. Roland's view of what success is for his own, home town club summed up in one picture...money from advertising, no fans.
Seeing that pic scares me , I was in the ground for the first half (was asleep most of it) and I don't recall that stand . Belgian beer is sooooo dangerous .
Posting late so just about everything has been said. Glad almost every one came away with good feelings.
Drove out Friday afternoon with The President and Forest hill red and his superb creation - the effigy ' Roland ' Every time I looked in the rear view mirror had a freaky/disturbing view of insanely grinning 'Roland' sitting in a rear seat.
While forest Hill red kipped in the back seat next to Roland ( had been awake all but two hours of the night working on his 'creation' ). The President and myself were in fits of giggles over 'Roland'.
The main effort of Saturday went into the 2per cent's set up & rehearsal. Trying to get information on the march route and start time from the police.
We had very serious concerns, already posted by Alwaysneil who was in contact with the authorities. As already posted the police only agreed the march start could be at Vim's very late on.
We only had permission for a 6pm start at around 4pm. So the idea to have the gig/buffet at Vim's central location turned out to be hugely important in getting the march started from the central district - Vim's
All week i had been unhappy with the original route of the march allowed by Authority's. So I contemplated a unilateral sit down demonstration in the Grote Markt. After all as a pensioner i have nothing to lose? Had second thoughts when it was realized how silly i would look in a sit down demo of one!
Happily the march was a great success - people waving from windows, the friendly police woman on her bicycle.
Having seen the Belgium police work at close quarters with the demands of our march i'm very impressed with their behavior under pressure. Of course they were dealing with 'pussy cats' and not 'rampaging English supporters invading their country'.
Hopefully we can obtain a statement from the St Truiden police of our good behavior.
Most of all a big thanks to all supporters - both Charlton and STVV for the brilliant peaceful unity march. Oh much respect to German Addict Mark who drove through the night, over 200 kms i understand to support us. See you at the valley next week Mark!
Will the demo make him sell? Who knows, but he should understand we are never going away, we will keep chipping away until the edifice falls.
This has been a day to remember, my only regret is not enough free time to meet & introduce fellow lifers.
...We seemed to have so much media coverage - there were interviews,cameras,photographers everywhere. certainly, Roly the Effigy seemed to be the most popular for the media there - and magnificent he was - for that @foresthillred , who spent so many long hours working on it , take a bow, son.Also, @GermanAddick who helped with the construction. Even, at one stage, when we had to make running repairs after his leg had fallen off, and his ear had come loose, one fan decided to drop his trousers and stick it in Rolys face - yes, you know who you are
I this the incident?
No! That's me trying to fix one of the bits that fell off Roland. I think the incident in question happened moments after though.
The organisation yesterday was top notch all day. Hundreds of man hours would have gone into that, all involved are Charlton heroes far beyond all our players (one or two excepted).
I was disappointed by the lack of STVV fans joining us. Theyre historically a lower league team so I think a lot are still grateful for that.
I still can't get over the darkened concourses with disco lights and crap music, all through the game. That house dj in Crossbars may not have solely been Meire's idea.
I had fun joining the Belgian 20 during and after the game, although hazy running on the pitch to sing "we want Roland out" is something I'll remember.
The Roland effigy was also a highlight, I should have taken one of his banknotes as a souvenir (one side included the names of Thuram, Reza etc, the other Yann, Morrison and so on).
I am part of one of the organising groups, so in the weeks leading up to the protest there were loads of meetings and lots of stuff to prepare, more so by others than me. Came up with the idea of an effigy ages ago. Had a vision of it being paraded on a gold throne at the head of the march then either being burnt (a la Wicker Man) or lynched outside Stayen! I liked the idea of ridiculing this self important twat, especially in front of local residents, his own employees and the wider Belgian public.
Never built an effigy before. Thanks to Alwaysneil for prompting me to make a start a week before the protest, never would have happened otherwise. As it was, at 10.30pm on Thursday, it was still in pieces and without a face. By 4.30am on Friday my creation was complete and sitting on the sofa in my living room. At 7am it scared the shit out of my kids when they woke up for school.
Dropped the kids off and ran home to get ready. Picked up at 11 by addicktedoldgit then off to pick up The President with Roly in the back leering out of the window. Odd looks from the French customs fella during an otherwise uneventful journey. Arrived in ST at 8pm, and time for a quick beer then off to meet STVV fans in their pub, making a couple of useful contacts. Back to Wim's to unpack and make effigy repairs. More beers then bed.
Saturday morning saw the buffet venue buzzing with activity. Built Roly's throne with German Addick Marc (Cheers Marc!!) and sat him on it just as the first travelling Addicks arrived. The sense of anticipation was building as more people turned up and it was great to hear the 2 Percent tuning up for the gig. I also began to appreciate just how much had been put into organising the protest, with everything going so smoothly. Special thanks to Wim and his parents for laying on the venue, the food and the beer while cheerfully dealing with local red tape and some last minute logistical changes without a murmur of complaint.
Nabbed some food to go with my rather strong brown Chimay beer, chatted to a couple of Lifers, and then it was a case of welcoming the coachloads into the venue, enjoying the gig and talking to the fella from 442 magazine. That done, it was a sudden mad rush to grab everything we needed as it became clear the march was about to begin. Four of us hoisted Roland and the throne on to our shoulders and we joined the tail of the march. It soon became apparent the throne was not up to the task of bearing our great benefactor so we ditched it after a couple of minutes and I carried him on my shoulders. The rest of the march was a blur of supporters singing their hearts out, curious locals, friendly police and loads of media interest.
By the end of the march, both me and the effigy were feeling the effects of it all, but at least I hadn't lost both my legs, dropped my trousers or had someone rub their arse in my face! As we passed through the barrier towards De Kanarie bar, I took heed of my third friendly warning from police not to burn the effigy, so we stored him in the pub and had a few beers before going to watch STVV. Good to see Igor on top form and scoring. Not so good to see him stretchered off. After the game we headed up to the Revue bar where Roland usually hangs out in the VIP section for a dance but he didn't show up. We made do with an impromptu pitch invasion that had security running about like headless chickens, then gave renditions of WWRO, Just sell our club and VFR before heading back to base for beer and pizza.
Best bit for me was the sense of togetherness and anticipation at the buffet, plus the 2 Percent getting the crowd going before the march.
Worst bit? Just after half time in the concourse bar under the north stand at STVV. There were a couple of hundred of their fans still in the bar as the second half kicked off, no one rushing to go back out for the game, dance music still playing. STVV scored within a minute or so to go 2-0 up and not one of them cheered, nothing! They just carried on drinking and chatting while the music played. Roland's vision in all it's chilling, soulless glory! This will be our future if we don't fight tooth and nail to rid our club of Duchatelet. We need to keep turning the screw.
1 - watched the magnificent banner of @sethplum attract a feeding frenzy from Belgian media
2 - the ST bobbies in plain clothes who supervised the march at the rear. I congratulated them on how well everything had been organised on all sides. Very soberly one replied, "Today is because you all love your club so much". He could see it in an instant - certain others it takes more than three years and they still don't get it.
3 - after the march we were on the coach to await return to our hotel. It was rather quiet after the day's excitement. I remarked "it's all so civilised, so ...., so ...., lost for words until my neighbour completed the sentence - "so Charlton".
