Thanks for the feed back, what comes across is going to games make you attached to the club and to be fair I enjoy going as meeting up with family even though the football has been pretty dire since becoming hooked. Still I won’t be accused of being a glory hunter when the good times tetutn
If you want a recommendation for your first tattoo, don't be afraid to ask.
Attended my first game in 71 aged 8, I have a 12 year old son who's hardly been to The Valley due to my enforced Duchatelet based exile, took my son to a number of away games last season which he loved and also the play off home leg, he has truly got the Charlton bug. I was looking forward to purchasing 2 season tickets next year but this now looks I jeapordy and I'm totally gutted.
Duchatelet has deprived my son and I of those special Charlton bonding moments between dad and son, it looked that all was not lost but if he is still here next season, then I fear it will be.
Totally gutted.
This is probably the worst long term damage the old scrote could have done to our club by not only shrinking the fan base but kissing goodbye to the current generation of young fans. They are being deprived of what their forefathers have 'enjoyed' following their local team. Stay with it and keep your lad interested if you can mate.
I hope you are proud of your achievements Mr Duchatelet ; now using the phonetic alphabet Foxtrot Oscar...… Hurry up and sell the club.
In 1984 the club faced a Winding-up Order and for a while things looked bleak. The crisis was overcome, Lennie Lawrence rebuilt the team and, despite being forced to leave The Valley in 1985 CAFC won promotion to the top division.
A period followed epitomised by honest endeavor and a steely determination - both on and off the pitch. On it, the team performed well on a foreign field in Croydon and off it the fans orchestrated a campaign to return to The Valley. Both paved the way for success to come under continued good management.
The years of success were not tainted by arrogance. Charlton Athletic was hailed as a club cutting its cloth to suit and building gradually, in a sustainable way. Supporters saw an entity that was credible and one in which they had confidence.
Prior to purchasing Charlton, Duchatelet may have carried out financial Due Diligence, but he failed to do his research on the fan base. Where there might have been a friendly introduction, with attempt to engage positively with supporters, there was an aloofness. 'Do It My Way'. Alien and unwelcome, it was bad news for the club in 2014 and it has been bad news ever since.
A Season Ticket holder of many years who traveled far and wide following CAFC, I was a candidate for The Valley Party and a founder Board Member of the Charlton Athletic Supporters' Trust.
I saw in Duchatelet a danger and alerted people to my concerns. I initially continued with my ticket, but grew fed up with on and off-field discord. Founder Board Member friends became dispirited and stood down. I soldiered on, advising new colleagues that our task of positive engagement with this regime was pointing down a dead-end street and was unlikely to succeed. Following relegation - a wholly unnecessary one, caused my mismanagement - I stopped attending at Charlton games. Disillusioned by events, I stood down from the Trust Board last year.
My boycott of CAFC has been a liberation, enabling me to focus on other things and attempt to de-clutter my mind of Charlton-related angst. I remain frustrated that our collective opposition to this misguided and damaging regime was not as swift and focused as it might have been. Sadly, division among supporters has magnified and it remains to be seen if this can be repaired.
I enjoyed the 'good times' hugely. The memories remain and I can raise a smile as I recall numerous examples of skill, daring and intrigue. The Duchatelet years have been depressing and demonstrate how grim things can become when people, being so used to something, continue doing what they have done and thus allow a malign entity to take hold.
In summary, I hold fond memories of the past, have little interest in the current Charlton Athletic and, should new ownership be realised, it remains to be seen whether I will re-join the fold.
Been a supporter since I was eleven,over sixty years ago.Up until the move to palace,never missed a game.Became a season ticket holder when the Mercury started the petition to return to the Valley,boy-cotted palace up to then.
Helped with the Valley clean up,gave leaflets out re the return to the Valley,helped the Junior Reds out as an adult.
Due to ill health the last games I saw were Watford/Derby County about four seasons ago?
Hav'nt been to the Valley since to watch a game.
The somewhat worrying thing is I hav'nt missed watching Charlton,yes I still want them to win of course and really get annoyed when they drop points,especially to late goals.
Will I go back again,hopefully yes(under new owners),but it may take some getting used to or maybe not?
I'm 50/50 about the coming season. Almost certainly, I'll pick and choose games. Will be 65 on 1 October, but even a concessionary rate won't tempt me. More of a worry is that I am beginning to feel more anti-Aussie than I usually am. Found myself cheering the French beating Australia this morning. How low is that?
Up to 3 years ago I was just an arm chair supporter of charlton(rather play football than watch) then got an atteachment to this club and follow them at all home games, all I’m saying I don’t know no difference! What were the good times like?
