Attention: Please take a moment to consider our terms and conditions before posting.

New Article: What if we had this every year, every week?

It's been exciting but there has been a lot of stress and aggravation, for some at least, getting tickets and making arrangements for the two Doncaster games and the Wembley final.

But what if this was every year or even every week?

Demand outstripping supply for every away game, Wembley on a regular basis.

I can't speak for anyone but myself but I wish we did have this problem more often.

 Sure we'd get use to it and find a way to cope, at a price, but the days of buying on the day, everyone can get a ticket and you recognise half the away support would be gone.

There seems to be a real shift in our support, which imho is great, but not everyone likes change.

I'd love to see us back in the premier league and reaching finals more than every two decades.  Maybe we'd become blasé and not bother, I hope not.

Maybe we'd have to accept that not everyone could get a ticket, regardless of brownie points earned in the dark days.

Maybe it will never happen, maybe it will all collapse, which would, in my view be worse.

Surely better for the club to thrive even if some of us can't see it all happen live.

As our Chinese friends say, as a curse, "may you live in interesting times"

Comments

  • It's been exciting but there has been a lot of stress and aggravation, for some at least, getting tickets and making arrangements for the two Doncaster games and the Wembley final.

    But what if this was every year or even every week?

    Demand outstripping supply for every away game, Wembley on a regular basis.

    I can't speak for anyone but myself but I wish we did have this problem more often.

     Sure we'd get use to it and find a way to cope, at a price, but the days of buying on the day, everyone can get a ticket and you recognise half the away support would be gone.

    There seems to be a real shift in our support, which imho is great, but not everyone likes change.

    I'd love to see us back in the premier league and reaching finals more than every two decades.  Maybe we'd become blasé and not bother, I hope not.

    Maybe we'd have to accept that not everyone could get a ticket, regardless of brownie points earned in the dark days.

    Maybe it will never happen, maybe it will all collapse, which would, in my view be worse.

    Surely better for the club to thrive even if some of us can't see it all happen live.

    As our Chinese friends say, as a curse, "may you live in interesting times"
    If we get to the premiership my job would be done Henry.

  • edited May 2019
    Don’t like the money buys success in the Prem. Hoping that VAR levels the playing field.
  • Under the right ownership I wouldn’t be averse to being a yo-yo club between the Championship and Premiership. As for just scraping by in the premiership by the skin of your teeth every year then that would be a no from me. I like to see us winning. This season much like 2012 has been a happy one. The standard of League one football is hugely impressive to those of 15 to 20 years ago and that is probably the only positive that’s come out of the Premier league and it’s riches, the better UK players are filtering down the leagues. It’s probably time for the top six clubs in England to break away now and form some sort of Euro or world  Super league as nobody realistically outside of those six can ever hope to compete. Leicester was a once in a lifetime occurrence and although refreshing won’t happen again soon. 

    If we dont suceed this year then we will have another go at it next year and that’s as it should be in football. Competitive with an aim.... that’s something the majority of Premier leagues clubs no longer have...., it’s all about coming 7th. 
  • Don’t like the money buys success in the Prem. Hoping that VAR levels the playing field.
    Don't quite see how VAR changes anything with regard to money buying success. 
  • Don’t like the money buys success in the Prem. Hoping that VAR levels the playing field.
    Don't quite see how VAR changes anything with regard to money buying success. 

    Because the “big” clubs get lots of iffy decisions.
  • It’s not it’s not just the logistics of big crowds and ticket demand that we are currently experiencing to look forward to if we ever get back to the PL, it’s also not playing regularly on a Saturday afternoon with a 3pm kick off. To accommodate TV, our last 3 games have been 5.30 on a Saturday, 12.30 on a Sunday, 7.45 on a Friday; and our next one is 3pm on a Sunday. Luckily only one of those games has been outside of London. 
  • Genuinely think that we are in a totally different World from 98, the initial throes of the Premier League in comparison. For the culmination of the 98 season for example, people involved in travel organisation, ticketing had it thrown at us/them from Port Vale onwards. 21 years ago we basically did things on bits of paper, a spreadsheet (quite alien at the time) and ensuring CASC Branches received a reflective allocation.
    That in itself was some feat, so the Final where we sold coach tickets from a food outlet was a further challenge.
    The subsequent season was indeed an even further challenge, working in tandem with the club to ensure tickets were made available to the die hards. I'd like to think that we achieved this but as I have alluded, technology is a tad different as is the organisation of infrastructure. Those days.are indeed long since gone, but at least the loyalty points scheme which I advocated for God knows how long seems to be finally bedding in. But if it all goes wrong Henry, I've still got the list of names. Yep, you're on there😊
    Do you have his, and our, permission? Surely a GDPR violation!
  • I've always wondered how our fans would cope if we had away support like Man U or Leeds and sold out every away game.

