It’s a fair outlay (particularly with twins!), but it was without doubt one of my favourite and memorable days following Charlton when my boys were mascots last season.
As long as you have a shave, you'd get away with doing it with them mate.
Would be hilarious seeing an adult in full kit walking out holding Stockley's hand and having a pre match kick about with the team.
Think Hartlepool fans did it for the groom on a stag do.
My feedback is a mixed bag but mostly leaning towards the negative.
My daughter did it. It was expensive, once I added my youngest and my Dad to the package (£100 for their meals as apparently the ticket is complimentary).
The bad.
The food was disappointing. Nothing unusual there. It's Charlton. But £50 for a 5 year old to get some cheap nuggets and a few chips is extortionate. Of our choices which we were asked to make in advance, of which all was pretty limited options, we then found out that 2 of the 5 meals were unavailable anyway and we had to accept an unwanted choice. No real apology either.
We were also shoved off to some small narrow room and made to feel like they were doing us a favour by "leading us" through a lounge (don't mind the plebs).
Considering we'd dropped nearly £500 and the kits were down to about £10 for the full set by the day of the game I expected much better treatment, not being made to feel like 2nd class citizens compared to the posh lot in the lounge.
The seats are right by the tunnel. Good in some ways but bad in others. I have no idea how managers can probably view the game from this angle. It was very difficult to see what was happening when the ball was down the far end.
There were other things that bothered me, maybe more petty, and to do with interactions with some of the staff, which I was also disappointed with given I've heard such great things about one of them in particular. Maybe I caught her on a bad day, but one of those ended with my daughter in tears due to the way she was dismissed when she asked for something.
The positives.
Getting a small tour pitch side. It was a glorious day. They got to sit in the dugouts, and up in the directors box. The interactions with Bob who oversaw the group were great, and seeing my daughter having a kickabout on the pitch and then walking out with Dobbo were great experiences, and this should have been the things I took away from the day. Unfortunately my overall experience was a negative one, and I came away with an overall feeling of disappointment.
I often do things like this and wonder whether my expectations are too high. I think it's a lot of money. I expected more than we got for sure. I hope anyone deciding to do it this season has a better experience than we did.
This feedback should be given to the club, maybe Raelynn.
Wondering whether your contact from the club for this package/experience is still in post .
If no positive response, I'd ask one of the FF reps to put this on the agenda for their next meeting which should mean the discussion/outcome etc will be in the minutes for all to read.
Well in answer to your 2nd point, no they're not. But they were a couple of weeks ago. He was good as gold for us.
I guess my issue with providing feedback comes back to my final point. Are my expectations realistic? Maybe not. I don't know. What do I think I'll gain by raising it? Not a lot.
I certainly have no interest in escalating the final issue on my negative list because all comments I ever see about that person are positive, and if the overwhelming feedback about someone is good, even if your experience was not, you have to contend that maybe it was just a bad day/time and there's nothing to be gained by complaining. It may even be my perception that's off, or just a miscommunication. Maybe I was the issue, at the end of a long day. Maybe the fact that it left my daughter in tears clouded my view and my view of the interaction feels worse than it was in reality
But indeed the rest of my comments I certainly stand by and would be happy to be received by the club, but do I have the energy to bother beyond giving some feedback here to other fans. Not really although of course it doesn't give the club the right to reply.
It’s my sons 21st in a few weeks. Thinking of getting him a mascot package as a surprise present. So, if you see a lanky young man with a beard in full Charlton kit leading the team out, you’ll know who the dad is 😁
It’s a fair outlay (particularly with twins!), but it was without doubt one of my favourite and memorable days following Charlton when my boys were mascots last season.
As long as you have a shave, you'd get away with doing it with them mate.
Would be hilarious seeing an adult in full kit walking out holding Stockley's hand and having a pre match kick about with the team.
Think Hartlepool fans did it for the groom on a stag do.
Lad at work had this done to him at Brentford a few seasons back.
BTW, as far as I know, Everton is one of the few (only?) clubs that does not charge for mascot packages. Mascots are picked at random from a list of junior members. A friend's son was chosen for the away game at Man City a few seasons back and had a thoroughly enjoyable experience.
Quite a few in the Prem I think are free. City, Arsenal, United and Newcastle were certainly free a couple of years ago anyway
My boy was mascot v Hull just before Covid. It was free (we had to buy a kit) as the club had ballsed up on something else. It was fabulous and a really memorable time (except the last minute equaliser we conceeded).
There were two other boys with him. I don't think any had paid. One was from a local school and a Chelsea fan, his Dad went on about how he had done it for Chelsea a few weeks before and then got upset when the club official said his son had to have a Charlton kit to go on the pitch and he would have to pay for it. I think they lent him a top in the end.
I think as it was an evening game there had been no take up by fans hence them gifting them.
My two were mascots in around 2010 or 2011, pretty sure it was £250 each but they kindly discounted me to £400 the pair….but then they forgot to take the pre-kick-off photo with teams + mascots as the souvenir….d’oh!
