Happy 20th Birthday Charlton Life!
Comments
-
That's what you tell the taxmanAFKABartram said:Henry being Henry 🤣
There is not and never has been 35,000 members!4 -
October 2006 for me, Johnny-come-lately.
Incidentally it'll be 20 years in September since my last alcoholic drink. I picked an awful replacement for alcohol 😂.
Thanks so much to all you guys and girls that have shared the highs and lows, both on, and very often off the pitch. Sadly some old pals are no longer with us, and the world is a lesser place without them, but all live on through this wonderful site, where their posts remain.
12 -
After the BBC 606 forum closed down I was posting on the old CAFC Babes site along with Frankie Valley etc but would come here to read stuff, eventually joining "for real" during the Belgian War of Independence after the Babes site had all but finished.fenaddick said:A relative newbie, although I read for years before I posted. I love this place, it's the nicest place on the internet. Plenty of jokes but it's always gentle ribbing. Plus, where else can I read pages of fish puns?
I've now managed to complete about 12 years of posting absolute bolleaux on here.7 -
Like a few have already said, I’m a long time lurker, relatively short term contributor.
To those who started and now facilitate this site, thank you. It’s a tremendous community with a rich and varied user base.It’s full of fucking weirdos mind (I’m definitely not one of them), but they’re our weirdos.6 -
Henry is a knobAFKABartram said:Henry being Henry 🤣
There is not and never has been 35,000 members!3 -
Buf I love him1
-
Where’s my present and cake?
All I can see is bitches and nice breads…
1 -
Out of interest, I asked ChatGPT what it made of Charlton Life, this was its reply:
What strikes me about Charlton Life is that if an outsider looked at it, they’d see a football forum. But if you asked many long-term members what it actually is, they’d probably describe it as a community that uses football as its common language.
A lot of online communities generate discussion. Fewer generate genuine continuity. Charlton Life has had nearly two decades of the same people checking in on each other, arguing, celebrating promotions, enduring relegations, sharing family news, raising money for causes, remembering members who have passed away, and welcoming new supporters into the fold. That’s quite rare on the modern internet.
One thing that stands out historically is that Charlton supporters have always had a strong tradition of collective action—from the campaign to return to The Valley, to supporters’ trusts, to the protests during the Duchâtelet era. Charlton Life seems to fit naturally into that tradition. It became a digital version of what Charlton fans have often done in the real world: organise, debate, support each other, and occasionally disagree passionately before meeting up again the following week.
The forum also has something many online spaces lack: institutional memory. There are members who remember Lennie Lawrence’s team, others whose first memories are Curbs’ Premier League side, and younger supporters who arrived during League One years. All of those perspectives coexist in the same place. Few fan communities maintain that sort of generational overlap.
Perhaps the most poignant aspect is that some of the most important threads have nothing to do with football. Over the years, members have rallied around people facing illness, bereavement, financial hardship, loneliness, and major life changes. Those are the threads that reveal what the community really is.
If somebody were writing a history of Charlton Athletic between 2006 and today, they could learn a lot from official club records, newspapers, and match reports. But if they wanted to understand how it felt to be a Charlton supporter during those years, Charlton Life would probably be one of the richest primary sources available. It captured events in real time, in the voices of the people living through them.
That may be why so many members stay around long after social media offered quicker alternatives. The football brought people together, but the relationships gave them a reason to keep coming back.
38 -
So happy I found this site; I don’t even remember how back in 2012! Whenever I look at other teams forums after games I think that this is streets ahead.Thanks to everyone who contributes - many hours spent on trains etc etc etc and it’s kept me occupied, informed and mainly laughing for years. Great community.Thanks to Lookout and also someone I can call a mate, which is bizarre off a website, in AFKA.Cheers 👍4
-
21 August 2006 and I thought I joined on day 1 so you sure you got the correct date Lookout???
1 -
Sponsored links:
-
West Ham away was on the 19th and we definitely launched ahead of thatCurb_It said:21 August 2006 and I thought I joined on day 1 so you sure you got the correct date Lookout???