    Some people go into mild panic mode complaining about how sales are phased over getting a ticket for Gillingham away.
  • Sponsored links:


  • Would be more then happy with mid table obscurity in the Championship...but with Roly in charge I doubt this will ever be achievable just hope that win or lose on Sunday we get a new owner in ASAP. 
  • It wasn't about what division we are in but the availability of tickets for games, big or small.
  • It wasn't about what division we are in but the availability of tickets for games, big or small.
    OK, I'm a casual fan these days so like to decide on the day whether I'll go or not...so being in the Prem and selling out every game wouldn't really suit me (though I'd love to see us get there one day).  I lived in Eltham from 1998-2005 and loved being a season ticket holder and also being able to walk to the ground...luckily for me this coincided with the Premier years.  Left Eltham at the end of 2005 and have lived in Singapore, Lee (for a year) and now Hastings so don't attend as much these days.
  • We have 3 quite distinct groups of supporters imo. 

    We have about 8-10k who will "support" the club regardless of what's served up on the pitch, or what level we play at.  They will mainly buy season tickets or attend most home games.  As a side, it is from this group, that most, if not all, current boycotters come from.

    We have another group, about the same size, who will pick and choose the games they go to.  Based appon family, financial and other circumstances.  They are probably less likely to "boycot" but more likely to choose not to go to a mid week home game against Rochdale when it's freezing cold or pissing it down.  If demand for tickets started to get closer to the supply volume most of these would migrate to the first group as to guarantee a ticket.

    Finally you have the biggest group, guessing at least the size of the other two combined?  They either can't, like me, or don't want to go every week.  They need a reason to go, rather than a reason not to.  They plan it in and are very unlikely to randomly walk up on the day.  A bit like going to a concert or the theater.  The less "events" there are the more demand there is on the ones we have.  For example we would have taken many more to Blackburn if we hadn't of had the "event" at forest before hand.  When you have an "event" where demand is expected to be high these people are likely to plan it in as early as possible and will buy advance tickets this limits the supply and makes others do the same. The later they leave it the less likely they are to go. As soon as it appeared possible the Doncaster game would sell out these people bought tickets.  Because this group is so big we can attract massive one off crowds but unless a season snow balls the effects on the average would be minimal.

    I would guess we are far from unique in this as attendances for the smaller Premier league clubs tend to go down the longer they are in the prem but still spike for "events". 
  • edited May 2019
    oohahh's reaction to demand outstripping supply for away games


  • I too wish this was a more regular problem us. The problem for me the way I see it, everything hinges on RD and next season could well go one of two ways as suggested in the OP.

    We could get promoted and contracts are signed and even if again Bowyer has no money to spend i'm sure the current feeling could continue even if we were in for a difficult season in The Championship.

    But the big worry is if we lose on Sunday it could all collapse like a house of cards. Bowyer, JJ, Gallen, most of the squad could all be gone and then all the hard work over the last season would all be gone and we could be back on the downward spiral we've been on for the last 5 years with no progress made, in a worse position than this time last year, all returning fans lapse again and more likely to find ourselves in the bottom half of the table next season doing a Bradford after two failed play off attempts.

    The comfort I will take if we lose is that RD hasn't actually destroyed the club and undone 27 years work since returning to The Valley, the last few months show we're alive and kicking ready for a new owner to see the momentum and energy amongst our huge fan base. The last few months can only be a good thing for the club to survive and even thrive in the modern game. It can't be any worse than declining crowds year on year in the third tier.
  • Cafc43v3r said:
    We have 3 quite distinct groups of supporters imo. 

    We have about 8-10k who will "support" the club regardless of what's served up on the pitch, or what level we play at.  They will mainly buy season tickets or attend most home games.  As a side, it is from this group, that most, if not all, current boycotters come from.

    We have another group, about the same size, who will pick and choose the games they go to.  Based appon family, financial and other circumstances.  They are probably less likely to "boycot" but more likely to choose not to go to a mid week home game against Rochdale when it's freezing cold or pissing it down.  If demand for tickets started to get closer to the supply volume most of these would migrate to the first group as to guarantee a ticket.

