I so nearly could have not been if it was not for a moment that happened to my Dad, my family connection goes back to my Grandparents, who moved out of London to start a family in Maidstone, my Dad grew up going to Maidstone United with his mates as a kid until one day my Grandad took an interest in Football again & decided to take his sons to see his local team from when he was a kid(Charlton).
He did all the usual stuff when taking kids for the first time, talked up the game, got them both scarves, then on the way out, my Grandad was in the loo when some opposition fans walked past my Dad & Uncle, decided it would be funny to steal the kids scarves, they got my Uncles but not my Dad's, my Uncle never attended football again over that until the last 7 years when he became a Liverpool fan(don't get me started).
Sounds such a minor thing i know but my Dad says that like his brother, neither were confident kids & if it had been him who had lost his Scarf to the Wolves fans, he doubts if he would have wanted to go back to Charlton either, so in a stange way, i can thank(blame) the other Wolves fan who was not as quick as his mate who snatched my Uncles scarf for my love affair with Charlton.
As my Dad was then hooked, went through all the emotions of being a Charlton fan that generation had, including being in tears for the return to the Valley.
My personal story is simple i had been to a dozen games before but the 98 Play-off final happened, i was 8 years old and just watched my team win the most amazing game of football at Wembley.
It helped that for the following year my school teacher was a Charlton fan(now a family friend) who despite the traumatising events of making me sing Charlton songs to the class as my show & tell on occasion when i forgot to bring something only added to my Charlton love.
It's in the blood. Great Grandfather, Grandparents, Father, Me and my brother and my daughters.
I first became aware of football about the time Spurs won the double in 1961 and the first game I can clearly remember on the telly was the Spurs Burnley Cup Final the following season. I started reading the paper about the same time and looked for the Spurs results.
My dad often worked weekends or played sport so he wasn't always about. One Saturday though he was in and we were watching the teleprinter on Grandstand. I happened to mention that Spurs were our team to be told in no uncertain terms that they weren't and Charlton were! We then sat until the Charlton result came through, Charlton 3 Middlesbrough 4. He then told me that we (my Grandparents and me) would go to the FA Cup game against Cardiff which must have been his next Saturday off. We never got to that one because it was postponed on numerous occasions because of the awful weather that winter but we did go to some league games (beating Plymouth 6-3 and losing 2-1 to Leeds come to mind) and I was hooked, my flirtation with Spurs becoming a distant memory!
One generation lost one gained since I wrote this in February 2007 with my grandson so six generations for us now.
My old man emigrated here from Ireland in 1947. He was a good footballer and had represented Ireland at youth level and I still have his medals from his time playing for Clara town. He adopted CAFC and took me along to the FA cup tie with Sheffield United in January 1967. I've not missed many home games since then. Always been proud to be an addick!
Followed QPR/Brentford for a while but went to The Valley for Simonsen's debut v Middlesbrough in 1982.
Loved the weird nature of the ground (so different in a good way to Loftus Road!) and the car-crash nature of the club ....who gave the impression they were a top 1st division club not a poor 2nd division team....flash Chairman in a sheepskin coat, seats behind both goals, expensive to get in, article in the programme about the gourmet meals being served up to the players on the coach home from Leeds....
Saw an entertaining/bizarre game....fanfare for Simonsen (Star Wars music!!).....0-3 down at half-time....a late but futile fight-back to a 2-3 defeat.
I just knew it was for me and I was soon going every home game before venturing to Newcastle to see my first away game (lost 4-2.....Robinson 2). There was no turning back from that...and I've just made it to the 1000th game mark.
Taken by dad and uncle to the valley from a very young age. First recollection of feeling a supporter was being in Charlton Manor playground and being told by some lads that Charlton were rubbish, they were at the bottom of Division 1 and about to be relegated. Hardened me to decades of disappointments interspersed with all too few triumphs but always hope for something better.
Year Charlton got promoted to top flight was the year I moved out of London, started a family and a new job and weekend trips to London were not on the cards. I was gutted, from having suffered all those years watching Division 2 football, Charlton finally reach the glorious heights of Div 1 and I'm not there for a payback, I only caught the odd game for many years.
Moved back nearer London the year Charlton get relegated from Premiership, did the Blackburn trip for maximum disappointment, so for most of my life have only seen Charlton play regularly in the lower tiers, but not sure it matters.
