So very sorry I couldn't join last night due to a previous engagement...but happy to have joined the Armed Forces Group.....thanks for the write up Clive, much appreciated.
Same sentiments as Red, I will try not to let engagements get in the way of the next 'get together'.
Sounds like a great time was had, thanks for the update.
Another good meeting last night for the Armed Forces Addicks Group, this time our guests were Steve Brown and Lucy Bishop. For those that couldn't make it a quick write up covering the points of interest,
Parish Notes - (i) The Group flag is being progressed in time for the new season, funding was raised in a couple of days. Design looks to be red/white/red with the group logo central and 'Over Land & Sea' below.
The St George Cross/Union Flag were considered but the membership includes supporters from across the Union and further afield so 'club colours' are felt more appropriate.
(ii) We are working with the club to strengthen links with the local regiment, 1/PWRR, who are returning to Woolwich this summer after a spell as the resident battalion in Cyprus.
(iii) Next meeting is hoped to be a 'real' not virtual one with either The Royal Oak or Union Jack Club as the venue, we are planning for sometime in the first 2 weeks in August with a guest speaker.
(iv) Membership now sits in the high 70s which is very positive.
Guest 1 - Lucy, Really good to have her on the call, she stayed for the whole evening and is clearly a very passionate supporter with an excellent recall of games dating back to the early 90's, home and away. She started by outlining her role as the point of contact for individual supporters/groups and the club. Its a two-way range so she is able to take up any suggestions/issues with the ownership whilst, at the same time, seek feedback on proposals/ideas from the club.
The issue of the Welling friendly was discussed, this appears to be a classic learning curve that 'you cant please everyone'. To that end its only fair to say that she is not 'Team Welling' but simply raising concerns that a significant number of supporters had expressed regarding the 'traditional' curtain raiser.
What I felt, was that it is her role to raise issues as and when they arise, not necessarily 'speak on behalf of the entire fan base' every time. Given the diversity and varying views among out support base this would be impossible.
Armed Forces Addicks then raised their concerns regarding a lack of friendly away in the Maldives including subsidised travel?
Sadly 'Operation Dhiffushi beach' looks like its been shelved for another year.
Lucy was asked if the club could consider allowing us as a group assist in the planning/execution of the remembrance commemorations in November and this was welcomed by both parties.
Lucy was very keen to assist strengthening links with the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment on their return to Woolwich. A close relationship would benefit club, community and regiment. By chance they are the only British Regiment who have a non-British Royal as their Colonel in Chief in Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Lucy spoke very well, was extremely erudite and clearly understood what was expected of her from both supporters and ownership. There is a lot of work with regards to fan engagement and sizable EDI projects planned that will make us among the most forward thinking clubs in the country in these matters.
Guest 2 - Steve Brown, probably one of the easiest people to have as a guest, calm, measured, passionate and clearly thoughtful in his answers, suffice to say there were no 'awkward silences'. Steve was extremely happy to take questions from the group and very entertaining in his responses.
We discussed the team work required in the armed forces being a specific strength over an individuals brilliance. In this there were parallels with the Charlton squad, especially in the 1990's. Steve felt that togetherness made us often 'over achieve' and was key to the sides progression and success.
We then discussed 'hostile environments' he had played in, Birmingham and Leeds were at the top of the pile, this led to him pointing out that 'off the pitch', players are extremely shielded from this side to following your team. He has a real memory of Curbs stopping the team coach outside St Andrews and allowing 5-6 Charlton fans on who were being chased by a Birmingham mob. He then asked for our memories of attending games in the 80s/90s and many war stories were swapped. What stood out is that he is now very much a fan, travels up and down the country watching us and sees a different side to following your club that players often don't appreciate.
We moved onto memorable stadiums, as a Liverpool fan growing up, he was somewhat star struck the first time he played at Anfield, he touched the sign in the tunnel and some of the Liverpool players were not happy about it, to which he told them 'listen I might not get the chance to do that again' it was a moment he realised the gulf between clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United and Charlton at the time.
