Kansas, Ohio, Eastern Seaboard. What are you lot doing supporting Charlton? How come you didn't succumb to the temptations of Man U, Arsenal and Chelsea? Don't you understand the pain that you are letting yourself in for? For me the answer to why Charlton is easy. I grew up about five miles from the Valley. My dad and my brother took me to my first game when I was about five. I remember swinging on the crowd barriers on the enormous East Terrace but I don't remember anything about the action on the pitch although somehow I do know that we beat Hull 3-1. After that I went every now and then until my teens when I started going to matches more often. A Charlton season ticket was one of the first things I bought with my first ever pay packet. I was a season ticket holder for over ten years starting when we were struggling in the first division (or the second division as it was then). For a couple of season I went to nearly all of the away game too.This was also the tiime when we got kicked out of the valley so we were playing our home games at our bitter rivals Crystal Palace and then at West Ham. Then we get promotion to the premier league under Lennie Lawrence and had a few season of avoiding relegation, usually on the last game of the season before the inevitable happened and we dropped back down. Then Curbs took over and got us back into the premier league by beating Sunderland at Wembley in the play off final. For those that don't know about that game it was 3-3 after normal time. 4-4 after extra time with Charlton winning 8-7 on penalties. The most amazing game of football I have ever seen and the best day of my life, and I include my wedding day in that. And then what happens? My American girlfriend says that she has got a job back in the States and do I want to go with her? So here I am listening to internet commentry every Saturday and getting updates from my brother who is still a season ticket holder. I do get to go back to the UK every year and always arrange it so that the lads will be playing at home when I am there. So that's my story. What's yours?
Well, I am third generation American on my dad's side out of Maidstone in Kent. I wanted to pick an EPL team from Kent or near it. So, I chose Charlton Athletic with the idea that I could change my mind if I didn't like it. The more I learn of the club and the people involved in running it, the happier I am that I chose it. The club is a good example in so many ways. Besides, I'm not one to pick the favorite. Anyone can do that. I do like the way Arsenal play many times. Their one-touch abilities are marvelous. But I am one to root for the underdog -- especially if the underdog is a good club doing things the right way. Yeah, there is the pain. But eventually every club goes through painful times. Look at Leeds. And I would rather have some pain along with a little glory now and then. For goodness sake, look at all the ManU fans and how sad they are that they finished third! They need to get over themselves. They don't know pain really. I'd like to see how they feel if they slipped to the bottom half of the table. Whew! There would probably be suicides. And after all, the kind of pain we are suffering now is good pain. The pain of coming up short of CL or UEFA Cup spots. The pain of coming close. The kind of pain that can keep us hungry and contiue to build up the club. I must add that I also like the uniqueness of our nickname -- the Addicks. No name like it. No club like it. I hope someday to make a trip to my great grandfather's homeland and make a visit to the Valley during the season.
