nice read from the facebook page (translated from German press article).
Marc Stellmacher from Rheine is an ardent fan of the English third division club Charlton Athletic
With the Charlton skipper in the away grandstand
As you walk up to Marc Stellmacher's apartment, you can see which football club the 50-year-old's heart beats for. On a mezzanine level of the stairs to his apartment is a Charlton Athletic FC fire barrel. The Emsdetten 05 2 coach( note: its a local senior football team, in the past I coached a lot of high level junior football teams) has been on fire for the club in south-east London for eight years. When you arrive at their front door, a sandstone with the CAFC logo greets the guests. Why a third division team from the working class Charlton?
In 2013 Stellmacher went on a motorhome trip with his parents and their two sons Lukas and Noah. In addition to Wales in the south-west of the British Isles, the family also visited Anfield Road, the stadium of Liverpool FC. In the city on the River Mersey, they also met the then team manager Brendan Rodgers. The family used the last week of their vacation to visit London. "No matter where we are, we always look at stadiums", Stellmacher also collected "ground points" in the English capital. But that turned out to be not so easy at all. At Chelsea they were supposed to pay £ 200 for a card on the black market. The Fulham derby against Arsenal was sold out, as was the "White Hart Lane" in Tottenham. So they chose "The Valley", the Charlton stadium in the district of the same name. The German tour group was 20 minutes late and the Doncaster Rovers were already 3-0 up.
Only water polo possible
When the half-time score was 1: 3, the referee aborted the game, the pitch was under water from the constant rain, and the financially badly troubled “Addicks”, as Charlton's nickname, could not afford drainage. "When we left the stadium, someone realized that we were Germans and dragged us to the office," reports Stellmacher. To their great amazement, they were given a jersey by a club official. Impressed by so much hospitality, Stellmacher sent a note of thanks by email from Germany to London. The answer came promptly from England, stating that the cards for the abandoned game were still valid. The football fan made a second attempt for 90 minutes of live football in the "Valley" in January 2014 against FC Barnsley. “Who do I meet at the airport? Matthias Gerdes, a friend, which I played football in Altenrheine when I was young. He wanted to go to Charlton with our tour group,too” reports Stellmacher. But even the second trip didn't end with the hoped-for result - or rather, with no result at all. About an hour before the game kicked off, team manager Chris Powell ran across the lawn with the referee, who made the decision in the heavy rain of London: “The ground is unplayable, nobody is playing here today!” So it took until April until Stellmacher saw their first two full-time games against Reading FC (0-1)and Yeovil Town (3-2). From the group around Stellmacher and Gerdes a few so-called “die hard fans” emerged, i.e. those who are really serious about their love for the “Addicks”, and so in room number 16 of the Angerstein Hotel the fan club became "The German Addicks" was founded on a beer whim.
Fans set up their own party
Stellmacher was infected with the Charlton virus, watched game after game and dealt with the history of the club, which was founded in 1905. He was particularly impressed by the fact that the fans founded their own party (Valley Party) in 1990. The Greenwich City Council had previously rejected the much-needed renovation of The Valley Stadium. The Valley Party won 15,000 votes and was able to force the council to approve the renovation
Picture with JJ:
With Charlton's captain Johnnie Jackson (front right), Lukas Stellmacher (front left) and his father Marc (center) watched the game FC Millwall against Charlton Athletic in the stadium “The Den "
Players like Paolo di Canio or Alan Simmonsen already wore the jersey on Floyd Road. From the youth academy come players like Jonjo Shelvey (Liverpool / Newcastle), Ademola Lookman (RB Leipzig / Fulham) and Joe Gomez (Liverpool). "The solidarity and hospitality are more pronounced than in Germany," says Stellmacher, referring to the overnight stays that London fans offered him after a beer together and numerous charity campaigns, including in the fight against prostate cancer. He has also been invited to closed clubs(note:Liberal club), to which no tourist normally has access, he reports, whom the kebab shop owners in Charlton now know and greet. There is a great friendship with Alan Dryland, who has been a fan of the club for decades. He saw his first Charlton game almost exactly 66 years ago to the day, 0-4 on April 30, 1955 against Preston North End.
Picture with BFG:
An honor for the "German Addicks":
From the hands of Charlton player Patrick Bauer (2nd from right) Marc Stellmacher, Martin Otto, Matthias Gerdes and Christian Hermanns (from left) the “Supporter of the Year” award. Dieter Linsky and the honorary fan club member Alan Dryland are missing in the picture.
Stellmacher has never experienced hostility towards Germans. “When Charlton played against arch rivals Christal Palace, we were pelted with beer bottles and for the away game in Millwall we took the 15-minute bus ride to the secured catacombs for safety reasons,” the 50-year-old also knows the harsh customs of the British . “In contrast, the duels against FC Köln(Cologne) felt like friendly games,” compares the long-time season ticket holder of Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Friendship with the promoted hero
At the opening of the season he met the German player Patrick Bauer. A friendship developed with the 28-year-old, which continues to this day. It was Bauer who scored the decisive goal for the 2-1 win in stoppage time against Sunderland in the 2018/19 season in the relegation final for promotion to the second division (championship) in front of 76,000 spectators at Wembley Stadium. When M.Stellmacher went on a trip to London with 29 SC Altenrheine footballers (note:my local club)in July 2016, they met the German defender after the season opener against RKC Waalwijk. Experiences like this or the stadium visit with Charlton's captain Johnnie Jackson in Millwall are what encourage Marc Stellmacher that he have found the right club in the "Addicks". At the beginning of this year he founded an international fan club.(International Addicks) Fans from all over Europe, Korea, the USA and Argentina share the passion for the third division here.
In 2018, the “German Addicks” founded four years earlier were voted “Supporter of the Year” by the Athletic Fans. In Stellmacher's garden chalet, the German delegation collected numerous devotional items such as jerseys, tickets and photos that testify to the numerous trips to London.(note: in my opinion the biggest museum outside of GB) The U'23 team from Emsdetten 05 doesn't have to worry that their coach doesn't make it to the game on time. "I also flew out of London at 7 a.m. to make it on time for kick-off," says Stellmacher.
By bike to London
If he can't be there live, he watches his team's games in the third English league (Football League One) via the “Valleypass” of the club's own broadcaster. “I've already been there by bus, plane and car. Next year I'll be traveling by bike, ”he announces 800 kilometers, which he will cover for his club, but will probably also notice it in his calves and buttocks. (Note: if it possible to do it for charity)
Comments
Hope you make a pin badge of it.
Well done on getting the group up and running
I'm in 👍🏼😎❤️