Thanks Dave. I'll definitely visit England and go to a game or two. It's been on my to-do list for a long long time. It may not happen in the near future because of my current work schedule but I'm 100% sure it will happen one day. Some posters say it's like a religion and I absolutely agree. I think my trip will be like a pilgrimage.
As a younger fan I don't have the same memories as many on here. I was taken to my first game at the age of 4 in 1999 and that was that.
There is certainly something special about Charlton and it is hard to put into words. Charlton is a living, breathing thing. It binds people together with a sense of belonging, a common cause. That sense of history is huge as well, I didn't live through many of the events mentioned but they still mean a huge amount to me. The pride at what the fans of this club achieved, and what this small club from South East London has done is just huge. There is also that sense of family, the way that at a Charlton game I will always end up speaking to complete strangers (something someone with my personality would never normally do) but because we are all linked by Charlton it is a completely normal thing to do. And nothing beats that last minute winner feeling, when you are hugging someone you barely know and probably wouldn't even speak to if you met outside of football.
As I said it's hard to put it into words but this captures some of what it means to me.
Great grandfather, grandparents, parents, self and siblings and my children all attended matches at The Valley and I feel a link to them every time I visit which goes beyond the football.
Every so often in amongst the dross there would be genuinely memorable moments. My late father told me of how at the age of 10 he stood as part of 75,031 on the big East Terrace with his parents, grandparents and other family members. They also witnessed our FA Cup win at Wembley in 1947.
The equivalent for me was the play off final in 1998 to which I took my three daughters. The older two had been to The Valley commencing with the 4-3 win against a Southend side including Chris Powell when the East Stand was built. The younger one's first game at the age of 7 was the Wembley Final! We witnessed an unforgettable triumph and celebrated with my brother and his wife. My youngest daughter's second game was a pre season friendly away at Sittingbourne! Charlton encapsulated in two matches.
Even family members whom rarely attended matches have Charlton in their blood. My avatar on here shows my late mother wearing a Charlton hat. My fiercely left wing feminist sister will forever be haunted by a photograph from the Kentish Independent captioned: 'Dick Tydeman meets this pretty fan' taken at a Club Open Day which we would have taken our much younger brother to.
Thanks to Duchatelet and Meire having no playing ambition for the Club I cannot see my two little grandsons becoming sixth generation fans when old enough to attend as the Club will have been effectively destroyed by then. Where will their sporadic Wembley trips and similar come from?
Duchatelet and Meire's assault on MY family and tradition is partly why I cannot get too animated about the other thread and the visit to Meire's house.
Amazing stuff. It's wonderful to read all of this. This thread on it's own is worth a book already. Please, keep the stories coming: best read of the year so far. Thanks all for contributing!
I'm a relative latecomer. My mum used to watch Charlton with her Dad (presumably in the 30s/40s) but I never really talked to her about it. My Dad changed allegiance all the time and crucially didn't take me to any games. Circumstances meant I never got to any games when I was younger and when I hit my mid-teens other things took over. I wouldn't have said I supported the club then, because, well I didn't.
As time went on, I had mates who went but still was very much an armchair fan. What I found was that I started taking an interest in how Charlton were doing, slowly, gradually. When my own kids wanted to go to a game, we came to see Charlton.
I really enjoyed it and my daughter is also now an Addick. I may have been unaware of it for years, but Charlton picked me as much if not more than the other way round. I am already dreading next season, as I won't be renewing while these owners are here and I'm worried about where that emotional connection will go.
I also can't get the same feeling going anywhere else. I like Brighton, want them to go up, but I don't support them. I don't care about who their players are in the same way that I care about Charlton's. I'm going to try and go to more non-league games next season. I enjoy the atmosphere at Dulwich, I enjoy the beer there too, but would struggle to name more than a couple of players. It's fun, but it's not the same.
1. Huddersfield 7-6 with 10 men after 4-1 down 2. The only football club to create a political party to challenge bureaucratic policy 3. One of few clubs to sucessfully return to their original home after fan's campaign 4. As a minor Prem club, have a journeyman player get England caps at 30 + 5. Said player returns as successful manager. After wins does Tunnell Jumps!! 6. Winners of what most (non-CAFC) pundits describe as the greatest game at Wembley 7. The sheer inventiveness of CARD esp "More than just a toy" 8. The humour and comeradery of Charlton Life 9. Have two passionate players get sent off for fighting each other
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Great grandfather, grandparents, parents, self and siblings and my children all attended matches at The Valley and I feel a link to them every time I visit which goes beyond the football.
