Was thinking long and hard about this last night after watching us once again haplessly limp out of yet another competition.
Charlton have played such a dominating part of my life for the last twenty years that it is almost a religion. In that time i’ve missed only a handful of home games, have always until this season done a minimum double figure amount of away games, attend every Q+A i possibly can, and leave and breathe it 24/7 through this site.
It goes beyond a love of football, it’s become a way of life. I know there are many others that fall into the same category.
Why has it become such an ingrained, dominating part of my life ? Simple to answer really, because i’ve enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed watching the club and its fan base grow from a small but incredibly balanced, determined and proud group, i’ve enjoyed the battling way for years we seemed to have players collectively performing at or beyond their maximum level, i’ve enjoyed the collective strength the support base appeared to hold and its close, respected relationship with the club. And most importantly of all, i’ve enjoyed the laughs, friendships and family i’ve gained along the journey.
But i’ve stopped enjoying it.
It’s vastly becoming a loved one with a drug addiction, it brings you little pleasure yet it is a tie you find impossible to break.
Live TV games are being tuned into not with any form of excitement or anticipation, but with the lethargy that the impending inevitability will once again deliver disappointment. Attending matches no longer carries the air of hope that a victory or a good, attacking game will unfold, but are now purely for the basis of seeing friends for a couple of hours who i would not see so frequently otherwise. Wins bring no great cheer, while the frequency of defeats, or disappointing under-performances, no longer shoulder belief-sapping disappointment or anger, but weariness and meek acceptance.
Its not about the level of football. In fact, it’s never really been about the football at all.
Perversely, I’m more aligned to grassroots football than Premiership offerings and while i’ll happily watch a game at County level, on Monday i choose to watch a documentary on the Savoy Hotel rather than the battle between the Premiership big guns.
It is the over-riding nothingness our club has become that has sapped me, the predictability of never-ending disappointments that continue to turn the screw. One step forward, two steps back. And so on, and so on....
For five years and in three separate divisions we have remained stuck in a frustrating spiral of not being footballing enough to outplay opposition, nor being tough enough physically or mentally to outbattle either. We are not one thing nor the other, a frustrating hybrid of the two. And we continue to show no clear signs that either will emerge. Occasional encouraging performances, or signs or team unity, show fleeting glimpses offering hope. But before you know it, we’ll once again roll a three, land on the snake’s head and quickly sliver all the way back to the beginning.
Off the pitch, all the things i used to hold dear surrounding the club seem to have unravelled at a rate to match the on field decline. Whether it’s the expectations of the fans we attracted during the Premiership years, or the despair and weariness of the long-standing brigade, we’re no longer the supportive, co-ordinated and respected group we once were. Old-timers appear fatigued by the latest downturn in fortune, while the youngsters creeping through seem more interested in throwing coins and bog roll at fellow fans, beer bottles at our own goalkeeper, and singing that our manager is a c***. Our song repertoire is basic, and sung at break-neck speed, and the over-riding humour and friendship that always existed in the stands seems to have been replaced fully by vein-popping anger-fuelled abuse in the Covered End, and silence in the other stands.
Through its various facets, the soul, heart and bo**ocks of our club seems to be ever diminishing. The unexplainable tie to it seems to be loosening, and in my case i’m really not sure that if it breaks i’ll ever get it back again. Whether a new owner, a new manager or a promotion will lead to anything more than a temporary re-invigoration, i honestly don’t know.
Am i over-dramatising ? Are these purely the reactive, weary ramblings of a father of five-month twins at the point of permanent near exhaustion and failing to summon the energy for barely anything in the aftermath of another cup exit ?
Or is the
‘Charlton malaise’ being felt on a much wider level ?
You tell me.....
Comments
I found time was at a premium and wasting a minute of it on the shower of shit at the Valley was just not an option.
This is a thoughtful, mature read; heartbreaking in its scope. We all feel it, but you express it well. I think you will get over the malaise - it must have been like this in the eighties when the ground was gone. In a way it is up to you to be a role model to those younger fans in the way that senior fans must have been to you twenty years ago.
A site like this, therefore, is important because it will be read by those fans and all of us throughout the world wherever we are. And therefore you are similarly important.
In my humble opinion, Charlton Athletic represents the soul of football - I don't know why though. But it is an intelligent and humble club in the best sense of that word. Its fans are second to none and always respected.
We will come back and we will have learnt from it, unlike the plastic, yada yadda fans of the bigger clubs who never learn anything.
You are not over dramatising at all. We will come back one day but until trhen we have to bear the brunt of it and support the running of this great South London club!