He did agree that these places can be quiet if not going the way of the home side and often Charlton fans would out sing their more famous opponents.
He was most impressed by the old Highbury, it was the Marble Halls, dressing rooms and the tight nature of the ground, the history of the place got to him. The loudest home support he experienced was Newcastle and when they got behind their team it was hard to shout to each other. We then spoke of the Doncaster play off game at the Valley and the atmosphere that night. One of his favourite fixtures is Portsmouth away due to both sets of fans making it a great atmosphere every time we meet.
We then moved on to his playing career, he spoke about the best players he played against, Eric Cantona was mentioned as being 3 steps ahead of him all the time, he pointed out that defending is largely about working out your opponents thought process and decision making. With Cantona this was impossible.
His first real lesson was being 'schooled' by Ray Wilkins, then 41. Brownie couldn't get near him and when his dad drove him home simply commented 'shall we not talk about it?' Brownie nodded and then his dad went onto to go into very detail/error/mistake along the journey, (like Dads do).
He was asked about that Wembley tackle and felt though it would likely to draw a card today, there was no malice and was typical of him and Charlton at the time. They went into the game expecting to win, (given their run of form), when it came to penalties, he recalls they had not been sorted out before hand. Charlton had only 4 volunteers and he was asked by Les Reed if he could take no5. 'I will take one, not number 5 though and remember I have lost my last 2!' Mark Bowen who was down to take the 2nd, swapped with him and the rest is history. Like us in the stands, the walk ups from John Robinson, Keith Jones and Shaun Newton did little to inspire confidence, how wrong we doubters were. Richard Rufus had taken his boots off at the final whistle and was not going to be convinced to put them back on again to take one if the shoot out had continued!
Goalkeeping heroics - Its an urban/internet myth that he never let in a goal, Man City scored against him but we got the draw. The goal keeping started when he would stay on after training as he just loved playing football with some of the other lads and he would go in goal (a real East Street kids attitude that out great club was founded on).
He improved week on week and with only 3 matchday subs, he realised that he if proved himself as a stand in keeper he would always make the bench at the very least on a Saturday. This was something Curbs bought into and the Villa game being the highlight of his career between the sticks. With squads the size they are today this is unlikely to happen very often again. if at all. In a different world he admitted he would quite liked to have been a goalkeeper!
He was asked about being red-carded whilst on a stretcher, he admitted it was a fair card, he brought the guy down as he would have been through on goal and he was more embarrassed that he wasn't injured but had to be carried off and wear a moon-boot/crutch when there was nothing wrong with him. On the Monday he found a spoof letter from Peter Varney regarding a 5k fine for loss of club shop revenue given all the merch catalogues that were thrown on the pitch!
Peter Varney pulled a similar stunt on John Robinson after his Man U equaliser, he pulled his shirt off and had a Nike top on underneath. Peter wrote to say Le Coq Sportif were unhappy and he was fined 10k, Robbo didnt see the joke, blew his top and long after it was obviously fake was still whining about it!
Coaching ambitions, Steve was asked if he had been approached to be part of the Charlton set up and would he consider it. He said he felt his time had come and gone, his best chance of a breakthrough was in the U23 set up at Brighton, sadly a change in management and the desire to bring in their own staff led to him being replaced. He took the Dover job as he needed the money, but in retrospect feels that coaches should specialise in one role, in his case working with the U23's and not necessarily take any coaching job that is offered.
He has applied for and been offered a role at Charlton twice, once under Karol F but that Roland had not been consulted and refused to sign it off, we then discussed the circus the club was under Roland and how hopefully, now, under Thomas, we are a very different animal.
Lastly the future under Thomas and Nigel Adkins, Steve felt if, (and he like us would like to see some movement soon), we strengthen the squad as well as bring on the best of our youngsters we could challenge next season for promotion. He was prepared to show patience if we don't hit the ground running but understands that some supporters are less forgiving. The form since Nigel arrived alongside his positivity around the place points to a good future and one we could only dream of 18 months ago.
