One of the major failings supporters have reported under this regime has been the lack of courtesy and professionalism from the club in responding to correspondence. The club launched yesterday a new email account to ‘ensure enquiries get responded to more efficiently’ and are encouraging supporters to send their ’comments, questions or concerns regarding the club’ to fans@cafc.co.uk They additionally ask fans who have not had responses to past correspondence to now resend them to this address.
CARD welcome this improved approach to supporter enquiries and encourage all fans to send their ‘comments, questions or concerns’ (of which we suspect there are many and wide-ranging) and any previously unreplied correspondence, to this new address.
Supporters should also note the response expectations that the club set out in its Club Charter, to which many supporters report the club have previously failed to adhere:
- We will endeavor to acknowledge receipt of any email message within 48 hours.
- If a full written response to an email enquiry is deemed necessary, we will endeavor to reply within 10 working days.
- We will also endeavor to reply to written letters within 10 working days.
- We will likely respond by email but we may contact you initially by telephone, if this is appropriate.
- If a number of supporters get in contact with the same or similar enquiry we may send our reply to those supporters all together.
Supporters are encouraged to CC all enquiries to enquiries@football-league.co.uk to ensure best practice. Any written correspondence should be sent to Supporter Relations, Charlton Athletic Football Club, The Valley, Floyd Road, Charlton, SE7 8BL
*CARD wishes to make clear it does not encourage or condone the sending of abusive or inappropriate correspondence, and highlights that the club are within their right not to respond in these instances.
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Comments
That speaks volumes.
To be honest though, I was genuinely puzzled by this. It's not the end of the world or anything, but I don't really understand how that doesn't get noticed and corrected when publishing an official document such as a club charter.
weirdnessuniqueness.Plus the coco5 and Greenwich Uni episode has shown how articulate supporters can be in their correspondence and I'm sure the number of questions, issues, concerns fans may wish to raise are quite wide-ranging.
So let's see.....
Can someone ask for the coffin back, please.
(I also note that there is no reference to a statute of limitations or any suggestion as to how old the queries might be. So I'm starting with the 1974-75 season).
CARD don't want to engage in dialogue do they ? Or is it just to create inconvenience and a load of work for some poor sod (who isn't RD or KM).
It is also at least reasonably amusing.
"Having just read the latest Club response to the current situation, it is evident to me that, on the back of a victory and and the previous statement expressing sadness at the fans actions, they are looking to divide the supporter base and alienate the protestors even further.
I think longer term they would like the 'negative' supporters to go and be replaced by a more compliant ones supportive, or rather indifferent to their running of 'their' Club.
I do think that, on the back of this latest development, those in the T20K group should seriously reconsider the role played in dealing with Club. Surely you must realise that you are being used as a vehicle to promote that they have an open dialogue with the fans whilst they ignore offers to talk to CAST, of whom I am a member. I do appreciate some of the excellent initiatives being mooted by the target group, but we are in a crisis of identity here and T20K should consider the bigger picture. Remember we were all told Roland does it his way and the fans have to accept that. Well I for one, and I'm not alone, do not.
We all want what is best for this Club. How can such a statement as this latest effort be made with any other intention than to further alienate and divide fans. It is ill considered nonsense and I can only concur with those who have stated that it is only through relegation(s) that we will find the suitable level of competiton befitting of our incompetent management team and ownership, and not the fans who deserve far better.
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I note M. Duchatelet's rant at Charlton fans on the club website last night. I am not surprised by the clumsy and mis-directed nature of what he said because that has been the hallmark of all club communications during his tenure, but the timing of his message was strange bearing in mind the equally mis-guided but conciliatory tone of the club statement just two days earlier. I surmise that the new Head of Communications was involved in the first statement but not the second?
The time for pleasantries is past. Let us not mince words. Charlton Athletic, a club that within the last 10 years was widely admired has become a shambles; a laughing stock in the footballing world. From the disastrous performances on the pitch to the inept management off it. I do not know to what extent that is attributable to M. Duchatelet's appointment of an incompetent Chief executive and a succession of inadequate head coaches, or his insistence on a rigid application of his own deeply flawed philosophies. Probably a combination of these. Either way, they are his responsibility, and he must take that responsibilty. Ms Meire once advised us that M. Duchatelet “does not do failure”. Clearly, that is no longer true.
Charlton Athletic, for all of us fans, is part of our lives, of our family history, of our community. We love the club and it hurts us more than we can say to be forced into fighting against it. But he are destroying the very soul of that we hold most dear. If M. Duchatelet had done any research at all into the proud history of Charlton Athletic he will have gathered that Charlton fans are amongst the most steadfast, loyal and fair minded anywhere in the world. We are also talented and determined. We will not meekly stand aside and allow him and his Chief executive to bring our proud club to ruin. The fans do not want the club to fail, in the long term, but it is remarkable and sad that many fans would positively welcome relegation if that meant an end to M. Duchatelet's ownership of the club.
He can be deriving no pleasure from his ownership or stewardship of the club. Peter Varney has approached the club at least twice to seek discussions about a takeover and M. Duchatelet has admitted that such approaches are not uncommon. We call upon M. Duchatelet to give up this failed experiment in football economics, sell up and go.
With that in mind:
1. Can the club confirm that this statement was indeed written solely by M. Duchatelet, or was it drafted and/or amended by Ms mere before publication?
2. What does M. Duchatelet make of the unpalatable truth that fans would welcome relegation if it meant the end of his disastrous regime?
3. Is it true that M. Duchatelet receives regular approaches to buy the club and, if so, why this appears to have been missed or forgotten by him in constructing his statement?
Alan Davis
Dear CAFC,
Firstly, thank you for providing this contact address for fans to contact the club. Communication is obviously a two-way process and so I look forward to hearing back from you promptly.
I have been a fan of the club since a young child and as my family originates from SE London, it really is a hereditary tradition that my family supports the club.
I am somewhat concerned by the semi-coherent statement released on the official site:
http://www.cafc.co.uk/news/article/statement-3009419.aspx
I already feel disenfranchised as a fan/stakeholder and have stopped attending games as a result (I'm not a season ticket holder, so that is a loss in your revenue). I have a few questions I would appreciate the answers to:
> Please can you confirm that this is an official statement from the board and/or owners?
> Is the club seriously not aware of the Peter Varney backed consortium who are interested in buying the club?
> What fans/fan groups were consulted with recently?
I understand that at a purely business level, I am indeed a customer. I pay money and you provide an entertainment service. However, clearly football in the UK is linked to communities and families in a way like no other institution can compare to.
Were I to have the opportunity, I would literally beg the owners to find a way to sell the club, because the relationship with the fans has clearly reached a point of irreparable damage, regardless of the league we find ourselves playing in next season.
1. To pour more ridicule on Roland and through that, seek the sale of the club and the removal of KM as CEO.
2. To contribute to making the club "unmanageable" in order to dishearten the senior management team and hasten their departure.
I wish I had also asked about the potholes.