0 -
There is absolutely no question that this without doubt the best football forum anywhere.8
-
I was a regular on NetAddicks from about 1998. Then out of the blue, I had an email from @AFKABartram asking if I’d be interested in joining a new Charlton Forum. That date 18 August 2006. So, I’ve been with you every step of the way. I’m not such a frequent visitor or poster these days but I can’t get by without my daily fix of Charlton Life. I started out as Valley McMoist but my user name changed when I signed in through Twitter and it’s stuck ever since. There’s been highs and lows but mainly highs. My favourite thread was from when we played Bray out in Ireland. Everyone was absolutely bladdered and I nearly sliced my dick in half trying to pee in a beer can back on the train into Dublin. Great memories. Well done everyone 👏👏👏👏👏7
-
My Charlton story would not be complete without Charlton Life. No other fan forum in the UK can even come close to what we have
Here’s to many more years of wonderful banter!4 -
You’re welcome. I must say, this site is all the better for having me, and my modesty, here.wolfgang said:Many thanks to everyone who has contributed for their wit, wisdom and effort. You have outlasted many other such attempts.2 -
Wow, bon anniversaire!2
-
Not concurrently, but what about in total over the 20 years?AFKABartram said:Henry being Henry 🤣
There is not and never has been 35,000 members!0 -
Been on here a lot longer than my posts suggest, enjoy reading and putting in my oar!!, whether right or wrong, insulting or in agreement!!, sometimes not reading things in the way they are meant, or just down right chuckling to myself about certain posts, I enjoy and loath this place at times but mostly proud of being part of a community that ultimately want the same thing. Let’s not forget the helpful life info on here outside of football which is/has been invaluable. These are because of Afka and lookouts decision to go ahead with this, so thank to you both and long may it continue. There are some serious characters on here, god knows what would happen should they all end up in the same room😂, on my part I never want to upset anyone intentionally, well not that often!!😜and hope people take my comments with a pinch of salt and keep loling along with me.1
-
Yes, is how you authenticate that you’re REAL Charlton.Addickted2TheReds said:So happy I found this site; I don’t even remember how back in 2012! Whenever I look at other teams forums after games I think that this is streets ahead.Thanks to everyone who contributes - many hours spent on trains etc etc etc and it’s kept me occupied, informed and mainly laughing for years. Great community.Thanks to Lookout and also someone I can call a mate, which is bizarre off a website, in AFKA.Cheers 👍2 -
Well done lads
joined in Aug 2006…..plenty happened in my life since then!4 -
Sponsored links:
-
Surprised to see that I didn't become a member until Feb 2009.
Got a feeling that I had been lurking since day 1, joined up when I got wind that an upcoming poker tournament was members only.
This site is brilliant, my go to when I get home for Charlton info and normally a chuckle.
Thanks guys.2 -
I really hope this gets 35,000 likesblackpool72 said:
Henry is a knobAFKABartram said:Henry being Henry 🤣
There is not and never has been 35,000 members!8 -
Many thanks to all the moderators for their hard work.
It's been...emotional.2 -
There is no community like it. On so many levels. Happy anniversary CL and thanks to the mods for keeping it going every day.1
-
The best … well done all1
-
I was also on Babes and BBC 606 back then, posting under my handle of 'Alan Cautiously' 😊Briston_Addick said:
After the BBC 606 forum closed down I was posting on the old CAFC Babes site along with Frankie Valley etc but would come here to read stuff, eventually joining "for real" during the Belgian War of Independence after the Babes site had all but finished.fenaddick said:A relative newbie, although I read for years before I posted. I love this place, it's the nicest place on the internet. Plenty of jokes but it's always gentle ribbing. Plus, where else can I read pages of fish puns?
I've now managed to complete about 12 years of posting absolute bolleaux on here.2 -
Big thanks to you both, AFKA and LoOKie! 👍
I was on holiday in Turkey that first day of Charlton Life, in an internet cafe in Fetya checking out this new site.
I lurked everyday on CL while on holiday, then signed up as soon as I got back home from holiday 2 weeks later.
Along the way, despite now living in Cornwall, through this site I've reconnected with old mates and made many new ones.
Highlights include playing regularly for Charlton Life FC at the Meridian against CAFC matchday Opponents supporters clubs - and of course playing in the legendary Demelza matches at The Valley.
The Demelza matches were in May 2007. That's another 20 year anniversary on the horizon!4 -
I sense that we are a whisker away from a Charlton Life 'Hall of Fame' suggestion.
Come on, Henry.0 -
I'll remind you all, as I do every year, you've all been on here longer than I've been alive15
-
On a positive note; a question. How do I get to meet some of you mysterious shady characters? Want to go to more games when I'm up at uni and meet some Charlton fans 'irl' as they say. Unfortunately my generation, for the most part, hasn't quite cracked actually speaking to real life people, rather than usernames on a screen.Foxycafc said:I'll remind you all, as I do every year, you've all been on here longer than I've been alive6