Interesting first post having been a member for three years especially as there can't be that many armchair Addicks out their, Manure, Cheslski; Citeh, Liverpool but Charlton?
Anyway in answer to the question; Very special, too few and far between (over the last 60 years of support) which make them all the more enjoyable when they come round. Hope that helps.
I temporarily fell back in love with charlton when KR left, we picked up results and it sounded clear to me at the time that Roland was selling up with sureness and it was likely to be soon.
Since that time period, things have gone a bit backwards.
I was more out of love with charlton when slade was manager and the smirking child was in the directors box.
Posted the below on the takeover thread yesterday, it seems to me seeing this thread that I'm not alone-:
Sadly I fear the worst, as I said a few pages ago, unless RD goes that is me done, look at the situation just on the playing side....all loan players gone back, Konsa sold, Marshall told he can go, Mag up for sale, KAG and co in trouble, Kashi likely to go along with Baur and then Mr Turncoat (RM) says we need 4 players.....what a dick head....... we have about 16 first teamers..absolute joke. So in the words of the Anne Marie song......Chow, Adios, I'm done!!
I'll add, for this thread, I've been in love with and supporting Charlton since I was 5 years old, I'm now 63!! So 58 years and now I cant even think of going anymore or completing anymore 'match threads, the excitement and the enthusiasm has gone. The in-fighting among us is getting worse, RD's legacy has ripped the heart out of the club...so very sad.
Posted the below on the takeover thread yesterday, it seems to me seeing this thread that I'm not alone-:
Sadly I fear the worst, as I said a few pages ago, unless RD goes that is me done, look at the situation just on the playing side....all loan players gone back, Konsa sold, Marshall told he can go, Mag up for sale, KAG and co in trouble, Kashi likely to go along with Baur and then Mr Turncoat (RM) says we need 4 players.....what a dick head....... we have about 16 first teamers..absolute joke. So in the words of the Anne Marie song......Chow, Adios, I'm done!!
I'll add, for this thread, I've been in love with and supporting Charlton since I was 5 years old, I'm now 63!! So 58 years and now I cant even think of going anymore or completing anymore 'match threads, the excitement and the enthusiasm has gone. The in-fighting among us is getting worse, RD's legacy has ripped the heart out of the club...so very sad.
We are exactly the same age and I guess I started going regularly at the age of 7 in 1962. I have the same feelings about the current state of affairs. There was a brief respite when Bowyer replaced Robinson and games like Portsmouth away and the prospect of a takeover made it feel like, things could change around even if it meant another season in League 1. However, as things stand now I am becoming completely disillusioned. As far as I am concerned we ARE a lame duck of club whatever Richard Murray says.
Not looked at the website a while. Yet to raise enough enthusiasm to have bothered to see any of the WC matches so far. Just get a Blatteresque feeling in my stomach, and find something better to do.
Wricurkincam indicates where I'm coming from. My elder brother passed away last month. All things must pass. Can't help feeling that REAL football has become a thing of the past. I'm am 64, and actually live on the Isle of Wight ('cos it's not too dear). How I miss the 1970s Plumstead years (just noticed I hit the "T" instead of the "Y" when typing "years"!!)
The only thing I thank RollinDuckshitAlley for is that he helped tip the scales for me against the Franco-German Appreciation Society. Quite ashamed the FA has let the National team participate and perform for a Fascist regime. Next up, poodling before the Qatari slavedrivers......... subject to the continued existence of football.
I will never lose interest in Charlton Athletic (Ray Crawford waved at me and my mates just before he took the kick off!!). Have however, lost virtually all interest in "the Beautiful Game".
CAFC will always remain a very big part of my life. I want "Red Robins" played at my service (but not just yet!)
"If you ever see a post from WRICURKINCAM walk away and pretend you didn't. Only madness lies ahead. " = Henry Irving
Pretty sobering posts from some people who I know and regard as proper Charlton fans, people like Red Midland, Anna _Kissed, and SE7 to SG3, who I have worked with as a founding member of the Supporters trust, and a Museum trustee, I know how much they love the club. There have been times over the past three years, when I have come close to 'throwing my hand in', plenty of excuses I could cite, 2 new grandchildren this year, moved away to Hythe, and preparing for a couple of art\photo exhibitions on music, but just cannot close the door on CAFC. Born locally, to the sound of the 'covered end' living in Springfield, going to school at Sherrington, my late father taking me down to the Valley when 6, too many ties and memories......
