Very sad to see this, been too busy to open the envelope so far today. Big thanks to all the contributors over the years but mainly of course to Airman for his huge contribution & breaking many stories re the bullshit that has been so much a part of our club for so long. Never forget the printing of Varneys emails & some idiots still believing Pinocchio's lies that "Reg" was only coming out with all this to get himself a pay rise.
Thanks Airman, I wonder where we would have been without VOTV ?
Sorry to see it go. It's been the best source of balanced news and largely accurate gossip on the club in my lifetime. However, I am sure Rick will continue to speak up and speak out on all things Charlton and he says we can look forward to "one-off publications." Anyone for a Christmas edition of Battle for Charlton Athletic?
I've still got the first +/- 15 years of VOTV. I also have some of the other old great fanzines from the early nineties like The City Gent (Bradford), Brian Moore's Head Looks Uncannily like the London Planetarium (Gillingham). I used to go to Sportspages every week and buy a couple.
VOTV is a piece of not only Charlton, but football, history. It's sad to hear of its end.
Great read and wonderful to read all those interviews with some greats and read the fans view section that went in recent years. Great stuff always bought it when i saw it available and did have a subscription a few times.
We owe Rick a great deal. Top man. A genuine Charlton legend.
I'm not one to moan but I've just paid £22 by PayPal for this year’s subscription. Will I get a refund You can donate what you owe me to the Upbeats @Airman Brown
Sad news, given VoTV's unremitting quality over the decades, but I totally understand Airman's need to carve out some time for other commitments and future projects. As Charlton supporters, we owe him a huge debt of gratitude for his insight, tenacity and leadership over many turbulent years.
A big thank you also to the many excellent regular contributors and to the others who have stood outside The Valley - and Selhurst and Upton Park - in the rain and cold over the years to ensure that we got our monthly read.
Good to see that the VoTV website will remain active with new content and that Airman has future publications in mind.
As someone who's been buying it since I started to attend games regularly in 89/90 when my own football career stumbled to a halt, and in more recent years as a subscriber, I'll be sad to see it go, but also understand why - thanks Airman for the Stella service over many years - I just hope there's a mention of Tuggy from the club shop one last time
Always hard to stay relevant in print when everything is now instantaneously available online, but what a service this fine fanzine provided us through the years.
There are so many wonderful things to celebrate about VOTV, but what it means to me is this:
In 1985, I lived in Surbiton, but my parents were still in Eltham, and my Dad and I had got into going together to Charlton games again. It was a quietly special feeling, and it brought me home. And then we got that piece of paper, and it was all ripped apart again. .
In 1988 I was going to Selhurst to watch this thing that was still called Charlton but it wasnt anything to do with Charlton, SE7. It was an easy drive but my Dad and his mates came from a different direction, and we chose the most convenient stands at that dump for our separate journeys. Really, as I walked glumly through those alien streets to the supermarket, I asked myself what this place has to do with me. And then, outside the Sainsbury end, someone stuffed a piece of paper into my hand. It was called Voice of the Valley. And as I read it it slowly dawned on me that I wasnt alone. There were 5,000 people here who felt just like I did. I located and got to know Rick and Steve, and where the action was. The action that would lead us out of this nightmare, and home.
And everything that makes us proud as Charlton fans today stems from that scruffy piece of paper. A bunch of alienated individuals realised they were actually all members of a lost, exiled tribe. The tribe took its football club back home, helped build it up to heights we scarcely dreamed of, and defended it fiercely even as our dreams fell apart. The legacy of VOTV is a fanbase that, when the chips are down, knows that whatever else in our own lives is going on, we are all Charlton.
What a monumental, timeless legacy that is. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Went downhill after the 5th Column went obviously but Echos across the Valley is and was always essential reading and some great campaigning articles during the protest eras.
My Only Desire is good but not a news and gossip fanzine, which are the bits of VOTV I enjoyed most, more, unlikely as it might seem, than the historical articles which came to fill many of the pages in recent years.
Hmmmm,
Went downhill after The Lone Gunman's Bullet Points went obviously but Echos across the Valley is and was always essential reading and some great campaigning articles during the protest eras. Henry Irving always suspected that Bullet Points had 'plagiarised' the format of the 5th Column - we couldn't possibly comment !
What is true is that both owed everything of course to VOTV and over two spells (with that big gap inbetween) it was a joy to write for.
Rick is up there with the people who have made a real impact at our club. We are lucky to have had a publication that has not only ran effective campaigns but also held high principles in journalism.
You might not agree with him but when it comes to Charlton he is usually right (which is very annoying as his mate I can assure you) and as supporters we owe him a debt of gratitude.
Well done Rick, you created change, had a positive impact and stuck by your principles.
It's not so much a fanzine as true journalism, reliably informative, superbly written with great clarity, well laid out and always soundly edited, with every page produced to the same rigorous and consistent standard.
I think the very first magazine was the one which got me hooked. Charlton's worst ever team: Hewie; Hewie, Hewie; Hewie, Hewie, Hewie and Hewie, Hewie, Hewie, Hewie and Hewie.
