Lived in Plumstead, Eltham and Abbey Wood till my late teens. My nan took me and brother in the seventies. The seeds were sown.
Lost interest in football for a while and got involved in politics in my late teens and early twenties. Missed our glory years.
Went to a few games with my brother when I moved back to Lee from University. Got the bug again as we fell down the leagues from the Prem but gave up regular attendance and season ticket during the dreadful RD years. Attended most of the protests.
Got my grand-daughter into Charlton and looking forward to going again regularly with her and my brother when RD eventually sells.
Live in Hampshire now but going to The Valley and supporting Charlton reconnects me with my nan, my brother and what will always be 'home' (SE London) to me.
Charlton now till I die. Bet my bloody nan is looking down and laughing at what she's done.
Got taken to a game by my mates mum and dad who lived in the same road as me in early 1958......top of East Terrace on the halfway line for 5 years or so until I became a Covered Ender around 1963......was hook line and sinkerd from day one! 60 years ago......60 eventful years of agony and ecstasy.
Born and raised in Eltham, my Dad although not a great Football fan himself first took me at around 8-9 and have been going ever since. Now living in Reigate (too many Palace fans round here) don't get to many away games these days but rarely if ever miss a home game.
Really enjoy these threads. Have supported Charlton for as long as I can remember going back to the late '40s.
Can still remember that cracked old 78rpm they used to play as the Addicks came out - the smell of the Zambuk - the sight of Sam shaking hands with his opposite number if the teams swapped ends before the start.
That stopped in 1959 when I played hockey for the Westminster Bank at Norbury and in 1962 I emigrated to NZ when they were out to populate the country. The English soccer results were read out on a Sunday morning but that wa stopped and apart reading the occasional Kentish Mercury which was mailed out, my connection th Charlton was on hold for 30 odd years
I can recall being shown at work in the mid 90s how to access a certain MFA website and my mind drifted away to wondering if CAFC had a site which they did of course. I was drawn into following their fans thread through which I discovered AddicksDownunder set up by Tel.
I'm more enthusiastic about the Addicks now the ever before probably. Hard to understand for people why I'm not keener on the Wellington Phoenix and the All Blacks/Whites but mad dogs and Englishmen and all that. Only exception might be I would love to see Joseph Parker do well onMarch 31.
Late '40s! Bit of a slow decline after the FA Cup win. But great history.
Lived in Plumstead, Eltham and Abbey Wood till my late teens. My nan took me and brother in the seventies. The seeds were sown.
Lost interest in football for a while and got involved in politics in my late teens and early twenties. Missed our glory years!
Went to a few games with my brother when I moved back to Lee from University. Got the bug again as we fell down the leagues from the Prem but gave up regular attendance and season ticket during the dreadful RD years. Attended most of the protests.
Got my grand-daughter into Charlton and looking forward to going again regularly with her and my brother when RD eventually sells.
Live in Hampshire now but going to The Valley and supporting Charlton reconnects me with my nan, my brother and what will always be 'home' (SE London) to me.
Charlton now till I die. Bet my bloody nan is looking down and laughing at what she's done.
Lived in Plumstead, Eltham and Abbey Wood till my late teens. My nan took me and brother in the seventies. The seeds were sown.
Lost interest in football for a while and got involved in politics in my late teens and early twenties. Missed our glory years.
Went to a few games with my brother when I moved back to Lee from University. Got the bug again as we fell down the leagues from the Prem but gave up regular attendance and season ticket during the dreadful RD years. Attended most of the protests.
Got my grand-daughter into Charlton and looking forward to going again regularly with her and my brother when RD eventually sells.
Live in Hampshire now but going to The Valley and supporting Charlton reconnects me with my nan, my brother and what will always be 'home' (SE London) to me.
Charlton now till I die. Bet my bloody nan is looking down and laughing at what she's done.
It was a gradual thing in my case, as while I was born and grew up in the general area, my family weren't, and I wasn't a Charlton supporter when young. Charlton were always the local (league) side so the nearest place to watch a game, so I would have seen the occasional game in the 70s and early 80s from the East Terrace or old main stand, and kept up to date through the local press (e.g. the Kentish Times).
