What a gent Peter was. He used to live next door to my aunt and for the 2005 centenary celebrations at the Valley I picked him up and drove him to the Valley so that he could sit with local school kids to watch our Sam Bartram play in the West Stand. He brought his cup final medal and passed it around the room so those kids could touch a little bit of history. A truly magic thing to see.
Peter Croker was living South West of London when he was first called up to play v Fulham at the Valley.
Manager Jimmy Seed sent him a postcard to inform him of his selection and to tell him to make his way to Craven Cottage and then travel to Charlton on the Fulham team coach!
I’m gonna take a tiny bit of credit for this - last summer I was at Hesketh Park watching my mate play cricket - I was walking around the boundary (pint in hand obviously !!!) and had a CAFC polo shirt on - David (Peter’s son) was there as well, and as I walked round, he saw me and said ‘my Dad played for Charlton’ - I said ‘oh, who is he then’ - he said ‘Peter Croker’ - melt down moment from me, and I said ‘your Dad’s a 1947 Charlton FA Cup winning player - bloody hell’
I got David’s number, put him in touch with the museum, and finally got him in the museum to show the stuff he has (which is vast) - I had a work meeting in SE London the day David went to the museum 😉
His Dad kept so much stuff, especially paperwork - amazing day 👌
David became a friend of mine through football and cricket and we still bump into each other occasionally. We played in the same Sunday adult football side for which he was the keeper and we also belonged to the same cricket club (along with Peter's other son, Paul). He used to be a very good wicketkeeper too but rather tall at 6' 5'' for one and played rugby too. The sporting apple clearly didn't fall far from the tree!
This is a post-match photo, taken at Slade Green's Ground, of when we won a Kent Suburban Cup Final - David is, needless to say, the one in the green jersey (his hair colour and style is nothing like that of Peter!) and yours truly is crouched in front between him and the player to his right. All bar the captain are former pupils of Chis & Sid (half a dozen years between the oldest and youngest) with the side put together by the chap in the back row on the left who was a somewhat frustrated teacher at the school's stance in not allowing football to be played. A few years later that teacher would leave for Italy where he taught English as a foreign language for some 30 years or so as well as contributing articles about football there, on occasions, to magazines such as Four Four Two. Half of the side are Charlton supporters with two of them once involved in what was a fairly serious road accident coming back from an away Charlton match. Fortunately both were just shaken and not injured as a result which was more fortunate than the furthest right player in the back row who had to have his leg amputated when he managed to somehow get trapped under his own trike a couple of years after this match. He came back to run the line for the team!
I’m gonna take a tiny bit of credit for this - last summer I was at Hesketh Park watching my mate play cricket - I was walking around the boundary (pint in hand obviously !!!) and had a CAFC polo shirt on - David (Peter’s son) was there as well, and as I walked round, he saw me and said ‘my Dad played for Charlton’ - I said ‘oh, who is he then’ - he said ‘Peter Croker’ - melt down moment from me, and I said ‘your Dad’s a 1947 Charlton FA Cup winning player - bloody hell’
I got David’s number, put him in touch with the museum, and finally got him in the museum to show the stuff he has (which is vast) - I had a work meeting in SE London the day David went to the museum 😉
His Dad kept so much stuff, especially paperwork - amazing day 👌
Huge credit due
The museum only thrives because of the support it gets from fans and this is a classic example
The Charlton game that Peter Croker is most associated with is the 1947 Cup Final and there are many items and photographs in his collection related to that event.
Before the game that squad travelled to Eastbourne for special training.
Tickets for the 46 and 47 finals are not too rare. There were close to 100,000 of them and people tended to keep them if they were lucky enough to get one.
But the museum have never seen a ticket like this before.
This is Peter's Dressing Room ticket which would only have been issued to players and a handful of others.
Comments
Peter Croker joined Charlton Rovers, the #cafc youth/reserve team during WW2 from Bromley where he had played as amateur
Manager Jimmy Seed sent him a postcard to inform him of his selection and to tell him to make his way to Craven Cottage and then travel to Charlton on the Fulham team coach!
Peter kept a series of polite but pointed letters recording the battle over his future.
There is plenty more to come.
I got David’s number, put him in touch with the museum, and finally got him in the museum to show the stuff he has (which is vast) - I had a work meeting in SE London the day David went to the museum 😉
His Dad kept so much stuff, especially paperwork - amazing day 👌
This is a post-match photo, taken at Slade Green's Ground, of when we won a Kent Suburban Cup Final - David is, needless to say, the one in the green jersey (his hair colour and style is nothing like that of Peter!) and yours truly is crouched in front between him and the player to his right. All bar the captain are former pupils of Chis & Sid (half a dozen years between the oldest and youngest) with the side put together by the chap in the back row on the left who was a somewhat frustrated teacher at the school's stance in not allowing football to be played. A few years later that teacher would leave for Italy where he taught English as a foreign language for some 30 years or so as well as contributing articles about football there, on occasions, to magazines such as Four Four Two. Half of the side are Charlton supporters with two of them once involved in what was a fairly serious road accident coming back from an away Charlton match. Fortunately both were just shaken and not injured as a result which was more fortunate than the furthest right player in the back row who had to have his leg amputated when he managed to somehow get trapped under his own trike a couple of years after this match. He came back to run the line for the team!
The museum only thrives because of the support it gets from fans and this is a classic example
I've sent that photo to David
He still attended and meet the King as these photos and cuttings from his own scrapbook show.
A reminder that the museum is closed today due to the early KO.
While Peter Croker has usefully recorded all the players, social historians will note the German POWs clearing the snow off the Valley pitch.
They were from the POW camp on Shooters Hill where the golf course and Woodlands Farm now are.
There is a letter dated 2000 in PC's collection from the Woodlands Farm Trust with recollections from one of the German prisoners.
More on the POWs here
https://e-shootershill.co.uk/2015/06/11/prisoner-of-war-working-company-1020-shooters-hill/
Croker was a draughtsman by trade hence the immaculate captions.
Also, just how big was the uncovered end, now the Jimmy Seed Stand.
Before the game that squad travelled to Eastbourne for special training.
These are the pair he wore throughout his career and you can still see the marks the tie ups made.
Would love to show these to Josh Edwards.
Tickets for the 46 and 47 finals are not too rare. There were close to 100,000 of them and people tended to keep them if they were lucky enough to get one.
But the museum have never seen a ticket like this before.
This is Peter's Dressing Room ticket which would only have been issued to players and a handful of others.