4 - visit today to Ypres and especially to the grave of Gunner Nightingale
5 - not quite so tasty. @HantsAddick and I were the last away from the last coach (at SE7) when after an entirely trouble-free weekend for us all (I hope) I had a minor accident. As we crossed Anchor & Hope Lane to await HA's cab on the other side, I stumbled on the central reservation (who put that thing there?) and went flat on my fat face, half hanging in the other carriageway and thanks to my Parkinson's unable to move. A driver pulled up to ask if I needed help, but before he could do anything a second car stopped, a big black guy called Darren stepped out and then took over. Firstly, with the assistance of Simon the coach driver I was helped to my feet. Then, Darren first took me home to Woolwich, leaving me some food he had just bought for himself, and afterwards took HA back to her flat in SE7. She rang me to say she had left her bag in his car, and sure enough 10 minutes later Darren turned up at my door with the bag. What an absolute saint !! (I have a few grazes and bruises - nothing to worry about.) Sorry for the diversion, but a hefty conclusion to a memorable weekend. I have spent the last two days with many quite remarkable people, not least the last one of all ....
You certainly did provide a dramatic finish to the day GHF. I am so pleased you sounded much better when I phoned just now. You were not in danger from traffic when I left you to get Simon's help, made sure of that even though I had no hope of helping you to your feet. Must add that Darren was a saint, and has restored my faith in human nature as he went out of his way to help two total strangers, did not think people like him existed anymore. Hope he reads this, as I told him what we were doing as we drove back to SE7. Thanks to Simon also for rushing to help when he wanted to get home after a long weekend with us.
Back to the protest. Everything has been mentioned, but my own highlights were meeting others of course, and seeing just how wonderful Charlton fans can be, was nice to put faces to some of the names on here. Seeing Seth's banner get so much attention from the Belgian press at the buffet was great, they were one after the other, scribbling in their notebooks, but all seemed to love it. My hope is that they will be printing articles in the Belgian press about it, as this will totally embarrass him as all his cronies will see them. It's why we went, to show him up on home turf, and this was such a brilliant way of doing it, and certainly impressed the Belgians.
It was good to see and hear the STTV fans who were near us at the back of the march. What they lacked in numbers, they more than made up for with vocal noise. One song they sang in in English that could be used by us was: They don't care about the football They don't care about the fans All they want is the money STTV is in the wrong hands. Think we could substitute Charlton and we'd have another perfect song. Short, but to the point.
Also great was the praise from the Belgian police, who I didn't realize were police until they said, thought they were stewards. To say we were no trouble, then when Seth said "we are doing this out of love for our club, not hate" one replied, "you must really love your club to do all this" no better accolade for us, and stops the assertion that we only want to destroy the club by protesting. If a Belgian cop, who had never met us before can see this, why can't others?
Next highlight was joining the other WARriors in the hotel bar for a nice chat over a bottle or two of wine. Certainly was a nice way to end a successful, though tiring day.
After a comfortable night and tasty breakfast, we headed off to Ypres, and learnt some interesting facts from our historian,you know who he is, who supplied the facts in a most interesting and enjoyable way. We all went to Nobby Nightingale's grave and heard the story of how his resting place was found. Which other club's fans would stand in the pouring rain with the biting wind cutting through you to pay respects to a player who has been gone for over a hundred years? Not many, I'm sure, this is what makes us Charlton, we care. Also why Roland and Daisy will never "get" us, and there is no way back for either!
After all this I thought missing our ferry was the worst that could happen last night, until GHF made sure there was worse to come! Get well soon, and take it easy!
1 - watched the magnificent banner of @sethplum attract a feeding frenzy from Belgian media
2 - the ST bobbies in plain clothes who supervised the march at the rear. I congratulated them on how well everything had been organised on all sides. Very soberly one replied, "Today is because you all love your club so much". He could see it in an instant - certain others it takes more than three years and they still don't get it.
3 - after the march we were on the coach to await return to our hotel. It was rather quiet after the day's excitement. I remarked "it's all so civilised, so ...., so ...., lost for words until my neighbour completed the sentence - "so Charlton".
4 - visit today to Ypres and especially to the grave of Gunner Nightingale
5 - not quite so tasty. @HantsAddick and I were the last away from the last coach (at SE7) when after an entirely trouble-free weekend for us all (I hope) I had a minor accident. As we crossed Anchor & Hope Lane to await HA's cab on the other side, I stumbled on the central reservation (who put that thing there?) and went flat on my fat face, half hanging in the other carriageway and thanks to my Parkinson's unable to move. A driver pulled up to ask if I needed help, but before he could do anything a second car stopped, a big black guy called Darren stepped out and then took over. Firstly, with the assistance of Simon the coach driver I was helped to my feet. Then, Darren first took me home to Woolwich, leaving me some food he had just bought for himself, and afterwards took HA back to her flat in SE7. She rang me to say she had left her bag in his car, and sure enough 10 minutes later Darren turned up at my door with the bag. What an absolute saint !! (I have a few grazes and bruises - nothing to worry about.) Sorry for the diversion, but a hefty conclusion to a memorable weekend. I have spent the last two days with many quite remarkable people, not least the last one of all ....
Great story about Darren, and a lovely post. Hope you get better from your fall soon. Your language skills are invaluable, Weegie couldn't be with us so we needed you, Roland Duchatelet calls us stupid people yet at least three protestors have Doctorates.
It's all been said really. Met up for the first time with fellow WAR ladies and travellers at Ebbsfleet and everything great from then on! We had a superb banner and for a lot of the time we were physically at the front of the march. Quite unnerving having cameras virtually in your face. It was encouraging to see the local residents watching from their apartments and a lot of thumbs up from them. Chanting and singing fantastic. We were a good mix of ages from the very young upwards. By the end of the march, as the rain continued coming down, we got the coach back to Hasselt and joined others at the Hotel Bar. I was a bit of a lightweight, getting up at 3.45 had caught up with me (that's my excuse anyway) but others were up to the small hours. After a fortifying breakfast we then made out way to Ypres and on to the R E Farm cemetery to pay our respects to Gunner Nobby Nightingale who made the ultimate sacrifice over a 100 years ago.
Then we made our way back to England and I arrived back home before 10 pm.
Have we made a difference - time will tell. What I do know is that the weekend was a big success measured by meeting other like-minded fans for the first time, interacting with each other and generally just being a large group of decent human beings doing our bit for our club.
On a professional level, it was great to see the banners we produced look so good. Seth's came out really nice, the North Korean flags worked well as did the main banner and the just sell our club banner whilst the simplicity of the WAR banner was pleasing but I wasn't disapointed in any of them. Would be great to see some of them at the Valley.
I was proud of my fellow Charlton fans. We certainly showed that you can make your point with humour, dignity and respect. I would like to thank the people of St Truiden for their welcoming approach. I'm sure that when this horror ownership is over, there will be a continued link between the two clubs, through freindship, not ownership.
That business in the concourse below the stand. Could not agree more. Guys I was with were all so cold and knackered that we decided we would stay down there for a while. We got beer and hot dogs but never even realised ST had gone two up until we sat down near a monitor. The bloody music had drowned at the "roar" of the crowd.
sitting bleary eyed at work, I've already been told I was spotted on ITV news last night by a Charlton-supporting colleague and another saw the back of my head on the Daily Mail website. Fame (of sorts).