Every so often in amongst the dross there would be genuinely memorable moments. My late father told me of how at the age of 10 he stood as part of 75,031 on the big East Terrace with his parents, grandparents and other family members. They also witnessed our FA Cup win at Wembley in 1947.
The equivalent for me was the play off final in 1998 to which I took my three daughters. The older two had been to The Valley commencing with the 4-3 win against a Southend side including Chris Powell when the East Stand was built. The younger one's first game at the age of 7 was the Wembley Final! We witnessed an unforgettable triumph and celebrated with my brother and his wife. My youngest daughter's second game was a pre season friendly away at Sittingbourne! Charlton encapsulated in two matches.
Even family members whom rarely attended matches have Charlton in their blood. My avatar on here shows my late mother wearing a Charlton hat. My fiercely left wing feminist sister will forever be haunted by a photograph from the Kentish Independent captioned: 'Dick Tydeman meets this pretty fan' taken at a Club Open Day which we would have taken our much younger brother to.
Thanks to Duchatelet and Meire having no playing ambition for the Club I cannot see my two little grandsons becoming sixth generation fans when old enough to attend as the Club will have been effectively destroyed by then. Where will their sporadic Wembley trips and similar come from?
Duchatelet and Meire's assault on MY family and tradition is partly why I cannot get too animated about the other thread and the visit to Meire's house.
I guess there's lots of reasons: Memories of the good times; feelings of having paid one's dues in the bad times; new friends made; personal traditions built. For me though, as others have stated, family is the big thing. My dad took me to The Valley and I, in turn, took my boys. Sadly my dad died too young to ever meet them but for me Charlton is an invisible thread linking my dad with his grandsons.
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
I come from an Arsenal supporting family, as my dad was born in Holloway Road, was a gooner myself as a kid, first went to the Valley in 1979 with friends and was hooked. Can't explain it, been through every emotion with this club, cried, laughed, despair, utter joy, bled, felt the full weight of the law, had some crazy away days/weekends. It's in my blood and is part of me. Charlton is like a family to me, all my pals, corny but true.
I wonder if we have really managed to explain to Paul two things:
1. Is Charlton really any different from any other British club that has faced adversity ?
Isn't it likely that Portsmouth supporters would say many of the same things that have been expressed on this thread so eloquently ? Swansea fans who put money into the club when they were in League 2 ? I have a good friend who is a Hearts fan - they've been through all the madness of the Romanov ownership. Although we'd like to think we are unique, isn't this just a tad romantic ? Are we really any different ?
Or is it the creation of The Valley Party which does make a difference ? : 2. Why does football play a more central part in the lives of British people than it does (according to Paul) in Holland ?
In "The Game of our Lives - the meaning and making of English football" David Goldblatt quotes Eric Cantona describing his first goal in England. "At the exact moment when the ball entered the net the thousands of supporters who were behind the goal seemed to dive towards the pitch. Only in England could such ecstasy be found" Why ? Is there something special about English (British ?) culture or recent history which explains this ?
I wonder if we have really managed to explain to Paul two things:
1. Is Charlton really any different from any other British club that has faced adversity ?
Isn't it likely that Portsmouth supporters would say many of the same things that have been expressed on this thread so eloquently ? Swansea fans who put money into the club when they were in League 2 ? I have a good friend who is a Hearts fan - they've been through all the madness of the Romanov ownership. Although we'd like to think we are unique, isn't this just a tad romantic ? Are we really any different ?
Or is it the creation of The Valley Party which does make a difference ? : 2. Why does football play a more central part in the lives of British people than it does (according to Paul) in Holland ?
In "The Game of our Lives - the meaning and making of English football" David Goldblatt quotes Eric Cantona describing his first goal in England. "At the exact moment when the ball entered the net the thousands of supporters who were behind the goal seemed to dive towards the pitch. Only in England could such ecstasy be found" Why ? Is there something special about English (British ?) culture or recent history which explains this ?
That sure is. 1)What makes Charlton different compared to other English footballclubs? Probably at Shrewsbury, Blackpool or Portsmouth they will tell some of the same stories. That familything, the willing to crowdfund, etc. At Millwall, they tend to solve things, mainly in the past, with a slight touch of agression and violence. At Charlton, they seem to find a peacefull, decent way to protest.
