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. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Great post, sums up my feelings perfectly.
Got my first copy on the train to Norwood Junction on the way to Smellhurst and remembering reading it and thinking that maybe, just maybe there may be a chink of light at the end of a bloody long tunnel.
Huge thanks to @airmanbrown and his dedicated team over the years, we owe them a debt we can never repay.
Bloody post strike. Would normally be expecting mine to arrive today. Still, something to look forward to for in the week when we’ve recovered from stuffing Oxford!
Bloody post strike. Would normally be expecting mine to arrive today. Still, something to look forward to for in the week when we’ve recovered from stuffing Oxford!
Airman Brown …Thank you for adding on the article about Colin Cameron on the VOTV web site . Once again thanks for what you and your team have done. Its going to be missed.
I've got the early editions on a shelf at home. My Dad was working in Hong Kong and it was the only publication that he had delivered to him from the UK every month. Back in the pre-internet days, it was his only way to stay connected to the club and it meant a lot to him to be able to stay in touch with the fight for the Valley and to read the excellent match reports.
I started reading it in the mid-90s and will miss it. Want to pass on my thanks to all the contributors over the years. Added real value to a lot of people's life and I can't pay it higher respect than that.
Haven't read it all yet but this small line made me smile: 'it will have seemed to many associated with Charlton that Parkes had been around forever, but of course he hadn't. That's Peter Burrowes'
@Airman Brown my copy arrived this morning. Looks like it'll be a great read! Sadly there is damage on the bottom left corner of pretty much every page. Looks like it got wet in the post as the envelope wasn't sealed properly.
Thought I'd let you know incase any others have the same issue.
@Airman Brown my copy arrived this morning. Looks like it'll be a great read! Sadly there is damage on the bottom left corner of pretty much every page. Looks like it got wet in the post as the envelope wasn't sealed properly.
Thought I'd let you know incase any others have the same issue.
@Airman Brown my copy arrived this morning. Looks like it'll be a great read! Sadly there is damage on the bottom left corner of pretty much every page. Looks like it got wet in the post as the envelope wasn't sealed properly.
Thought I'd let you know incase any others have the same issue.
Can you confirm it wasn’t Airman’s tears as he hand-licked each envelope?
edit: mine was fine and arrived Monday edit2: is hand-lick an actual thing?
@Airman Brown my copy arrived this morning. Looks like it'll be a great read! Sadly there is damage on the bottom left corner of pretty much every page. Looks like it got wet in the post as the envelope wasn't sealed properly.
Thought I'd let you know incase any others have the same issue.
Can you confirm it wasn’t Airman’s tears as he hand-licked each envelope?
edit: mine was fine and arrived Monday edit2: is hand-lick an actual thing?
Or is this issue of moistness perhaps linked in some strange way to the special relationship that @fanny fanackapan has with her postman? If so I'll be intercepting my copy at the sorting office before Mrs Kips gets involved.
Comments
Wonder when my copy will arrive ?
Got my first copy on the train to Norwood Junction on the way to Smellhurst and remembering reading it and thinking that maybe, just maybe there may be a chink of light at the end of a bloody long tunnel.
Huge thanks to @airmanbrown and his dedicated team over the years, we owe them a debt we can never repay.
Its going to be missed.
I started reading it in the mid-90s and will miss it. Want to pass on my thanks to all the contributors over the years. Added real value to a lot of people's life and I can't pay it higher respect than that.
Really made me laugh out loud
A good read as ever.
But I do have a special relationship with our postie
Thought I'd let you know incase any others have the same issue.
edit: mine was fine and arrived Monday
edit2: is hand-lick an actual thing?