Following a 3-0 home victory over Reading on Good Friday, the Addicks travelled to Vale Park for this Easter Monday fixture boosted by a travelling support of around 3,500, most of whom travelled at the expense of the club.
Monday 13th April 1998. Port Vale 0 (0) Charlton Athletic 1 (0) (Mendonca (pen) 73) Vale Park. Att: 9,973
Port Vale: Musslewhite, Carragher (Corden 77), Tankard, Bogie, Glover, Barnett, Ainsworth, Talbot, Mills, Naylor (Folye 81), Jansson. Unused sub: Porter.
Charlton: Illic, Mills, Barness, K. Jones, Rufus (Brown 40), Youds, Newton, Kinsella, S. Jones, Mendonca, Heaney (Mortimer 60 (Emblen 87)).
Referee E Wolstenholme (Blackburn)
Penalty awared against Tankard for a trip on Mills.
This was Charlton's 6th straight win on the spin. They would go on to record another two, beating the previous match winning spell during Mike Baileys 80-81 promotion season.
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Comments
Had one break into the box by Mills, penalty, game over. Mate stewarded a nice double decker bus from Bexleyheath and managed to get a load of us together.
Said to the missus on the way home 'if we get promoted, i'm giving up smoking'
erm....
It started bloody snowing at one point (or sleeting at least)
I remember the local pikeys chucking paper bags full of dogshit at our coach on the way home - unsurpirsing really since they absolutely rinsed us for most of the game, and if they'd had anyone more mobile than that useless lump Lee mills up front they'd have won by three or four.
Our coach driver took me and the wife (to be) on a scenic tour of north and east London on the way back - didn't get back to Chalrton until about 11:30.
But character showed through and super Clive slotted a pen in front of us all.
And I remember it snowing in the car park after the game too!
I think this may have been the first time a club had 'bussed' supporters for important matches. It seems to have become a blueprint for others to follow.
This may have been my eldest sons first away game at 11 years old. He found it so funny when the tannoy requested all Charlton fans to sit down was met with "Stand up, if you're going up".