My old man's mate from the pub was a massive Watford fan and offered to take me to my first 'proper' football match - Charlton v's Watford FA cup Jan 28th 1984. I'd had no real interest in Watford or Charlton up until that point preferring to 'follow' Man U via the TV. I can't remember much about the game other than sitting in the front seats of the away end on a seat encrusted with pigeon s**t. No idea why, maybe because they were considered the underdog, but I decided to support Charlton. My dad's mate wasn't too impressed that I'd decided to support Charlton but, it being the FA Cup, we obviously lost so his disapproval was shortlived! He can't have been too disappointed though; he got me a ticket for the final v's Everton at Wembley. I think he considered me to be his lucky charm!
Earlier this year, I got talking to someone in a bar in the Malaysia. There was a game on the TV and we got talking about all things football. As the superstars from the Premier League played out a game, I didn't mention that I supported Charlton for some time. When I did, he looked ecstatic and bemused - well, perhaps, just bemused. He had supported Manchester United as a youngster (I guess he was about 28 now), but used to argue with his father who thought that Manchester United and Alex Ferguson could do no wrong, so he decided to choose another team. He opted for another team in red & white and picked Charlton for that sole reason. It was Premier League days, so Charlton were on TV regularly (every week in fact in Malaysia).
He liked Charlton, he said, because they didn't always win (I thought I knew what he meant). His favourite player was Claus Jensen. He had certainly done "the knowledge" as taxi drivers say. He knew everything about the Club over the last 20 years or more - more than I knew probably. He had been to England twice and had seen Charlton play three times - but was yet to see a win (sound familiar?). He told me that friends laugh at him when he says that he supports Charlton (sound familiar?). I tried to encourage him to join Charlton Life (maybe, he has), but he was worried that people on the forum would think he was crazy because he was so fanatical about Charlton (he'd need to work hard to look crazy on here!).
He was clearly a partisan Charlton fan and told me that Charlton would be back where they belong within three years. (I realised afterwards that he didn't clarify what he meant by 'back where they belong'). We'll see.
It's in the blood. Great Grandfather, Grandparents, Father, Me and my brother and my daughters.
I first became aware of football about the time Spurs won the double in 1961 and the first game I can clearly remember on the telly was the Spurs Burnley Cup Final the following season. I started reading the paper about the same time and looked for the Spurs results.
My dad often worked weekends or played sport so he wasn't always about. One Saturday though he was in and we were watching the teleprinter on Grandstand. I happened to mention that Spurs were our team to be told in no uncertain terms that they weren't and Charlton were! We then sat until the Charlton result came through, Charlton 3 Middlesbrough 4. He then told me that we (my Grandparents and me) would go to the FA Cup game against Cardiff which must have been his next Saturday off. We never got to that one because it was postponed on numerous occasions because of the awful weather that winter but we did go to some league games (beating Plymouth 6-3 and losing 2-1 to Leeds come to mind) and I was hooked, my flirtation with Spurs becoming a distant memory!
One generation lost one gained since I wrote this in February 2007 with my grandson so six generations for us now.
Saw The Boat's entry too.
RIP The Boat.
Yes indeed Len time does move on too fast. And RIP The Boat.
My dad took me in 1961/1962. FA Cup game against Derby which we won 2-1. He hardly ever went anymore; however, he thought he would blight me just out of spite. Completely smitten. Gates opened, first stop the programme shop and then a quick run round to the players entrance. My mum died when I was quite young and they thought of shipping me up to Blackpool to live with an aunt. I am soooo pleased that never happened. Sorry Blackpool.
Started following Charlton the first season in the top tier under legend Lennie Lawrence. A few years later I started a supporterclub for scandinavian fans. First game was at Upton Park against Watford (1-1). I got the tickets from Mr. Steve Clarke. He also arranged a guided tour at the Valley. What a welcome! Sold for life. Every year I travel to see the first game of the season at The Valley. Cant wait to take my son when his old enough! #sinceIwasyoung
It's in the blood. Great Grandfather, Grandparents, Father, Me and my brother and my daughters.
I first became aware of football about the time Spurs won the double in 1961 and the first game I can clearly remember on the telly was the Spurs Burnley Cup Final the following season. I started reading the paper about the same time and looked for the Spurs results.