...We seemed to have so much media coverage - there were interviews,cameras,photographers everywhere. certainly, Roly the Effigy seemed to be the most popular for the media there - and magnificent he was - for that @foresthillred , who spent so many long hours working on it , take a bow, son.Also, @GermanAddick who helped with the construction. Even, at one stage, when we had to make running repairs after his leg had fallen off, and his ear had come loose, one fan decided to drop his trousers and stick it in Rolys face - yes, you know who you are
I this the incident?
No! That's me trying to fix one of the bits that fell off Roland. I think the incident in question happened moments after though.
Think we needed another bloke covering up the bloke covering up!
So much has already been said - but I'll add my bit
The sea on the way out was very smooth and I felt a bit of a tit for making so much pre-journey fuss (but see later).
Excellent atmosphere at the buffet and loved the 2% - would really enjoy an evening gig. I had my first ever Belgian beer - thought it tasted a bit 'thick' then noticed it was 8.2%. Went out to unfold our WAR banner (many thanks to @MuttleyCAFC) whereupon people appeared with cameras from every angle. WAR started at the front of the protest - and there is some footage of the start on Belgian TV as the man behind the bar at our hotel showed it to us. The noise and strength of the singing was truly great to hear.
The whole march ran smoothly -thanks to people like @Pico and others telling us when to slow down and speed up. We moved further back to let other groups with banners lead - and each did in turn. There were interviews on route and locals watching and waving from their windows. I remember an older bloke looking like he'd had one or two 8% beers cheering and giving thumbs up signs. The final push to the barriers was amazing. We went up to the front again and 'Just sell the club' was repeated over and over.
Totally drained afterwards I got the coach back to Haslett, took to a seat in the hotel bar and shared bottles of wine with fellow WARiors and other Charlton fans. I remember staying for 'just one more wine' and joining @LargeAddick, @sarge1g and some other lifers whose names I don't recall (sorry). They were discussing what the answer was to a question I now can't remember. they'd definately worked out the answer - and at the time I remember thinking it was brilliant. I went to bed at 2am and phoned Mr Tatters to tell him about the events of the day. He thought I should get some sleep.
Sunday was quite a different pace and mood. Standing at Nobby Nightingale's gravestone brought it all home to me. Here was a group of people honoring a player from Charlton's past. Yes Katrien we have a history, and a proud one at that. Roland and Katrien's era will also be part of our history but, I hope, remembered as a time when Charlton fans fought for their club (again).
Ferry home. I couldn't find the way to the outside deck but, fortunately, was spotted by Dan who found it for me (thanks Dan - don't know your CL name). Spent most of the journey back on deck occasionally joined by CAFC fans who wanted a fag. @rananegra I guess it was you I chatted to at the back of the ferry in the howling wind.
Picked up by Mr Tatters at Ebbsfleet. He'd got me a pizza which I coudn't face eating. I went to bed. A weekend I shall never forget.
1 - watched the magnificent banner of @sethplum attract a feeding frenzy from Belgian media
2 - the ST bobbies in plain clothes who supervised the march at the rear. I congratulated them on how well everything had been organised on all sides. Very soberly one replied, "Today is because you all love your club so much". He could see it in an instant - certain others it takes more than three years and they still don't get it.
3 - after the march we were on the coach to await return to our hotel. It was rather quiet after the day's excitement. I remarked "it's all so civilised, so ...., so ...., lost for words until my neighbour completed the sentence - "so Charlton".
4 - visit today to Ypres and especially to the grave of Gunner Nightingale
5 - not quite so tasty. @HantsAddick and I were the last away from the last coach (at SE7) when after an entirely trouble-free weekend for us all (I hope) I had a minor accident. As we crossed Anchor & Hope Lane to await HA's cab on the other side, I stumbled on the central reservation (who put that thing there?) and went flat on my fat face, half hanging in the other carriageway and thanks to my Parkinson's unable to move. A driver pulled up to ask if I needed help, but before he could do anything a second car stopped, a big black guy called Darren stepped out and then took over. Firstly, with the assistance of Simon the coach driver I was helped to my feet. Then, Darren first took me home to Woolwich, leaving me some food he had just bought for himself, and afterwards took HA back to her flat in SE7. She rang me to say she had left her bag in his car, and sure enough 10 minutes later Darren turned up at my door with the bag. What an absolute saint !! (I have a few grazes and bruises - nothing to worry about.) Sorry for the diversion, but a hefty conclusion to a memorable weekend. I have spent the last two days with many quite remarkable people, not least the last one of all ....
Hope you are over your fall now and how lovely to hear about Darren what a gentleman
Most has been said, but just wanted to say thanks to everyone (especially those who worked so hard in the B20) who made such an effort to get everything right. I know what has gone on behind the scenes and it's been incredible. Also ditto with the CARD guys, I'm sure.
Although I suffered horribly yesterday, the whole day was fantastic, from the band to the demo itself but mostly the camaraderie of fans. A nice wide-range of people, all for a common cause. One regret is that I'm sure I met a few off here (some maybe even been 'conversing' with since NetAddicks in the days before this forum) but no idea what their 'handles' were. Great that the guys at the front of the march encouraged the singing throughout the march.
Loved the speech at the buffet before the last song of the band by @Mametz. The final line was very passionate, something like "let's get this bastard to f**k off out of our club" followed by a loud impromptu version of VFR - quite moving.
As has been discussed many times, the *ONLY* good thing that has come out of this Megalomaniac freak ruining our club is that some great friendships have been formed, this and the general camaraderie made it a day to remember. Well done everybody. I hope local news this evening shows the correct slant, not this "protesting about recent results" bullshit obviously peddled by the clubs' PR firm. I saw quite a few fans interviewed by both British and Belgian reporters. I chipped in on one when a local reporter was questioning @Addictedoldgit - the guy seemed very interested, but you never quite know what the spin will be.
Finally, someone handed me a commemorative mug in a box during the march while I was waving one of the North Korea flags - maybe @MuttleyCAFC ? The day's a bit of a blur, can't remember what you said now, but cheers v much for that!
My turn....Left my home town (near Milton Keynes) on Friday and stayed overnight at Sidcup.
Had this fear of not getting up on time and missing the SE7 overnight coach. No chance of that.. over compensated and arrived at SE7 at 0500 for a 0615 departure, to wake up the dozing driver. One compensation for arriving early was to pick a seat at the front....the downside was that I couldn't select my co-passenger, who eventually turned out to be Rick E ! (just kidding Rick!).
First thanks of the day goes to Heather for supplying breakfast rolls. God knows what time she had to get up to prepare those for all on the bus; just the first of many examples of collective team spirit. Same sentiment for Rick's partner for availability ofrolls once they had joined the coach at Folkestone.
(Skipping bits that have already been done to death)...Arrived at the buffet venue and was just overwhelmed at the number of kindred spirits there...I really felt at home and with a further feeling of unity, togetherness and sense of purpose. The buffet event was extremely well organised. The 2% got people up dancing and with the odd defiant chant to set the scene for things to follow. Well done to the B20 group, an excellent pre-march event.