Overall he is a cracking guest and I hope we can have him along to a real meeting at some stage in the future, Clive
Comments
Parish Notes -
(i) The Group flag is being progressed in time for the new season, funding was raised in a couple of days. Design looks to be red/white/red with the group logo central and 'Over Land & Sea' below.
The St George Cross/Union Flag were considered but the membership includes supporters from across the Union and further afield so 'club colours' are felt more appropriate.
(ii) We are working with the club to strengthen links with the local regiment, 1/PWRR, who are returning to Woolwich this summer after a spell as the resident battalion in Cyprus.
(iii) Next meeting is hoped to be a 'real' not virtual one with either The Royal Oak or Union Jack Club as the venue, we are planning for sometime in the first 2 weeks in August with a guest speaker.
(iv) Membership now sits in the high 70s which is very positive.
Guest 1 - Lucy,
Really good to have her on the call, she stayed for the whole evening and is clearly a very passionate supporter with an excellent recall of games dating back to the early 90's, home and away. She started by outlining her role as the point of contact for individual supporters/groups and the club. Its a two-way range so she is able to take up any suggestions/issues with the ownership whilst, at the same time, seek feedback on proposals/ideas from the club.
The issue of the Welling friendly was discussed, this appears to be a classic learning curve that 'you cant please everyone'. To that end its only fair to say that she is not 'Team Welling' but simply raising concerns that a significant number of supporters had expressed regarding the 'traditional' curtain raiser.
What I felt, was that it is her role to raise issues as and when they arise, not necessarily 'speak on behalf of the entire fan base' every time. Given the diversity and varying views among out support base this would be impossible.
Armed Forces Addicks then raised their concerns regarding a lack of friendly away in the Maldives including subsidised travel?
Sadly 'Operation Dhiffushi beach' looks like its been shelved for another year.
Lucy was asked if the club could consider allowing us as a group assist in the planning/execution of the remembrance commemorations in November and this was welcomed by both parties.
Lucy was very keen to assist strengthening links with the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment on their return to Woolwich. A close relationship would benefit club, community and regiment. By chance they are the only British Regiment who have a non-British Royal as their Colonel in Chief in Queen Margrethe II of Denmark.
Lucy spoke very well, was extremely erudite and clearly understood what was expected of her from both supporters and ownership. There is a lot of work with regards to fan engagement and sizable EDI projects planned that will make us among the most forward thinking clubs in the country in these matters.
Guest 2 - Steve Brown, probably one of the easiest people to have as a guest, calm, measured, passionate and clearly thoughtful in his answers, suffice to say there were no 'awkward silences'. Steve was extremely happy to take questions from the group and very entertaining in his responses.
We discussed the team work required in the armed forces being a specific strength over an individuals brilliance. In this there were parallels with the Charlton squad, especially in the 1990's. Steve felt that togetherness made us often 'over achieve' and was key to the sides progression and success.
We then discussed 'hostile environments' he had played in, Birmingham and Leeds were at the top of the pile, this led to him pointing out that 'off the pitch', players are extremely shielded from this side to following your team. He has a real memory of Curbs stopping the team coach outside St Andrews and allowing 5-6 Charlton fans on who were being chased by a Birmingham mob. He then asked for our memories of attending games in the 80s/90s and many war stories were swapped. What stood out is that he is now very much a fan, travels up and down the country watching us and sees a different side to following your club that players often don't appreciate.
We moved onto memorable stadiums, as a Liverpool fan growing up, he was somewhat star struck the first time he played at Anfield, he touched the sign in the tunnel and some of the Liverpool players were not happy about it, to which he told them 'listen I might not get the chance to do that again' it was a moment he realised the gulf between clubs like Liverpool, Manchester United and Charlton at the time.
He did agree that these places can be quiet if not going the way of the home side and often Charlton fans would out sing their more famous opponents.