Whereas most Addicks used to have similar views & opinions, we are now divided and pulling in different directions.
We have been papering over the cracks for around 5 years now - hopefully this takeover will provide a more solid foundation for us to rise again. However, the game has changed so much since our last promotions in the mid/late 90s...I fear we'll never have players like Kinsella, Robinson, Mendonca, Rufus etc, who gave their all to the club and actually looked like they cared.
I don't believe it's just Charlton though...that's the game now, too much cash in average players pockets with the wrong attitude to life & the game we love.
The arrival of children is a big upheaval in your life and priorities change meaning that attendance at Charlton games slips down the pecking order. For me it largely coincided with our years of exile but once they were old enough I took them with me and they seemed to enjoy it. It may be that the reason they enjoyed it was that we were relatively successful. The older two still come occasionally but have lost interest as we've declined. The youngest sticks with it but then she has always had the most interest in football and sport generally.
Speaking purely as a father I'm not sure whether I would take my daughters to The Valley now at the ages of six or so given the deteriorating standards of behaviour steadily creeping in. If I did decide to I would sit in the West but then cost becomes a possible issue.
I wonder whether the declining standards at Charlton are symptomatic of declining standards in society as a whole. Like you the level of football doesn't especially bother me, given that for most of my time it has been division 2 interspersed with a bit of division 3 but I don't particularly enjoy abuse being hurled at the team we are supposed to be supporting and I am in a similar place to you for different reasons. I'm not enjoying the atmosphere at matches although I'm lucky with those in my immediate vicinity and it is nice to bump into lifers I've met. This Tottenham ticket thing though has acted as a catalyst to make me seriously consider whether I want to commit to attendance in the future when the atmosphere is becoming increasingly unpleasant.
All that said the probability is that we will both be back next season season tickets renewed.
We have been part of the bedrock along with others who post on here,
we were young brave and fearless but never fell into the hoolie trap but witnessed and got out of situations which came with the territory of being a fan of a small club.
we had no home no real identity the identity we had was we were Charlton
We owned Charlton then thats why we loved it,
it was ours we were the butt of many a big clubs joke but we didnt give a shit.
I had hopes that my son would be part of it would re live what i did meet people like i met and build firm freindships along the way.
For me that was my addiction
1998 came and the Play off final i honestly thought that this would make my football love complete.
It did but like a drug addiction it ruined it also,
i fell out of Love the 2nd season we stayed up, things started to change people were un satisfied the moaning crept in the people wernt the same, the 2nd tier was on the nth and we lost our identity we were not a band of brothers anymore.
Then i have watched it decline not just the football, but the enjoyment, a win doesnt feel as good, ( bar the wins aginst the stripey scum bar that piss up we had against them when spring scored)
i have not had the joy.
I posted it a while back you likend it to Gwynetth but your there now your point has been reached,
i love Whitewbbs u10's and 15's more than Charlton and thats a fact.
I couldnt give 2 shits last night, and i think my posts prove that,
the only thing that gets my titts up now with us is being told by people how i should feel and what i should say.
Footballs about opinions and i would rather hear and respect others opinions whilst at the same time say mine not to impose them not to say that someone is wrong but to voice my opinion
i have been ribbed for not going by people i really respect and value opinion of
and then told when i do go back because i missed it i get told that i shouldnt go if it makes you post like that.
the sad thing is i can see Charlton becoming a small part of who i am and not the massive part of who i was.
real shame but the big time popped it for me
Was there an overreaction to last night? Yes. What are Southampton fans saying after they lost 2-0 at home to Brentford on Saturday? They've got Nigel Adkins as manager, rated as possibly the best manager in this league and better than many in the league above. They've spent a few million on players since their takeover (Pardew admittedly, but he didn't waste the money anything like he did here). Brentford aren't a tiny bottom 5 club hoping to scrape 20th place. They were the other form team before this weekend along with ourselves.
We kept a clean sheet and a young player had a decent debut. Poor going forward but as I've said elsewhere, playing 4-4-2 again will improve things. Abbott lacked support, Reid got crosses in but players weren't getting on the end of them or he didn't get them quite right. We've scored in most games this season, why won't we on Saturday? We're always better with Dailly in the team.
There seems to be this idea that once the takeover goes through, Parky will leave, a new manager will be put in charge and we'll win games comfortably. This league doesn't work like that. Lower you go the closer the gap is between the top and the bottom sides. Will be different if we have a few million to spend in January, but even then that won't guarantee anything.
We're unlikely to find this manager that ticks all the boxes. I suppose I'm just wary of getting rid of Parky just because we can and bringing in another Pardew or Dowie says all the right things, but lets the wrong players go and brings in players that aren't right for the club and/or up to the standard we need.