My boy was Mascot last night. The club couldn't have done more to make the evening so special for him. I was very impressed. Garner in particular came across as thoroughly nice guy.
Charlton’s VIP Mascot packages offer an unforgettable day for children aged between 5-12 years old.
At any home league Saturday and Tuesday fixtures, your child could be walking out onto the hallowed Valley turf alongside the players.
VIP mascot packages are priced at £325 for 2024/25 season-ticket holders and £375 for non-season ticket holders. Optional West Stand Car Parking Pass may be purchased (based on availability).
I am sure it is a great day for the kids,but 325.00 is a hell of a lot of money to pay out.Both my kids,many years ago were mascots,there was only one per game,and it cost nothing.Also as Elthamaddick said,50.0 to wave flag,that is taking the piss a bit.
Booked a mascot package for my lad, it's his 10th Birthday day of the Stockport game. It's not cheap, but it'll be a once in a lifetime memory for him( and me!)and it'll also help cement him in the Addicks family whilst keeping him out of the clutches of my wife's Gooner clan!
Comments
My daughter did it. It was expensive, once I added my youngest and my Dad to the package (£100 for their meals as apparently the ticket is complimentary).
The bad.
The food was disappointing. Nothing unusual there. It's Charlton. But £50 for a 5 year old to get some cheap nuggets and a few chips is extortionate. Of our choices which we were asked to make in advance, of which all was pretty limited options, we then found out that 2 of the 5 meals were unavailable anyway and we had to accept an unwanted choice. No real apology either.
We were also shoved off to some small narrow room and made to feel like they were doing us a favour by "leading us" through a lounge (don't mind the plebs).
Considering we'd dropped nearly £500 and the kits were down to about £10 for the full set by the day of the game I expected much better treatment, not being made to feel like 2nd class citizens compared to the posh lot in the lounge.
The seats are right by the tunnel. Good in some ways but bad in others. I have no idea how managers can probably view the game from this angle. It was very difficult to see what was happening when the ball was down the far end.
There were other things that bothered me, maybe more petty, and to do with interactions with some of the staff, which I was also disappointed with given I've heard such great things about one of them in particular. Maybe I caught her on a bad day, but one of those ended with my daughter in tears due to the way she was dismissed when she asked for something.
The positives.
Getting a small tour pitch side. It was a glorious day. They got to sit in the dugouts, and up in the directors box. The interactions with Bob who oversaw the group were great, and seeing my daughter having a kickabout on the pitch and then walking out with Dobbo were great experiences, and this should have been the things I took away from the day. Unfortunately my overall experience was a negative one, and I came away with an overall feeling of disappointment.
I often do things like this and wonder whether my expectations are too high. I think it's a lot of money. I expected more than we got for sure. I hope anyone deciding to do it this season has a better experience than we did.
Wondering whether your contact from the club for this package/experience is still in post .
If no positive response, I'd ask one of the FF reps to put this on the agenda for their next meeting which should mean the discussion/outcome etc will be in the minutes for all to read.
I'd love for my boys (twins) to be mascots one day but got no chance at those prices.
I guess my issue with providing feedback comes back to my final point. Are my expectations realistic? Maybe not. I don't know. What do I think I'll gain by raising it? Not a lot.
I certainly have no interest in escalating the final issue on my negative list because all comments I ever see about that person are positive, and if the overwhelming feedback about someone is good, even if your experience was not, you have to contend that maybe it was just a bad day/time and there's nothing to be gained by complaining. It may even be my perception that's off, or just a miscommunication. Maybe I was the issue, at the end of a long day. Maybe the fact that it left my daughter in tears clouded my view and my view of the interaction feels worse than it was in reality
But indeed the rest of my comments I certainly stand by and would be happy to be received by the club, but do I have the energy to bother beyond giving some feedback here to other fans. Not really although of course it doesn't give the club the right to reply.
https://www.marca.com/en/football/international-football/2020/02/11/5e4299fdca4741e1038b45d4.html
There were two other boys with him. I don't think any had paid. One was from a local school and a Chelsea fan, his Dad went on about how he had done it for Chelsea a few weeks before and then got upset when the club official said his son had to have a Charlton kit to go on the pitch and he would have to pay for it. I think they lent him a top in the end.
I think as it was an evening game there had been no take up by fans hence them gifting them.
Charlton’s VIP Mascot packages offer an unforgettable day for children aged between 5-12 years old.
At any home league Saturday and Tuesday fixtures, your child could be walking out onto the hallowed Valley turf alongside the players.
VIP mascot packages are priced at £325 for 2024/25 season-ticket holders and £375 for non-season ticket holders. Optional West Stand Car Parking Pass may be purchased (based on availability).
https://www.charltonafc.com/news/202425-matchday-experiences-now-available
but £50 to wave a flag as the team walk out - WTF !!!
1 X Adult and 1 x child Matchday tickets located in the NWQ
https://booking.cafc.co.uk/en-GB/categories/Guard Of Honour?