The march was colourful, noisy but respectful. I had a real feeling of purpose as I looked around to see a group of otherwise disparate people uniting for a common cause...young children (very well behaved), two young teenage ladies, old men like me, middle aged men, young men and of course a group of women (well done to WAR). The march was totally peaceful and colourful. Locals pleasant, police impeccable.
I went to the Kanarie bar after the march and was in the company of four STVV supporters for the next few hours. Our troubles are their troubles...four guys who no longer go to home games, but meet up, from their separate locations, at the bar on match days, to simply keep up a long standing relationship, based once upon going to watch their team. However, there does not appear to be the will or organisation to bring about change that we are seeking to do.
On the way back home, we visited the Menin Gate and the grave of Nobby Nightingale. Our military historian, Clive, talked us through the events and history of that time and brought it alive for me. Despite the cold and heavy rain, everybody got off of the coach to pay their respects....just another, of many examples, of why being part of the Charlton "gang" is so important. Thanks Clive for that and for your tight stewardship of the bus.
I arrived back in SE7 2145hrs and got caught up with major road works on the other side of the tunnel. had to detour and go via A13 to the southern ring road b4 getting on M11/M25/M1 and home by midnight.
Finally...it became evident from the two day trip that much work had been undertaken by many people on here to make this happen...B20, CARD, WAR and individuals... I salute you all..thanks.
Also good to meet for the first time many lifers and to re-engage with others that I had met on earlier protest events at The Valley.
We left London late and dashed to Folkestone to catch the 10:50 shuttle. Made it just on time. Quick trip through the tunnel and off on the E40. As we were running late we hammered it a bit even though the rain was heavy. Hopefully there won't be a fines from France or Belgium arriving over the next two weeks.
After a couple of Satnav blips got to St Truiden and parked by the station. Started strolling to Wims bar and met a bunch of lifers just leaving the bar opposite the station. Walking through the town it struck me that it was very quiet. Perhaps the locals were expecting a riot from hoards of English hoolies?
Got to the bar. Found the weakest beer to drink as I had to drive home later, kreik cherry beer, 3.5%!
The rest had been well documented, great gig by the 2%, plenty of food in the buffet, lots of catching up with other lifers, and an orderly march to the stadium.
Things that struck me about the day was the support from the local in St Truiden. Applause through the course of the march from some, quizzical looks from others. Organisers did a good job passing out leaflets in Flemish explaining what it was all about. The stadium was totally non-descript. It didn't look anything like a football stadium, more like a retail park or a business centre. If this is really Roly's vision for football he can stick it up his effigy!
Driving home we passed the ghelamco arena in Gent which was lit up for their home game against Bruges and thinking "this is more the idea Roland, not your half hearted attempt in St Truiden"
Long day but no worse that a Newcastle away game. It felt good to be there. Keep the pressure up C.A.R.D..
Thanks to all guys who organised this spectacular day! Great location! Great food and drinks! Great music! And the most important thing... Great performance of all !!!
Bad reason to come over, but I'm happy to make new friendships!
I honored to be a part in Truiden Sint.
The German Addicks come over next weekend against Walsall and Bradford. Hope to see you all again !
...Never built an effigy before. Thanks to Alwaysneil for prompting me to make a start a week before the protest, never would have happened otherwise. As it was, at 10.30pm on Thursday, it was still in pieces and without a face. By 4.30am on Friday my creation was complete and sitting on the sofa in my living room. At 7am it scared the shit out of my kids when they woke up for school...
Your effigy was one of the highlights for me - absolutely magnificent. I hope you've kept him for further activities. Or better still, what a good exhibit he would make in the museum, once we get a change of owner.
Thanks to all guys who organised this spectacular day! Great location! Great food and drinks! Great music! And the most important thing... Great performance of all !!!
Bad reason to come over, but I'm happy to make new friendships!
I honored to be a part in Truiden Sint.
The German Addicks come over next weekend against Walsall and Bradford. Hope to see you all again !
Thanks to all guys who organised this spectacular day! Great location! Great food and drinks! Great music! And the most important thing... Great performance of all !!!
Bad reason to come over, but I'm happy to make new friendships!
I honored to be a part in Truiden Sint.
The German Addicks come over next weekend against Walsall and Bradford. Hope to see you all again !
It was great to meet you on Saturday and thanks for helping with the effigy.
Come to the Rose of Denmark before the game on Saturday and have a beer or two.
I Know that it has been said a lot already but the organisation and planning was top notch, so just wanted to add my thanks to those who clearly put many hours into making the weekend as smooth as possible for us protestors!
Met 3 lots of STVV fans throughout the night, the second lot very generous when it came to getting the beers in, they left for the game but ensured our Jupliers were replelinshed before doing so, very nice fellas. The general consensus from all STVV fans we encountered was that they understand our woes but are very much resigned to Roland’s ownership themselves.
The march was great, can’t really add anymore to what has already been posted above. Got back to the hotel and there were still plenty of Charlton fans drinking at the bar.
I think we will see more in the media about our efforts in ST over the coming week.
Late to the party as usual .....poor old "cow" as one of my fans on an alternative planet would say !
Whether a combination of early mornings, late nights and a soupcon of wine is to blame or whether my age is finally catching up with me, I'm seriously incapacitated this morning so apologies for a less than exciting report.
The weekend began at 3.30am on Saturday when I stumbled out of my warm bed and made the final preparations for the trip to Duchatelet Ville. @LargeAddick and Mrs Large picked me up bang on time at 5.15 and we were off !
Met up with fellow travellers at Ebbsfleet & exchanged big hugs with my sisters from WAR , notably @cherryorchard as we had never met before. @Arsenetatters was her usual bubbly self , bless her cotton socks and a new CL recruit , Louise was welcomed to the fold. But a special mention must be made of Jackie whose husband had driven her south from their home in Suffolk before he headed off to the match in Northampton and then back to collect her in the early hours of Sunday morning . Such dedication to the cause & a lovely lady that I had the pleasure of meeting. Bang on time we boarded the overnight coach and a smooth drive to Dover allowed us time to chat to our hearts' content.
La Manche was kind to the faithful & before we knew it, we arrived in a damp & grey Calais. Fast forward to Hasselt. the Holiday Inn Express ( very nice!) and back on the coach for St Truiden and the REAL start of the mission. Food, but sadly, no drink( Note to B20-lack of wine at the buffet seriously affected Fanny's mood!) then the sobering realisation that nil points were plundered at Northampton....The question on everyone's lips was whether KR would follow RS & exit stage left during a Belgium protest trip. Surely not ...?
And so the march began. As we assembled, I caught my first glimpse of the REAL Roland, albeit a slightly haggard version and it wasn't a pretty sight. Superb caricature, B20! I duly took my place alongside my comrades holding the fantastic WAR banner ( thanks so much,@MuttleyCAFC- you're a star!) and we were off. Many miles have I travelled to matches across the country but those walked on a drizzly Saturday evening in the company of hundreds of chanting,singing , passionate Addicks will forever live in my memory. As we snaked through the narrow streets, curtains were twitched as local residents sought to discover where the noise was coming from , people stood in their doorways to watch, whilst many applauded. Cameras snapped us from every angle as we made our way to RD's lair at the stadium & @Arsenetatters was singled out by the ITV reporter at long last for a few words. I felt very strongly that she deserved the limelight as the WARriors would have been at home knitting or ironing( joke) had it not been for her brilliant idea. Every "hen" has its day, dear friend ...