My dad often worked weekends or played sport so he wasn't always about. One Saturday though he was in and we were watching the teleprinter on Grandstand. I happened to mention that Spurs were our team to be told in no uncertain terms that they weren't and Charlton were! We then sat until the Charlton result came through, Charlton 3 Middlesbrough 4. He then told me that we (my Grandparents and me) would go to the FA Cup game against Cardiff which must have been his next Saturday off. We never got to that one because it was postponed on numerous occasions because of the awful weather that winter but we did go to some league games (beating Plymouth 6-3 and losing 2-1 to Leeds come to mind) and I was hooked, my flirtation with Spurs becoming a distant memory!
One generation lost one gained since I wrote this in February 2007 with my grandson so six generations for us now.
Saw The Boat's entry too.
RIP The Boat.
Yes indeed Len time does move on too fast. And RIP The Boat.
The Boat · About Username The Boat Joined February 2007 Visits 0 Last Active October 2007 Roles Member Points 1
We were living on the south coast when my dad took me to my first Charlton game at Fratton Park in the 1950s. We lost and I got hit on the elbow by the football. It (the football) was hoofed out for a corner by an Addicks full back. It was soggy and very heavy and I complained a lot. I was about 5 or 6.
My dad's family lived in the Blackheath area and then Marlborough Lane. He claimed to have seen the Addicks from before they were in the Football League. I never knew whether to believe that, but following the Addicks was in our blood. My uncles used to go, too.
In the 60s and 70s, I used to go with one of my brothers. We still lived some way from the Valley and we couldn't afford to go very often, also he often had to work on Saturday mornings, but we went all over the country to a few away games per season from when I was about 9, often taking in a stock car racing or speedway meeting in the evening. I recall going to Swindon once when the Addicks lost 5-0 or 4-0 and the Dons, who I supported, lost in the evening at Blunsdon, too.
One thing about it I remember like I can almost taste it is the various odours -not all good, by any means: those outdoor urinals, tobacco smoke, the rank, seedy pong of the trains, the smell of newsprint from the Saturday evening pink uns, green uns, yellow uns. the wonderful, mouthwatering aroma of roast chestnuts outside the railway termini on a clear, cold winter evening, the exciting smells of newly printed paper and fresh plastic and metal from the new club shop. Above all, there was the waft of wintergreen and dubbin from the changing rooms under the west stand where our heroes prepared for action. There's a scene in the Big Bang Theory where Sheldon Cooper opens a 1970s mint-in-box toy and exclaims that it smells exactly how he imagined the 1970s would. Who can forget how the 1960s truly smelled?
But, it has to be said... the 60s and 70s were a soul-destroying time to support Charlton.
I was a glory hunter. 10 years old in 1947 and we won the cup. This must be the team to support I thought. Its been a long journey, both actually and metaphorically. I went to the Valley regularly in the 50s and 60s and moved to Australia in 1970. At that time it was hard to follow what was hapening. No internet of course, and reports on games were few and far between. Slowly but surely more information came through and then it happened, Charlton came to Australia and I drove from Sydney to Canberra to watch my first game for years. My wife couldn't understand how I was so happy to be driving through sleet and rain to sit on the terraces to watch this team that she had heard about for years.
My greatest moment though was watching Hans Jeppson play, this man was a genius with the ball and I still believe he was the best player I ever saw playing for Charlton. I was there for his last game when a helicopter was supposed to come and land on the pitch but it never happened. I stayed as long as I could after the game to see this but eventually had to catch the train home.
I have all sorts of meorabillia here, shirts, one signed by Dale Stephens and framed on my wall, mugs, teddy bears, pencils, scarves, flappers, key rings, programs, books etc. Yes, its been a journey but I don't regret any of it.
As I recall, I didn't know too much about football in 1952, although I suppose there was some talk of it in my home in Greenwich, as it was not that long after we had won the FA Cup and my oldest brother, 13 years my senior, played local football. But a school friend, Brian Shaw, suggested that I went to The Valley, as it was exciting and "good fun", I guess. Anyway, I took his advice and got myself to a match. Sadly, I cannot remember the opposition, but must have been impressed by the "drama" in that huge arena. So much so that I went back several times that season and many more the subsequent ones. Of course, we were a good First Division side in the early fifties with some good players that I recall, such as Gordon Hurst, Billy Kiernan, Benny Fenton and of course Sam Bartram. Then in came the South Africans, Stuart Leary, Eddie Firmani, John Hewie, Sid O'Linn. Exciting times, but sadly too short.
I'm pleased to say that I haven't missed many of the classic games over the years and in more recent years have followed them home and away, taking a few of the NWKenters with me, although not so much in the last season or so.