Very best wishes to Rick and his family, and all contributors. Let's hope there is something exceptional being planned.
Besides VoTV my favourite fanzines were From Behind Your Fences and Light At The End Of The Tunnel. In ragged memory they lurk as phantoms alongside many kindred publications as well as such glorious ephemera as inflatables. And while we still have our villains nowadays, who can forget the punishment routinely dished out to Rick's long-running targets Andy Bryant, Arnie Warren and Chris Tugwell. I hope that someday a worthy author will step forward to recreate that far distant world.
My 86yr old father texted me with news that VOTV was closing yesterday, my father first game was Sept 1st, 1945, we were both gutted that it is to be no more. We would always talk about what we had read when a new VOTV arrived his in Somerset and mine in Tooting. Without doubt VOTV has been the best football fanzine bar none in English football. I remember regularly going to Sportspages in Charing X road, back in the day and feeling proud that Charlton had the best fanzine bar none. VOTV was the lighthouse which shone a light in the dark days of Selhurst and has a special place in Charlton's history for campaigning to bring Charlton home and seeing off the crooks and chancers who have plagued our club. I trust that Rick / airman will come out of his retirement home if it all goes tits up with Thomas or if anyone dares try to move Charlton away from the Valley. Thank You Rick and all the best with working on your book and please keep posting on VOTV twitter and Charlton Life, your flying miles aren't over Airman just yet as you clearly have your ear to the ground with whats really going on with our club.
Comments
Iconic part of our history now.
Thanks Airman and best wishes in future endeavours.
Thanks Airman, I wonder where we would have been without VOTV ?
I also have some of the other old great fanzines from the early nineties like The City Gent (Bradford), Brian Moore's Head Looks Uncannily like the London Planetarium (Gillingham). I used to go to Sportspages every week and buy a couple.
VOTV is a piece of not only Charlton, but football, history. It's sad to hear of its end.
We owe Rick a great deal. Top man. A genuine Charlton legend.
The personal service of posting out to subscribers always went above and beyond - did I want it delivered to Glasgow or the Mull of Kintyre?
Huge thanks from me for all the time, effort, wry smiles and gossip - and support of CAST - over the years.
A big thank you also to the many excellent regular contributors and to the others who have stood outside The Valley - and Selhurst and Upton Park - in the rain and cold over the years to ensure that we got our monthly read.
Good to see that the VoTV website will remain active with new content and that Airman has future publications in mind.
Would we have ever known about Jonathan Ackworth if it weren’t for VOTV? Would we have ever known about Steve Portway if it weren’t for VOTV???!!!
It leaves a great legacy.
There are so many wonderful things to celebrate about VOTV, but what it means to me is this:
In 1985, I lived in Surbiton, but my parents were still in Eltham, and my Dad and I had got into going together to Charlton games again. It was a quietly special feeling, and it brought me home. And then we got that piece of paper, and it was all ripped apart again. .
Went downhill after The Lone Gunman's Bullet Points went obviously but Echos across the Valley is and was always essential reading and some great campaigning articles during the protest eras.
Henry Irving always suspected that Bullet Points had 'plagiarised' the format of the 5th Column - we couldn't possibly comment !
What is true is that both owed everything of course to VOTV and over two spells (with that big gap inbetween) it was a joy to write for.
Thank you Rick.
You might not agree with him but when it comes to Charlton he is usually right (which is very annoying as his mate I can assure you) and as supporters we owe him a debt of gratitude.
It's not so much a fanzine as true journalism, reliably informative, superbly written with great clarity, well laid out and always soundly edited, with every page produced to the same rigorous and consistent standard.
I think the very first magazine was the one which got me hooked. Charlton's worst ever team: Hewie; Hewie, Hewie; Hewie, Hewie, Hewie and Hewie, Hewie, Hewie, Hewie and Hewie.
Very best wishes to Rick and his family, and all contributors. Let's hope there is something exceptional being planned.
Besides VoTV my favourite fanzines were From Behind Your Fences and Light At The End Of The Tunnel. In ragged memory they lurk as phantoms alongside many kindred publications as well as such glorious ephemera as inflatables. And while we still have our villains nowadays, who can forget the punishment routinely dished out to Rick's long-running targets Andy Bryant, Arnie Warren and Chris Tugwell. I hope that someday a worthy author will step forward to recreate that far distant world.
VOTV was the lighthouse which shone a light in the dark days of Selhurst and has a special place in Charlton's history for campaigning to bring Charlton home and seeing off the crooks and chancers who have plagued our club. I trust that Rick / airman will come out of his retirement home if it all goes tits up with Thomas or if anyone dares try to move Charlton away from the Valley. Thank You Rick and all the best with working on your book and please keep posting on VOTV twitter and Charlton Life, your flying miles aren't over Airman just yet as you clearly have your ear to the ground with whats really going on with our club.
You will be missed. Sadly.
That you published some of my occasional rubbish always astounded, but appreciated.