He was most impressed by the old Highbury, it was the Marble Halls, dressing rooms and the tight nature of the ground, the history of the place got to him. The loudest home support he experienced was Newcastle and when they got behind their team it was hard to shout to each other. We then spoke of the Doncaster play off game at the Valley and the atmosphere that night. One of his favourite fixtures is Portsmouth away due to both sets of fans making it a great atmosphere every time we meet.
We then moved on to his playing career, he spoke about the best players he played against, Eric Cantona was mentioned as being 3 steps ahead of him all the time, he pointed out that defending is largely about working out your opponents thought process and decision making. With Cantona this was impossible.
His first real lesson was being 'schooled' by Ray Wilkins, then 41. Brownie couldn't get near him and when his dad drove him home simply commented 'shall we not talk about it?' Brownie nodded and then his dad went onto to go into very detail/error/mistake along the journey, (like Dads do).
He was asked about that Wembley tackle and felt though it would likely to draw a card today, there was no malice and was typical of him and Charlton at the time. They went into the game expecting to win, (given their run of form), when it came to penalties, he recalls they had not been sorted out before hand. Charlton had only 4 volunteers and he was asked by Les Reed if he could take no5. 'I will take one, not number 5 though and remember I have lost my last 2!' Mark Bowen who was down to take the 2nd, swapped with him and the rest is history.
Like us in the stands, the walk ups from John Robinson, Keith Jones and Shaun Newton did little to inspire confidence, how wrong we doubters were. Richard Rufus had taken his boots off at the final whistle and was not going to be convinced to put them back on again to take one if the shoot out had continued!
Goalkeeping heroics - Its an urban/internet myth that he never let in a goal, Man City scored against him but we got the draw. The goal keeping started when he would stay on after training as he just loved playing football with some of the other lads and he would go in goal (a real East Street kids attitude that out great club was founded on).
He improved week on week and with only 3 matchday subs, he realised that he if proved himself as a stand in keeper he would always make the bench at the very least on a Saturday. This was something Curbs bought into and the Villa game being the highlight of his career between the sticks. With squads the size they are today this is unlikely to happen very often again. if at all.
In a different world he admitted he would quite liked to have been a goalkeeper!
He was asked about being red-carded whilst on a stretcher, he admitted it was a fair card, he brought the guy down as he would have been through on goal and he was more embarrassed that he wasn't injured but had to be carried off and wear a moon-boot/crutch when there was nothing wrong with him. On the Monday he found a spoof letter from Peter Varney regarding a 5k fine for loss of club shop revenue given all the merch catalogues that were thrown on the pitch!
Peter Varney pulled a similar stunt on John Robinson after his Man U equaliser, he pulled his shirt off and had a Nike top on underneath. Peter wrote to say Le Coq Sportif were unhappy and he was fined 10k, Robbo didnt see the joke, blew his top and long after it was obviously fake was still whining about it!
Coaching ambitions, Steve was asked if he had been approached to be part of the Charlton set up and would he consider it. He said he felt his time had come and gone, his best chance of a breakthrough was in the U23 set up at Brighton, sadly a change in management and the desire to bring in their own staff led to him being replaced. He took the Dover job as he needed the money, but in retrospect feels that coaches should specialise in one role, in his case working with the U23's and not necessarily take any coaching job that is offered.
He has applied for and been offered a role at Charlton twice, once under Karol F but that Roland had not been consulted and refused to sign it off, we then discussed the circus the club was under Roland and how hopefully, now, under Thomas, we are a very different animal.
Lastly the future under Thomas and Nigel Adkins, Steve felt if, (and he like us would like to see some movement soon), we strengthen the squad as well as bring on the best of our youngsters we could challenge next season for promotion. He was prepared to show patience if we don't hit the ground running but understands that some supporters are less forgiving. The form since Nigel arrived alongside his positivity around the place points to a good future and one we could only dream of 18 months ago.
Overall he is a cracking guest and I hope we can have him along to a real meeting at some stage in the future, Clive
Really fascinating stuff