Perhaps if the takeover does go through and there's decent money being invested, we should get a new manager in to freshen things up. As I've said before I'm against a change for the sake of it. There are plenty of managers out there that will say the right things but won't be able to pull it off. Last thing we need is another poor managerial appointment. If there is money though, it could mean we're able to afford someone proven at this level. Who would we want, someone like Sean O'Driscoll from Doncaster? Southampton and Leeds both took managers from smaller Championship sides. They play the sort of football that could give us something to be really positive about.
Under Parky, soon as we stop winning games, just one or two poor results, there's a feeling that it's all about to go wrong and huge pressure to win the next game and ideally play well. You can feel it at home games, the nervous atmosphere, the negativity soon as the first mistake is made. Parky won't change opinions of several fans until we win promotion, and for some until we're as a minimum comfortably in mid table in the Championship. Anything less and there will always be a negative feeling with him in charge unfortunately.
Not sure how much of this is relevant to what AFKA was asking, but it's what I've been thinking about since the match last night.
You met, you fell in love, you peaked and now there are some rough times and Charlton's not looking so hot anymore. Neither are you mate (!) but it no longer has to be about hot Premier League action. If you are fairly secure and can afford to go out and have a laugh and a drink with your mates then it ain't so bad.
Get some rest, don't tie Charlton's fortunes in with your own so much and count your blessings mate.
But i do feel more and more fans are reaching the breaking point.
When i found myself standing there losing 0-4 to the mighty Bhafc for the first time in a while i had to question how much more i could hack.
For me, its not the results, the relegations, the stick from scummer no mark fans.
Its the peformances. I would admit i don't like Parky and despite that i will stick by him and the team but its the way we sometimes don't attack teams, and just absorb pressure that gets my back up.
I agree entirely. I have had a season ticket for 24 years since I was a Junior Red. But I too can see a day fast approaching where I just say "enough" and maybe (at best) just buy the odd ticket here and there.
I did this a few years ago with England. I used to go to a lot of England games and watch every one live on TV (glued to the TV set). Slowly the passion and pride was driven out of the England football team and I got tired of watching the same old uninspiring crap game after game / competition after competition. I don't even watch the highlights of England anymore and I don't miss it at all actually to my surprise.
As you say, it's not about winning with Charlton (or England for that matter) and it never was really.
But it is getting boring going to The Valley nowadays, there's no spirit about our club anymore (from top to bottom).
I don't think I have one as such where i would not go anymore, but the humiliation I experience after each defeat at this level with some of my non Charlton supporting friends is tough to take each time, but you get over it. I must admit though Brentford away (League) this season I decided to leave before the final whistle as I had had enough after 60 minutes of watching that, I have never really done that in my best part of 30 years of watching CAFC. Was still back the following week. The only way they will get rid of me is if they Ban me.
Personally I'm a bit further down the track , at second or even third base. I'll never stop supporting them, which is when you reach last base. But I don't have a season ticket any more. That's partly because I like going with my two adult sons and they can't go every week. But it's just as much because the enjoyment levels have declined dramamtically when we do go and I don't want the kind of obligation to attend that goes with a S/T any more.
Will be there with my sons on Boxing Day. But until a couple of years ago, we would probably have been going to Brighton and Colchester as well over the holiday period. Now one out of three games seems quite enough.
Will my attitude change? Not sure. Even if we go storming up the divisions under new owners and a new manager, habits tend to form and I'm probably now set in a pattern of attending 12-14 matches a season and being quite satisfied by that.
I'm not sure your bad mood is anything to do with the kids, I've got two small children myself and I know that, if the team was flying and the Valley was a happier place, I'd be just as in to it as I was when I was 21. As it is, even though I'm not enjoying it much, I'm still going to as many games as I can.
Regarding a breaking point, I'm not sure I have one-going to Charlton is a good chance to meet up with pals (which I don't get the chance to do that often any more) and if I was going to break, I think I would have done by now. Also, as I said to my mate last night, we've now had four years of despair, surely there's some good times around the corner. Surely.
I got married at Charlton.
I shall be Charlton till I die no matter what happens and I will not be swayed by the weak talk of others.
Now is not the time for timidity, we need to be strong and face our fate like men and stand firm in the face of our misfortune.
What are you going to tell your children,that we went through a bad patch so I just gave up supporting Charlton.
Snap out of it.
COME ON YOU REDS.
Good luck to you...................................................................................................................................crazy person ;-)
We had achieved what we for years had strived to achieved.