I am proud to have added 2 sons and 5 grandsons to the paying Addicks throng, although they have had to endure many ups and downs over the years ( most recently all eight of us at Fulham), after an agonizing trip up the A2 and on South East Rail. But, of course, we can blot those ones out of our minds in time, can't we.
It's in the blood. Great Grandfather, Grandparents, Father, Me and my brother and my daughters.
I first became aware of football about the time Spurs won the double in 1961 and the first game I can clearly remember on the telly was the Spurs Burnley Cup Final the following season. I started reading the paper about the same time and looked for the Spurs results.
My dad often worked weekends or played sport so he wasn't always about. One Saturday though he was in and we were watching the teleprinter on Grandstand. I happened to mention that Spurs were our team to be told in no uncertain terms that they weren't and Charlton were! We then sat until the Charlton result came through, Charlton 3 Middlesbrough 4. He then told me that we (my Grandparents and me) would go to the FA Cup game against Cardiff which must have been his next Saturday off. We never got to that one because it was postponed on numerous occasions because of the awful weather that winter but we did go to some league games (beating Plymouth 6-3 and losing 2-1 to Leeds come to mind) and I was hooked, my flirtation with Spurs becoming a distant memory!
One generation lost one gained since I wrote this in February 2007 with my grandson so six generations for us now.
Saw The Boat's entry too.
RIP The Boat.
Yes indeed Len time does move on too fast. And RIP The Boat.
The Boat · About Username The Boat Joined February 2007 Visits 0 Last Active October 2007 Roles Member Points 1
It's in the blood. Great Grandfather, Grandparents, Father, Me and my brother and my daughters.
I first became aware of football about the time Spurs won the double in 1961 and the first game I can clearly remember on the telly was the Spurs Burnley Cup Final the following season. I started reading the paper about the same time and looked for the Spurs results.
My dad often worked weekends or played sport so he wasn't always about. One Saturday though he was in and we were watching the teleprinter on Grandstand. I happened to mention that Spurs were our team to be told in no uncertain terms that they weren't and Charlton were! We then sat until the Charlton result came through, Charlton 3 Middlesbrough 4. He then told me that we (my Grandparents and me) would go to the FA Cup game against Cardiff which must have been his next Saturday off. We never got to that one because it was postponed on numerous occasions because of the awful weather that winter but we did go to some league games (beating Plymouth 6-3 and losing 2-1 to Leeds come to mind) and I was hooked, my flirtation with Spurs becoming a distant memory!
One generation lost one gained since I wrote this in February 2007 with my grandson so six generations for us now.
Saw The Boat's entry too.
RIP The Boat.
Yes indeed Len time does move on too fast. And RIP The Boat.
The Boat · About Username The Boat Joined February 2007 Visits 0 Last Active October 2007 Roles Member Points 1
It's in the blood. Great Grandfather, Grandparents, Father, Me and my brother and my daughters.
I first became aware of football about the time Spurs won the double in 1961 and the first game I can clearly remember on the telly was the Spurs Burnley Cup Final the following season. I started reading the paper about the same time and looked for the Spurs results.
My dad often worked weekends or played sport so he wasn't always about. One Saturday though he was in and we were watching the teleprinter on Grandstand. I happened to mention that Spurs were our team to be told in no uncertain terms that they weren't and Charlton were! We then sat until the Charlton result came through, Charlton 3 Middlesbrough 4. He then told me that we (my Grandparents and me) would go to the FA Cup game against Cardiff which must have been his next Saturday off. We never got to that one because it was postponed on numerous occasions because of the awful weather that winter but we did go to some league games (beating Plymouth 6-3 and losing 2-1 to Leeds come to mind) and I was hooked, my flirtation with Spurs becoming a distant memory!
One generation lost one gained since I wrote this in February 2007 with my grandson so six generations for us now.
Saw The Boat's entry too.
RIP The Boat.
Yes indeed Len time does move on too fast. And RIP The Boat.