    Finally you have the biggest group, guessing at least the size of the other two combined?  They either can't, like me, or don't want to go every week.  They need a reason to go, rather than a reason not to.  They plan it in and are very unlikely to randomly walk up on the day.  A bit like going to a concert or the theater.  The less "events" there are the more demand there is on the ones we have.  For example we would have taken many more to Blackburn if we hadn't of had the "event" at forest before hand.  When you have an "event" where demand is expected to be high these people are likely to plan it in as early as possible and will buy advance tickets this limits the supply and makes others do the same. The later they leave it the less likely they are to go. As soon as it appeared possible the Doncaster game would sell out these people bought tickets.  Because this group is so big we can attract massive one off crowds but unless a season snow balls the effects on the average would be minimal.

    I would guess we are far from unique in this as attendances for the smaller Premier league clubs tend to go down the longer they are in the prem but still spike for "events". 
    Agree with your three buckets Cafc43v3e but my reckoning is that our hard core support is nearer 5,000. Over the years when we have hit lows in terms of results and been in relegation battles, that is the staple home attendance. We have had very rare days when it's been lower but those were also cold/wet/midweek matches.
  • I genuinely don’t mind League One and would probably choose this league over the Premier League. I’d love to see us better supported in either League One or Champ level, but ultimately I just love seeing Charlton winning games of football with a squad of players and manager I can connect to.
    I am starting to think this way as well. Right now, you can be 8th in the PL and only have a 39% win rate. So even if you are average, almost 2/3 of your matches end in some level of disappointment. Is that fun?

    I think this is also also why the PL should face down the big teams. I dare them to leave. Would love to see the reaction on Arsenal or ManU fan’s faces when they suddenly are 12th in a super league with a 33% win rate. They and most other clubs would not tolerate that situation for long.

    Which is nicer.... being in the PL and always worrying about relegation, living with constant 20-33% win rates... or winning 50-60% of matches and being a big fish in a smaller pond? 
  • Cafc43v3r said:
    We have 3 quite distinct groups of supporters imo. 

    We have about 8-10k who will "support" the club regardless of what's served up on the pitch, or what level we play at.  They will mainly buy season tickets or attend most home games.  As a side, it is from this group, that most, if not all, current boycotters come from.

    We have another group, about the same size, who will pick and choose the games they go to.  Based appon family, financial and other circumstances.  They are probably less likely to "boycot" but more likely to choose not to go to a mid week home game against Rochdale when it's freezing cold or pissing it down.  If demand for tickets started to get closer to the supply volume most of these would migrate to the first group as to guarantee a ticket.

    Finally you have the biggest group, guessing at least the size of the other two combined?  They either can't, like me, or don't want to go every week.  They need a reason to go, rather than a reason not to.  They plan it in and are very unlikely to randomly walk up on the day.  A bit like going to a concert or the theater.  The less "events" there are the more demand there is on the ones we have.  For example we would have taken many more to Blackburn if we hadn't of had the "event" at forest before hand.  When you have an "event" where demand is expected to be high these people are likely to plan it in as early as possible and will buy advance tickets this limits the supply and makes others do the same. The later they leave it the less likely they are to go. As soon as it appeared possible the Doncaster game would sell out these people bought tickets.  Because this group is so big we can attract massive one off crowds but unless a season snow balls the effects on the average would be minimal.

    I would guess we are far from unique in this as attendances for the smaller Premier league clubs tend to go down the longer they are in the prem but still spike for "events". 
    I would say there are more different groups than that. Amongst our "hard core" will be those who just go to home matches only (bar the very very occasional away match) and those who go to away matches regularly. 

    Get to the PL and away tickets will be like gold-dust, but things will settle down if we stay up for more than a couple of seasons, and people have "ticked" off some of the more distant grounds...
  • Sponsored links:


  • I genuinely don’t mind League One and would probably choose this league over the Premier League. I’d love to see us better supported in either League One or Champ level, but ultimately I just love seeing Charlton winning games of football with a squad of players and manager I can connect to.
    I am starting to think this way as well. Right now, you can be 8th in the PL and only have a 39% win rate. So even if you are average, almost 2/3 of your matches end in some level of disappointment. Is that fun?

    I think this is also also why the PL should face down the big teams. I dare them to leave. Would love to see the reaction on Arsenal or ManU fan’s faces when they suddenly are 12th in a super league with a 33% win rate. They and most other clubs would not tolerate that situation for long.

