1998 by a mile. I didn't go to either game. In 1998, I arrived back at Gatwick that morning and just about got home in time to see the game. I was tired from a long haul flight but thoroughly enjoyed it - then fell asleep (a mixture of beer, euphoria and jetlag). By 2019, I felt more disconnected from the club thanks to our Belgian friend. I went to the semi-final v Doncaster and didn't feel a part of the amazing atmosphere that night and decided not to go to Wembley. I can't really explain why. The Leeds game at St Andrews is still the pinnacle for me, closely followed by Chelsea at Stamford Bridge.
98. In June moved into my own flat from a homeless hostel and started getting sessional work again. Charlton into the premier league. Early days of a new political administration (I know, I know). Full of hope.
98, didn't go, was at a low ebb, and had other things on my mind. 2019 unbelievable, from giving them a goal head start to the final kick off the game.sobbed like a baby.
St Andrews 1987, soooo much more a Charlton experience, fuck all fans there , not the day tripping crew just hardcore weirdos , completely outnumbered, existence on the line , shit hole of a ground , playing a scummy Club , scary atmosphere , backs against the wall , going down in extra time and the pure joy of the comeback against them dirty norverners and we’d get another season in the top flight having just tasted the first one in a lifetime ....
1998 to answer the question properly because we were on the up and winning that meant we were back in the big Time and at The Valley and the heart attacks and emotional swings were perfect and sick, great days out with mates on the lash and there was unconditional love reciprocated between club and myself back then .
last year brilliant for being with one of my sons, the other 3 and Mrs were on holiday , doesn’t get better than a last minute loop but promotion to the 2nd tier does not compare with the top flight and we still had a twunt of an owner and his cloud was and still is hanging over us .
Completely agree re St. Andrews. So much at stake that evening, it will remain the most nerve-racking watch of my life.
1998 meant more from a footballing perspective as it was a return to top flight football at the Valley, at the time my Dad was too ill to go following a life threatening illness so that was only downside.
2019 Dad was able to join us, so on a personal note it meant more. Although when I was swinging him around after Bauer’s goal I think he wanted to be at home😁.
For the game itself, eight wonderful goals including a sublime hattrick -1998 is unbeatable. But comparing the home SFs I'd say that Donny shaded it. With Charlton, though, there is always something else. In 1998 a golden future, deservedly earned the hard way, seemed to beckon regardless of a likely instant relegation. Last year, though, the shadows cast by our perpetual ownership crisis could not be ignored for long. Disrespected by the spivs, betrayed by RD, and looking ahead to the present day unbelievably abused by the latest set of carpetbaggers to darken our transom - the BFG brought us some fleeting and welcome joy, but even that was tarnished by the knowledge that he himself would be shortly moving on. Bittersweet times for Addicks - always have been, probably always will. The spirit is strong, the hope will never leave, but how long must we wait for a proper change in fortune.
St Andrews 1987, soooo much more a Charlton experience, fuck all fans there , not the day tripping crew just hardcore weirdos , completely outnumbered, existence on the line , shit hole of a ground , playing a scummy Club , scary atmosphere , backs against the wall , going down in extra time and the pure joy of the comeback against them dirty norverners and we’d get another season in the top flight having just tasted the first one in a lifetime ....
1998 to answer the question properly because we were on the up and winning that meant we were back in the big Time and at The Valley and the heart attacks and emotional swings were perfect and sick, great days out with mates on the lash and there was unconditional love reciprocated between club and myself back then .
last year brilliant for being with one of my sons, the other 3 and Mrs were on holiday , doesn’t get better than a last minute loop but promotion to the 2nd tier does not compare with the top flight and we still had a twunt of an owner and his cloud was and still is hanging over us .
Completely agree re St. Andrews. So much at stake that evening, it will remain the most nerve-racking watch of my life.
Definitely how I feel. 1987 was the most important for the future of the club. And as ooooohaaahhhhh said, it was like an away game.
If: a. This thread was a poll b. The same number of Charlton fans had attended all three matches
then I think it would be a close run thing between 87 and 98.
19 was in many ways the most special to me as it was: a. In this period where I now live outside the UK, so every match is a major high. Bauer almost gave me a heart attack! b. I took my 11 & 8 year old boys to something they will have to go some way to beat. c. The best ever atmosphere for any Charlton match
98 was the best match but the least dramatic. I cried for the first time at a football match in 87, and for the second and most recent time in 19.
If my boys tell me in years to come that they remember 19 and look back at it like I do now at 87 then 19 will be my favourite.
