My son was 4 years old when we moved from Manchester area to Suffolk and always been a Man Utd fan (I moved to Cheshire as a 20 year old from Eltham with my work where I met my beloved and settled).
I took him to his first game at Old Trafford when he was seven years old - was vs Chelsea and we had the pleasure of seeing the likes of Giggs (you had to see him live to appreciate how fast he was, running with a ball glued to his feet), Keane, Beckham, Zola, Tore Andre Flo and many more.
He has been a staunch United fan since day 1.
We have had season tickets at The Valley for the past 3 seasons since he left Uni and moved to Balham and we meet up for every home game.
Last Saturday he went to the MK Dons game with a mate and I thought, hello, where’s this going.
Today, at half time, he made a stark admission that he’s losing interest in Man Utd as he rarely gets chance to watch them these days and so enjoys the atmosphere of live football in London.
I saw my first game at The Valley when I was a real youngster a long, long time ago - was a 2-0 home win vs Ipswich Town.
So, my son today, bearing in mind he was not born in the area, actually admits he has moved his adoration from Man Utd to Charlton - I have obviously done a very good job in converting him but, in reality, it is the vibe of the Valley, live footie and accepting that we are not the best, by a long way and cannot afford a squad costing millions that appears to have done the job.
Strange world, isn’t it?
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He must've heard about the pending takeover by a mega rich oil baron and is jumping on the bandwagon early this time. ;-)
Good on him for slowly turning into an Addick
Nah well played purdis. Nice to see that.
The opening of the North Stand, a cracking team and the chance to actually see some of the best players in the world every fortnight (as opposed to irregularly at OT) pushed me into getting season tickets in the North Upper with my schoolmates in my early teens and I have never looked back (despite performances over the last decade).
Huge respect for your lad, it was far easier to see sense back then with the team and profile of opponents we had.
(Thank god my first ever football match in person was Charlton 4 - Southend 3 back in 1994 rather than a Nigels match. Funnily enough my main memory is seeing SCP at right back for Southend. It was all written in the stars)