The game which tipped me over was listening to the 1987 playoff replay on the radio. I went to a small number of away games in the late 80s when at Uni (including battle of the bridge), but only became a regular in 1992 at Upton Park, after watching a 3-1 Cup win over Barnet
As a little kid my grandad bought me a Chelsea kit and I was Chelsea mad, Ray Wilkins, Kenny Swain, Ray Lewington etc, loved them all. My dad wouldn't take me to Stamford Bridge but I persuaded him to take me to Charlton as it was close when they played Chelsea. Can't remember the exact game but the Chelsea fans kicked off which reaffirmed to my dad he wouldn't ever be taking me to Chelsea. So we started going to The Valley and fell in love with Hales, Tydeman and Peacock. Up till this season been bringing my 12 year old since he was 3.
Dad was a fan and took me to my first game when I was 7. Stood at the top of the east terrace as we lost 2-0 to Norwich. Completely smitten from that day onwards.
It's in the genes, father who supported them from 1933 as a 15 year old took me when I was knee high to a grasshopper to the Blackburn game 1957 when we only needed a draw to go straight back up to the top flight and we lost 3-4 at home. Yep that is what being a Charlton fan is all about, yesterday was par for the course. My son has had to suffer the same fate but we'll both be at Donny next week though. COYRs!
Our neighbour took me (with his boy) around 1966/67 to see a friendly against OS Ostende. The impression of that first game under floodlights on a magnificent green carpet of a pitch - Charlton won 2-0 - and that was it. If I remember correctly Ostende played in black and had the word 'Toffee' on their shirts, but it was a long time ago so I may be wrong about this.
Is my memory playing tricks or did one of their players play in glasses?
Don't recall - sure you weren't getting mixed up with the ref ha, ha!
Our neighbour took me (with his boy) around 1966/67 to see a friendly against OS Ostende. The impression of that first game under floodlights on a magnificent green carpet of a pitch - Charlton won 2-0 - and that was it. If I remember correctly Ostende played in black and had the word 'Toffee' on their shirts, but it was a long time ago so I may be wrong about this.
Is my memory playing tricks or did one of their players play in glasses?
Don't recall - sure you weren't getting mixed up with the ref ha, ha!
Remember reading on this site this year about one of the friendlys against Ostende that 2 of the players wore glasses during the game and one of the players broke his leg.
I've been asked this question for countless times over the years. I'm Chinese and have never been abroad. Most football fans here support the big clubs. So people are always surprised to know that I'm a Charlton Athletic fan.
I first noticed Charlton during that very successful 2003/04 season. Then I read a lot about the club's history, especially the 80's and the 90's, the extraordinary story about how the fans fought to get the Valley back, and how the team managed to get to the top flight and stay there with limited budgets. I thought this was a truly amazing club with amazing fans and Curbs was such a great manager. So I got hooked and now have been supporting Charlton for over 14 years.
Despite the poor results and on/off-pitch problems we've had over recent years, I'm always proud to be a Charlton fan and proud to tell people I support Charlton. We're a special club. We have a lot of great fans.
pretty much all my dads family are millwall, i haven't got time for the old man so may aswell support the other local team, also used to get taken by a next door neighbour and the rest is history
One of the reasons it took me so long to become a proper Addick is demonstrated by my recent acquisition of the programme for the August 20th Charlton v Bolton match, the curtain raiser for the 1966/67 season. This was the first match played at The Valley after the death of Jimmy Seed in July. I was hoping to see a tribute that I might use in my book, but there wasn't even a mention of his passing. Perhaps they didn't do that sort of thing in those days? The feeling that he wasn't treated well after his sacking resulted in me being brought up as a Millwall supporter until about 1969/70. I'd sit next to him in the directors' box at The Den.
Family local for generations (East Street, Woolwich Road, Charlton Lane) born in Russell Stoneham in Crayford but family soon moved to Hampshire where I was schooled (and always a lone Addick).
Been brainwashed to be Charlton by my dad with stories of cup finals, 7-6 games and locals mixing with the players billeted near the ground, but only made the occasional trips to the Valley when visiting family in the area until I moved back to London for university during the Selhurst years. Attended most homes during that time and, for a student, a fair few aways (including THAT play-off final replay) until I moved away and became an infrequent visitor. Fast forward a few years trying to get my son interested in football - no luck with the local non-league terrace scene so I decided to drag him all the way up to the Valley (first season after Prem relegation). He loved it and not been able to keep away since...
