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The week that was - 25th May 1998. Charlton 4 Sunderland 4 - YOUR ACCOUNTS

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  • I have never seen a more focused Charlton team than us in that run in once Mills and Youds were bought. Having all those clean sheets and getting to 88 points gave us the extra in the play offs.

    The day before the game was brillant, packed train into Charing Cross early in the morning, driver wishing us all the best. Round to the Allsop Arms at Maraylabone, onto Wembley. Once we went one up , and having not conceeded for weeks it felt so close. Of course thats not the way it turned out, and easily the best day but most draining was still to come into life.

    All I kept thinking about on the way back was we had just gone up, having won a classic at Wembley and that this should be the nights of all nights. Got back to Charlton where loads were on the streets made our way back to the Oak and watched the re run but the atmosphere was flat, as everyone was too drained. Great day.

    Love the post from Henry reagrding Mark Mansfield and Kevin Nolans comments regarding the sale of Leaburn the previous January. It sounded stupid at the time, it sounds even worse 10 years on!
  • Me and Eddie Addick spent the weekend having a Barbie and Boozing from the Saturday headed off to wembley from here at about 12ish ithink still very fuzzy and heavy with booze with my nephew and some Yiddos for company who we had managed to get tickets for and the missus a proper day out was on the cards.

    Upon arrival the heat of the day was feeling intense i had my nephew on my shoulders and was ready for it if a little aprehensive,

    The mackems were about and mostly fine although one donught did try to big him self up whilst i had a 7 year old boy on my shoulders before his pals told him to sit down and shut up apologising for their drunk fool of a mate. Up we went into our seats me Eddie my wife and nephew all together and my pals in the lower stand just in front of us.

    Tears flowing down my face i was here the one thing i wanted to experience as a charlton fan, us at Wembley in a game that mattered and that the whole country would take notice of if not be watching.

    Could this be the game we shut Alan Brazil and his Sunderland will win comments down his neck ( i really didnt think he liked us back then)

    Could we outplay them once we score it would be game over no one had scored against us for ages we looked tight compact and we had goals but i couldnt let myself think we could win it i just felt i was going to understand just how shite it actually feels to loose here ( i didnt go to the full members)

    The game took an age to Kick off Clive took an age to score or so it seemed mental was how we went when it went in more tears.

    One all bollox here we go

    two one yep i knew it bollox oh well keep it close

    two all i was now shaking this aint right my head hurt hangover kicking in i dont feel good and shite its tense is that a heart attack or just stress.

    Three two bstds


    RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

    bet the ref has seen the foul by brighty he must have he aint then puke straight ahead my head banging all over the man in front it was only water but it came from my guts.

    the mans wife that fella has just got sick on you I dont fecking care Rufus has just scored its 3 all at wembley and he gave me a hug, He knew how i felt he felt it i just couldnt take it.

    4 three thats it we are done well done lads you have made me proud we will be told we were unlucky loosers but this was a close as we would ever get my nephew crying bollox what have i done to him the poor little sod

    Mendonca fecking great goal i must have been dreaming he couldnt have done it q tears of joy

    I dont know if this bit is in order or if he missed before super clive scored but i remember Dichio trying to either volley it when a header would have done and settled the game or Headed it when he should have volleyed it but i was greatful and a little bit gleeful to the mackams in our end who had cheered before it went in. Did i want to smash them for being in our end No they must have felt like me by then earlier yep i thought it was a liberty but now i didnt care.

    Pens i watched all of them then Sasa done it

    i couldnt cheer i couldnt spk i couldnt even stand we were there how i didnt know but we were and i knew i had witnessed the greatest game ever at Wembley involving league teams and the best game since we won the world cup and i had seen a better hatrick than the one from that game.

    The way home i couldnt stop smiling but i had no energy to drink a single beer the journey back to nth london was hard and tiresome i wanted to go to Charlton i wanted to be close but i did not have the energy in me `i just wanted to go home and be alone and reflect on what had happend.

    my phone didnt stop ringing pals from newcastle saying thankyou, charlton pals crying in disbelief, yiddos gooners hammers all phoning some saying i wasnt watching it but so and so told me to turn over as the best match ever is on the box.