The Boat · About Username The Boat Joined February 2007 Visits 0 Last Active October 2007 Roles Member Points 1
Mother had a tortuous labour with me, God bless her. 24 hours of excruciating pain, blood, snot and profanity so bad that the staff at the old Greenwich hospital swore they had never heard the like. Father, as was the form in the early 60's was sat rather nervously in the waiting room, after having been summoned from his local, after of course making sure everyone in his company had got their round in. He was pissed. Tired and emotional both stared lovingly down at me, their first born, the apple of their eye. Mum knackered, in shock from the travails of childbirth and Dad, groggy and incredulous at what they had both achieved. Both were worried, there was not much money about and we were all going to struggle as a family. Mum looked at Dad, Dad looked back at Mum, then they both looked at me, "Right you little twat, you will grow up to be a Charlton Athletic supporter"
Northampton born and bred. When I was about 8 (about 1988) a mate of mine bought in a stack of cuttings about charlton as his great granddad had been their goalkeeper back in the early days of the club. I had never heard of charlton and had no idea where it was but within months I was hooked and have been a die hard fan ever since. Been a season ticket holder for longer than I care to remember and all my mates think I am. bonkers!
I don't know if this is a repeat, but here goes Grandad, born and bred SE7, took his 7 year old grandson down the valley, first game vs Stoke, we scored first and then got done 4-1. East Terrace, 1976/7 geezers lying on the floor covered in blood, fencing around the pitch, and I was hooked. I'm 43 now, and I love this club, and it will never ever change.
I lived in North London, until I met the lovely 15 year old Anne who is now my wife of 55 years. Her Brother Ken same age as me, was a lifelong Addick and I was hooked. I was already deeply into football having watched Arsenal, Watford, Southend and more. My Son loved Chelsea before he died at the age of 11, so for a while we had season tickets at Stamford bridge. Later I was promoted to the Midlands, and watched Wolves in the days of Billy Wright, but it was never going to be any team except Charlton for me. So I have endured 60 years of ups and downs at The Valley and other places, great moments and a lot of frustration. Our core family is Charlton through and through, and one of my Grandsons sits with me in the Upper North. Anne's family and mine strangely have a Charlton history, my Dad as a referee in the thirties, was affiliated to the Club, and actually claimed to be a Goalkeeper alongside Sam Bartram. I am not sure about that one, but it was a good story. What I do know from pictures was that he refereed a match between England and France during the second war when the England team contained guests like Matt Busby, as well as people like Tommy Lawton and Dennis Compton. Altogether a lifetime of memories.
As with lots of others, my love for Charlton was passed down. My Dad was raised in Plumstead near to Herbert Road and he and his mates started going to the Valley in the 60s and continued to do so until the early 80s when a combination of family responsibilites (me and my brother coming along) and the club going through a rough time meant he fell out of love with the place a bit. I was born in Greenwich, raised in Plumstead too and got into football in '86 during the Mexico World Cup and, with little opposition from Dad, decided Everton were my team with then being the most successful at the time. Then, in December 1986 my dad started getting free tickets for Selhurst games from his mate at the squash club and took me along. My first two games were Liverpool and Man Utd both of which finished 0-0 and the only thing I can remember about either is Bolder saving a Bryan Robson penalty. My third game was a 3-1 victory over West Ham and i was getting the bug. I still remember an Everton game at Selhurst where I wore my Everton shirt and Charlton hat but it wasn't long before the Blues had been forgotten about and it was all about the Addicks. Ever since 1986, my Dad and I have been regulars at Selhurst, Upton Park (I was mascot for the first game there which was also Curbs first game in charge) and of course the Valley where we've had STs for about 15 years and always in the same seats since we built the North Upper. I've had the best times following them around the country including only missing a couple of games between 98 and 2002 albeit with mates rather than Dad who has always been a home fan only. My away games are sadly only about five per season now as I have my own family and my 7 year old son got a season ticket next to us for his Birthday and is now as obsessed as me, the poor little fella. I'm a very proud man that there are three generations of my family at every home game.
My third child (my daughter isn't remotely interested in football) is due to enter the world in the next few days and the birth is scheduled for Queen Elizabeth hospital, a stone's throw from the Valley. The writing is on the wall for that poor little chap/lass......
I'm another home grown fan. My dad is a born and bred Sidcup lad. He started following Charlton as a boy as his uncle used to take him.
My dad took me to my first game when I was about 8 and my brother was 4! I was a season ticket holder until I left for Uni at 18. Work shifts prevents me from having a season ticket now, but I make any game I'm off.
I've followed ever since then. We've had our ups and downs but I'll ALWAYS be an Addick!!!