Whatever the outcome for the new owners, be it the Aussies, or whoever there will need to be a massive engagement with fans, starting from day 1. Some will return, some will wait, and some I am afraid will be lost. God knows how many fans I no longer see. I look forward to the day when my grandchildren come down to the Valley with my sons, I just prey it is put into safe hands, and the owners and fan's are united, and the team trying to get a decent bloody cup run,and back in the championship not the wasteland of broken dreams of recent years, inept management, and absurd 'visions' by a deluded owner.
I can kind of echo many of the sentiments voiced on here. I have recently moved to Wales and I always thought that the biggest problem would be the distance between here and Charlton. However, because of all that has happened in the last few years, including me boycotting, it hasn’t bothered me. However, if there were a takeover and something of a return to the club that I have followed and loved for 55 years then I am sure that my exile would be more painful.
During the Selhurst years I had a colleague, a lapsed Addick, who had stopped going to matches about 5 years previously. I managed to convince him to go a game there and he was hooked again and has been a ST holder pretty much ever since. Difficult though it is, try and keep the faith.
Redmidland - I think we are in complete agreement, couldn’t put a “like” to your comments as it would not seem right, if you see what I mean
Hi @lancashire lad , I fully understand (about the 'like' thing). We go back quite a few years on this forum, but despite really trying to enjoy the few games I've been to last season there was something not right. I'm was not a protester, but understood why people were. I tried to see/hope if RD would find some ambition and buy into the concept that was/is CAFC. I've wrestled with should I go, shouldn't I go, should i go back and offer to do the match threads again, and once or twice i tried both, but my heart had gone bad in real life, as you know, but also my 58 year love affair with CAFC had gone. Some will say I've let RD win or I should just ignore the owner(s), but after all those years I just saw the club I love being ripped apart by the lack of ambition and i decided the'experience' was no longer enjoyable. I hope and look forward to us and many others meeting up as soon as the first game comes after RD has gone. I admire those, like BexleyBoy (Colin) and those elsewhere who keep going, and buying S/T's, but I would like to think even they know its not the same as it was. It's their choice, but for now it's not for me. Hope we can all get back to enjoying CAFC experience again soon.
The love for my club still burning bright 10,000 miles away in Australia. I have followed Charlton literally over land and sea. Boycotting was always going to end up this way. People adjust and find new things to see and do and I had this same conversation with a previous CEO after relegation back in 2009. For me things are different as I cannot come to the Valley week in and week out, but boy do I miss it. I plan all my trips to England around watching my club and I try to cram in as many games as possible. I was at both Shrewsbury games and whilst the results were disappointing I wouldn’t have missed the games for the world. That’s how much my club mean to me.
All this is the very predictable path of capitalism. The great Spanish Cellist Pablo Casals responded with 2 statements. The first on the assertion that all is inevitable: "Every wrong seems possible today, and is accepted. I don't accept it." The 2nd is on 'where to from here : "The situation is hopeless, we must take the next step." Easier said than done..?
I'm still flying in from Perth this coming October...
I started to support Charlton around 2004 and although there've been a few periods of time when I drifted away I still love this club so much. In the past 14 years there's one question I've been asked countless times: 'why do you support Charlton?' Beause for a Chinese girl (well, now I'm in my early 30's so can't really use 'girl' to describe myself ) who's never been to England, a small football club in London seems a somewhat odd choice for hobby. There're almost no females around me that like football, while all the male football fans simply support big clubs.
I wish I could tell them two words so they would understand immediately: Curbs and the Valley. Obviously it's impossible to explain to them this way so over the years I've kind of developed an easy and brief answer: they were in the Premier League doing greatly with limited budgets. That attracted me and after a bit of research I got hooked ever since.
In the past four years this forum has been the place where I connect to all the local Charlton supporters. I've been so fortunate to receive precious presents from Jean (Fanny), Alan (GlassHalfFull) and a few others, including Curbs' signed autobiography - a dream come true for me. Without this forum I don't think this would have happend and I would feel as connected as I've been. Some people have asked me how I've managed to keep my enthusiasm going as the club is in League One? Actually Charlton Life's played a major part.
Much as I feel disappointed, I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with this club. It's become a habit since a long time ago. I suffered emotionally in a relationship last year. Conversations with Mum and Dad and close friends sadly didn't work. It was football, Charlton (and the TV series This Is Us) that helped me get through it. I was able to see things more clearly after reconnecting to what I'd loved deeply for years. It was like finding myself. I now feel I was stupid to let a relationship affect me so much.
So I still have hope. I love Charlton. The current takeover thread does make me feel disillusioned at times but RD can't be here forever. I keep the faith and believe we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel, when RD leaves.
