Being completely lazy, I thought you lot (who are better than Google) might fill me in on the following.
How successful have protests been at other clubs?
The first discontent I can remember (aside from the Valley in September 85) was at St. James park in the late 80's early 90's. We won 2-0 and during the game the Geordies were singing 'sack the board'. We joined in with this and sang the same (though I think the Geordies were not too happy about this).
Since then there have been several notable protests but if I'm being honest I have not really bothered myself with them. 'Not my team' , 'nothing to do with me' etc.... I think there are now many Charlton fans who will be far more sympathetic towards clubs with serious ownership problems.
Wimbledon, Blackpool, Aston Villa, Northampton, Brighton, Cardiff, Man utd, etc.... They have (along with many others) had their problems with owners. What has been the outcome? Man Utd didn't like the Glazers, formed a new team who now have their own ground etc..., but they are still owned by the Glazers. Cardiff changed colours etc....still owned by Tan. Blackpool threw tennis balls and invaded the pitch....still owned by Oystens.
IF there was a league table of the greatest protest groups how would CARD fair? Aston Villa praised us very recently. I have had conversations with friends who are very impressed at the way CARD are operating.
I guess my big question is, if Roland does not sell, when do we just 'put up with' or form AFC Charlton. Have Blackpool given up?
Thank you so much in advance.
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He has more to lose than CARD, both in terms of cash and reputation.
He'll sell. Don't worry.
In any case, there are far more of us than him.
Interestingly, we also seem to be gaining some form of success:
- our own CEO is not allowed to have any words attributed to her any longer as she's a PR liability;
- respected members of staff are leaving, whilst the recruitment of new ones is proving to be very difficult;
- mentions from the Training Ground protest suggested that things may not be sustainable come December;
- the club has graciously provided us with a few PR defeats of their own, such as Roland's statement;
- we seem to have entered a new phase, whereby the club is getting very desperate
Ultimately it may be a bit of a platitude, but I believe @Henry Irving is correct when he says "they bought the wrong club". The 5th December 1992 may not be a date known by Katrien, she cares not for history, but it's a date which signifies the willingness of the fanbase to fight against odds and protect their little patch of SE7.On the subject of Blackpool, they are an interesting one - if only because they were the first time I really paid to fan unrest in football. I really didn't foresee us following in their footsteps two years later though - although their choice of manager in Jose should've been a warning sign!
Fair few Charlton there that day.
The Liverpool £76 protest for example was an easy U turn for the club to make, similarly changing the Cardiff shirts back to blue.
It's major issues such as changing owners or reversing decisions to leave a ground which are much harder to succeed with. Leeds have been a joke off the field for years now, for example