I'm still trying to find out why the presence of a Belgian owner has so much impact on the fans. It's a bit of a contradiction, when reading that you're going to Charlton because it's because you love the family-experience, to see friends, to feel the love from the past at Matchdays. Does the presence of a Belgian bungle weigh heavier than the 'social pleasure' you experience on a matchday? And why gather for a protest, or is it also a form of 'banter' to gathet with 5000 supporters? In other words: who can't get a proper nightrest because of Duchâtelet?
I wonder if we have really managed to explain to Paul two things:
1. Is Charlton really any different from any other British club that has faced adversity ?
Isn't it likely that Portsmouth supporters would say many of the same things that have been expressed on this thread so eloquently ? Swansea fans who put money into the club when they were in League 2 ? I have a good friend who is a Hearts fan - they've been through all the madness of the Romanov ownership. Although we'd like to think we are unique, isn't this just a tad romantic ? Are we really any different ?
Or is it the creation of The Valley Party which does make a difference ? : 2. Why does football play a more central part in the lives of British people than it does (according to Paul) in Holland ?
In "The Game of our Lives - the meaning and making of English football" David Goldblatt quotes Eric Cantona describing his first goal in England. "At the exact moment when the ball entered the net the thousands of supporters who were behind the goal seemed to dive towards the pitch. Only in England could such ecstasy be found" Why ? Is there something special about English (British ?) culture or recent history which explains this ?
That sure is. 1)What makes Charlton different compared to other English footballclubs? Probably at Shrewsbury, Blackpool or Portsmouth they will tell some of the same stories. That familything, the willing to crowdfund, etc. At Millwall, they tend to solve things, mainly in the past, with a slight touch of agression and violence. At Charlton, they seem to find a peacefull, decent way to protest.
I'm still trying to find out why the presence of a Belgian owner has so much impact on the fans. It's a bit of a contradiction, when reading that you're going to Charlton because it's because you love the family-experience, to see friends, to feel the love from the past at Matchdays. Does the presence of a Belgian bungle weigh heavier than the 'social pleasure' you experience on a matchday? And why gather for a protest, or is it also a form of 'banter' to gathet with 5000 supporters? In other words: who can't get a proper nightrest because of Duchâtelet?
Won't have time to answer this fully because just about to make my way to the ground but I can't understand, given the fullness of the previous replies, why this question is being asked. Clearly, this has absolutely nothing to do with Duchatelet being Belgian (it wouldn't matter if he was Martian) but everything to do with his total and utter lack of understanding of what is required in the stewardship of a football club. Read the articles by Oliver Kay (today's Times) amd Rick Everitt in VOTV online and you might get a better grip on what the protests are about.
I've come out of lurking for my first post on CL..
I've rewritten this so many times because it's really hard to put into words why I feel like I do about Charlton.
It's a massive part of my family, as it is for most people here. Every other Saturday, we're at Charlton. You don't really get a choice of which team to support. But if I did, I'd still pick Charlton.
Just going past the Valley on the train into work every morning makes me inexplicably happy for those few seconds (giving a surreptitious middle finger when I go past the Den also makes me happy).
For me, protesting isn't 'banter'. It's a fight for our club, that means so much to so many people and to so many families. We won't stand by and let it be taken from us, thousands of people who love the same underdog club as much as I do.
If there's one thing this regime has done, it's made me even prouder to be a Charlton fan. To see so many thousands of people come every other week to fight for their club makes me so proud. We'll be here long after they've gone, and that makes me proud too.
I wonder if we have really managed to explain to Paul two things:
1. Is Charlton really any different from any other British club that has faced adversity ?
Isn't it likely that Portsmouth supporters would say many of the same things that have been expressed on this thread so eloquently ? Swansea fans who put money into the club when they were in League 2 ? I have a good friend who is a Hearts fan - they've been through all the madness of the Romanov ownership. Although we'd like to think we are unique, isn't this just a tad romantic ? Are we really any different ?
Or is it the creation of The Valley Party which does make a difference ? : 2. Why does football play a more central part in the lives of British people than it does (according to Paul) in Holland ?
In "The Game of our Lives - the meaning and making of English football" David Goldblatt quotes Eric Cantona describing his first goal in England. "At the exact moment when the ball entered the net the thousands of supporters who were behind the goal seemed to dive towards the pitch. Only in England could such ecstasy be found" Why ? Is there something special about English (British ?) culture or recent history which explains this ?