The days where I could take two children on the coach to Grimsby for the same price I could put my ar5e on a seat at Stamford bridge were gone, the team of Bolder, Nelson, Brown and Robinson were replaced by the likes of Romadahl.
Charlton in my eyes, were always a team of one hundred percenters they would compete by running their nuts of for that Red Shirt. That disappeared and was replaced by more skillful, but less appealing players that from where I sat were appearing quite happy to draw the pay for little or no return.
So we were eventually relegated, was I pleased? not really. I thought it would be difficult to survive without the cash available from sky in the top division, I wasnt too unhappy when dowie and pardew and then Les Reed were given the managers job.
I trusted in Mr Murray, I still do.
Sure he's made mistakes but from where I'm standing we are still in his debt, he amongst others turned this ragged arsed football club into one of the premierships greatest stories bar none.
So we returned to divison 3 with a fantastic stadium and visiting teams turn up thinking I'm playing against the big boys today, unfortunately Charlton has a team of players who think they have arrived at the premiership club Charlton Athletic, Sorry lads this is Charlton Athletic of division 3 you have earn the right to wear that shirt and you can bet you life you will never get booed of that pitch if your seen to be trying and giving 100%.
I think I'll still go no matter what, a few beers with Dave Storry, a few fashion tips from Plaaayer it dulls the senses a bit before you go in.
What was the question again?
I always said in the glory days that even if we are in the Conference I would still follow the side home and away and we are half way towards that target and I can gladly say that is still the case.
I cant ever see a reason where I wouldnt have a season ticket because it is a big part of my life and a reason to see family and friends and hopefully have a shared passion with my kids when they are older.
However do I enjoy it as much now as I used to, absolutely not.
At the moment I feel like an Inbetweener when I go to Charlton. Last night you had gobbie kids singing unoriginal songs about incest, 10 german bombers, VFR at break neck speed and bouncing - basically copying Rangers, England etc, nothing original or funny, toilet roll on the pitch, Your Shit aaaah after a goalkick, fook me this stuff was done 20 years ago.
Then you have the oldies (not all of them) who demand Premiership level football, whinge at Parky at every opportunity, one idiot even gave him a load of abuse after the third penalty miss (like he can change a penalty) and generally want to moan.
I did terrace and seats last night to get the different perspective.
If I go to football, I want to have a beer, stand at away games, sing Charlton songs but still act with a bit of respect. If there are kids and women around me Im not going to call the ref a c***. There doesnt seem to be any class with the younguns and I dont feel I am at the old git stage where I sit in my seat with my packed lunch.
I bet there a quite a lot of people in my position but I dont feel there are that many of them when I go to Charlton these days.
In all these years following this club it has been a roller coaster ride and we have been through some tough times as supporters, but we have to remember the good times as well.
Sadly I am unable to get to any games currently and I have to follow the club via internet for the 'streamed' matches and this forum to keep up to date with goings on at the Valley.
I to have been shocked to see/hear/read the standard of football being served up of late, even when on the recent 11 game unbeaten run we only had a few games where we were served up an entertaining match - Swindon and Peterborough stand out - and that is just not good enough, no matter what Division we are in. Then add to this the 'nastiness' that some of our own supporters show to Parkinson (chanting at him that he's a cxxt), other addick supporters (throwing coins that seriously hurt people), and unbelievably lobbing beer cans at our own players, it is not suprising that people are beginning to despair and lose thier 'love' of the club.
However AKFA, we have had worse periods, as Pete from Cornwall says, when we had no ground and our very existence was in serious doubt, but we as a club overcame the worst and ended up back at the Valley and in the Premiership (how many thought that would happen when we were handed that infamous letter saying we were leaving our beloved home and moving off to groundshare), and this is what we need and must hold onto.
Charlton WILL come back, the ground WILL be full again and supporters WILL be that - supporters of the club, manager, players and each other. I dont know when it will happen, soon I hope, but it will happen. The new owners (if all goes well with due diligence that is) may be able to make it happen quicker, maybe not, but I'm convinced that this special club - that has been through so much - still has people like you and many on this forum (and others that are not) that wont let Charlton Athletic become a 'souless', mediocre, non-entity football club that is full of plastic good time charlie supporters.
We are at another low point, but I firmly believe this is just part of being an addicks supporter, that's what makes us somewhat different to many other clubs.
Keep the faith AFKA!
In answer to the question where is your breaking point? honestly don't know- there were times last season and this where I have joined the school of thought that I am sick of poor players. poor standard of football, empty stadiums and an average manager. Sick of players using the fans as an excuse when they need to have a look at themselves.