St Andrews 1987, soooo much more a Charlton experience, fuck all fans there , not the day tripping crew just hardcore weirdos , completely outnumbered, existence on the line , shit hole of a ground , playing a scummy Club , scary atmosphere , backs against the wall , going down in extra time and the pure joy of the comeback against them dirty norverners and we’d get another season in the top flight having just tasted the first one in a lifetime ....
1998 to answer the question properly because we were on the up and winning that meant we were back in the big Time and at The Valley and the heart attacks and emotional swings were perfect and sick, great days out with mates on the lash and there was unconditional love reciprocated between club and myself back then .
last year brilliant for being with one of my sons, the other 3 and Mrs were on holiday , doesn’t get better than a last minute loop but promotion to the 2nd tier does not compare with the top flight and we still had a twunt of an owner and his cloud was and still is hanging over us .
Completely agree re St. Andrews. So much at stake that evening, it will remain the most nerve-racking watch of my life.
Definitely how I feel. 1987 was the most important for the future of the club. And as ooooohaaahhhhh said, it was like an away game.
If: a. This thread was a poll b. The same number of Charlton fans had attended all three matches
then I think it would be a close run thing between 87 and 98.
19 was in many ways the most special to me as it was: a. In this period where I now live outside the UK, so every match is a major high. Bauer almost gave me a heart attack! b. I took my 11 & 8 year old boys to something they will have to go some way to beat. c. The best ever atmosphere for any Charlton match
98 was the best match but the least dramatic. I cried for the first time at a football match in 87, and for the second and most recent time in 19.
If my boys tell me in years to come that they remember 19 and look back at it like I do now at 87 then 19 will be my favourite.
So hard to choose though.
Least dramatic???
Which of the four equalisers, fourteen penalties and twenty one goals did you find the most tiresome and drama-free?
98 for sure, and I wasn't even there. 2019 was great, and it had an unbelievable moment that we all got to share together, but the stakes weren't the same. 98 was a chance for Charlton to go up to the Premier League, which was a ridiculous concept at the time. 2019, good as the match was, was us dragging ourselves over the line to get the privilege of not having to play in League One anymore. Granted I hate League One so it felt good to get out, but really under all the joy of winning it was just taking the opportunity to remove ourselves from a horrible level and start playing at a reasonable one. Winning in 98 meant we were going to Old Trafford, Highbury and Anfield while being able to bring in our best ever crop of players.
Although it's interesting to see how dreadful the following season was, both times. Let's hope we don't need the play-offs next time we go up.
I don’t think that first season back in the Prem was dreadful after the play off win.... we gave it a good crack, there were some great memories, and bizarrely even though we went down the club felt like it carried on the upward momentum
2019. 1998 was an endurance which left everybody drained at the end and you could have heard a pin drop in Wembley way afterwards as we all queued along the entire length of it to get to the tube station. When we left the stadium last year it was party time
St Andrews 1987, soooo much more a Charlton experience, fuck all fans there , not the day tripping crew just hardcore weirdos , completely outnumbered, existence on the line , shit hole of a ground , playing a scummy Club , scary atmosphere , backs against the wall , going down in extra time and the pure joy of the comeback against them dirty norverners and we’d get another season in the top flight having just tasted the first one in a lifetime ....
1998 to answer the question properly because we were on the up and winning that meant we were back in the big Time and at The Valley and the heart attacks and emotional swings were perfect and sick, great days out with mates on the lash and there was unconditional love reciprocated between club and myself back then .
last year brilliant for being with one of my sons, the other 3 and Mrs were on holiday , doesn’t get better than a last minute loop but promotion to the 2nd tier does not compare with the top flight and we still had a twunt of an owner and his cloud was and still is hanging over us .
Completely agree re St. Andrews. So much at stake that evening, it will remain the most nerve-racking watch of my life.
Definitely how I feel. 1987 was the most important for the future of the club. And as ooooohaaahhhhh said, it was like an away game.
If: a. This thread was a poll b. The same number of Charlton fans had attended all three matches
then I think it would be a close run thing between 87 and 98.
19 was in many ways the most special to me as it was: a. In this period where I now live outside the UK, so every match is a major high. Bauer almost gave me a heart attack! b. I took my 11 & 8 year old boys to something they will have to go some way to beat. c. The best ever atmosphere for any Charlton match
98 was the best match but the least dramatic. I cried for the first time at a football match in 87, and for the second and most recent time in 19.
If my boys tell me in years to come that they remember 19 and look back at it like I do now at 87 then 19 will be my favourite.
So hard to choose though.
I still remember walking to the ground and Birmingham in the boozers looking out for Leeds.
