Charlton on the Internet - 20 Years On

The clubcall days don't seem that long ago. I wonder how much collective money we all wasted on that telephone number?

charente addick said:

The clubcall days don't seem that long ago. I wonder how much collective money we all wasted on that telephone number?

None. Used to call from work and they didn't have itemised billing.

Interesting article. I found the paragraph below fascinating.


In any case, the world has moved on. The Charlton Life message board, launched in 2006, has arguably become a more important site than the club’s own, since it acts as an efficient clearing house for much more than the narrow official perspective on the club’s affairs, while many find social media a more convenient way to keep in touch. The official site can also be slow to report developments because of other pressures inside the club and the need to be authoritative. A variety of bloggers add another dimension.

Thought I'd Google Addicks Online and it returned with this site;

http://www.addicksonline.co.uk

Odd - I don't think I've ever seen the use of the word "Addick" in any other context before ?

Slightly depressing that I've been posting my opinionated shite 'contributing to the online Charlton cause' for nearly 20 years now...

razil said:

One thing missing is that it all brought fans, new and old together, albeit those who used the web, you could argue it helped rebuild our fanbase. Met quite a few peeps via the PO list some have become long term friends.

Fair comment, although I really intended to write an article about the anniversary and history of the official site and mention other developments to put it in context, rather than explore the value of the other elements.

I don't think, however, there was a critical mass of fans online before 1998, so I'd have to say that promotion was easily the decisive event in rebuilding support. That was underpinned by the work done from 1994, which wasn't really affected by the internet.

Airman Brown said:

razil said:

One thing missing is that it all brought fans, new and old together, albeit those who used the web, you could argue it helped rebuild our fanbase. Met quite a few peeps via the PO list some have become long term friends.

Fair comment, although I really intended to write an article about the anniversary and history of the official site and mention other developments to put it in context, rather than explore the value of the other elements.

I don't think, however, there was a critical mass of fans online before 1998, so I'd have to say that promotion was easily the decisive event in rebuilding support. That was underpinned by the work done from 1994, which wasn't really affected by the internet.

So am guessing the numbers were in the hundreds until the cl era? (Wasnt meant as a criticism by the way)

razil said:

Airman Brown said:

razil said:

One thing missing is that it all brought fans, new and old together, albeit those who used the web, you could argue it helped rebuild our fanbase. Met quite a few peeps via the PO list some have become long term friends.

Fair comment, although I really intended to write an article about the anniversary and history of the official site and mention other developments to put it in context, rather than explore the value of the other elements.

I don't think, however, there was a critical mass of fans online before 1998, so I'd have to say that promotion was easily the decisive event in rebuilding support. That was underpinned by the work done from 1994, which wasn't really affected by the internet.

So am guessing the numbers were in the hundreds until the cl era? (Wasnt meant as a criticism by the way)

Assume you mean the PL era (!) - I no longer have any stats, but I found the figure of 2,000 visitors a week in an autumn 1997 article. It's not entirely clear if they were unique or simply the number of visits, but I assume the former. That's a minor fraction of the average crowd, whereas the traffic today would be a significant multiple of the crowd.

There's no way the website was significant in the work done to build up gates through Target 10,000, which was mostly 1994-1997. There might be more of an argument that by 2001 it was a valuable resource in selling the new north stand seats, although there was significant unmet demand prior to that.

I certainly agree the internet as a whole has transformed relationships between fans, and between fans and the club, but probably most of that was post the big expansion in support, rather than a factor in it. What it has been very good at, in my view, is reinforcing existing bonds.

razil said:

How about the mailing lists and then forums? From the beginning?

I'm fairly confident that Glynne Jones' (in fact it was originally attributed to CASC, but it was always Glynne's baby) mailing list began in early 1996, both from recollection and based on an article that was published in the spring of that year. That would have had maybe 400 members, but he would know better than me.

There was nothing that predated (what became) the official site to my knowledge - I believe Netaddicks existed by the late 90s because I remember we linked the OS to it, but I doubt if it existed before 1997.

The_President said:

very good read - i wonder what they will be saying in 20 years time?

"We should sign Hayden Mullins, Darren Purse, Julian Gray...."