Just as the club can easily be torn apart, it can quickly be rebuilt if the right people are put in place in key areas. We saw what kind of feel good factor was created around 2011.
Keep the faith. It's always darkest before the dawn.
It is Duchatelet's Charlton that is the problem, not Charlton. He will be gone - hopefully sooner rather than later - and we all have a job to do then. For the club we will always love!
I was there before him, there during him, there after him, nearly 40 years of going home & away.
We are the one constant at any football club
It’s like a marriage, you take a vow of through thick & thin, troubled times test you, but you get through it, at the end of the day, nobody has died, it’s just a sport, my life has higher priorities, family, friends, health and music.
Comments
I hope you are proud of your achievements Mr Duchatelet ; now using the phonetic alphabet Foxtrot Oscar...… Hurry up and sell the club.
In 1984 the club faced a Winding-up Order and for a while things looked bleak. The crisis was overcome, Lennie Lawrence rebuilt the team and, despite being forced to leave The Valley in 1985 CAFC won promotion to the top division.
A period followed epitomised by honest endeavor and a steely determination - both on and off the pitch. On it, the team performed well on a foreign field in Croydon and off it the fans orchestrated a campaign to return to The Valley. Both paved the way for success to come under continued good management.
The years of success were not tainted by arrogance. Charlton Athletic was hailed as a club cutting its cloth to suit and building gradually, in a sustainable way. Supporters saw an entity that was credible and one in which they had confidence.
Prior to purchasing Charlton, Duchatelet may have carried out financial Due Diligence, but he failed to do his research on the fan base. Where there might have been a friendly introduction, with attempt to engage positively with supporters, there was an aloofness. 'Do It My Way'. Alien and unwelcome, it was bad news for the club in 2014 and it has been bad news ever since.
A Season Ticket holder of many years who traveled far and wide following CAFC, I was a candidate for The Valley Party and a founder Board Member of the Charlton Athletic Supporters' Trust.
I saw in Duchatelet a danger and alerted people to my concerns. I initially continued with my ticket, but grew fed up with on and off-field discord. Founder Board Member friends became dispirited and stood down. I soldiered on, advising new colleagues that our task of positive engagement with this regime was pointing down a dead-end street and was unlikely to succeed. Following relegation - a wholly unnecessary one, caused my mismanagement - I stopped attending at Charlton games. Disillusioned by events, I stood down from the Trust Board last year.
My boycott of CAFC has been a liberation, enabling me to focus on other things and attempt to de-clutter my mind of Charlton-related angst. I remain frustrated that our collective opposition to this misguided and damaging regime was not as swift and focused as it might have been. Sadly, division among supporters has magnified and it remains to be seen if this can be repaired.
I enjoyed the 'good times' hugely. The memories remain and I can raise a smile as I recall numerous examples of skill, daring and intrigue. The Duchatelet years have been depressing and demonstrate how grim things can become when people, being so used to something, continue doing what they have done and thus allow a malign entity to take hold.
In summary, I hold fond memories of the past, have little interest in the current Charlton Athletic and, should new ownership be realised, it remains to be seen whether I will re-join the fold.
Helped with the Valley clean up,gave leaflets out re the return to the Valley,helped the Junior Reds out as an adult.
Due to ill health the last games I saw were Watford/Derby County about four seasons ago?
Hav'nt been to the Valley since to watch a game.
The somewhat worrying thing is I hav'nt missed watching Charlton,yes I still want them to win of course and really get annoyed when they drop points,especially to late goals.
Will I go back again,hopefully yes(under new owners),but it may take some getting used to or maybe not?
More of a worry is that I am beginning to feel more anti-Aussie than I usually am. Found myself cheering the French beating Australia this morning. How low is that?
Since that time period, things have gone a bit backwards.
I was more out of love with charlton when slade was manager and the smirking child was in the directors box.
That was apathy peak.
Sadly I fear the worst, as I said a few pages ago, unless RD goes that is me done, look at the situation just on the playing side....all loan players gone back, Konsa sold, Marshall told he can go, Mag up for sale, KAG and co in trouble, Kashi likely to go along with Baur and then Mr Turncoat (RM) says we need 4 players.....what a dick head....... we have about 16 first teamers..absolute joke. So in the words of the Anne Marie song......Chow, Adios, I'm done!!
I'll add, for this thread, I've been in love with and supporting Charlton since I was 5 years old, I'm now 63!! So 58 years and now I cant even think of going anymore or completing anymore 'match threads, the excitement and the enthusiasm has gone. The in-fighting among us is getting worse, RD's legacy has ripped the heart out of the club...so very sad.