That sure is. 1)What makes Charlton different compared to other English footballclubs? Probably at Shrewsbury, Blackpool or Portsmouth they will tell some of the same stories. That familything, the willing to crowdfund, etc. At Millwall, they tend to solve things, mainly in the past, with a slight touch of agression and violence. At Charlton, they seem to find a peacefull, decent way to protest.
I'm still trying to find out why the presence of a Belgian owner has so much impact on the fans. It's a bit of a contradiction, when reading that you're going to Charlton because it's because you love the family-experience, to see friends, to feel the love from the past at Matchdays. Does the presence of a Belgian bungle weigh heavier than the 'social pleasure' you experience on a matchday? And why gather for a protest, or is it also a form of 'banter' to gathet with 5000 supporters? In other words: who can't get a proper nightrest because of Duchâtelet?
It has nothing to do with the fact that he is Belgian. To be completely honest, I was very happy when I first heard that we were being bought out by a Belgian, because I though that would result it the club being able to buy quality players and create connections to bigger clubs across Europe. Clearly that hasn't been the case, and we all want RD and KM to get out our club - but that being said, I wouldn't have a problem if the new owners were to be Belgian, provided that they showed respect towards the fans, the players and the club and put effort into making our club a success.
Being born in South Africa and having lived in SA my whole life, most people here (in SA) don't understand why I "choose" to support Charlton.
When I was 6 years old, Mark Fish and Shaun Bartlett were playing for Charlton, and it was then that Charlton became my club, and it will remain to be forever. Unfortunately after we got relegated from the Premier League, it became very difficult for me to keep up with how we were doing, so naturally I began to support Spurs so that I had a team that I could watch on TV every week.
Since about 2012, with the growth of Twitter, I was able to follow Charlton more closely and read the match commentary during our games. I realised then that it was not by my choice as to whether I supported Charlton or not, but rather the club had become a part of me and it would forever be my club. I still support Spurs today, but my love for Charlton does not even compare to that for Spurs.
In 2013 I visited the Valley for the first time in my life. I got goosebumps the moment I first saw the Valley and walking towards it from the bus stop, I began to cry with happiness (I genuinely did). It's crazy to think that I had formed such an emotional attachment to a club that I had only ever seen play on TV a few times, but that's the nature of how this club is. Even though there were no stadium tours being run at the time, the man at the front office took my dad and I into the stadium and let us have a look around. Even though it was my first time inside the Valley, it felt like I was at home.
Unfortunately it was the Millwall derby that weekend and we were unable to buy tickets due to the restricted sale, so I am yet to watch my first live Charlton match, but that is something I look forward to doing sometime soon (though hopefully only once RD and KM have left).
There's just something about this club - the connection between the fans, the players and the history - that is unlike any other club. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that it can be explained in words, however I think that only epitomises the strength of this connection.
Why do I support Charlton,because they are my club. I first went to the valley in 1966 when I moved into the area I then moved away in 1990 I followed Charlton from afar but when I returned in 1998 my first thought was to get a season ticket in lower North where I still sit.I try not to miss a home game even coming back from holiday and going straight to the ground from the airport I have many memories of cafc some good some bad but the things that are the worst is the appointments of Ian dowie, Les Reed and Roland buying charlton.our club is being torn apart but Roland will not stop me supporting my club.
Definitely the family tradition and part of your early memories.
Life was pretty grey in the 1950s and little in the way of entertainment apart from football and the cinema.
We didn’t actually live in a shoe box but seven of us lived in 4 rooms over a shoe shop in Woolwich Road. The kitchen was the only room without a bed in it so was where the family spent most of the time so getting out on a Saturday was probably a welcome relief.
Football was what happened on a Saturday, was what all the talk was about, and as a kid it was a passage towards adulthood when you were old enough to go with your dad and uncles and cousins to the Valley.
Most of the time you were being lifted up. First as you went down Floyd Road so packed you got lifted up so as not to get trampled. You got lifted over the turnstiles as it was the adult entrance and you were too small to go on your own through the kid’s turnstile. Then you got lifted over heads and plonked at the front by the railings.
My mum knitted me a red and white bobble hat and a scarf, and for Xmas I got a rattle I painted myself in red and white.