And so a successful & highly enjoyable protest reached its end with a few but perfectly formed words from our favourite WW1 historian & whilst some made their way to the match, others re boarded the coach back to the hotel , weary but triumphant. We had made our presence felt in spades and the humiliation of Mr President was there for all to see ( and hear) Our mission was accomplished most successfully but we vowed that more would follow if necessary until our goal is reached. The knowledge that we were representing all the Addicks back home made us so proud that we had been fortunate to carry their hopes & prayers for OUR club's future into the enemy's back yard.
I shall gloss over the stumbling wreck that was Fanny making her way back to her room circa midnight & the curses that could probably be heard back in the bar when she failed to activate the lights with her key card. The remainder of the weekend turned to the most important battles fought in Belgium over a century ago and reminded us that football is not the be all & end all. Very humbling indeed & I'm unsure if it was the gusts of wind around dear Nobby's grave that caused many of the coach party to dab their eyes.
After a stop in Ypres for a quick bite of lunch, we headed for Calais where unfortunately our ship had sailed...but patient as ever, we awaited the next whilst mulling over the events of the past couple of days. Choppy water made the return voyage less than comfortable and our sea legs were put to the test as we swayed from one side of the deck to the other. That was the closest we came to dancing....The coach journey back to Ebbsfleet was uneventful and we arrived later than expected & very tired but smiles were still in evidence over the memories of a highly successful campaign. We must do it again sometime ! I'm in no doubt that Roland will crack sooner rather than later and regardless of what the few pro regimers remaining say, the protests will have been high on the list of reasons why he throws in the towel. I'm proud to have been a foot soldier in the latest Battle for the Valley but if you happen to want a photo for your next book, AB, please give me some notice....polyfilla takes a while to set.
Onwards & upwards !
PS I can't sign off without giving a special mention to our youngest overnighter, young George. He was a real star and his lovely Dad should be very proud of him. x
Arrived in ST Friday afternoon, along with other members of The 2Percent. Our first priority a beer or two to unwind from the journey and then, and a little later to unload sound equipment and instruments in readiness for the Saturday’s proceedings.
At 6.30 pm the band met with local journalist, Raf Vanmechelen for photos on the Grote Markt, after which we went to Nieuwscafe where Vanmechelen interviewed me briefly about the protests.
He started by telling me that he’d met with Duchatelet earlier that day, and when asked for his thoughts on the coming protests, Duchatelet made it clear that CAFC fans have the right to protest. However, he followed this by saying that the on-going protests are the reason the team are not performing, - also why Chris Wilder refused to join last summer. In refuting these assertions I told him I believe the reason Wilder chose not to join was because the club refused to give written assurances regarding player recruitment and non-interference in team selection. I went on to point out there is no clear evidence the protests have negatively influenced results, - and a number of players have even suggested in-game protests have improved the atmosphere, and spurred the team on.
I wasn’t really happy with the direction of the interview and more so when he asked whether CAFC fans would be attending the STVV v Eupen game, would there be protests in the stadium and if so, what protest would there be? I couldn’t comment and so the interview ended. I was later told by a member of GrAS that this journalist is very pro Duchatelet, - which might offer some interesting context regarding the direction in which he steered things.
Friday night was spent distributing leaflets around town to rally support for the Unity Protest and inviting local people to come along and join in. This was followed by a few more cleansing ales before bedtime.
Saturday morning was spent helping in preparations for the buffet and then running a sound check with the band. Gradually the venue started to fill up and by the time those from the coaches arrived we were raring to go. Gig was great fun, and despite Charlton’s inevitable defeat at Northampton, by the time the protest got underway, everyone seemed to be in quite high spirits.
By the time I got myself sorted after the gig, the march was out of sight, so unfortunately I caught up only towards the end. Nevertheless it was great to see so many journalists there filming, interviewing, taking photos and a good crowd of protesters, including STVV fans.
I had a ticket to the match so went through the police cordon to enjoy a few pre-match beers in De Kanarie, before making my way to Staaien to watch the game. Good to see Igor notch another goal for STVV, but also worrying to see him carried off later on.
After-match was spent in the Revue, where Duchatelet usually satisfies his post-match dancing fetish. However, on this occasion he probably got wind of the 40 or so black ants eagerly waiting to dance with him, and decided to stay in his shed.
On realising that Duchatelet wasn’t in a dancing mood, 20 or so of the black ants decided to make their presence felt by getting on the plastic pitch for a photo opportunity, before singing “just sell the club” and “we want roland out”, - that was until security arrived.
And so, with no sign of Duchatelet we decided t head back to the hotel for pizza and a few more beers, only stopping briefly to chat to Prague, who was heading the opposite direction.
In Belgium of course the beer never disappoints, but for the carnivores in our group, the pizza order left some feeling bereft. You see, the order included three pepperoni pizzas, but instead, it was three peppers-only pizzas that were delivered. How we laughed.
A great weekend was had, - very well organised and attracting a whole load of media coverage. I’m sure Duchatelet is completely hacked off with us all and he should know that, if need be, I think we are perfectly prepared do it all again, only bigger and louder next time.
Comments
Belgian beer is sooooo dangerous .
Drove out Friday afternoon with The President and Forest hill red and his superb creation - the effigy ' Roland '
Every time I looked in the rear view mirror had a freaky/disturbing view of insanely grinning 'Roland' sitting in a rear seat.
While forest Hill red kipped in the back seat next to Roland ( had been awake all but two hours of the night working on his 'creation' ).
The President and myself were in fits of giggles over 'Roland'.
The main effort of Saturday went into the 2per cent's set up & rehearsal.
Trying to get information on the march route and start time from the police.
We had very serious concerns, already posted by Alwaysneil who was in contact with the authorities.
As already posted the police only agreed the march start could be at Vim's very late on.
We only had permission for a 6pm start at around 4pm. So the idea to have the gig/buffet at Vim's central location turned out to be hugely
important in getting the march started from the central district - Vim's
All week i had been unhappy with the original route of the march allowed by Authority's. So I contemplated a unilateral sit down demonstration
in the Grote Markt. After all as a pensioner i have nothing to lose? Had second thoughts when it was realized how silly i would look
in a sit down demo of one!
Happily the march was a great success - people waving from windows, the friendly police woman on her bicycle.
Having seen the Belgium police work at close quarters with the demands of our march i'm very impressed with their behavior under pressure.
Of course they were dealing with 'pussy cats' and not 'rampaging English supporters invading their country'.
Hopefully we can obtain a statement from the St Truiden police of our good behavior.
Most of all a big thanks to all supporters - both Charlton and STVV for the brilliant peaceful unity march. Oh much respect to German Addict Mark who drove
through the night, over 200 kms i understand to support us. See you at the valley next week Mark!
Will the demo make him sell? Who knows, but he should understand we are never going away, we will keep chipping away until the edifice falls.
This has been a day to remember, my only regret is not enough free time to meet & introduce fellow lifers.
Came up with the idea of an effigy ages ago. Had a vision of it being paraded on a gold throne at the head of the march then either being burnt (a la Wicker Man) or lynched outside Stayen! I liked the idea of ridiculing this self important twat, especially in front of local residents, his own employees and the wider Belgian public.