Not looked at the website a while. Yet to raise enough enthusiasm to have bothered to see any of the WC matches so far. Just get a Blatteresque feeling in my stomach, and find something better to do.
Wricurkincam indicates where I'm coming from. My elder brother passed away last month. All things must pass. Can't help feeling that REAL football has become a thing of the past. I'm am 64, and actually live on the Isle of Wight ('cos it's not too dear). How I miss the 1970s Plumstead years (just noticed I hit the "T" instead of the "Y" when typing "years"!!)
The only thing I thank RollinDuckshitAlley for is that he helped tip the scales for me against the Franco-German Appreciation Society. Quite ashamed the FA has let the National team participate and perform for a Fascist regime. Next up, poodling before the Qatari slavedrivers......... subject to the continued existence of football.
I will never lose interest in Charlton Athletic (Ray Crawford waved at me and my mates just before he took the kick off!!).
Have however, lost virtually all interest in "the Beautiful Game".
CAFC will always remain a very big part of my life. I want "Red Robins" played at my service (but not just yet!)
"If you ever see a post from WRICURKINCAM walk away and pretend you didn't. Only madness lies ahead. " = Henry Irving
Whatever the outcome for the new owners, be it the Aussies, or whoever there will need to be a massive engagement with fans, starting from day 1. Some will return, some will wait, and some I am afraid will be lost. God knows how many fans I no longer see. I look forward to the day when my grandchildren come down to the Valley with my sons, I just prey it is put into safe hands, and the owners and fan's are united, and the team trying to get a decent bloody cup run,and back in the championship not the wasteland of broken dreams of recent years, inept management, and absurd 'visions' by a deluded owner.
Be good to see that once again...........
During the Selhurst years I had a colleague, a lapsed Addick, who had stopped going to matches about 5 years previously. I managed to convince him to go a game there and he was hooked again and has been a ST holder pretty much ever since. Difficult though it is, try and keep the faith.
I hope and look forward to us and many others meeting up as soon as the first game comes after RD has gone. I admire those, like BexleyBoy (Colin) and those elsewhere who keep going, and buying S/T's, but I would like to think even they know its not the same as it was. It's their choice, but for now it's not for me.
Hope we can all get back to enjoying CAFC experience again soon.
No one individual will change that.
Charlton until my inevitable end.
The great Spanish Cellist Pablo Casals responded with 2 statements. The first on the assertion that all is inevitable:
"Every wrong seems possible today, and is accepted. I don't accept it."
The 2nd is on 'where to from here :
"The situation is hopeless, we must take the next step."
Easier said than done..?
I'm still flying in from Perth this coming October...
I started to support Charlton around 2004 and although there've been a few periods of time when I drifted away I still love this club so much. In the past 14 years there's one question I've been asked countless times: 'why do you support Charlton?' Beause for a Chinese girl (well, now I'm in my early 30's so can't really use 'girl' to describe myself
I wish I could tell them two words so they would understand immediately: Curbs and the Valley. Obviously it's impossible to explain to them this way so over the years I've kind of developed an easy and brief answer: they were in the Premier League doing greatly with limited budgets. That attracted me and after a bit of research I got hooked ever since.
In the past four years this forum has been the place where I connect to all the local Charlton supporters. I've been so fortunate to receive precious presents from Jean (Fanny), Alan (GlassHalfFull) and a few others, including Curbs' signed autobiography - a dream come true for me. Without this forum I don't think this would have happend and I would feel as connected as I've been. Some people have asked me how I've managed to keep my enthusiasm going as the club is in League One? Actually Charlton Life's played a major part.
Much as I feel disappointed, I don't think I'll ever fall out of love with this club. It's become a habit since a long time ago. I suffered emotionally in a relationship last year. Conversations with Mum and Dad and close friends sadly didn't work. It was football, Charlton (and the TV series This Is Us) that helped me get through it. I was able to see things more clearly after reconnecting to what I'd loved deeply for years. It was like finding myself. I now feel I was stupid to let a relationship affect me so much.
So I still have hope. I love Charlton. The current takeover thread does make me feel disillusioned at times but RD can't be here forever. I keep the faith and believe we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel, when RD leaves.
Keep the faith. It's always darkest before the dawn.
We are the one constant at any football club
It’s like a marriage, you take a vow of through thick & thin, troubled times test you, but you get through it, at the end of the day, nobody has died, it’s just a sport, my life has higher priorities, family, friends, health and music.