My uncle and my cousin took me to a game in the 94/95 season, to get away from my elder brother and sister fighting over me to support arsenal or the spuds.
i went to a few games, and it was the 4-4 draw with norwich in 97 that finally roped me in, I begged for a season ticket for the 1997/98 season, got it. I only missed one home game, the 3-1 defeat to stockport, the only time we lost at home that season, until we got to the prem i was seen as a lucky mascot.
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He did all the usual stuff when taking kids for the first time, talked up the game, got them both scarves, then on the way out, my Grandad was in the loo when some opposition fans walked past my Dad & Uncle, decided it would be funny to steal the kids scarves, they got my Uncles but not my Dad's, my Uncle never attended football again over that until the last 7 years when he became a Liverpool fan(don't get me started).
Sounds such a minor thing i know but my Dad says that like his brother, neither were confident kids & if it had been him who had lost his Scarf to the Wolves fans, he doubts if he would have wanted to go back to Charlton either, so in a stange way, i can thank(blame) the other Wolves fan who was not as quick as his mate who snatched my Uncles scarf for my love affair with Charlton.
As my Dad was then hooked, went through all the emotions of being a Charlton fan that generation had, including being in tears for the return to the Valley.
My personal story is simple i had been to a dozen games before but the 98 Play-off final happened, i was 8 years old and just watched my team win the most amazing game of football at Wembley.
It helped that for the following year my school teacher was a Charlton fan(now a family friend) who despite the traumatising events of making me sing Charlton songs to the class as my show & tell on occasion when i forgot to bring something only added to my Charlton love.
Saw The Boat's entry too.
RIP The Boat.
Followed QPR/Brentford for a while but went to The Valley for Simonsen's debut v Middlesbrough in 1982.
Loved the weird nature of the ground (so different in a good way to Loftus Road!) and the car-crash nature of the club ....who gave the impression they were a top 1st division club not a poor 2nd division team....flash Chairman in a sheepskin coat, seats behind both goals, expensive to get in, article in the programme about the gourmet meals being served up to the players on the coach home from Leeds....
Saw an entertaining/bizarre game....fanfare for Simonsen (Star Wars music!!).....0-3 down at half-time....a late but futile fight-back to a 2-3 defeat.
I just knew it was for me and I was soon going every home game before venturing to Newcastle to see my first away game (lost 4-2.....Robinson 2). There was no turning back from that...and I've just made it to the 1000th game mark.
Year Charlton got promoted to top flight was the year I moved out of London, started a family and a new job and weekend trips to London were not on the cards. I was gutted, from having suffered all those years watching Division 2 football, Charlton finally reach the glorious heights of Div 1 and I'm not there for a payback, I only caught the odd game for many years.
Moved back nearer London the year Charlton get relegated from Premiership, did the Blackburn trip for maximum disappointment, so for most of my life have only seen Charlton play regularly in the lower tiers, but not sure it matters.
I can't remember much about the game other than sitting in the front seats of the away end on a seat encrusted with pigeon s**t. No idea why, maybe because they were considered the underdog, but I decided to support Charlton.
My dad's mate wasn't too impressed that I'd decided to support Charlton but, it being the FA Cup, we obviously lost so his disapproval was shortlived! He can't have been too disappointed though; he got me a ticket for the final v's Everton at Wembley. I think he considered me to be his lucky charm!
He liked Charlton, he said, because they didn't always win (I thought I knew what he meant). His favourite player was Claus Jensen. He had certainly done "the knowledge" as taxi drivers say. He knew everything about the Club over the last 20 years or more - more than I knew probably. He had been to England twice and had seen Charlton play three times - but was yet to see a win (sound familiar?). He told me that friends laugh at him when he says that he supports Charlton (sound familiar?). I tried to encourage him to join Charlton Life (maybe, he has), but he was worried that people on the forum would think he was crazy because he was so fanatical about Charlton (he'd need to work hard to look crazy on here!).
He was clearly a partisan Charlton fan and told me that Charlton would be back where they belong within three years. (I realised afterwards that he didn't clarify what he meant by 'back where they belong'). We'll see.
And RIP The Boat.
He hardly ever went anymore; however, he thought he would blight me just out of spite. Completely smitten. Gates opened, first stop the programme shop and then a quick run round to the players entrance.
My mum died when I was quite young and they thought of shipping me up to Blackpool to live with an aunt. I am soooo pleased that never happened. Sorry Blackpool.