Yet it is the hope, not the expectation, that keeps us going. The hope that we could get back to The Championship at least, which is probably our natural level and judging by a few tv games I have seen, a very decent and entertaining level. The dream would be 2004 January. 4th in the Prem with one of the countries brightest and best midfielders still here, some honest hardworking pro's who in their own right are charlton legends (Powell, Deano etc) as well as some exceptionally talented and gifted inidividuals (Paulo, Jensen).
It may be a long way away, but I cannot imagine life without Charlton almost every week. I remain proud to say Charlton when people ask who my team is. I love the look on some peoples faces when I say I am going to Carlisle/Tranmere/Exeter this weekend for Charlton. Charlton is my passion and I would like to think my breaking point is a long long way away- even further than the Prem dream.
Even though I despise Danny Dyer, to quote him in the Football Factory- what else are you gonna do on a Sat!
Enjoyment: we do all surely go along in the hopes of enjoying the game? If not, there must be some aspect of the experience that you enjoy, otherwise I would suggest you are wasting your money - you'd be better off spending it on a rock gig, or classical concert, whatever floats your boat. The problem is that so many people involved (fans, manager, players, etc) talk about "getting out of League 1" - this whole season seems to be like one long chore that has to be completed.
We're not alone in that attitude to football - the top Premiership managers seem to think each game is a piece of work that needs to be completed on the way to some distant goal (the "holy grail" of qualification for Europe probably). What do these people think their fans are paying for each week? The arrogance of some of those managers is breathtaking - lower clubs are to be swept aside, in fact it's just a bit of a nuisance to have to turn up and play them at all really. All games should matter, they shouldn't all just be a chore (sorry - can't think of a better word) on the way to the promised land.
Fans: I am starting to hear talk about the behaviour of a certain section of our fans. I'm very worried about this - I had a gap of several years when I didn't go to live football and part of the reason I stopped was down to the behaviour of my fellow fans. I was persuaded to return when my boys were young and I was really glad to see that the Valley was somewhere I could take my boys without fear. I really do hope that we are not returning to those dark days.
I grew up seeing Charlton in the Third Division and wondered, indeed doubted, whether I would ever see them play in the top flight. But I loved every minute of those Hales & Flanagan days.
The Premier League years were amazing but not as much fun. You can't help but wish to go back though. We could be proud of our team. Whereas we were back in the day, we didn't have the background of Premier League success we do now to compare it to. We have fallen from a great height. The distance we have come in a short period is obvious and painful.
I think a lot of the current malaise, which must be one shared by a lot of us, has a number of causes (apart from Dowie, Pardew etc). The high turnover of players affects the character of a club. You don't get to love players so much. They don't get to establish a rapport with fans over 200+ games.
But also we've lost the rose-tinted glasses of our youth. Maybe the hairs on your neck don't go up when you walk up the Valley steps like they used to, when you've been doing it decades. I used to love some of our s***est players, now I can't tolerate uselessness.
Admittedly in the 70s Charlton were an attacking, attractive side. If I was 11 now I'd probably be mesmerised by Lee Martin, without realising that his silky skills are getting us and him nowhere. We've had spells (early last season and a few weeks ago) where we've played good stuff too but we've had too much clueless football in the last 4 and half years not to be utterly depressed when it reappears. I share your pain, AFKA, but a good run of results changes everyone's perspective. These are dark days, but I believe Parky and Minty are fighting to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
I couldn't really muster an explanation at the time of why watching that shower, shame and embarass us was a positive thing..
You'll soon miss Saturday afternoon's at the Valley, but you will feel an incredible air of superiority to the plastics following the big 4 that you will encounter everywhere, but you will lose patience explaining that yes there are leagues below the Premier League.
You'll festoon your vehicle with Charlton merchandise & look at the bemusement on locals faces as they walk past your car, which is proudly proclaiming Addick from every space.
You'll groan a deep sigh when you pull into the local supermarket car park one day & see a car plastered in Millwall paraphernalia (Mr. G. Peacocks mate it turns out).
You'll thank your lucky stars you are not an ice hockey fan with their punishing 82 (eighty two) game regular season( before the play-offs) - now following that is in my book, a real chore - it is relentless.
You'll wonder how any fans pre-game ritual involves eaither (a) eating 20kg of burnt nachos at a crappy sports theme bar while drinking watered down piss or (b) barbecuing & eating half a cow in the stadium parking lot - give me a proper pub, a pie, a pint & a bit of banter with Razil any day
You'll be slaveishly tuning in for live radio coverage (and cursing that it's friggin' Emma again) - or watching crappy internet streams on a screen the size of a postage stamp. At ridiculous times.
