from saturdays matchday program
'we had a smattering of around 350 fans at Hillsborough, and i can fully understand that Sheffield on a Tuesday night is not the easiest place to visit, taking work and families into account. But entering this run-in, we are going to need more fans on the road.'
Pards then goes on to mention how attractive blackpool is in hoping to encourage more fans to travel....
the thing is blackpool's a new ground for most so we'll have decent numbers up there i'd be more concerned about how many we bring to sheff utd and burnley...
i don't go to many away games now due to work/family and playing vets footy on most saturdays but for my part i'm gonna go to barnsley away cos i think it's where we'll confirm automatic promotion(i'm a glory boy) ;-)
i really do think like pards we need to improve our away support in numbers at least ;-)
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Can't force people to go. In all honesty i think places like this website can help a lot. I would not have gone to a lot of games this season if i had not met a lot of people on the site.
The proposed coach travel, un restricted by the club is also a great idea which can only help (fingers crossed it will get a few more going to Ipswich who were undecided).
Group hug anyone?
Me and Ging both have family's
He often has to work Saturdays
I have 3 girls who all Irish dance and are at a high level so money and time is pumped into that big time.
So away games are really a last thought for me even though i love going away as its a great day out good banter and teh all round atmosphere is better.
So that why most of my away days are eiether London or counties near London we its cheaper to travel to and quicker to get home
Good on him I say, the support at Sheffield was dreadful last week.
So overal it is pretty poor just wish i could do my bit and go more often
Some of these midweek night games (like Burnley coming up) result in me having to take a half day off work and driving up and driving home getting back at ridiculous o clock or getting a train and 99% of the time spending the night in the place of the game which means another half day off work at the minimum.
I admire those who do it but i do put a few things in front of Charlton including taking my time off to go on holiday with the girlfriend, spending time with my family etc.
If there was an easy way to get up to these places leaving at 6.30 at night and getting home by say 12.30 i'd do them all!
See you at Blackpool!
We had a good turn out on a wet Saturday night on a televised game at Watford. We took a healthy 12-1300 up to Scunthorpe, and I suspect we will sell out at Blackpool, and if we start putting this run together that we have all been talking about, the support away will grow in numbers. I know from experience, its very easy to get out of the habit of going to away games.....I can remember in the nineties, getting a bit burnt out seeing 37 games in a season.
And it really hasn't happened that Selhurst aside, the times when we do take better than average numbers away from home, the team fails.
On that basis, i'm expecting nothing from Saturday and then i won't be disappointed. I'm going for a nice booze and break, and if Charlton win it will be a mega bonus.
For example, for most away matches we operate coaches from Canterbury and Maidstone, but for some matches we don't. The reason is insufficient bookings both at these outlying pick-ups and overall. On occasion we have put them on and then cancelled them - and we are not talking about failing to fill a coach, we are talking about two or three people booking in total outside the M25. On the other hand, we have successfully run coaches from the Sussex coast for particular matches when approached, so it really depends on the circumstances.
A lot of people, including me, have big reservations about travelling long distances by coach and train services are frequently inconvenient and expensive, but the main reason for few people travelling is that few people want to go (or are able to do so because of other commitments).
Incidentally, both Palace and QPR took less than us to Scunthorpe for Saturday fixtures, according to their programme.
Agree with all the reasons why people can't go, but the thing that gets me is the discrepancy in numbers between our Home and Away support. Looking at it like that it is embarrassing!
What's your initial thoughts, or do you believe that there is only so many times you can lead the horse to water ?
I can't even get there and back from Sheffield until 3am so what hope have others got?
however if you look at all of the saturday 3pm kick offs we have taken well over a 1000 to all of them: palace,wolves,leciester,southampton,norwich and scunthorpe.
i blame sky for all the dodgy kick off times personally
I don't do away games anymore purely from the point of view I just don't want to. I have travelled all over this country following us when we were shit - by that I mean when we were at Selhurst - I never missed a game for 4 maybe 5 years from 87 onwards - 1 becasue it was a piece of piss jumping on a train and going up north and cheap 2 i was single and had no kids.
Now I work enough hours as it is plus doing my knowledge, my choice i know, i want to see my kids at the weekend rather than travelling up and down the country at extortionate prices. I don't do coaches before anyone digs me out and if I did I would have an hours travel just to get to a pick up point from where I live.
I get 25 days holiday a year 2 weeks of which for summer holiday , half terms and a few emergencies and I don't have enoguh holiday to do the midweek aways. I am sure I am not alone in that.
So Mr Pardew DO ONE. - As others have said start getting the bloody team to win away from home and you might get a few more. Give fans the confidence that we might actually go to Sheff Weds and win and the fans might bother.
and as many have said, its improving, so be positive pards!praise the ones that went rather than dig at the ones that didnt!
Cost is a bit of a hold back for me being a single man with a fat arse mortage to pay and home to run but no more so than a lot of the demograph of 18-35 years olds (38 if you're Kets) that live in London. I think the underlying reason is not knowing enough Charlton fans to be honest as before I would drag plastics of other sides across the country who would be coming more for the day out than anything else.
It's bloody expensive to get anywhere these days - most of us work a normal job so can't justify a day off or a half day to go to Sheffield. Not to mention the fact that I would not get home until 1am.
I earn an "above average" salary but still find it hard to justify £20 - 30 for the match, £40 or £50 in petrol, a programme, pint & pie(pies in my case) etc is another £10. You are looking at £100 for a nights "entertainment" in some armpit of the nation (that comment was aimed at Scunthorpe and Hull in particular)
Sorry Alan but we don't all have squillions in the bank and the ability to go all over the nation to watch our team - call us crap fans but that's a stone cold fact and before anyone accuses me of being a plastic I have been to Hull, Wolves, Scunthorpe, Coventry, Bristol City, Luton, Colchester away so far this season). Not to mention I live 60 miles from the Valley.
If the fans are not doing enough then maybe you could lay something on to make it easier for people to get to games....and maybe you could get the fans to appreciate the fans a bit more.
rant over - go about your business everyone
I'd rather have 500 people who sing, get behind the team and make themselves heard than 1,000 or 1,500 who are mostly quiet.