I was probably about 10 years old and following Charlton languishing in the 2nd Division. One day rummaging in a cupboard at my nan’s I found a big wooden chest in a cupboard at my nan’s. Inside were the keepsakes of my granddad a sailor killed in the war. There was his uniform and the Union Jack used to bury him at sea and carefully tied up with string was a pile of Charlton programmes. They were from the 1940’s in Charlton’s heyday. Seeing league tables and results from the 1940s, and the unique promotions over three successive seasons. I could only dream about what used to be and it made be proud that Charlton was my team and how proud my granddad must have been.
So Charlton is one of the thread that carries my memories of my mum, my dad my uncles and my granddad mostly no longer with us.
Duchatelet and Meire have no idea that in their ignorance they are disrespecting everything that the club stands for, the thing we can’t explain that helps to bind one generation to the next.
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
Ironically Duchatalet said it himself... clubs have come to represent the new churches for the community. A place for the community to gather and experience social cohesion . That doesn't paint the whole picture though. Look at me I started supporting Charlton in 1999 because I lived in Greenwich at the time. I moved back to New Zealand in 2002 and have only seen one game on tv since then . Nor apart from on this forum have I really interacted with a single other Charlton fan. Yet despite my isolation every loss and setback hurts. I feel like part of the community/tribe albeit as somewhat of a peripheral figure.
Whaaaaatttt? You've only watched one game on TV in the past 14 years?! That's a bigger commitment than mine then! Respect!
not able to watch them - not broadcast here
Have you been able to watch any games on the internet?
Difficult to explain the emotional ties. I come from generations of Man Utd fans (my home town) who cannot understand why I fell in love with little ol' Charlton nearly 30 years ago. My husband is a life long addick who took me on a first date to Selhurst Park (Ugh) to see CAFC play in 1985. So it began and after the first few games at the Valley, I was smitten, even if I couldn't get there every week with having 2 small children. The history, the Valley Party, the friendliness of fans and staff made it the place I wanted to be. We have had season tickets for 18 years in the same spot and our 2 children got season tickets with us, so a family day out: bacon sarnies pre match etc. Great day. My son was mascot at the Notts Forest game after the return to the Valley, so exciting. My son's friends came with us and one still does at 29 years old! We are now a bigger group of 7, with our beloved friends and family, even our friend's grandson who is addicted. He was mascot at the Ipswich game and so passionate about the team. It's what we do every other Saturday and a lot of away weekends as well! The adrenalin pumps from early in the day. It's also the people around us that we have become friends with over the years, some sadly departed to higher pastures but still remembered for their love of everything Charlton. Recently, it has been the magnificent friends and fellow fans who have galvanised the fanbase to take our Charlton back! I stand in awe at the ingenuity, organisational skills and commitment that have been freely given for a common love: our CAFC. Who could forget great characters like John Robinson, Shaun Barlett, Johnny Jackson and Sir Chris who have filled our Saturdays with pleasure and pain? That's why KM and RD will never win or understand: it's pure emotion and in our souls.
Comments
There is certainly something special about Charlton and it is hard to put into words. Charlton is a living, breathing thing. It binds people together with a sense of belonging, a common cause. That sense of history is huge as well, I didn't live through many of the events mentioned but they still mean a huge amount to me. The pride at what the fans of this club achieved, and what this small club from South East London has done is just huge.
There is also that sense of family, the way that at a Charlton game I will always end up speaking to complete strangers (something someone with my personality would never normally do) but because we are all linked by Charlton it is a completely normal thing to do. And nothing beats that last minute winner feeling, when you are hugging someone you barely know and probably wouldn't even speak to if you met outside of football.
As I said it's hard to put it into words but this captures some of what it means to me.
Great grandfather, grandparents, parents, self and siblings and my children all attended matches at The Valley and I feel a link to them every time I visit which goes beyond the football.
Every so often in amongst the dross there would be genuinely memorable moments. My late father told me of how at the age of 10 he stood as part of 75,031 on the big East Terrace with his parents, grandparents and other family members. They also witnessed our FA Cup win at Wembley in 1947.
The equivalent for me was the play off final in 1998 to which I took my three daughters. The older two had been to The Valley commencing with the 4-3 win against a Southend side including Chris Powell when the East Stand was built. The younger one's first game at the age of 7 was the Wembley Final! We witnessed an unforgettable triumph and celebrated with my brother and his wife. My youngest daughter's second game was a pre season friendly away at Sittingbourne! Charlton encapsulated in two matches.
