Yes GHF it was the Cardiff game in September 1966 when I bought my rosette. There used to be my dad, grandad, 2 uncles, 2 cousins and 2 family friends at a crash barrier level with the edge of the 18 yard box at the covered end end about half way up the East terrace. One of my uncles drove us to the game and he was a prodigious pipe smoker so that smell takes me back to the Valley in the 1960s.
Loved those old rosettes, can remember my mum actually making a load for me and my mates when Dartford got to Wembley (losing to Morcombe in the final).....74/75 if memmory serves me right.
I had one mate - we got the coach from Clarks shop down Knockhall road i think?
hello Mr C.
And as for your dad how he took us all down the station and inot the valley and back again i'll never know.
Nice one old mate, and yes we did get the coach from Clarkes. I've enjoyed reading some off your posts since I joined (April 2012) and still see the odd thing on Facebook.....hope you and the family are keeping well.
YA - yes, the smell of pipe smoke was very evocative of The Valley.
I mostly went to matches on my own, travelling up from mid-Kent on the 703 Greenline to Eltham, then the 161 to Woolwich, and finally a walk along the lower road to the ground. Especially at times when we were doing well, or before a big game, I would leave home mid-morning and be one of the first (spectators) in the ground at about 1 o'clock. You can then see a matchday gradually come alive. The time before kick-off never went slowly - hanging round the entrance in the hope of getting an autograph or two, or just walking around the whole stadium. The only part of The Valley that was inaccessible was the Grandstand (you needed a special ticket). I'd usually start the game almost at the top of the East but it was not rare to move around during the game, mostly ending up in the Covered End but sometimes up the other end when we were kicking that way and the match was going well.
In pictures with the East in the background over the years you can see the steady growth of a shrub and a small tree right at the top, I guess at the end of gardens in Charlton Lane. By the 90s the tree got to quite a size but then, of course, it disappeared from view when the Stand was built.
We were all so proud when the money was found to build the East Stand in 93/94 but it seemed a bit strange that a terrace that was famed for holding 30000 was replaced by a modest 6000 seats. I guess that being one of the first post-Taylor Report developments there was a special emphasis on safety.
People have tried to take Charlton out of The Valley, but no-one will ever take The Valley out of Charlton.
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Remember Cardiff had the revered forward line of Barry Jones and John Toshack. Tosh scored in last 5 minutes of the game.
Good Friday 1968 was when we thumped Rotherham 4-1, when Tommy Docherty was their manager.
hello Mr C.
And as for your dad how he took us all down the station and inot the valley and back again i'll never know.
I mostly went to matches on my own, travelling up from mid-Kent on the 703 Greenline to Eltham, then the 161 to Woolwich, and finally a walk along the lower road to the ground. Especially at times when we were doing well, or before a big game, I would leave home mid-morning and be one of the first (spectators) in the ground at about 1 o'clock. You can then see a matchday gradually come alive. The time before kick-off never went slowly - hanging round the entrance in the hope of getting an autograph or two, or just walking around the whole stadium. The only part of The Valley that was inaccessible was the Grandstand (you needed a special ticket). I'd usually start the game almost at the top of the East but it was not rare to move around during the game, mostly ending up in the Covered End but sometimes up the other end when we were kicking that way and the match was going well.
In pictures with the East in the background over the years you can see the steady growth of a shrub and a small tree right at the top, I guess at the end of gardens in Charlton Lane. By the 90s the tree got to quite a size but then, of course, it disappeared from view when the Stand was built.
We were all so proud when the money was found to build the East Stand in 93/94 but it seemed a bit strange that a terrace that was famed for holding 30000 was replaced by a modest 6000 seats. I guess that being one of the first post-Taylor Report developments there was a special emphasis on safety.
People have tried to take Charlton out of The Valley, but no-one will ever take The Valley out of Charlton.