Well, I was one of those that almost became a sheep and considered supporting Arsenal . I was even looking at Everton. However, I decided to find my own little club. So here is my story. Back at the beginning of 2001 we got a full time internet connection in our offices. During tax season I would get into the office at 6:00AM on Saturdays. Well, there's nothing on the radio but do-it-yourself, investment, hunting and fishing and various other talk radio crap. I love sports and there wasn't anything on at that time of the morning. I decided to login into BBC World Service so as to get some intellectual news. Well, much to my surprise, I was getting soccer matches and, wow, did this stuff sound great. The following Monday I found TalkSport where I started listening all day long trying to learn everything about football. I was hooked. A couple months later I'd still not found a club to support. TalkSport used to have a radio show on Fridays hosted by the legendary commentator Bryan Moore called "Inside the Boardroom." Each week they would invite a representative from a club to come in and take calls. It might be someone from PR or other VP at the club. Clubs from every level were invited to participate and field questions from the listeners. One Friday, Richard Murray, Chairman of Charlton Athletic was invited to the show. After about half an hour, Bryan Moore comments that he hadn't received any email so I thought I might send a question and it went like this: "Why should I become a Charlton Athletic supporter?" Richard's reply was that Charlton was community club that they cared enough about the club that they were the only club of 92 in the league to actually have the fans represented on the Board of Directors. He stated that Charlton was more like a family. After that the show started getting callers wanting to give reasons as to why I should support Charlton. This went on for the rest of the show. One person at the end of the show, though, helped make up my mind. He said he was a regular listener to the show. During that two hours he noted that Richard did not receive one negative call from a Charlton fan, not one. That was completely unheard of. And, he was right, usually those representatives would get fried by the callers, but not today. All of the calls from supporters of other clubs were congratulating Charlton on "doing it the right way". That set off a very bright light in my head. TalkSport at that time used to post their emails in a forum-like listing where others could reply. My lord, all of the responses from people wanting to provide me with Charlton info and asking me to join the Addick Army. It was unbelievable. That night I went to Charlton's website where i found a five-minute video on the rise of Charlton Athletic and how they almost went out of business. How the fans did everything they could to keep them alive. And, the most memorable part of that video for me was seeing The Valley empty with tall grass and weeds and how the club was able to return to it's rightful ground. My first match that heard of Charlton's was a Monday night afair with Ipswich which the Addicks won. Can't remember the score. It was either 2-1 or 3-1. Since then, I provide the International Supporters Club with the North American television schedule for all of Charlton's matches. They then email that out to all of the members. Next season will keep me really busy since all 38 matches will be available over here. Hopefully, some FA Cup matches, too. So that's my Charlton story. I received a personal invitation from the Chairman of the Board over national radio in England and worldwide on the internet. You can't get a better invitation then that. I still have a copy of that show which I replay every once in awhile to remind of why I became an Addick fan.
Great stories. I had a best friend who stood as a candidate for 'The Valley Party' in the local elections when Greenwich council refused permission for Charlton to move back to the Valley. The Valley Party got over 15,000 votes, which for an independant party in a local election is a staggering amount, and in a couple of areas they finished second, ahead of the Labour or Conservative party. The level of support that Charlton got was enough to force the council to change its mind and they gave permission for Charlton to move back to their rightful home. The pictures of the Valley covered in weeds and trees growing on the pitch are amazing. The club organised a day for supporters to come and clean up the valley and board members, and even some players joined in with the clean up operation. I can't think of any other club where that would happen. What's alll this about all 38 matches being available on TV next year? Do you have more details?
Fox Sports International won the U.S. and Canadian rights to the EPL for the next three seasons. The prior contract was only good for 180 matches each season. This time they offerred two different packages covering all 380 matches. FSI won them both. So it is expected that Fox Sports World will have every match whether live or tape-delayed. FSI will still put live matches on PPV but like it is now will then re-air them on FSW 72 hours later. So I guess what I'm saying is that you better get a satellite if your cable company doesn't have Fox Sports World. Both DirecTV and Dish Network also carry an EPL subscription which allows you to see all of the PPV matches which is far cheaper than buying them individually. We will know all of the details on May 26th as FSI and the EPL will be holding a joint press conference/conference call to explain everything involved. Keep an eye out in the Fox Sports World section of the Business & Media section here on Big Soccer.
Honestly, it was the uniforms! hehehe... I can't help it, I'm a designer and a very visual person. However after watching Carlton play I was really impressed with the work ethic, the generally fair play and sportsmanship, and on-field attitude. Particularly Klaus Jensen and Paolo DiCanio, who I followed closely at West Ham, he's one of my favorite players. Now, knowing more about the actual club and the way its run, I consider myself an Addicks supporter above all other teams (except my own of course!). Granted it's hard for Americans to have unswerving loyalty to a single team... Charlton also seem to have the perrennial "underdog" label applied to them, which is appealing to me as well.
A small modest team. From London. Good community spirit. No history, none that I can think of, of hooligan problems. Generally, I cheer for underdogs. Charlton has done quite well for themselves. Well-managed too. No splashing out tons of money for flashy strikers either. 7th place this year despite losing their best player. Europe next year is a distinct possibility.