Remembering Charlton's part in Dutch WWII history | Charlton Athletic Football Club (charltonafc.com)There is a back to story to this.
Last week Tom Rubeshow, Head of Comms, passed on an email he received from a Dutch Journalist to the Museum, asking if we knew anything more about this game which was billed as MVV v Woolwich but he believed there was some Charlton connection.
The club often pass on such queries which we at the museum are happy to help with. It's one of the reason's we exist and it's a good example of how the club and fan groups can work together.
I'd never heard of the game but another trustee, Paul Baker had.
More later
Comments
Young Peter Etherton was a goalkeeper at AEI and being from Charlton was probably related to the Peter in the photo.
From the Dutch paper De Nieuwe Ster published on July 28th.
In the past month, De Nieuwe Ster reported a number of times about the liberation match that MVV played against Woolwich in London on September 15th, 1945. The game ended in a 3-2 victory for MVV. This game was supposed to become a tradition. There was even a unique trophy made for these matches. As it turns out, there are also unique images of this duel.
Adoption
The match between MVV and Woolwich was not chosen at random. The city of London had entered into a partnership with the municipality of Maastricht. The Amsterdam journalist Albert Milhado was the one who took initiatives from London to build these cooperation ties between English and Dutch cities.
Furthermore, MMC (MVV Maastricht Connect) reported to De Nieuwe Ster. They have also delved into history and are now in contact with the Charlton Athletic Museum.
Charlton Athletic Football Club, which plays in the EFL League One. After the Premier League and EFL Championship, the third tier in English football. MMC found out that the link between Woolwich and Charlton Athletic lies in the fact that the English 'liberation team' at the time consisted largely of players from Charlton Rovers, a development team of Charlton Athletic.
Meanwhile, on the YouTube channel of Charlton Athletic Museum, there is a beautiful video about that unique liberation match in Maastricht in 1945. Search continues MMC and De Nieuwe Ster do not give up and continue to search for that special trophy, but also for more information about that legendary match. Anyone who knows anything can report to the editors of De Nieuwe Ster. How nice would it be to commemorate this duel next year, 80 years later.