Interesting stuff. Couldn't have delivered. Why? Is that a fact or opinion?
Roger Alwen didn't have the money to put in or the necessary skills to untangle the mess left behind when Mike Norris went bust. Martin Simons guaranteed the loan that enabled the club to get the ground back from the bank and Richard Murray - assisted by Peter Tegg - did the necessary deals.
Is Peter Tegg related to Ben Tegg ? Does this mean he helped financially ?
I am not sure of his exact history but Richard M's family background is not deeply rooted in one particular area. I seem to remember him telling me that it is partly Polish. So it's not as if he was born and bred Wolves, in the same way as I am born and bred Charlton. He was living in London for years before he got involved with us. Sometimes something triggers a spark and you are hooked. I don't think he 'transferred' his allegiance from Wolves. Rather that he was unattached and still looking for his true love...
Also if you had ever been near him during or after a game, you'd be in no doubt. He's a fan, and a loud one at that.
I might be wrong, but I seem to recall that "Richard Murray" isn't actually his real - or at least not his full - name. Am I just making that up or does someone else know?
What makes a wolves ?? fan decide to invest so much time, money and energy into Charlton (lucky for us) no disrespect but there are a gazillion and one better causes, imo, to be burning your time, money and energy on than at a poxy footy club you have no affinity too
Off_it, I think you are right, and it is connected to his Polish family history. Airman might remember better. He certainly mentioned something like that to me and it wasn't in any particularly confidential way.
Not sure. But a lot of immigrants from Eastern Europe in the 19th-20th century changed their names in order to 'fit in". But Richard himself may have been born here, I can't remember for sure.
Just a shame that some of the more "erratic" members of our support couldn't see it and resorted to personal abuse. Fcuking idiots. They know who they are.
This! Nice one Off-It. The majority of which inhabit another forum...
There is reference to RM's "other" name as a footnote in at least one of the early annual reports.
One of the special sights of the'98 POF was a rapturous RM applauding as Mark Kinsella received the trophy, and looking ready to explode with happiness and pride. Yep, that man's a fan alright !!
This thread is mercifully not an obituary for the great man so not everyone will be complimentary in their remarks, but some of the sour comments do little justice to the astonishing achievements of the club on Richard Murray's watch. And as said many a time, a thoroughly decent guy.
I remember walking across the West Stand car park with Richard, on the 15th May, 2004. It was the day we beat Southampton and finished 7th in the Premier League.
It was also only our second win in ten games, and the end of a season which had seen us claim ten points from a possible thirty, and lose out on a European place in the process. There was a bit of shouting and chanting, a few fans moaning about the way the season had "tailed off" and a generally weird atmosphere. We'd finished 7th and quite a lot of people weren't happy, or so it seemed.
"They don't realise, do they?" he asked me. "They don't realise just what we've done. How impossible it should be to do what we've done, on that budget. They don't realise it'll never be this good again."
If I paraphrase, it's only slight and only down to the passage of time, dulling the memory. The last sentence I remember perfectly, though. He knew the way the game was going, the oligarchs and sheikhs, millionaires being chased out by billionaires. And he was right.
Richard and his board did a huge amount for this club - saved it and caused it to grow. Latterly they made some mistakes and, as I've said before, they showed that top flight football is like cimbing an ice wall - a million careful steps up, but one slip and you're back at the bottom before you know it. But they put their money where their collective mouths were, and they did so openly and honestly. And, as he said, there will always be some people who don't realise just how far above our weight we were punching.
Off_it, I think you are right, and it is connected to his Polish family history. Airman might remember better. He certainly mentioned something like that to me and it wasn't in any particularly confidential way.
A few call him Muzza. Probably Dick Muzza, changed to Richard Murray to add credibility. Acceptable in the black country but...
We were the poor relation in south london by the time RM got involved. It is now accepted that we are a bigger club than both Millwall and Palace even though we are in a league lower. That says it all for me and is certainly good enough for me. I doubt we will ever break into the accepted big 4 in London but i now see us as the 5th biggest club in London and we expect a team that is commensurate with that status. By the late 80's we were probably nearer 9th in status in London and didn't expect much at all really, despite being in the top flight.
What makes a wolves ?? fan decide to invest so much time, money and energy into Charlton (lucky for us) no disrespect but there are a gazillion and one better causes, imo, to be burning your time, money and energy on than at a poxy footy club you have no affinity too
I think it was Enoch Powell who famously said all political careers end in failure.
The same can arguably be applied to football managers and chairman.
Richard Murray made mistakes in the decisions around the departure and replacement of Llewellyn The Great but he had the courage to appoint the great man in the first place whilst supporting him and developing a ground fit for Premiership football at the same time.
I started supporting Charlton in the early sixties and never thought I'd see top tier football at The Valley. Richard Murray and Alan Curbishley in whatever order you wish to place them made that dream come true for 8 seasons.
I doubt Charlton will reach the Premiership again in my lifetime but for those 8 seasons at The Valley, watching at the same ground my beloved deceased forefathers had also watched, I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
How old are you Len, I see a return to the Premiership as a distinct possibility in the next five to ten years and others will point to Norwich and of course oif there is a Prem breakaway of the top clubs it maybe even sooner. That said I think most of us will enjoying life more in the Championship
Comments
Is Peter Tegg related to Ben Tegg ? Does this mean he helped financially ?
I''ve a feeling he was introduced to the club by a couple of business friends to help out and sort of stayed. Exactly who I'm not sure.
There is reference to RM's "other" name as a footnote in at least one of the early annual reports.
One of the special sights of the'98 POF was a rapturous RM applauding as Mark Kinsella received the trophy, and looking ready to explode with happiness and pride. Yep, that man's a fan alright !!
This thread is mercifully not an obituary for the great man so not everyone will be complimentary in their remarks, but some of the sour comments do little justice to the astonishing achievements of the club on Richard Murray's watch. And as said many a time, a thoroughly decent guy.
I remember walking across the West Stand car park with Richard, on the 15th May, 2004. It was the day we beat Southampton and finished 7th in the Premier League.
It was also only our second win in ten games, and the end of a season which had seen us claim ten points from a possible thirty, and lose out on a European place in the process. There was a bit of shouting and chanting, a few fans moaning about the way the season had "tailed off" and a generally weird atmosphere. We'd finished 7th and quite a lot of people weren't happy, or so it seemed.
"They don't realise, do they?" he asked me. "They don't realise just what we've done. How impossible it should be to do what we've done, on that budget. They don't realise it'll never be this good again."
If I paraphrase, it's only slight and only down to the passage of time, dulling the memory. The last sentence I remember perfectly, though. He knew the way the game was going, the oligarchs and sheikhs, millionaires being chased out by billionaires. And he was right.
Richard and his board did a huge amount for this club - saved it and caused it to grow. Latterly they made some mistakes and, as I've said before, they showed that top flight football is like cimbing an ice wall - a million careful steps up, but one slip and you're back at the bottom before you know it. But they put their money where their collective mouths were, and they did so openly and honestly. And, as he said, there will always be some people who don't realise just how far above our weight we were punching.
We were the poor relation in south london by the time RM got involved. It is now accepted that we are a bigger club than both Millwall and Palace even though we are in a league lower. That says it all for me and is certainly good enough for me. I doubt we will ever break into the accepted big 4 in London but i now see us as the 5th biggest club in London and we expect a team that is commensurate with that status. By the late 80's we were probably nearer 9th in status in London and didn't expect much at all really, despite being in the top flight.
|Well said !
Downhill ever since .