a missed pen but we certainly did score one. For Derby there was indeed an impressive 30000 crowd. Huge crowds too at Selhurst and Highbury for the Cup games. In a few short weeks Ray Treacy scored three quite incredible goals - they alone would have been enough to Charltonise anybody !
Nowadays the modern game is radically different to what it was then in those wonderful times, when its popularity was reflected in often colossal crowds. We played host to the greatest names in the sport, and of course we had some great players of our own, especially the South African guys. Hindsight is a beautiful thing, and with it we can see that there was only a brief window when we could have permanently established ourselves as proper football giants. Even so, from time to time, when for a few short months we found ourselves doing well - Oct 63 and 68/69, for example - the bigger crowds soon started rolling up.
Oh what might have been, eh ?
(Btw, you haven't yet replied to my comments about your Hewie letter in VoTV. I would really like to know what you think, because I genuinely remember that letter so well and the thought of it always makes me smile.)