Jorge Costa RIP

Jorge Costa as a signing was the one that really fired my imagination and love for Charlton as a kid. I was 11 when he signed, had witnessed one promotion to the Premier League and one relegation and was used to Charlton having mostly British players who they signed for cheap. Charlton had a ceiling and you just had to watch the teams above throw more money around than we could get near. We were struggling along, 3 wins in 14 games and then this absolutely ridiculous transfer happened. Porto's captain, Champions League player. the kind of colossus we apparently shouldn't ever have been able to get near, but we took advantage of a falling out with his manager to get him for 6 months before he went back home and won the Champions League two seasons later. To 11 year old me this was like something out of a movie script, a struggling workmanlike team gets in a superstar who is far too good for that side but falls in love with them anyway and helps them secure another season in the top flight. I still look back on it as something I'd engineer in Championship Manager as a kid and it gave me a real unshakeable belief that Charlton were special, even if they weren't very good and even if people who didn't follow them couldn't see it. I honestly think that ever since then I've believed even with all the evidence pointing against it that Charlton can pull something out and succeed even with everything against them. That feeling and that certainty that period gave me as a kid has probably pulled me through all the miserable Duchatelet, Southall, injunction misery we've had to deal with for more than half the time I've spent supporting the club. You need those sorts of moments as a child to cement your love for your club, especially when it's a tiny one that no-one else you know supports and I think that was my one.

Thanks Jorge.