Nothing new (to us) but when you see it laid out like that it really does underline just how shit things have been... and for how long.
If I absolutely had to find a positive, I'd hope articles like this in a relatively prominent media will do a lot to get TPTB to act quickly to try and fix things.
Feel like we've been getting these 'now fans just want something to believe in' headlines going back to the early Roland days. Mention of Alan Curbishley, mention of being 4th for a bit once, repeat forever. It really is beyond bleak how long this has been going on for now. You'd think we'd have accidentally stumbled into Championship obscurity by now but it's relentlessly bad and somehow seems to get worse and worse. Charlton have now been a basket case for more than half my life, I'm genuinely amazed we have any fans left under the age of about 25
Feel like we've been getting these 'now fans just want something to believe in' headlines going back to the early Roland days. Mention of Alan Curbishley, mention of being 4th for a bit once, repeat forever. It really is beyond bleak how long this has been going on for now. You'd think we'd have accidentally stumbled into Championship obscurity by now but it's relentlessly bad and somehow seems to get worse and worse. Charlton have now been a basket case for more than half my life, I'm genuinely amazed we have any fans left under the age of about 25
As a 25 yr old the Bowyer years brought a lot of people my age back in. I had sort of dipped out a bit in my teenage years (as you do) but Bowyer brought a feeling and connection back, even when we lost in the play offs I wanted to come back more next season and my attendance got more and more regular until I moved out of London. Now I don't know why a 20 year old would come, the football is bad, the results are bad, the customer service at the stadium is bad and with a basically empty Valley the atmosphere is bad. The club needs a feelgood factor to bring in those young fans who have dipped out. It's harder and harder to get tickets to top flight games, we should be taking advantage of that to build a hard core of young fans but the football is crap and they're being priced out
Daniel is a superb writer and really pleased he's decided to have a focus on us for a long read. He absolutely loves the game and as he's a fan of the game first and foremost, I think it lends an authenticity and gravitas to his writing on this. Well worth the read.
Daniel is a superb writer and really pleased he's decided to have a focus on us for a long read. He absolutely loves the game and as he's a fan of the game first and foremost, I think it lends an authenticity and gravitas to his writing on this. Well worth the read.
It's also well researched and doesn't lean on cliches. It's the perfect summary for when someone asks what happened to the club
I did really like this paragraph: 'It’s worth describing, at this point, just how thoroughly upsetting this all is for supporters. The constancy of the barrage is as bewildering as it is exhausting. This is a club whose support has permeated through generations of families and connects friendship groups. Your football club is supposed to be a place of relief, companionship, escape, connection and excitement. It is not supposed to be something you dread appearing in headlines or news reports, a place of disarray and angst. Clubs deserve better. We deserve better.'
I think amidst all the anger and fan protest stuff people on the outside looking in can only struggle to understand just how much all this has weighed people down over the years. I'm really sick of Charlton. I'm sick of false dawns, I'm sick of so much of the conversation being focused around the ownership and whether they have money to spend, I'm sick of promises that are lies and lies that are crimes. I'm sick of every loss being discussed in terms of further evidence of our slow death instead of just being a loss. I have completely detached from the football to the point where the results just sort of wash over me and I much prefer discussing possible signings and tactics than the actual reality of the club. Basically Charlton is now an extension of Football Manager to me, only every so often a real person loses their job and I never get to win.
I am of an age watching Charlton through from the sixties onwards. We were used to watching rubbish in a decaying stadium with zero ambition. When the anger had subsided the gallows humour set in. Then came the good years and I had to pinch myself on how far we had come. We really took a nosedive when Dowie was appointed. His incompetence bordered on the criminal. We should have been able to stabilise after relegation but the damage done was virtually terminal. I go to games now where I feel no connection whatsoever. It is like I am sleepwalking.
Thanks for posting AFKA, very good read the succinctly sums up the past 20 years of being a Charlton fan. Admittedly I was overseas for most of that time but that didn't dull my love for the club and my anger and despair at what was going on. I know so many people who don't go now that I wonder if I had remained in the UK, whether I may have joined them.
Despite what's been happening in the past 20 years, the atmosphere at The Valley recently must be the worst I've experienced since our return. Something has to change but how many times have we said that and has it yet changed for the better?
Thanks for posting AFKA, very good read the succinctly sums up the past 20 years of being a Charlton fan. Admittedly I was overseas for most of that time but that didn't dull my love for the club and my anger and despair at what was going on. I know so many people who don't go now that I wonder if I had remained in the UK, whether I may have joined them.
Despite what's been happening in the past 20 years, the atmosphere at The Valley recently must be the worst I've experienced since our return. Something has to change but how many times have we said that and has it yet changed for the better?
Thanks for posting AFKA, very good read the succinctly sums up the past 20 years of being a Charlton fan. Admittedly I was overseas for most of that time but that didn't dull my love for the club and my anger and despair at what was going on. I know so many people who don't go now that I wonder if I had remained in the UK, whether I may have joined them.
Despite what's been happening in the past 20 years, the atmosphere at The Valley recently must be the worst I've experienced since our return. Something has to change but how many times have we said that and has it yet changed for the better?
Comments
If I absolutely had to find a positive, I'd hope articles like this in a relatively prominent media will do a lot to get TPTB to act quickly to try and fix things.
Sorry, fogey alert
I think amidst all the anger and fan protest stuff people on the outside looking in can only struggle to understand just how much all this has weighed people down over the years. I'm really sick of Charlton. I'm sick of false dawns, I'm sick of so much of the conversation being focused around the ownership and whether they have money to spend, I'm sick of promises that are lies and lies that are crimes. I'm sick of every loss being discussed in terms of further evidence of our slow death instead of just being a loss. I have completely detached from the football to the point where the results just sort of wash over me and I much prefer discussing possible signings and tactics than the actual reality of the club. Basically Charlton is now an extension of Football Manager to me, only every so often a real person loses their job and I never get to win.
Despite what's been happening in the past 20 years, the atmosphere at The Valley recently must be the worst I've experienced since our return. Something has to change but how many times have we said that and has it yet changed for the better?