From my dad. I was a childhood Liverpool fan until he took me to selhurst to watch Liverpool shit all over us! Decided there was more to life than winning! Oh and course a certain player made his debut not long afterwards. Messiah Mortimer.
From my dad. I was a childhood Liverpool fan until he took me to selhurst to watch Liverpool shit all over us! Decided there was more to life than winning! Oh and course a certain player made his debut not long afterwards. Messiah Mortimer.
Think that was the same for me if it was the Rosenthal hatrick debut? Went there with the old man (a second generation addick) to watch John Barnes and Co and came out a Charlton supporter which has predominantly been joyless and miserable bar a few epic highs but has made me feel a proper part of a club that I don't imagine mates who "support" top clubs like arsenal, Chelsea and man United can really feel in the same way nowadays.
Have now bestowed the curse on my young children and cannot wait until they're older to get them season tickets and do many away trips in various parts of England when they're older.
Charlton are an unfashionable, character-building club that you just can't walk away from despite all the misery they may bestow.
Lived in Charlton till I was 3, then Woolwich til 6, then Erith till I was 18. I was interested in football but unaware of Charlton for most of that. If I'd been asked when I was 11 or 12 I'd have said I supported Man Utd. Kept badgering my dad to take me to football but he worked Saturdays and was quite flaky about actually going. He was also inconsistent in who he supported, kept changing it. My mum used to go Charlton with her dad when she was younger, (30s I think, so when we were good!) When I finally had the money to go on my own, it was because I had a Saturday job. I drifted away from my passive football interest and got into music and politics. At some point around then I realised I couldn't say I supported a team I'd never seen. If I'd chosen consciously at the time, it would probably have been Millwall, but I had other priorities.
Charlton however, crept up on me. I started paying attention sometime after my mum died (and one of my biggest regrets is I never talked to her more about things I now know we share an interest in). I started to refer to us as "we" not "they". When my son wanted to go to a game, it was one of the early Chris Powell games I took him to. He's not been bitten by the bug (though he has seen us home and away) but fortunately my daughter has. Which feels a lot like coming full circle.
I don't expect great things from Charlton; what I want is a team I can feel a connection to and some honesty. I've been on protests and to Belgium and see that those who came before fought to keep the club going. I'm only a foot-soldier in this current fight, but part of what makes us special is a club is that we're the only club in the 92 formed by lads who wanted to play football and had the vision and ambition to see that they had to get organised to do it.
Like a lot of us, Dad supported them & so it was natural to do the same. There wasn't much Football on the TV in them days except the FA Cup Final so most lads supported a local team. Although Millwall was more local to where we lived at the time, however CAFC was his team.
Three generations of my family were in the crowd of 75,031 against Aston Villa in 1938 (not including me before someone suggests it! I'm the next generation down).
One of the reasons it took me so long to become a proper Addick is demonstrated by my recent acquisition of the programme for the August 20th Charlton v Bolton match, the curtain raiser for the 1966/67 season. This was the first match played at The Valley after the death of Jimmy Seed in July. I was hoping to see a tribute that I might use in my book, but there wasn't even a mention of his passing. Perhaps they didn't do that sort of thing in those days? The feeling that he wasn't treated well after his sacking resulted in me being brought up as a Millwall supporter until about 1969/70. I'd sit next to him in the directors' box at The Den.
James, could you tell us more about your book, including the price?
I'm sure Jimmy Seed will always be revered among Charlton fans, especially the older generation.
There's loads of Jimmy Seed by the way in "Charlton Athletic - a nostalgic look at a century of the club" by Michael Walsh including a picture of him arriving home after his sacking.
One of the reasons it took me so long to become a proper Addick is demonstrated by my recent acquisition of the programme for the August 20th Charlton v Bolton match, the curtain raiser for the 1966/67 season. This was the first match played at The Valley after the death of Jimmy Seed in July. I was hoping to see a tribute that I might use in my book, but there wasn't even a mention of his passing. Perhaps they didn't do that sort of thing in those days? The feeling that he wasn't treated well after his sacking resulted in me being brought up as a Millwall supporter until about 1969/70. I'd sit next to him in the directors' box at The Den.
James, could you tell us more about your book, including the price?
I'm sure Jimmy Seed will always be revered among Charlton fans, especially the older generation.