Even family members whom rarely attended matches have Charlton in their blood. My avatar on here shows my late mother wearing a Charlton hat. My fiercely left wing feminist sister will forever be haunted by a photograph from the Kentish Independent captioned: 'Dick Tydeman meets this pretty fan' taken at a Club Open Day which we would have taken our much younger brother to.
Thanks to Duchatelet and Meire having no playing ambition for the Club I cannot see my two little grandsons becoming sixth generation fans when old enough to attend as the Club will have been effectively destroyed by then. Where will their sporadic Wembley trips and similar come from?
Duchatelet and Meire's assault on MY family and tradition is partly why I cannot get too animated about the other thread and the visit to Meire's house.
Sorry to ramble on.
Please, keep the stories coming: best read of the year so far. Thanks all for contributing!
As time went on, I had mates who went but still was very much an armchair fan. What I found was that I started taking an interest in how Charlton were doing, slowly, gradually. When my own kids wanted to go to a game, we came to see Charlton.
I really enjoyed it and my daughter is also now an Addick. I may have been unaware of it for years, but Charlton picked me as much if not more than the other way round. I am already dreading next season, as I won't be renewing while these owners are here and I'm worried about where that emotional connection will go.
I also can't get the same feeling going anywhere else. I like Brighton, want them to go up, but I don't support them. I don't care about who their players are in the same way that I care about Charlton's. I'm going to try and go to more non-league games next season. I enjoy the atmosphere at Dulwich, I enjoy the beer there too, but would struggle to name more than a couple of players. It's fun, but it's not the same.
2. The only football club to create a political party to challenge bureaucratic policy
3. One of few clubs to sucessfully return to their original home after fan's campaign
4. As a minor Prem club, have a journeyman player get England caps at 30 +
5. Said player returns as successful manager. After wins does Tunnell Jumps!!
6. Winners of what most (non-CAFC) pundits describe as the greatest game at Wembley
7. The sheer inventiveness of CARD esp "More than just a toy"
8. The humour and comeradery of Charlton Life
9. Have two passionate players get sent off for fighting each other
10. Beloved stadium, once the biggest in the country.
It's in my blood and is part of me.
Charlton is like a family to me, all my pals, corny but true.
1. Is Charlton really any different from any other British club that has faced adversity ?
Isn't it likely that Portsmouth supporters would say many of the same things that have been expressed on this thread so eloquently ? Swansea fans who put money into the club when they were in League 2 ? I have a good friend who is a Hearts fan - they've been through all the madness of the Romanov ownership.
Although we'd like to think we are unique, isn't this just a tad romantic ? Are we really any different ?
Or is it the creation of The Valley Party which does make a difference ?
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2. Why does football play a more central part in the lives of British people than it does (according to Paul) in Holland ?
In "The Game of our Lives - the meaning and making of English football" David Goldblatt quotes Eric Cantona describing his first goal in England. "At the exact moment when the ball entered the net the thousands of supporters who were behind the goal seemed to dive towards the pitch. Only in England could such ecstasy be found" Why ? Is there something special about English (British ?) culture or recent history which explains this ?
I'm still trying to find out why the presence of a Belgian owner has so much impact on the fans. It's a bit of a contradiction, when reading that you're going to Charlton because it's because you love the family-experience, to see friends, to feel the love from the past at Matchdays. Does the presence of a Belgian bungle weigh heavier than the 'social pleasure' you experience on a matchday? And why gather for a protest, or is it also a form of 'banter' to gathet with 5000 supporters? In other words: who can't get a proper nightrest because of Duchâtelet?
I've rewritten this so many times because it's really hard to put into words why I feel like I do about Charlton.
It's a massive part of my family, as it is for most people here. Every other Saturday, we're at Charlton. You don't really get a choice of which team to support. But if I did, I'd still pick Charlton.
Just going past the Valley on the train into work every morning makes me inexplicably happy for those few seconds (giving a surreptitious middle finger when I go past the Den also makes me happy).
For me, protesting isn't 'banter'. It's a fight for our club, that means so much to so many people and to so many families. We won't stand by and let it be taken from us, thousands of people who love the same underdog club as much as I do.
If there's one thing this regime has done, it's made me even prouder to be a Charlton fan. To see so many thousands of people come every other week to fight for their club makes me so proud. We'll be here long after they've gone, and that makes me proud too.