A few years later I started a supporterclub for scandinavian fans. First game was at Upton Park against Watford (1-1). I got the tickets from Mr. Steve Clarke. He also arranged a guided tour at the Valley. What a welcome! Sold for life. Every year I travel to see the first game of the season at The Valley. Cant wait to take my son when his old enough! #sinceIwasyoung
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Username The Boat Joined February 2007 Visits 0 Last Active October 2007 Roles Member Points 1
Seven years ago. Bless his socks. RIP
My dad's family lived in the Blackheath area and then Marlborough Lane. He claimed to have seen the Addicks from before they were in the Football League. I never knew whether to believe that, but following the Addicks was in our blood. My uncles used to go, too.
In the 60s and 70s, I used to go with one of my brothers. We still lived some way from the Valley and we couldn't afford to go very often, also he often had to work on Saturday mornings, but we went all over the country to a few away games per season from when I was about 9, often taking in a stock car racing or speedway meeting in the evening. I recall going to Swindon once when the Addicks lost 5-0 or 4-0 and the Dons, who I supported, lost in the evening at Blunsdon, too.
One thing about it I remember like I can almost taste it is the various odours -not all good, by any means: those outdoor urinals, tobacco smoke, the rank, seedy pong of the trains, the smell of newsprint from the Saturday evening pink uns, green uns, yellow uns. the wonderful, mouthwatering aroma of roast chestnuts outside the railway termini on a clear, cold winter evening, the exciting smells of newly printed paper and fresh plastic and metal from the new club shop. Above all, there was the waft of wintergreen and dubbin from the changing rooms under the west stand where our heroes prepared for action. There's a scene in the Big Bang Theory where Sheldon Cooper opens a 1970s mint-in-box toy and exclaims that it smells exactly how he imagined the 1970s would. Who can forget how the 1960s truly smelled?
But, it has to be said... the 60s and 70s were a soul-destroying time to support Charlton.
A burden for sure
How could I not fall in love?
Ever since I kept bugging my dad to get me a season ticket where he eventually gave in.
My memory is quite hazy of the 1st and reacurring games I must say...but was something along those lines.
My 1st game was definitely at home to wrexham, remember sitting in the covered end (or the south stand)
My greatest moment though was watching Hans Jeppson play, this man was a genius with the ball and I still believe he was the best player I ever saw playing for Charlton. I was there for his last game when a helicopter was supposed to come and land on the pitch but it never happened. I stayed as long as I could after the game to see this but eventually had to catch the train home.
I have all sorts of meorabillia here, shirts, one signed by Dale Stephens and framed on my wall, mugs, teddy bears, pencils, scarves, flappers, key rings, programs, books etc. Yes, its been a journey but I don't regret any of it.
I'm pleased to say that I haven't missed many of the classic games over the years and in more recent years have followed them home and away, taking a few of the NWKenters with me, although not so much in the last season or so.
I am proud to have added 2 sons and 5 grandsons to the paying Addicks throng, although they have had to endure many ups and downs over the years ( most recently all eight of us at Fulham), after an agonizing trip up the A2 and on South East Rail. But, of course, we can blot those ones out of our minds in time, can't we.
http://forum.charltonlife.com/discussion/11718/some-bad-news-rip-the-boat/p1
Words cannot express.
Grandad, born and bred SE7, took his 7 year old grandson down the valley, first game vs Stoke, we scored first and then got done 4-1. East Terrace, 1976/7 geezers lying on the floor covered in blood, fencing around the pitch, and I was hooked. I'm 43 now, and I love this club, and it will never ever change.
My away games are sadly only about five per season now as I have my own family and my 7 year old son got a season ticket next to us for his Birthday and is now as obsessed as me, the poor little fella. I'm a very proud man that there are three generations of my family at every home game.
My third child (my daughter isn't remotely interested in football) is due to enter the world in the next few days and the birth is scheduled for Queen Elizabeth hospital, a stone's throw from the Valley. The writing is on the wall for that poor little chap/lass......
I love Charlton.
My dad took me to my first game when I was about 8 and my brother was 4! I was a season ticket holder until I left for Uni at 18. Work shifts prevents me from having a season ticket now, but I make any game I'm off.
I've followed ever since then. We've had our ups and downs but I'll ALWAYS be an Addick!!!
COYR!!!!!!
i went to a few games, and it was the 4-4 draw with norwich in 97 that finally roped me in, I begged for a season ticket for the 1997/98 season, got it. I only missed one home game, the 3-1 defeat to stockport, the only time we lost at home that season, until we got to the prem i was seen as a lucky mascot.