We were heroes after the game, the Zulus were still waiting for Leeds!
2019 for me based purely on the fact i live abroad now, don't come back often and see Charlton play live even less so it was great to come back, have a great day with mates plus loads of others i hadn't seen for a long time and to win it in that manner.
St Andrews 1987, soooo much more a Charlton experience, fuck all fans there , not the day tripping crew just hardcore weirdos , completely outnumbered, existence on the line , shit hole of a ground , playing a scummy Club , scary atmosphere , backs against the wall , going down in extra time and the pure joy of the comeback against them dirty norverners and we’d get another season in the top flight having just tasted the first one in a lifetime ....
1998 to answer the question properly because we were on the up and winning that meant we were back in the big Time and at The Valley and the heart attacks and emotional swings were perfect and sick, great days out with mates on the lash and there was unconditional love reciprocated between club and myself back then .
last year brilliant for being with one of my sons, the other 3 and Mrs were on holiday , doesn’t get better than a last minute loop but promotion to the 2nd tier does not compare with the top flight and we still had a twunt of an owner and his cloud was and still is hanging over us .
Completely agree re St. Andrews. So much at stake that evening, it will remain the most nerve-racking watch of my life.
Definitely how I feel. 1987 was the most important for the future of the club. And as ooooohaaahhhhh said, it was like an away game.
If: a. This thread was a poll b. The same number of Charlton fans had attended all three matches
then I think it would be a close run thing between 87 and 98.
19 was in many ways the most special to me as it was: a. In this period where I now live outside the UK, so every match is a major high. Bauer almost gave me a heart attack! b. I took my 11 & 8 year old boys to something they will have to go some way to beat. c. The best ever atmosphere for any Charlton match
98 was the best match but the least dramatic. I cried for the first time at a football match in 87, and for the second and most recent time in 19.
If my boys tell me in years to come that they remember 19 and look back at it like I do now at 87 then 19 will be my favourite.
So hard to choose though.
Least dramatic???
Which of the four equalisers, fourteen penalties and twenty one goals did you find the most tiresome drama-free?
I know it may sound unbelievable but I found them all less dramatic than Shirtliff and Bauer's amazing last gasp winners.
It just goes to show how Charlton really have been in the most incredible play-off finals. Only Swindon and QPR can match us, and they've only done it once.
1998 for me. I was so wound up that I couldn't watch the penalties, just sat there looking down at the floor, whilst everyone else was standing up. 2019 was great because of the way the game ended, but 1998 was a great match all round. Walking out of Wembley last May, I couldn't believe it was 21 years since I'd done the same. Time really does go faster the older you get.
Difficult one. I was at the '98 game but not the 2019. For last years I had 3 children who I literally scared the crap out of when the winning goal went in, such a great feeling (one of them started crying as he was scared as I was shouting so much). I'll call a draw.
Was too young and not a Charlton supporter in 1998 so it has to be last year.
It felt like, after a tough time for me personally and the club and supporters as a whole, the world seemed to be aligning. About an hour after BFG scored I went on the most promising first date I'd had in years. And it was an incredible day. All around. We hit it off so well and I thought we'd be together for a very long time. That didn't end up happening, but I still have so many incredible memories of that day.
May 26, 2019 was one of the best days of my life, even with all the twists and turns that were still to come. I'll always cherish it. It will hurt this year. Both for footballing and non-footballing reasons. But for me personally, it was fucking brilliant. The kind of day you get maybe only a handful of times in your life where everything just seems to click.
1988 - I was 20 and went with a mate and my now brother in laws family were around. I was part of Wembley’s greatest ever days and I shall never forget it
2019 - I was with my pals but more importantly my 17 year old daughter. I really do love Charlton but not like I love Daisy. I have a shared experience that will last us until I depart this mortal coil...........so for me 2019
1998.....first time in the top flight for me watching Charlton...the roller coaster of the day...and the Sunderland fans afterwards congratulating my son and me all the way back home to Hampshire when we bumped into any.
Was too young and not a Charlton supporter in 1998 so it has to be last year.
It felt like, after a tough time for me personally and the club and supporters as a whole, the world seemed to be aligning. About an hour after BFG scored I went on the most promising first date I'd had in years. And it was an incredible day. All around. We hit it off so well and I thought we'd be together for a very long time. That didn't end up happening, but I still have so many incredible memories of that day.
May 26, 2019 was one of the best days of my life, even with all the twists and turns that were still to come. I'll always cherish it. It will hurt this year. Both for footballing and non-footballing reasons. But for me personally, it was fucking brilliant. The kind of day you get maybe only a handful of times in your life where everything just seems to click.
