When i think of Charlton Athletic, not only do i think of just a football club, but also something that has taken up and been a major part of mine & my mates lives.
I get there early to meet my mates, lads i've grown up with, more often than not quoting on a sunday, "s0d it !!we lost, but if it werent for Charlton we wouldnt see each other".Mates who i've fought with, been run with, been to hospital with, sung with, had a victory jig/hug with, shared advice with, sung my heart with, gone to court with.
I can just see itin years to come, all on our zimmer frames heading towards the East stand for 90 minutes of moaning & groaning.
But thats what i/we do ups & downs, highs & lows, me and my mates will be there.
Mates and were Charlton !!
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I'm writing a piece for a French magazine, and i'm trying to explain that to me, Charlton is more than just a football club. Its turning into a way of life. With all the choice of the other London clubs and the big hitters, there's normally something specal that leads you to 'be Charlton'. My family are Charlton, i met my wife at Charlton, most of my best mates are Charlton and i've hopefully made some friends for life through sites like this.
That's why relegation didn't really bother me too much. It means more to me than what goes on on the pitch.
Being a Charlton fan has always meant more to me, and i suspect many others, than the team we follow. It is being part of an active community that pulls together and gets involved. Its the expectation that the fans in the boardroom and in the club offices see things pretty much the same way as the fans in the stans, and that we pull together to get things done.
What a load of Bollax ; - ) I wrote that before we went down and I'm off to Fulham next year.
What is the French Mag, AFKA. So Foot?
They have had even less success than us over the years and been stuck in division 4 in all its guises for more than 30 years!
There may only be 2,000 or so hardcore fans but they are dedicated to their club.
We too have had our trials and tribulations over the years which makes the last seven years in the Prem a memory to be grateful for.
Hopefully Pards will get us straight back up there but if the worst happens we'll still go to The Valley because it's in the blood.
We may not win the trophies that Man U, Chelsea, Liverpool etc do but I bet the average Charlton or Rochdale fan feels more of an affinity to his or her club than fans of the big boys, largely because of the suffering and disappointments over the years which makes any success all the sweeter!
The directors at the time take a lot of the credit for financing this and making it happen but the impetus came from the fans who campaigned for us and encourged the directors to go for it. Seriously what other club's fans have formed a political party? Because of that we have more than an stake in the club that many other fans we have something in it. I think you'd have to look hard to find a club that has such a great relationship between the board and the fans. Because of that when new fans come along it isn't just to support a club but to buy into that relationship and shared history. In London there are plenty of footballing excuses to not go to watch Charlton - there are three top class Premiership teams in Chelsea, Spurs and Arsenal that can offer a more-or-less guaranteed position at the top of the Premiership, and teams of internationals and European campaigns etc. What the likes of Alwen etc got right wasn't just to bring us home (a decision made easier by knowing the potential support base) but to then build up the ground, improve the squad and make Charlton the best the club could be, in other words unlike during the Glikstein era they were not content to stand still. Those who tend to come to the Valley tend to stay.
Very true Len. Wouldn't swap it for the world.
Even yourself?
The only person I have had a fleeting admiration for in a Charlton context was Ruben Agboola. It took guts to come and play on loan for Charlton at Selhurst Park and face Arsenal (Smith, Adams, Rocastle, Merson, Hayes, Groves ... ok, maybe not Groves) in your first - and only - match.
He was shite, obviously, but it still took guts.