Never built an effigy before. Thanks to Alwaysneil for prompting me to make a start a week before the protest, never would have happened otherwise. As it was, at 10.30pm on Thursday, it was still in pieces and without a face. By 4.30am on Friday my creation was complete and sitting on the sofa in my living room. At 7am it scared the shit out of my kids when they woke up for school.
Dropped the kids off and ran home to get ready. Picked up at 11 by addicktedoldgit then off to pick up The President with Roly in the back leering out of the window. Odd looks from the French customs fella during an otherwise uneventful journey. Arrived in ST at 8pm, and time for a quick beer then off to meet STVV fans in their pub, making a couple of useful contacts. Back to Wim's to unpack and make effigy repairs. More beers then bed.
Saturday morning saw the buffet venue buzzing with activity. Built Roly's throne with German Addick Marc (Cheers Marc!!) and sat him on it just as the first travelling Addicks arrived. The sense of anticipation was building as more people turned up and it was great to hear the 2 Percent tuning up for the gig. I also began to appreciate just how much had been put into organising the protest, with everything going so smoothly. Special thanks to Wim and his parents for laying on the venue, the food and the beer while cheerfully dealing with local red tape and some last minute logistical changes without a murmur of complaint.
Nabbed some food to go with my rather strong brown Chimay beer, chatted to a couple of Lifers, and then it was a case of welcoming the coachloads into the venue, enjoying the gig and talking to the fella from 442 magazine. That done, it was a sudden mad rush to grab everything we needed as it became clear the march was about to begin. Four of us hoisted Roland and the throne on to our shoulders and we joined the tail of the march. It soon became apparent the throne was not up to the task of bearing our great benefactor so we ditched it after a couple of minutes and I carried him on my shoulders. The rest of the march was a blur of supporters singing their hearts out, curious locals, friendly police and loads of media interest.
By the end of the march, both me and the effigy were feeling the effects of it all, but at least I hadn't lost both my legs, dropped my trousers or had someone rub their arse in my face! As we passed through the barrier towards De Kanarie bar, I took heed of my third friendly warning from police not to burn the effigy, so we stored him in the pub and had a few beers before going to watch STVV. Good to see Igor on top form and scoring. Not so good to see him stretchered off.
After the game we headed up to the Revue bar where Roland usually hangs out in the VIP section for a dance but he didn't show up. We made do with an impromptu pitch invasion that had security running about like headless chickens, then gave renditions of WWRO, Just sell our club and VFR before heading back to base for beer and pizza.
Best bit for me was the sense of togetherness and anticipation at the buffet, plus the 2 Percent getting the crowd going before the march.
Worst bit? Just after half time in the concourse bar under the north stand at STVV. There were a couple of hundred of their fans still in the bar as the second half kicked off, no one rushing to go back out for the game, dance music still playing. STVV scored within a minute or so to go 2-0 up and not one of them cheered, nothing! They just carried on drinking and chatting while the music played. Roland's vision in all it's chilling, soulless glory! This will be our future if we don't fight tooth and nail to rid our club of Duchatelet. We need to keep turning the screw.
Back to the protest. Everything has been mentioned, but my own highlights were meeting others of course, and seeing just how wonderful Charlton fans can be, was nice to put faces to some of the names on here. Seeing Seth's banner get so much attention from the Belgian press at the buffet was great, they were one after the other, scribbling in their notebooks, but all seemed to love it. My hope is that they will be printing articles in the Belgian press about it, as this will totally embarrass him as all his cronies will see them. It's why we went, to show him up on home turf, and this was such a brilliant way of doing it, and certainly impressed the Belgians.
It was good to see and hear the STTV fans who were near us at the back of the march. What they lacked in numbers, they more than made up for with vocal noise. One song they sang in in English that could be used by us was:
They don't care about the football
They don't care about the fans
All they want is the money
STTV is in the wrong hands.
Think we could substitute Charlton and we'd have another perfect song. Short, but to the point.
Also great was the praise from the Belgian police, who I didn't realize were police until they said, thought they were stewards. To say we were no trouble, then when Seth said "we are doing this out of love for our club, not hate" one replied, "you must really love your club to do all this" no better accolade for us, and stops the assertion that we only want to destroy the club by protesting. If a Belgian cop, who had never met us before can see this, why can't others?
Next highlight was joining the other WARriors in the hotel bar for a nice chat over a bottle or two of wine. Certainly was a nice way to end a successful, though tiring day.
After a comfortable night and tasty breakfast, we headed off to Ypres, and learnt some interesting facts from our historian,you know who he is, who supplied the facts in a most interesting and enjoyable way. We all went to Nobby Nightingale's grave and heard the story of how his resting place was found. Which other club's fans would stand in the pouring rain with the biting wind cutting through you to pay respects to a player who has been gone for over a hundred years? Not many, I'm sure, this is what makes us Charlton, we care. Also why Roland and Daisy will never "get" us, and there is no way back for either!
After all this I thought missing our ferry was the worst that could happen last night, until GHF made sure there was worse to come! Get well soon, and take it easy!
Your language skills are invaluable, Weegie couldn't be with us so we needed you, Roland Duchatelet calls us stupid people yet at least three protestors have Doctorates.
We had a superb banner and for a lot of the time we were physically at the front of the march. Quite unnerving having cameras virtually in your face. It was encouraging to see the local residents watching from their apartments and a lot of thumbs up from them.
Chanting and singing fantastic. We were a good mix of ages from the very young upwards.
By the end of the march, as the rain continued coming down, we got the coach back to Hasselt and joined others at the Hotel Bar. I was a bit of a lightweight, getting up at 3.45 had caught up with me (that's my excuse anyway) but others were up to the small hours.
After a fortifying breakfast we then made out way to Ypres and on to the R E Farm cemetery to pay our respects to Gunner Nobby Nightingale who made the ultimate sacrifice over a 100 years ago.
Then we made our way back to England and I arrived back home before 10 pm.
Have we made a difference - time will tell. What I do know is that the weekend was a big success measured by meeting other like-minded fans for the first time, interacting with each other and generally just being a large group of decent human beings doing our bit for our club.
Thanks again to the organisers.
I was proud of my fellow Charlton fans. We certainly showed that you can make your point with humour, dignity and respect. I would like to thank the people of St Truiden for their welcoming approach. I'm sure that when this horror ownership is over, there will be a continued link between the two clubs, through freindship, not ownership.
That business in the concourse below the stand. Could not agree more. Guys I was with were all so cold and knackered that we decided we would stay down there for a while. We got beer and hot dogs but never even realised ST had gone two up until we sat down near a monitor. The bloody music had drowned at the "roar" of the crowd.
As you say, Roland's nightmare vision.
Fame (of sorts).
The sea on the way out was very smooth and I felt a bit of a tit for making so much pre-journey fuss (but see later).
Excellent atmosphere at the buffet and loved the 2% - would really enjoy an evening gig. I had my first ever Belgian beer - thought it tasted a bit 'thick' then noticed it was 8.2%. Went out to unfold our WAR banner (many thanks to @MuttleyCAFC) whereupon people appeared with cameras from every angle. WAR started at the front of the protest - and there is some footage of the start on Belgian TV as the man behind the bar at our hotel showed it to us. The noise and strength of the singing was truly great to hear.
