I am a very infrequent poster on here but the events of the weekend have prompted me to put into words just how much promotion of my beloved Charlton means to me.
Back in August 2008, the day before the 08-09 season kicked off I was diagnosed with testicular cancer which can as a huge and devastating shock to me. Being a season ticket holder I was still there the next day to see us beat Swansea and hope that a season of success could help me through my difficulties. In the coming months I underwent 2 surgical ops and 3 courses of chemotherapy which meant my trips to the valley were limited (a round trip of 160 miles was a bit too much to do). I looked on in horror as the team crumpled under Pardew. In fact, we did not win a single match during my chemotherapy treatment. The darkest period in my personal life was mirrored by a truly awful period for the Addicks.
My health improved enough to get back to some of the matches later in that season but lets be honest, we all knew we were doomed from Christmas onwards.
The next season saw me taking some tentative but significant steps towards a recovery healthwise. At the same time we began to prosper in League 1 and thoughts of an immediate return to the Championship looked like a possibility. Was this going to be the start of things improving??
Ultimately we fell cruelly short in the play offs and the ongoing financial uncertainty made it a worrying time for us all. It doesn't need me to go into how much of a disaster last season was but needless to say it was another depressing season. Fate would have it that at the same time I had another cancer scare and began to suffer more and more from anxiety and panic attacks.
The start of my road back was to visit a Counsellor, who provided me with fantastic support and guidance to help me through, get me back on track and move forward with my life (he couldn't really help my angst about Charlton though!). This was in February 2011 which of course coincided with the arrival of SCP to breathe new life onto our club.
As we flew to the top of the league at the start of the season, I received an all clear verdict in October from my oncologist. At the same time we were battering teams every week and looked awesome. Even though I never wanted to doubt that we would achieve promotion, the last few weeks have been agony as it seems that the success of my club seems to reflect my own personal situation.
I know full well that life is more important than football but will not be ashamed to admit shedding a tear or two at about 5pm on Saturday. Against Wycombe I will simply be sitting with a satisfied glow and thinkiing that life is tasting pretty sweet once again!
Anyway, apologies for my ramblings....
Come on you addicks!!
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Comments
Its odd how football can mirror life sometimes.
I'm delighted for you that your prognosis appears to be good. But don't make apologies for rambling. Plenty of tears have been shed on this board these last 48 hours and I don't mind admitting to a couple for Bob and for Steve.
Sit back and enjoy it.
all the best for the future, hope you get to enjoy the Wycombe game.
jinxTom !Glad to hear you are on the road to recovery, but with that correlation to our fortunes, if you do start to experience any chest tightening, or come out in a tropical rash, can you let us know.
And then i'll start heavily laying us on Betfair :-)
....one of which is that I am so fortunate to be part of the very special Charlton family like yourself.
Onwards & upwards to both yourself and our beloved Club
Thanks again for your story Tom.
Onwards and upwards
Really enjoyed this.
I had a cheap joke about Pardew being bad for most people's health but your post deserves better.
Start training for Iron Man....