You won't recognise any of the players anymore - apart from Elliott ( that shirt helps).
When making conversation with work colleagues or customers you'll have to really think - because (a). they won't have an opinion/clue about last nights Man Utd game & (b). you didn't realise last night was the grand final of the CFL/NHL/NFL/MLB/MLS/CLS/MHL/ALS/PLB/WTF etc etc etc
You'll meet another newly arrived English guy at your "soccer club", decent fellow seems to know what he's talking about - who do you support mate? Palace! Arggghhh!!
You'll try to take an interest in your local league, but soon realise you'd probably be better off watching the hockey.
You try to get into the hockey, but the commercial breaks every 5 minutes kill any interest you have in it before it even has a chance.
and then......
You'll thank your lucky stars that there is a little place called Charlton Life that you can go to on the internet & read about the stuff that really matters, from people who genuinely know & follow the one true beautiful game (no matter how much the powers that be are trying to feck it up).
My beloved late father and grandparents took me there and I in my turn took my younger brother and later, after the return, my children as already mentioned above.
I have a lot of memories bound up in that ground and my emotional ties are as much to the ground as the Club.
I think a lot of us are just plain fed up. I felt fed up with Charlton in particular back in 1979, I became a part timer for three/four years, picking and choosing games and yes it coincided with me starting a family. I came back with a vengeance in 1984, the winding up of something I loved dearly, galvanised me even more, and not even the thought of playing our home games at Scumhurst would stop me from going home and away until a vein popped in 1995 and I went part time again for 2 years....97 until 2003 was a rollercoaster for me, but by the time I went to Oz, I was fast falling out of love with the glitzy Premier league and the primma donnas who came with it....2005 and living alone in a foreign country, my lover came to save me via Foxtel....the one thing that had been an absolute constant in my life could be viewed every week on TV...and I reached out to find like minded people and it gave birth to Addicks Downunder, something which is close to my heart.....not because of the football these days, but it brought like minded strangers together who had the Addicks coursing through their veins even though they were many miles away from the Valley.
Its not unthinkable to give it a rest mate, it wont make you a lesser fan, it wont make you unfaithful. What it may well do is actually strengthen that bond...they say a rest is as good as a change....and why not?
My level of expectations have now dropped to the point where if I dont expect anything, then an unexpected win is a bonus...last night was a prime example....I shrugged as the Mrs asked me what the score was, "we lost again" I said......she just looked at me and smiled...."you will still go next game" she said. My expression prompted "wont you? I shrugged again, but I'll be there if only to see the dawning of a new era.
A wag once said to me "If things dont change, they will just stay the same" Lets hope there is a refreshing new wind of change sweeping down towards SE7 because the time for change is well overdue.
Keep the faith, but dont ever be afraid to take a rest...might do you some good...it did for me.
the writer is simply growing up and growing older ,you are merely entering a different phase of you relationship with CAFC but your love will never die writes a supporter since the mid 60s
What used to make us different to the other 91 is the spirit that grew from the back to the valley days,curbs and the management benefited from that ,the new management will hopefully reinstil that bond with club,players,supporters and community...a kind of back to basics... and we will rise again ,we will for sure
lets not worry about the yob element it will soon go away as there is too much good amongst our support but we do need to get behind our team on matchdays cmon you reds
my eldest nearly 5 wants to go to the games , he's only been to 2 so far, even though when there he is pretty bored and wants to leave (so do i!)
no matter where i am when charlton are playing ( a lot more now than when i was without family) i need to know the score as and when it happens .... a true addicktion , waiting for that text message of disappointment !
as a miserable negative c**t and a firm hater of people , reading some of the ridiculous views of our fans on this forum winds me up no end but i will always read it just to get a feel for what our other goony fans think and as NLA says everyone is entitled to their opinion no matter how cranky it is
it's in your blood and there isn't anything you can do about it !
there is no breaking point, unfortunately!
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah
I guess that this is my breaking point, a couple of seasons ago I wouldn't have thought twice about going to support my team play against a more successful and bigger club, memories of the Chelsea Carling cup game are now becoming lost in the fog of relentless disappointment.
Many of my friends and family who used to go to the games home and away now don't bother anymore while my support for my club has grown stronger during our recent demise. Charlton now means something different to me that it did 10, 15 or 20 years ago, my relationship has become more ritualistic, it's like going to church even though you don't particularly want to, don't believe in it anymore and you know what's going to happen at the end.
I dunno. I'm just generally frustrated at the moment. I used to enjoy going to a game because it was always an escape, a kind of parallel life I could move over to on a Saturday afternoon that provided an escape to the working week. Now, supporting my team seems like a job in itself.
