Following the final home match of the season, the Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) has thanked everyone who supported Sunday’s protests, whether by turning up early behind the north stand, wearing black and white or simply making their views clear during the game.
CARD’s spokesperson commented: “Police put the 11am turnout in Harvey Gardens at well over 2,000. This was spectacular and in fact, the numbers overwhelmed our ability to communicate with and organise people as we would have liked.
“We made the mistake of underestimating Charlton fans’ willingness to turn out early on a Sunday morning and with hindsight we would have handled things differently outside the stadium, because there was potential to do more. But we are hugely grateful to the number who came and will learn from that. Nevertheless, the main exterior objective of blockading the car park was highly effective.
“Inside, the black and white balloons and fake season-ticket tickertape were not intended to stop the game in the same way as previous items like the pigs, but rather to create a visual spectacle, as well as remind some fans why we are protesting. They did their job well.”
CARD also addressed the views of some fans who would have liked to see more direct intervention, such as a pitch invasion to stop the game as had happened at Leyton Orient the previous day.
The spokesperson said: “With protests like Sunday we are playing a game of cat and mouse with the club and forcing them to address things that might happen, which was especially true of the focus on the lower west stand. We recognise that this can lead to unfulfilled expectations among fans as well. But next time, who knows? As it was the club had to double the number of stewards and the Directors were left in no doubt of fans' feelings from the large number of loud, black and white clad protesters close around them.
“There are a variety of views within CARD, as well as outside it, about how far protests should go. However, we are guided by the extent to which they are likely to be endorsed by most supporters opposed to the regime and what they are likely to achieve, as well as the legal position. It’s inevitable that this will be too much for some and not enough for others.
“We were pleased to work with two other groups who are strongly opposed to Duchatelet, Women Against the Regime (WAR) and The Belgium20, in Sunday's protests. But anything we do will have limited impact without the active support of so many Charlton fans. Sunday showed irrefutably that even after the regime has driven a third of supporters away, a huge majority want the regime out and back our protests aimed at achieving this.
“On that basis, CARD will continue for as long as Roland Duchatelet and Katrien Meire remain involved with the club. We would all like that period to be as short as possible and remain hopeful that it will end sooner rather than later.
”Meanwhile, we offer our sincere and huge thanks to all those who have worked so hard and over such a prolonged period to plan, organise, support and participate in our protests."
To contact CARD, please email charlton.card@yahoo.co.uk
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Comments
The organisation of a celebration party at the first game of the season!
I can't be the only one of several hundred/a couple of thousand who were there, who felt disappointed at what... to be honest, *didn't* happen, in a way? The lack of concrete/communicable plan (i.e. most of us just went round the West Stand, and that was about it, and then there were balloons etc) made things feel like a bit of a damp squib.
Granted, I appreciate this might have been an unprecedented turnout of protestors, but I'd have thought an operation as slickly run as CARD's would have had a contingency in place.
Of course, I'm still very much behind CARD, but just a few musings on what transpired on Sunday.
- early kickoff obviously limited what people were willing to do etc
- finishing lower half of the table meant that it wasn't just a complete "meh" of a season
- 'Jacksons day' , I felt the he club played on this a lot to help reduce protostars inside the ground as the young knew fans wouldn't want to ruin his day ( example of this is that they made you buy a programme to find out) fans were not in the know as you what role he wouldn't hold
- over stewarding , an obvious one really
-winning the game, again obvious
With all of the above, can it be a surprise that's some felt that there wasn't enough oomph in the protests despite CARDs best ability ?!
I have to admit I was a little disappointed on sunday that there was not more of a protest & was expecting a pitch invasion during the game or even a forced abandonment ala Orient. However, having read the above statement I fully understand & if the club had to employ extra stewards & police on sunday & felt there was going to be more disruption then CARD served its porpoise.
Keep up the good work & if we don't get a new owner by August I'll be looking out for more protests during the new season.
The continued losses over time have worn away their appetite for the game but they do get excited about those rare wins and are innocent enough to think beating nobody/relegated FC when our season is already over means something , come to think of it we have plenty of divvy adult fans who do as well
Obviously to make the club unmanageable and cause disruption etc.
But who is suffering the most with this disruption ? I would have thought it was mainly Charlton fans trying to park ?
Presumably, I'm wrong.
Also, how come there appeared (from the Upper North) to be less disruption in the Lower West, than when 30 or so fans went in there for the Brighton game ?