But what was the best, Charlton winning or getting your end away?
Having been to both with my boy and enjoyed the agony and joy of both, no game let alone ‘19 will ever beat ‘98, it was brilliant The football, the tension, the fans, the build up, my lads reaction, everything was just do superior. Also In ‘19 I was older (not wiser) and had just had a fairly major operation on my foot so in a lot of pain and on crutches, never occurred to me that during the celebrations a Charlton fan would fly through the air and land smack on the injured foot, yes I cried (to be fair he couldn’t have been more apologetic) hence the pain. 98 had everything a game should have, flowing football, goals, a super hero, a first ever goal for a legend, and 13 of the greatest penalties you will ever see. Compare that to ‘19 a bad back pass, a team that never turned up and a goal with 4 seconds to go. Got to be ‘98 assuming you were there
1998 as a 15 year old with 20+ family and friends of the family. 2019 in a box with mates I met through following the club after that .
1998 on reflection was an emotional one. My mum was there and she never came to football and I’ve never felt so much as a family as I did after that Ilic save. Sad, but true.
2019 I enjoyed because of being older I think. It was great to see my Dad before the game and try and recreate 1998 and the whole day/night experience was better for for me.
Comments
Not forgetting having me for company.
Although it's interesting to see how dreadful the following season was, both times. Let's hope we don't need the play-offs next time we go up.
For the game itself, eight wonderful goals including a sublime hattrick -1998 is unbeatable. But comparing the home SFs I'd say that Donny shaded it. With Charlton, though, there is always something else.
In 1998 a golden future, deservedly earned the hard way, seemed to beckon regardless of a likely instant relegation. Last year, though, the shadows cast by our perpetual ownership crisis could not be ignored for long. Disrespected by the spivs, betrayed by RD, and looking ahead to the present day unbelievably abused by the latest set of carpetbaggers to darken our transom - the BFG brought us some fleeting and welcome joy, but even that was tarnished by the knowledge that he himself would be shortly moving on. Bittersweet times for Addicks - always have been, probably always will. The spirit is strong, the hope will never leave, but how long must we wait for a proper change in fortune.
If:
a. This thread was a poll
b. The same number of Charlton fans had attended all three matches
then I think it would be a close run thing between 87 and 98.
19 was in many ways the most special to me as it was:
a. In this period where I now live outside the UK, so every match is a major high. Bauer almost gave me a heart attack!
b. I took my 11 & 8 year old boys to something they will have to go some way to beat.
c. The best ever atmosphere for any Charlton match
98 was the best match but the least dramatic.
I cried for the first time at a football match in 87, and for the second and most recent time in 19.
If my boys tell me in years to come that they remember 19 and look back at it like I do now at 87 then 19 will be my favourite.
So hard to choose though.
Which of the four equalisers, fourteen penalties and twenty one goals did you find the most tiresome and drama-free?
We were heroes after the game, the Zulus were still waiting for Leeds!
It just goes to show how Charlton really have been in the most incredible play-off finals. Only Swindon and QPR can match us, and they've only done it once.
2019 was great because of the way the game ended, but 1998 was a great match all round.
Walking out of Wembley last May, I couldn't believe it was 21 years since I'd done the same. Time really does go faster the older you get.
The experience will never be bettered.
I didn't attend the 2019 final. Duchatelet remained the owner, so my boycott continued.
I enjoyed doing something else.
It felt like, after a tough time for me personally and the club and supporters as a whole, the world seemed to be aligning. About an hour after BFG scored I went on the most promising first date I'd had in years. And it was an incredible day. All around. We hit it off so well and I thought we'd be together for a very long time. That didn't end up happening, but I still have so many incredible memories of that day.
May 26, 2019 was one of the best days of my life, even with all the twists and turns that were still to come. I'll always cherish it. It will hurt this year. Both for footballing and non-footballing reasons. But for me personally, it was fucking brilliant. The kind of day you get maybe only a handful of times in your life where everything just seems to click.
2019 - I was with my pals but more importantly my 17 year old daughter. I really do love Charlton but not like I love Daisy. I have a shared experience that will last us until I depart this mortal coil...........so for me 2019
1998 as a 15 year old with 20+ family and friends of the family. 2019 in a box with mates I met through following the club after that .
1998 on reflection was an emotional one. My mum was there and she never came to football and I’ve never felt so much as a family as I did after that Ilic save. Sad, but true.
2019 I enjoyed because of being older I think. It was great to see my Dad before the game and try and recreate 1998 and the whole day/night experience was better for for me.
Impossible to choose.