I still cling to the hope that one day, at some point in the future my devotion will be somehow rewarded, we might win something someday.
But it wasn't just about the goals and getting a point from the best team in the land. It was about the guts and the spirit and the never-say-die attitude and a manager and players who commanded respect.
That's what has been lost (''the soul, heart and bo**ocks of the club'', I think AFKA said). And we are reminded of it every time we see the current lot play.
That surely has a lot to do with the malaise, which many of us share with AFKA. If the spirit and the guts and the respect were still there, you wouldn't mind what division we were in, because our heads would be held high.
Read Curbs book again. Many on here reckoned it was ''boring''. But you're so wrong. It's a brilliant book because it explains exactly why Charlton was/is a ''special'' club.
Curbs had been through it all with Charlton , the dark days at Selhurst etc. And he made sure everybody who joined the club knew about the history that made our club 'special' - remember the story of him giving Di Canio the video and saying 'watch this before you decide whether to sign or not' ?
That's what we've lost. We don't want to live in the past. But there's a lot in the old cliche about not being able to know where you're going unless you know where you've come from. How many currently involved with the club have any idea that Charlton is a 'special' club, let alone the story of what makes us 'special'?
I've had a couple over the years, particularly when Andy Nelson lost the dressing room in 1979/80.
The spirit drained out of the team, and it seemed like they simply gave up.
We lost game after successive game, rooted to the bottom of the table.
There was nothing to watch, and I missed the last dozen games of the season as it seemed more sensible to earn 'time and threequarters rest day working' and save up for a deposit on a house.
The Sell-out days didn't faze me - and whatever the limitations of Lennie's team punching above its weight, I was still living the dream of watching my beloved Charlton unbelievably playing in the top tier....... and occasionally winning at grounds like Old Trafford, etc.
Even the Dowie/Pardew downward spiral had an occasional bright day, whether winning at home to a tough Bolton or the slaughter of West Ham. Parky's tenure, much the same with some decent unbeaten runs included.
But what will break me if anything is the now all too frequently wretched atmosphere at The Valley. It has become often a truly soulless place to watch football, oppressed and suffocated by negativity.
It's apparent the players don't relish playing there, and it's much more fun in the Liberal Club before the match. Would I want to take my girlfriend to see a match there? God, no ....... I'd be too embarrassed by a non-performing team and a vindictive and sniping crowd who seem to get their pleasure by a torrent of abuse at individual players.
Strangely I look forward to away games.
Whatever the result or even the team performance, there's a different spirit among most of our crowd, especially away from London. These are what to me seems like real football days, win or lose, a damned good day out!
It used to be like that at The Valley.
Anyway, after 42 years I'm finally going to knock it on the head next year: I've accepted a job in Dubai that starts on February 1st. When I was first offered the job in the summer I had great doubts about leaving the UK; leaving my old mum and leaving Charlton behind appeared very difficult to do. I'm now very glad that I'm going. I'll still miss my mum of course but I won't miss Charlton games anything like as much as I thought I would. I'll follow us on here and I hope that my passion returns in the desert heat.
Is there a breaking point? I dont know really. Our support has changed quite dramatically as we plunge down the divisions. Charlton were always known to have such well behaved support-I do not know if that is as true now as it was. I cant understand the boo boys it just seems daft-and the abuse aimed at Parky on Sunday was a complete digrace. Did anyone else see Elliot having it out with some CAFC supporters in the first half v Walsall? As for the coin incident.........Sometimes I leave the Valley like I did on Sunday and ask myself why but then rushed around yesterday to see the Game last night went to bed disillusioned and bitter re CAFC then got up this morning and got Spurs tickets.
Perhaps I need analysis-perhaps we all do.......:-)
Football and footballers in general is total shit these days. Look at FIFA. Look at the scum bag players on £260,000 a week or the nobodies on £30,000 a week. They dont give a shit and to be honest i HATE them with a passion for the parasitic scum that are helping ruining the game i once loved.
Only this week a guy at work asked me about the picture of the Valley from the Legends calander(the one of the clean up) it always goes where i work,he was takingthe piss---but i told him about it and pointed to the spot where i stood with my late father 40 years ago--------------------when will it end ? well i went over to games at Shitout Park but if we left The Valley then its all over for me.
I will still go, but now only if mates are going there are far to many memories and ghosts about to be siting there on me own, thats not FUN and surely thats-the thing its just not FUN anymore !