There's loads of Jimmy Seed by the way in "Charlton Athletic - a nostalgic look at a century of the club" by Michael Walsh including a picture of him arriving home after his sacking.
Sorry, just off to bed. Book is only just underway. It'll probably take years rather than months I'm afraid.
I'll check to see if I have the book you mentioned. I have the same photo taken in New Street Hill. Cheers
Comments
Lost interest in football for a while and got involved in politics in my late teens and early twenties. Missed our glory years.
Went to a few games with my brother when I moved back to Lee from University. Got the bug again as we fell down the leagues from the Prem but gave up regular attendance and season ticket during the dreadful RD years. Attended most of the protests.
Got my grand-daughter into Charlton and looking forward to going again regularly with her and my brother when RD eventually sells.
Live in Hampshire now but going to The Valley and supporting Charlton reconnects me with my nan, my brother and what will always be 'home' (SE London) to me.
Charlton now till I die. Bet my bloody nan is looking down and laughing at what she's done.
60 years ago......60 eventful years of agony and ecstasy.
The game which tipped me over was listening to the 1987 playoff replay on the radio. I went to a small number of away games in the late 80s when at Uni (including battle of the bridge), but only became a regular in 1992 at Upton Park, after watching a 3-1 Cup win over Barnet
Stood at the top of the east terrace as we lost 2-0 to Norwich.
Completely smitten from that day onwards.
Will see if i can find that post.
I must have fucked up in a previous incarnation.
I first noticed Charlton during that very successful 2003/04 season. Then I read a lot about the club's history, especially the 80's and the 90's, the extraordinary story about how the fans fought to get the Valley back, and how the team managed to get to the top flight and stay there with limited budgets. I thought this was a truly amazing club with amazing fans and Curbs was such a great manager. So I got hooked and now have been supporting Charlton for over 14 years.
Despite the poor results and on/off-pitch problems we've had over recent years, I'm always proud to be a Charlton fan and proud to tell people I support Charlton. We're a special club. We have a lot of great fans.
The feeling that he wasn't treated well after his sacking resulted in me being brought up as a Millwall supporter until about 1969/70. I'd sit next to him in the directors' box at The Den.
Been brainwashed to be Charlton by my dad with stories of cup finals, 7-6 games and locals mixing with the players billeted near the ground, but only made the occasional trips to the Valley when visiting family in the area until I moved back to London for university during the Selhurst years. Attended most homes during that time and, for a student, a fair few aways (including THAT play-off final replay) until I moved away and became an infrequent visitor. Fast forward a few years trying to get my son interested in football - no luck with the local non-league terrace scene so I decided to drag him all the way up to the Valley (first season after Prem relegation). He loved it and not been able to keep away since...
Have now bestowed the curse on my young children and cannot wait until they're older to get them season tickets and do many away trips in various parts of England when they're older.
Charlton are an unfashionable, character-building club that you just can't walk away from despite all the misery they may bestow.
When I finally had the money to go on my own, it was because I had a Saturday job. I drifted away from my passive football interest and got into music and politics. At some point around then I realised I couldn't say I supported a team I'd never seen. If I'd chosen consciously at the time, it would probably have been Millwall, but I had other priorities.
Charlton however, crept up on me. I started paying attention sometime after my mum died (and one of my biggest regrets is I never talked to her more about things I now know we share an interest in). I started to refer to us as "we" not "they". When my son wanted to go to a game, it was one of the early Chris Powell games I took him to. He's not been bitten by the bug (though he has seen us home and away) but fortunately my daughter has. Which feels a lot like coming full circle.
I don't expect great things from Charlton; what I want is a team I can feel a connection to and some honesty. I've been on protests and to Belgium and see that those who came before fought to keep the club going. I'm only a foot-soldier in this current fight, but part of what makes us special is a club is that we're the only club in the 92 formed by lads who wanted to play football and had the vision and ambition to see that they had to get organised to do it.
Draw your own conclusions from that fact.
I'm sure Jimmy Seed will always be revered among Charlton fans, especially the older generation.
There's loads of Jimmy Seed by the way in "Charlton Athletic - a nostalgic look at a century of the club" by Michael Walsh including a picture of him arriving home after his sacking.
I'll check to see if I have the book you mentioned. I have the same photo taken in New Street Hill.
Cheers