Establish links between past and present members of the forces community with a shared interest in the club.
Provide a way to share unused tickets to members.
Organising a group presence and travel to fixtures should others not have anyone else to go with.
Establish a team of willing volunteers for fundraising opportunities.
Establish a continuing point of presence for the club around Remembrance Day and Armed Forces Day.
Become a point of contact for Armed Forces personnel from outside their own chain of command for the purposes of welfare and advice.
Highlight achievements of members.
Become a point of contact to the resident units in Woolwich Garrison and strengthen the bond between the club and the Armed Forces.
Comments
@Billericay Dickie
I guess for obvious legal reasons the bullet point outlining the final aim had to be removed;
I shall wear it with pride.
Thanks to all involved, looking forward to our first get together.
Per Mare Per Terram.
This will be the first time a member of the playing staff has joined us and as Conor has direct links to the Armed Forces he will make the perfect guest.
The idea is for Conor to join us between 1945-2030 for a Q&A, the call will open at 1900 so we can have a beer, a whinge and swing the light until he joins us.
The meeting is open to members via the zoom link sent out on the groups email,
We do have a small number of spaces available on the call should anyone from the wider 'Addicks' community wish to join us, if so please drop me a DM
Some hurried post meeting notes, apologise for anything I have missed out, @bazjonster please feel free to add anything.
He spoke openly about his quite fascinating career from playing for St Ives whilst working as a Postie to scoring for Northern Ireland in under 4 years and how he nearly pursued a career in the RAF as an officer before choosing football.
His introduction to Pro football was courtesy of Justin Edinburgh at Newport County and he spoke candidly about his subsequent experiences at Peterborough, QPR, Sheff Utd and Hearts.
Interestingly he has scored in a number of derbies including QPR v Fulham and Hearts V Hibs, so he promised a couple of goals against Millwall next season.
Questions asked included how he felt the players dealt with social media abuse in relation to its benefits. Conor felt it was a very good way to directly engaging with supporters but acknowledged the angst some of the abuse causes.
The atmosphere at the club is fantastic under Nigel Adkins, special mention was given to the interest he shows in everyone at the club, not just the starting XI and how that helps the belief in what can be achieved together.
Nigel was exceptionally good at understanding players physical and mental needs post game and when recovering from injuries as opposed to throwing them back into full training, (read into that what you will).
Conor looked around the dressing room at the start of the season and expected to be pushing for automatic promotion. He has been disappointed at times this season, took a bollocking for the MK Don's performance, but was genuinely optimistic about the remainder of the season. When he said this it seemed heartfelt and genuine not just playing to the gallery.
He loved playing with Jayden Stockley, they compliment each other very well, Ronnie Schwartz is a significant member of the squad, a real team player and entertainer, very impressive in training and clearly has ability. His English is better than the majority of the squad by all accounts.
He was regretful that Covid restrictions had prevented more socialising with the team and acknowledged how hard it must be for Ronnie being away from his family.
He loves being part of a four man strike force, each with different strengths and the ability to change a game. Understandably he was fairly coy about when we are likely to see him return but it's not too long.
He was very happy that Jason Euell had been promoted to the first team coaching staff and though he had not yet worked directly with him said the feedback from the other strikers was very positive.
Ryan Innis coming back is a real bonus, Conor believes he could score 10 a season by coming up for corners.
He also wanted to continue to improve as a player and used Darren Pratley as an example of someone who continues to learn day by day.
When he heard Charlton were interested in signing him he didn't have to think twice, as much as he loved Hearts he sees us as a huge club and agreed the Valley is a magnificent stadium he couldn't wait to see full again.
Lastly he gets most of his news about the club from his mum, he described how closeted the players were from the outside world to a degree, he was genuinely surprised when LB announced he was off.
However the future he sees is bright, a corner has been turned and he was happy I had booked the 30 May off to be at Wembley. He has watched 2 Wembley finals from the bench with Newport and Peterborough and does not want to miss out on a third.
This was the first of we hope many meetings with the playing staff going forward, if they are as half as much a credit to our club as Conor seems then we are in a very good place.
Almost forgot, a big thanks to @Tracey for helping the night go ahead, we are so very lucky to have such committed staff at the club.
I know many dont connect with this squad but think Washington with his work rate etc. is a proper Charlton style player - Its certainly nice hearing what he says about Ronnie Schwartz, his situation will be an interesting one come next season
Just passed on the link to my kid brother, ex submariner of 25 odd years standing.
I am sure you will have a new member there.
I really like Washington, real goal threat and works unselfishly for the team.
Seems a smart and likable bloke too.
(My only chance of being in the armed services now is if they start a real "Dad's Army", so I'll watch this one from afar, with interest).
@SE7toSG3 Clive, great write up and all I can add is that I simply echo and endorse your précis of the evening and your thanks to all concerned.
However, I am still marvelling at how you disappeared down that trap door at the back of your 'man cave' when you went for a leak!