    I didnt care i wanted to go to sleep and read the papers because until then i wouldnt believe it oh yeah and i wanted to watch it again on the tape that i had recording of the match in the VCR at home (remember those)

    shit i felt so happy about football back then and i had deserved it too home and away for all those years against shite teams at shite grounds with no tv coverage i was going to enjoy the season ahead and go to every game.
  • Thanks WSS - it will always be a great memory.

    The only non Charlton/Sunderland fan in that pub was my best mate....who is a Bristol City supporter.
    He livces in Dublin now but we've been talking about the 98 final all week and he still says it was the best game of football he's ever seen.

    He's off to Wembley on Sat and is bricking it! I for one will be a different Robin this weekend - to return the favour of his support in Sydney!
  • I came in from the West and had some beers in a big pub next to the Wembley Post Office. It was full of good natured Mackems, many of whom had obviously been on one from quite early and the place was a riot. Walking to the ground and I’d barely seen a Charlton fan but once through the turnstiles, the concourse was a wall of noise from our supporters. At both 3-2 and 4-3, foolishly I wanted to go and listen on the car radio as I couldn’t stand the tension, but my mate wanted to stay. I remember saying as the ball went to Steve Jones “What’s he doing out wide? He wants to get in the box if he’s going to score.”

    Somehow it seemed inevitable that if Sunderland couldn’t beat the underdogs in 120 minutes of football, they wouldn’t do it on penalties. Like many I was amazed by the shell-shocked fans leaving the stadium afterwards. I met friends in the evening in a pub far from South London, most of whom did not know there was a match on let alone the score, so my celebrations were a bit muted.
  • er, I got thrown out in the 2nd half for punching a mackem in our seats who was giving it large as they socred, managed to bolt through the open gates towards the end to see them lift the trophy from the olympic gallery.
    Looking back silly thing to do, but thats what I was like then, up for anything, you can hear it mentioned on the official radio commentary tape.
  • edited May 2008
    Greatest Birthday present ever, one of the greatest games i have ever seen, amazing atmosphere.
  • What....me punching a mackem, its very kind of you and all that, but I really cant take the glory for it.
  • Not long been made reduandant so sat at home few cheap beers

    poor a f**k
  • With the exception of the day I met my beloved, quite simply the best day of my life. A whole week and a half of work totally and utterly vindicated as Charlton finally delivered after all of those years of frustration. I was saying to Mrs S just earlier about the Ipswich games and how they were an absolute high, but that balmy (and barmy) May afternoon just summed up what it is to be a Charlton fan - they can put you through every emotion that you could ever know, but somehow we managed to condense it into one afternoon!

    Had the privilege of being on the inside to a degree in my Supporters Club capacity at the time and I can honestly say that getting 146 coaches to Wembley (with the car park passes not turning up until the Friday - no panic at all!), seeing all of those people following Charlton and us winning still brings a tear to my eye. Actually slept in a portakabin at The Valley for a couple of nights whilst sorting said coaches to make sure that no-one was let down for such a great occasion in our history and I sincerely hope no-one was. My abiding memory of the pre-match operation was on the Saturday morning before the game when a handful of tickets remained and we were selling the from the CASC office and at the front of the queue was Charlie Revell - no way he was paying!

    On the day itself, ended up on BBC News 24 previewing the game, the Sunderland fan not turning up, so it must have been an omen. Brilliant atmosphere on the train on the way up, then into the Allsopp as well for a livener or two. Inside the ground, it was like a family had come together and the game cannot be put into words - so many can try but I doubt I'll ever see anything remotely comparable in my lifetime.

    Afterwards, powered only by adrenalin, it was back to Charlton to watch the game again, then the following morning back into Charlton to watch it again - then off to Woolwich to the DG just as GH has mentioned, before witnessing something I never believed could be possible - Charlton parading a trophy having at won at Wembley. Went on one agin big time, luckily my guvnor at the time was a Charlton fan so he understood, though it took a fair bit of overtime to catch up thereafter as I didn't make it back until the Thursday! Greatest day ever!
  • [cite]Posted By: Rock Spectacle[/cite]
    Had the privilege of being on the inside to a degree in my Supporters Club capacity at the time and I can honestly say that getting 146 coaches to Wembley (with the car park passes not turning up until the Friday - no panic at all!), seeing all of those people following Charlton and us winning still brings a tear to my eye.