Being born in South Africa and having lived in SA my whole life, most people here (in SA) don't understand why I "choose" to support Charlton.
When I was 6 years old, Mark Fish and Shaun Bartlett were playing for Charlton, and it was then that Charlton became my club, and it will remain to be forever. Unfortunately after we got relegated from the Premier League, it became very difficult for me to keep up with how we were doing, so naturally I began to support Spurs so that I had a team that I could watch on TV every week.
Since about 2012, with the growth of Twitter, I was able to follow Charlton more closely and read the match commentary during our games. I realised then that it was not by my choice as to whether I supported Charlton or not, but rather the club had become a part of me and it would forever be my club. I still support Spurs today, but my love for Charlton does not even compare to that for Spurs.
In 2013 I visited the Valley for the first time in my life. I got goosebumps the moment I first saw the Valley and walking towards it from the bus stop, I began to cry with happiness (I genuinely did). It's crazy to think that I had formed such an emotional attachment to a club that I had only ever seen play on TV a few times, but that's the nature of how this club is. Even though there were no stadium tours being run at the time, the man at the front office took my dad and I into the stadium and let us have a look around. Even though it was my first time inside the Valley, it felt like I was at home.
Unfortunately it was the Millwall derby that weekend and we were unable to buy tickets due to the restricted sale, so I am yet to watch my first live Charlton match, but that is something I look forward to doing sometime soon (though hopefully only once RD and KM have left).
There's just something about this club - the connection between the fans, the players and the history - that is unlike any other club. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that it can be explained in words, however I think that only epitomises the strength of this connection.
Life was pretty grey in the 1950s and little in the way of entertainment apart from football and the cinema.
We didn’t actually live in a shoe box but seven of us lived in 4 rooms over a shoe shop in Woolwich Road. The kitchen was the only room without a bed in it so was where the family spent most of the time so getting out on a Saturday was probably a welcome relief.
Football was what happened on a Saturday, was what all the talk was about, and as a kid it was a passage towards adulthood when you were old enough to go with your dad and uncles and cousins to the Valley.
Most of the time you were being lifted up. First as you went down Floyd Road so packed you got lifted up so as not to get trampled. You got lifted over the turnstiles as it was the adult entrance and you were too small to go on your own through the kid’s turnstile. Then you got lifted over heads and plonked at the front by the railings.
My mum knitted me a red and white bobble hat and a scarf, and for Xmas I got a rattle I painted myself in red and white.
I was probably about 10 years old and following Charlton languishing in the 2nd Division. One day rummaging in a cupboard at my nan’s I found a big wooden chest in a cupboard at my nan’s. Inside were the keepsakes of my granddad a sailor killed in the war. There was his uniform and the Union Jack used to bury him at sea and carefully tied up with string was a pile of Charlton programmes. They were from the 1940’s in Charlton’s heyday. Seeing league tables and results from the 1940s, and the unique promotions over three successive seasons. I could only dream about what used to be and it made be proud that Charlton was my team and how proud my granddad must have been.
So Charlton is one of the thread that carries my memories of my mum, my dad my uncles and my granddad mostly no longer with us.
Duchatelet and Meire have no idea that in their ignorance they are disrespecting everything that the club stands for, the thing we can’t explain that helps to bind one generation to the next.
The history, the Valley Party, the friendliness of fans and staff made it the place I wanted to be. We have had season tickets for 18 years in the same spot and our 2 children got season tickets with us, so a family day out: bacon sarnies pre match etc. Great day. My son was mascot at the Notts Forest game after the return to the Valley, so exciting. My son's friends came with us and one still does at 29 years old! We are now a bigger group of 7, with our beloved friends and family, even our friend's grandson who is addicted. He was mascot at the Ipswich game and so passionate about the team. It's what we do every other Saturday and a lot of away weekends as well! The adrenalin pumps from early in the day.
It's also the people around us that we have become friends with over the years, some sadly departed to higher pastures but still remembered for their love of everything Charlton.
Recently, it has been the magnificent friends and fellow fans who have galvanised the fanbase to take our Charlton back! I stand in awe at the ingenuity, organisational skills and commitment that have been freely given for a common love: our CAFC.
Who could forget great characters like John Robinson, Shaun Barlett, Johnny Jackson and Sir Chris who have filled our Saturdays with pleasure and pain? That's why KM and RD will never win or understand: it's pure emotion and in our souls.