The whole march ran smoothly -thanks to people like @Pico and others telling us when to slow down and speed up. We moved further back to let other groups with banners lead - and each did in turn. There were interviews on route and locals watching and waving from their windows. I remember an older bloke looking like he'd had one or two 8% beers cheering and giving thumbs up signs. The final push to the barriers was amazing. We went up to the front again and 'Just sell the club' was repeated over and over.
Totally drained afterwards I got the coach back to Haslett, took to a seat in the hotel bar and shared bottles of wine with fellow WARiors and other Charlton fans. I remember staying for 'just one more wine' and joining @LargeAddick, @sarge1g and some other lifers whose names I don't recall (sorry). They were discussing what the answer was to a question I now can't remember. they'd definately worked out the answer - and at the time I remember thinking it was brilliant. I went to bed at 2am and phoned Mr Tatters to tell him about the events of the day. He thought I should get some sleep.
Sunday was quite a different pace and mood. Standing at Nobby Nightingale's gravestone brought it all home to me. Here was a group of people honoring a player from Charlton's past. Yes Katrien we have a history, and a proud one at that. Roland and Katrien's era will also be part of our history but, I hope, remembered as a time when Charlton fans fought for their club (again).
Ferry home. I couldn't find the way to the outside deck but, fortunately, was spotted by Dan who found it for me (thanks Dan - don't know your CL name). Spent most of the journey back on deck occasionally joined by CAFC fans who wanted a fag. @rananegra I guess it was you I chatted to at the back of the ferry in the howling wind.
Picked up by Mr Tatters at Ebbsfleet. He'd got me a pizza which I coudn't face eating. I went to bed. A weekend I shall never forget.
Although I suffered horribly yesterday, the whole day was fantastic, from the band to the demo itself but mostly the camaraderie of fans. A nice wide-range of people, all for a common cause. One regret is that I'm sure I met a few off here (some maybe even been 'conversing' with since NetAddicks in the days before this forum) but no idea what their 'handles' were. Great that the guys at the front of the march encouraged the singing throughout the march.
Loved the speech at the buffet before the last song of the band by @Mametz. The final line was very passionate, something like "let's get this bastard to f**k off out of our club" followed by a loud impromptu version of VFR - quite moving.
As has been discussed many times, the *ONLY* good thing that has come out of this Megalomaniac freak ruining our club is that some great friendships have been formed, this and the general camaraderie made it a day to remember. Well done everybody. I hope local news this evening shows the correct slant, not this "protesting about recent results" bullshit obviously peddled by the clubs' PR firm. I saw quite a few fans interviewed by both British and Belgian reporters. I chipped in on one when a local reporter was questioning @Addictedoldgit - the guy seemed very interested, but you never quite know what the spin will be.
Finally, someone handed me a commemorative mug in a box during the march while I was waving one of the North Korea flags - maybe @MuttleyCAFC ? The day's a bit of a blur, can't remember what you said now, but cheers v much for that!
A few pictures...
I blame the parents.
Had this fear of not getting up on time and missing the SE7 overnight coach. No chance of that.. over compensated and arrived at SE7 at 0500 for a 0615 departure, to wake up the dozing driver. One compensation for arriving early was to pick a seat at the front....the downside was that I couldn't select my co-passenger, who eventually turned out to be Rick E ! (just kidding Rick!).
First thanks of the day goes to Heather for supplying breakfast rolls. God knows what time she had to get up to prepare those for all on the bus; just the first of many examples of collective team spirit. Same sentiment for Rick's partner for availability ofrolls once they had joined the coach at Folkestone.
(Skipping bits that have already been done to death)...Arrived at the buffet venue and was just overwhelmed at the number of kindred spirits there...I really felt at home and with a further feeling of unity, togetherness and sense of purpose. The buffet event was extremely well organised. The 2% got people up dancing and with the odd defiant chant to set the scene for things to follow. Well done to the B20 group, an excellent pre-march event.
The march was colourful, noisy but respectful. I had a real feeling of purpose as I looked around to see a group of otherwise disparate people uniting for a common cause...young children (very well behaved), two young teenage ladies, old men like me, middle aged men, young men and of course a group of women (well done to WAR). The march was totally peaceful and colourful. Locals pleasant, police impeccable.
I went to the Kanarie bar after the march and was in the company of four STVV supporters for the next few hours. Our troubles are their troubles...four guys who no longer go to home games, but meet up, from their separate locations, at the bar on match days, to simply keep up a long standing relationship, based once upon going to watch their team. However, there does not appear to be the will or organisation to bring about change that we are seeking to do.
On the way back home, we visited the Menin Gate and the grave of Nobby Nightingale. Our military historian, Clive, talked us through the events and history of that time and brought it alive for me. Despite the cold and heavy rain, everybody got off of the coach to pay their respects....just another, of many examples, of why being part of the Charlton "gang" is so important. Thanks Clive for that and for your tight stewardship of the bus.
I arrived back in SE7 2145hrs and got caught up with major road works on the other side of the tunnel. had to detour and go via A13 to the southern ring road b4 getting on M11/M25/M1 and home by midnight.
Finally...it became evident from the two day trip that much work had been undertaken by many people on here to make this happen...B20, CARD, WAR and individuals... I salute you all..thanks.
Also good to meet for the first time many lifers and to re-engage with others that I had met on earlier protest events at The Valley.
After a couple of Satnav blips got to St Truiden and parked by the station. Started strolling to Wims bar and met a bunch of lifers just leaving the bar opposite the station. Walking through the town it struck me that it was very quiet. Perhaps the locals were expecting a riot from hoards of English hoolies?
Got to the bar. Found the weakest beer to drink as I had to drive home later, kreik cherry beer, 3.5%!
The rest had been well documented, great gig by the 2%, plenty of food in the buffet, lots of catching up with other lifers, and an orderly march to the stadium.
Things that struck me about the day was the support from the local in St Truiden. Applause through the course of the march from some, quizzical looks from others. Organisers did a good job passing out leaflets in Flemish explaining what it was all about. The stadium was totally non-descript. It didn't look anything like a football stadium, more like a retail park or a business centre. If this is really Roly's vision for football he can stick it up his effigy!
Driving home we passed the ghelamco arena in Gent which was lit up for their home game against Bruges and thinking "this is more the idea Roland, not your half hearted attempt in St Truiden"
Long day but no worse that a Newcastle away game. It felt good to be there. Keep the pressure up C.A.R.D..
True, and it really looks like it. As I said, he can stick that vision up his effigy. Charlton are worth more than that.
Great location!
Great food and drinks!
Great music!
And the most important thing...
Great performance of all !!!
Bad reason to come over,
but I'm happy to make new friendships!
I honored to be a part in Truiden Sint.
The German Addicks come over next weekend against Walsall and Bradford.
Hope to see you all again !
Come to the Rose of Denmark before the game on Saturday and have a beer or two.
Met 3 lots of STVV fans throughout the night, the second lot very generous when it came to getting the beers in, they left for the game but ensured our Jupliers were replelinshed before doing so, very nice fellas. The general consensus from all STVV fans we encountered was that they understand our woes but are very much resigned to Roland’s ownership themselves.
The march was great, can’t really add anymore to what has already been posted above.
Got back to the hotel and there were still plenty of Charlton fans drinking at the bar.