    Cheers for the welling to wembley coaches.
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  • I ended up so battered that day - it must've been the emotion of it all, .... ahem!

    In fact I was that dog rough I only had one celebratory shandy the next day when they paraded the trophy down to Woolwich.

    Reading some of these stories brings a tear to the eye and sends shivers down the spine. The draining emotion, the tension, the ectasy, the almost eerily subdued atmosphere afterwards. What an amazing day.
  • "er, I got thrown out in the 2nd half for punching a mackem in our seats who was giving it large as they socred, managed to bolt through the open gates towards the end to see them lift the trophy from the olympic gallery.
    Looking back silly thing to do, but thats what I was like then, up for anything, you can hear it mentioned on the official radio commentary tape."

    I know it's been mentioned on here before but I lasted 15 minutes, before getting thrown out for fighting (headbutting) a Charlton fan. For the record, he started it but I finished it!
  • Probably the only day in my footballing fans career when I was just so elated. Nothing come close since. Not sure it ever will.
  • rember wearing the most appalling yellow polo top,and sitting next to some dundee lads and racing up the stairs to have it with a mackem,also rembering coming up in a red rash on my chevy from two onwards
  • Fantastic stories and memories fellas. You've all put it so much better than I could.What an unbelievable day,Ive never been so knackered.Without doubt,the best football day of my life.Thank you for bringing it back to life.
  • minibus full of us left aylesford at half nine in the morning my son was only 10 days old we were on the beer at 10 the day was an emotional drain one of my mates was so pissed he waalked down to the tube got onto the platform then realised he had come by minibus on the way back we had to stop at an offie for more refreshments as we were so parched another 48 cans saw us home just
  • DA9DA9
    edited May 2008
    Watching the DVD again the other day in the Cons....oh no........ a few faces on there..............
  • saw scooby in the goldsmiths tavern a few years back,i was playing up and he was very well behaved.
  • stick to thread please chaps. These memory threads are brilliant to bring up every year or so, but are wasted if the posts go off at a tangent. cheers
  • 4 of us went up there.
    Drinking in Euston before the game, lauging as loads of Mackems were turned away for wearing colours.
    Got the tube packed full of Sunderland.
    Walked out onto Wembley way and it was a sea of stripes.
    Remember thinking it was gonna be like Blackburn totally outnumbering us.
    Was amazed when got into the ground to see how man of us were already there.
    We were 3 rows from the back in the corner at the end which I believe is now called The Curva Rufus.
    Luckily where the stadium curved round there was a void behind our seats, because when Rufus scored I got so excited I ended up throwing up into it. So low when they scored their 4th only for the highs of the completion greatest ever hattrick at wembley. Thinking every penalty was gonna be missed by us. Relaxed for their pens as expected them to score anyway.
    The save, The sprint, The Dive,The Suits (who chose them?).
    Have never watched the game on video/DVD.
    Dont know if it would do justice the game in my memory.
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  • Sod it, just played the audio link again and tears are in my eyes....hope none of the guys here see me!!!
    What a day what a memory....all of us there that day will take it to our graves....aren't I right?
  • I remember the game like it was yersterday, I will remember the day that well for the rest of my life. Probably a good time to reminisce as well..........we have had some very good days as Addicks.
  • None better than that though CHG....I remember being completely numb afterwards(as were all the guys I was with) we just didn't know how to celebrate....quite simply we were emotionaly drained.
    I have a huge framed picture in my lounge(about 4ftX3ft) of Sasha running out of the goal carrying the ball...I got him to sign it too.
    Inside the frame, beneath the picture, I have the now imortal words of Mark Mansfield written in script.....

    "AND ILLIC HAS SAVED IT"
  • That is class.

    I guess that you could be a footie fan supporting your team for years and years and you will never see a game as good as that one.
  • Choked up sitting here reading this....great memories
  • [cite]Posted By: TelinOz[/cite]Choked up sitting here reading this....great memories

    me too, that really was an amazing day.
  • Me three....

    Ive got a massive hangover and its all a bit much.....

    listening to the commentary
  • Well, after a fairly pants day, re-reading this thread has quite cheered me up.
  • I hate this thread!
  • I remember painting my face red and white, but used too much paint and it took nearly 2 days for it to completely wash off!
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