Just wait till they play football mate, you will spend Saturday morning training,Saturday watching the matches, Satuday night getting ready for the Bexley league or some such. Sunday morning playing, Sunday afternoon in the pub with the parents!, wedged inbeetween MOTD and sky, all ready for work on a Monday!
Combined with trying to earn a crust it really is not easy! and for a man who is not used to 'regimes' I had a few 'moments'.
In the end it is about choice, and the issue with Charlton is that you do not really have a choice!. It is in my blood I am afraid, I just have to control it.
You really do need to have an outlet mate, besides Charlton and the kids, for me it is music, photography and being on the internet!.
Things will settle down with the twins, and I am sure you will rekindle your 'enjoyment' of Charlton!
Just give me championship football and a decent cup run ever 10 years!.
Well done for being so honest, I think most of us are being 'tested at present'
The most recent time was during the Championship relegation season. The Watford home tipped me over the edge and I wasn't even there!. I was ill and watching SSN. When the Watford winner went in I shrugged and decided I wasn't going again that season. Lasted about 2 weeks.
The orginal post in this thread for me, is more of a realisation that there are other things in life. Kids do that to you. I've only got one, but would rather spend a Saturday doing something with her as oppose to traipsing all over the country, hence my 4-5 away days a season policy.
In the meantime, re-introduce terracing, use a Mitre Multiplex ball instead of a beach ball, ditch the bollocky continental goal nets for the traditional style, chuck a bit of mud onto the pitch, allow the odd severe challenge from behind, ban snoods/gloves/flying helmets and make all the players wear black boots. In an instant the game will be better!
No-one forces you to associate with a team. You do it for reasons that defy analysis and logical thought.
And, when you do, here is the first and most important thing to realise:
It's not about whether your team or Club is doing well, badly or indifferently.
It's about the hope. It's about the dream. It's about feeling that, one day, it will all come right.
And one day it will. Trust me. And don't you want to be part of it when it happens?
In 98/99 for example we expected to be fighting relegation and be thrashed by the better teams occasionally. Now we expect to challenge for promotion with very few slip ups against smaller clubs. When we don't get a result against one of them, there's a lot of negativity until we have a few good results.
The current team have shown effort/guts/pride/whatever you want to call it (not saying every game, obviously wasn't like that v Walsall) this season. We've scored late goals. Even against Brighton we got plenty of crosses in. Certain players have tried and tried but still made basic mistakes.
I suppose what we really want are reliable players that get the most out of their ability. Players like Robinson, Powell, Stuart, Rufus, Kiely etc were exactly that. Curbs had plenty of players like that. We have more players like that than we have had for a few years, Dailly the best example. Someone like Martin probably tries just as hard, but so often what he does try doesn't come to anything. That's not him lacking spirit and guts, he's a skilful player who doesn't know when and how to use his ability, how often have people said "worked very hard, but lacked a football brain/decision making was poor"?
Maybe AFKA, since you have just had kids, your priorities have changed and it has put everything into a different perspective?
At the end of the day, we all love Charlton, but we love our nearest and dearest more. That's just the way it is and it's not like it is a conflict of interests or anything!
For us older fans, it certainly is a shock to the system to see the players representing our club turning in such insipid displays, when our USP was the fact that we had a heart bigger than SE7 and players that reflected the passion and pride of a club that refused to die. As a result, supporting Charlton was often emotional, never boring and we were frequently pleasantly surprised and treated to magic moments when we could all have burst with pride.
Fast forward a few years and we have a team of apparent bottlers who can play so badly that people will get terminally sick of watching the dire fare that they serve up - it's only natural; and it is logical to simply not want to inflict that kind of pain on yourself! Sometimes, going to watch Charlton feels like paying someone to kick you in the nuts...
Hopefully there will be better times ahead. No, surely there will be better times ahead - as fans we are all still suffering the massive collective hangover of having it all and then pissing it up the wall, which means that as a club we reek of failure, lost opportunities, anger at those who have taken the money and ran and sheer incredulity at how quickly everything went from being so rosy to falling apart in the most humiliating fashion. We have certainly all experienced a very harsh lesson in humility these past few years, that's for sure. But, there is still something intangible that makes Charlton special, and in time our wounds will heal and the positivity and pride will return and we will all be smiling again. I really believe that. Well, you've got to, haven't you!
Keep smiling everyone....and keep believing....
So far this season iv seen the best and worst that Charlton can offer on the pitch. On one hand the great performances at Peterborough and Swindon - on the other the abysmal defeat against Walsall.
I know Charlton are more than capable of promotion, but I also know they are equally as capable of throwing it away. If we use the last 2 games as the kick up the arse that most teams need at some point and learn from the mistakes then we can achieve promotion !