    Which is nicer.... being in the PL and always worrying about relegation, living with constant 20-33% win rates... or winning 50-60% of matches and being a big fish in a smaller pond? 
    I disagree with you both. I hate League One football. I hate the Trophy where we're forced to play Under 23 sides. It's embarrassing, the lower leagues League One and Two are generally where you find the smaller regional teams. 40k going to Wembley says we are not a regional side ready to take on Palace U23's.

    We are not a team that can live forever in The Premier League either, The Championship is our level with the odd spell in the Premier League when things are going well (Curbs) and the odd spell in League One when things are not going well (RD). Let's not accept the mediocrity served up by RD as the norm and acceptable. It's actually quite worrying the number of people who have liked AFKABartram's post saying they genuinely don't mind League One.
  • Give me something to play for in May in the Championship every season and Id be happy if we didnt go up to the Prem
  • I genuinely don’t mind League One and would probably choose this league over the Premier League. I’d love to see us better supported in either League One or Champ level, but ultimately I just love seeing Charlton winning games of football with a squad of players and manager I can connect to.
    I am starting to think this way as well. Right now, you can be 8th in the PL and only have a 39% win rate. So even if you are average, almost 2/3 of your matches end in some level of disappointment. Is that fun?

    I think this is also also why the PL should face down the big teams. I dare them to leave. Would love to see the reaction on Arsenal or ManU fan’s faces when they suddenly are 12th in a super league with a 33% win rate. They and most other clubs would not tolerate that situation for long.

    Which is nicer.... being in the PL and always worrying about relegation, living with constant 20-33% win rates... or winning 50-60% of matches and being a big fish in a smaller pond? 
    I disagree with you both. I hate League One football. I hate the Trophy where we're forced to play Under 23 sides. It's embarrassing, the lower leagues League One and Two are generally where you find the smaller regional teams. 40k going to Wembley says we are not a regional side ready to take on Palace U23's.

    We are not a team that can live forever in The Premier League either, The Championship is our level with the odd spell in the Premier League when things are going well (Curbs) and the odd spell in League One when things are not going well (RD). Let's not accept the mediocrity served up by RD as the norm and acceptable. It's actually quite worrying the number of people who have liked AFKABartram's post saying they genuinely don't mind League One.
    My opinion was more of NOT wanting to be in the PL, rather than wanting to stay in L1. I feel like our natural position is in The Championship. If we were in the PL we would have the 14th largest stadium of 20 teams, with matchday revenue at-best 14th. In other words, continual relegation-bait. No thanks. I would rather win 1/2 of all our games in The Championship and be competitive there and at least winning now and then. If we went up now and then, great. But a hunger for the PL is not high on my list of wants.
  • I think quite a few would be very annoyed IF we were getting big demands for tickets too away games AND we were still in league 1 as there are so many clubs with limited facilities, but those with determination will get tickets and the last minute’rs will lose out.

    Much less of a problem in the leagues above, and the points system will make it as fair as it could be for the ‘big’ games.

    I think the Championship is the best league we have because it is the most competitive. It also refreshes every year with clubs joining and leaving every season.

    My son does not watch Premier league games as he says they are all quite predictable. Will always watch a championship game. He also watches the highlights of those games before MOTD and fast forwards the chat. His mates similar. If teenagers are losing interest in the package, it needs to change.

    With TV money starting to drip into the Championship one can only hope that they share equally and keep the competition fresh. 
  • If it meant we never had to play in L1 ever again I’d happily stay in the Championship forever.
  • Give me a draw against Liverpool , Man Utd , Arsenal , Chelsea , spurs or West Ham over a 5-0 win over orient gillingham or whoever 
    I want to be involved in the football conversations properly with friends 
    my kids want to see Charlton panini stickers or cards or whatever they have 
    I want us to have a genuine chance in the fa or league cup therefore being in the Premiership is where I want us to be .
    i mean the buzz of a charlton win against nobody fc is nothing compared to a 2-4 win at Highbury or a 3-3 draw at Anfield that I still think of and remember .
    of course there’s a load of dull 0-2 and 0-4 defeats etc but look at palace just last season they’ll be talking about wins away at Man City and Arsenal forever .
    of course we’ll remember the drama and atmosphere of Doncaster but this final will never mean as much to me as 1998 or 1987 when the prize was top flight football .
    We can romance about the close feeling between support and players at League One but just like in the Prem if a better offer comes in they’ll be off like a shot .
    if we stay down how many will be here next season 
Sign In or Register to comment.

Roland Out Forever!