I think we will see more in the media about our efforts in ST over the coming week.
Whether a combination of early mornings, late nights and a soupcon of wine is to blame or whether my age is finally catching up with me, I'm seriously incapacitated this morning so apologies for a less than exciting report.
The weekend began at 3.30am on Saturday when I stumbled out of my warm bed and made the final preparations for the trip to Duchatelet Ville. @LargeAddick and Mrs Large picked me up bang on time at 5.15 and we were off !
Met up with fellow travellers at Ebbsfleet & exchanged big hugs with my sisters from WAR , notably @cherryorchard as we had never met before. @Arsenetatters was her usual bubbly self , bless her cotton socks and a new CL recruit , Louise was welcomed to the fold. But a special mention must be made of Jackie whose husband had driven her south from their home in Suffolk before he headed off to the match in Northampton and then back to collect her in the early hours of Sunday morning . Such dedication to the cause & a lovely lady that I had the pleasure of meeting. Bang on time we boarded the overnight coach and a smooth drive to Dover allowed us time to chat to our hearts' content.
La Manche was kind to the faithful & before we knew it, we arrived in a damp & grey Calais. Fast forward to Hasselt. the Holiday Inn Express ( very nice!) and back on the coach for St Truiden and the REAL start of the mission. Food, but sadly, no drink( Note to B20-lack of wine at the buffet seriously affected Fanny's mood!) then the sobering realisation that nil points were plundered at Northampton....The question on everyone's lips was whether KR would follow RS & exit stage left during a Belgium protest trip. Surely not ...?
And so the march began. As we assembled, I caught my first glimpse of the REAL Roland, albeit a slightly haggard version and it wasn't a pretty sight. Superb caricature, B20! I duly took my place alongside my comrades holding the fantastic WAR banner ( thanks so much,@MuttleyCAFC- you're a star!) and we were off. Many miles have I travelled to matches across the country but those walked on a drizzly Saturday evening in the company of hundreds of chanting,singing , passionate Addicks will forever live in my memory. As we snaked through the narrow streets, curtains were twitched as local residents sought to discover where the noise was coming from , people stood in their doorways to watch, whilst many applauded. Cameras snapped us from every angle as we made our way to RD's lair at the stadium & @Arsenetatters was singled out by the ITV reporter at long last for a few words. I felt very strongly that she deserved the limelight as the WARriors would have been at home knitting or ironing( joke) had it not been for her brilliant idea. Every "hen" has its day, dear friend ...
And so a successful & highly enjoyable protest reached its end with a few but perfectly formed words from our favourite WW1 historian & whilst some made their way to the match, others re boarded the coach back to the hotel , weary but triumphant. We had made our presence felt in spades and the humiliation of Mr President was there for all to see ( and hear) Our mission was accomplished most successfully but we vowed that more would follow if necessary until our goal is reached. The knowledge that we were representing all the Addicks back home made us so proud that we had been fortunate to carry their hopes & prayers for OUR club's future into the enemy's back yard.
I shall gloss over the stumbling wreck that was Fanny making her way back to her room circa midnight & the curses that could probably be heard back in the bar when she failed to activate the lights with her key card. The remainder of the weekend turned to the most important battles fought in Belgium over a century ago and reminded us that football is not the be all & end all. Very humbling indeed & I'm unsure if it was the gusts of wind around dear Nobby's grave that caused many of the coach party to dab their eyes.
After a stop in Ypres for a quick bite of lunch, we headed for Calais where unfortunately our ship had sailed...but patient as ever, we awaited the next whilst mulling over the events of the past couple of days. Choppy water made the return voyage less than comfortable and our sea legs were put to the test as we swayed from one side of the deck to the other. That was the closest we came to dancing....The coach journey back to Ebbsfleet was uneventful and we arrived later than expected & very tired but smiles were still in evidence over the memories of a highly successful campaign. We must do it again sometime ! I'm in no doubt that Roland will crack sooner rather than later and regardless of what the few pro regimers remaining say, the protests will have been high on the list of reasons why he throws in the towel. I'm proud to have been a foot soldier in the latest Battle for the Valley but if you happen to want a photo for your next book, AB, please give me some notice....polyfilla takes a while to set.
Onwards & upwards !
PS I can't sign off without giving a special mention to our youngest overnighter, young George. He was a real star and his lovely Dad should be very proud of him.
x
At 6.30 pm the band met with local journalist, Raf Vanmechelen for photos on the Grote Markt, after which we went to Nieuwscafe where Vanmechelen interviewed me briefly about the protests.
He started by telling me that he’d met with Duchatelet earlier that day, and when asked for his thoughts on the coming protests, Duchatelet made it clear that CAFC fans have the right to protest. However, he followed this by saying that the on-going protests are the reason the team are not performing, - also why Chris Wilder refused to join last summer. In refuting these assertions I told him I believe the reason Wilder chose not to join was because the club refused to give written assurances regarding player recruitment and non-interference in team selection. I went on to point out there is no clear evidence the protests have negatively influenced results, - and a number of players have even suggested in-game protests have improved the atmosphere, and spurred the team on.
I wasn’t really happy with the direction of the interview and more so when he asked whether CAFC fans would be attending the STVV v Eupen game, would there be protests in the stadium and if so, what protest would there be? I couldn’t comment and so the interview ended. I was later told by a member of GrAS that this journalist is very pro Duchatelet, - which might offer some interesting context regarding the direction in which he steered things.
Friday night was spent distributing leaflets around town to rally support for the Unity Protest and inviting local people to come along and join in. This was followed by a few more cleansing ales before bedtime.
Saturday morning was spent helping in preparations for the buffet and then running a sound check with the band. Gradually the venue started to fill up and by the time those from the coaches arrived we were raring to go. Gig was great fun, and despite Charlton’s inevitable defeat at Northampton, by the time the protest got underway, everyone seemed to be in quite high spirits.
By the time I got myself sorted after the gig, the march was out of sight, so unfortunately I caught up only towards the end. Nevertheless it was great to see so many journalists there filming, interviewing, taking photos and a good crowd of protesters, including STVV fans.
I had a ticket to the match so went through the police cordon to enjoy a few pre-match beers in De Kanarie, before making my way to Staaien to watch the game. Good to see Igor notch another goal for STVV, but also worrying to see him carried off later on.
After-match was spent in the Revue, where Duchatelet usually satisfies his post-match dancing fetish. However, on this occasion he probably got wind of the 40 or so black ants eagerly waiting to dance with him, and decided to stay in his shed.
On realising that Duchatelet wasn’t in a dancing mood, 20 or so of the black ants decided to make their presence felt by getting on the plastic pitch for a photo opportunity, before singing “just sell the club” and “we want roland out”, - that was until security arrived.
And so, with no sign of Duchatelet we decided t head back to the hotel for pizza and a few more beers, only stopping briefly to chat to Prague, who was heading the opposite direction.
In Belgium of course the beer never disappoints, but for the carnivores in our group, the pizza order left some feeling bereft. You see, the order included three pepperoni pizzas, but instead, it was three peppers-only pizzas that were delivered. How we laughed.
A great weekend was had, - very well organised and attracting a whole load of media coverage. I’m sure Duchatelet is completely hacked off with us all and he should know that, if need be, I think we are perfectly prepared do it all again, only bigger and louder next time.