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Charlton fans appeal for help



Questions

Habitual User
Oct 18, 2006
24,877
Worthing
Someone mentioned wearing your underpants on your head.

I wasn't really paying attention though.

The greatest of empires have been brought to their knees when the masses have worn their underpants on their heads. Read your history books DKM.
 




Questions

Habitual User
Oct 18, 2006
24,877
Worthing
Was it they actually want.....? I can't be bothered to read all the posts.
Is it a winning team ?
A new stadium ?
Investors ?
Decent pies ?
 














Wrong-Direction

Well-known member
Mar 10, 2013
13,417
uploadfromtaptalk1449311664032.jpg
 




fataddick

Well-known member
Feb 6, 2004
1,602
The seaside.
Many thanks for all the encouragement and kind words from the majority of posters on this thread. There's a few people asking "what do Charlton fans actually want" on here. I was hoping another Addick would chip in with an answer, as I'm a little removed from things in SE London (not currently attending home games etc) although I have followed things on a daily basis via message boards and the mood of mates who still have season tickets (who have almost all stopped attending Charlton games themselves as a 'boycott' of the current regime). In the absence of any more informed responder, here's my long winded and somewhat subjective reply to some of the questions asked for anyone who's interested. (NB If you're not interested don't waste your time reading this, even I was falling asleep by the end.)

"Charlton won at St Andrews so they can't be in trouble."
Even a terminally ill person will have 'good days' and the same is true of an 'ill' football club.

"The number of empty seats at The Valley shows the fans don't care."
As several others have pointed out (thanks) it shows the opposite. Up to 5,000 current season ticket holders no longer attend games (many go to watch local non-league teams instead when Charlton are at home) as they don't want to put any money - for a pie or a programme or whatever - in our Chairman's pocket. Most who do still attend say they are doing so only "to support the players, not the regime".

"The Chairman is investing in the infrastructure. The fans are expecting too much."
Infrastructure means bugger all when the heart is being ripped out of the club. Many staff have walked out or been booted out and not replaced. We haven't had a communications manager for months now. Our head scout left ages ago - the Chairman refused all recommendations from him and the scouting team and would only sign players recommended by a mate of his at a struggling semi-pro club in Belgium (said mate has recently been bewilderingly appointed as our manager). Meanwhile, the CEO refuses to answer, acknowledge or forward any e-mails she receives from fans on any matter whatsoever and has operated like that since she was appointed. She has given interviews with the Belgian press saying "most Charlton fans are over fifty years old, why should I listen to them?" During a recent pre-match protest she laughed at, pointed at and took photos of the protestors in full of view of them (but behind the safety of executive lounge glass). There is more than a hint of the Blackpool Oystons in the contempt with which this regime view us fans.

"Charlton fans are annoyed that they are a feeder club for Standard Liege."
That was a worry in the early days of the takeover, but is no longer a factor. Particularly as Duchatelet sold Standard Liege in June. We're now the biggest club in his pan-European network. Shouldn't we be happy then? Ask the Standard fans. The moment Duchatelet made an approach for Charlton, Liege fans flooded our message boards warning us (correctly) of what was to come - "he doesn't understand football and he doesn't care even the tiniest bit about the fans". The Standard fans were a lot more proactive in their protests against him than Charlton fans have thus far been, with Liege games being called off due to pitch invasion protests, together with several bona fide riots; on one occasion 3,000 Standard fans broke into the stadium on a non-matchday with flares and fireworks and tried to set light to the boardroom! Search Google for images of anti-Duchatelet protests in Liege and consider that the reaction he engendered in supporters of the home nation team that topped his network really does suggest the problem lies with him rather than the expectations of Charlton fans.

"What do Charlton fans want from Brighton fans?"
Dunno. Our two main message boards, Charlton Life (dominated by bedwetters) and Into The Valley (dominated by wind-up merchants) both had threads saying that Brighton fans were offering to help Charlton fans on Twitter. I'm not on Twitter, so I have no idea what was said there. I can only assume that Charlton fans want advice on the sort of protests and media campaigns that Albion fans waged during the fight for Falmer. There's no direct threat to our stadium (although it's rumoured an application has gone in to knock down the club shop and build flats) so it's not entirely clear how the experience of Albion fans can translate to and inspire the somewhat more existential situation that Charlton fans are in. Attila mentioned he's meeting with some guys from the Charlton Supporters Trust this evening to talk through stuff. I guess that's the kind of help people are after. Just a bit of empathy - eg saying "your Chairman sounds a right dick" to any Charlton fans you meet in pubs today - will go down well. The fact that most fans of other clubs don't understand what we're protesting about is somewhat wearying.

"What do Charlton fans want in general?"
There's no consensus. The vast majority want something to change, but there it differs. Some will be happy if Duchatelet just changes the way he operates; having a wealthy Chairman (he is in the Tony Bloom bracket wealth-wise) is not to be sniffed at, but one who pisses off fans seemingly on purpose - he only attends maybe one Charlton game a season, incidentally - needs to change. Others are fine with the Chairman and just want the CEO to get the boot. A sizeable portion, however, will settle for nothing less than Duchatelet selling up and buggering off like he did at Liege. There are loads of different groups and campaigns - Supporters Trust, Black & White Campaign, We Are The 2% Campaign, G21 Group, etc etc - all with different objectives, who spend much of their time arguing and abusing each other on the internet rather than fighting the regime. Several veterans of the Valley Party campaign are involved in the different factions, and many of these had positions in the club under previous owners (eg communications manager and fans' director) with some suspicions that getting their own noses back in the trough are more a driving force then the protest itself. A large number of fans (myself included) think the Supporters Trust is part of the problem; they recently agreed to work with the CEO to try and build up attendances at a time when thousands are boycotting in order to bring attendances down (in the hope this will force the Chairman's hand). The Trust is seen as a little bit 'Vichy', so to speak, by many. So, in answer to the question "what do Charlton fans actually want?"... We don't really know. We certainly don't agree. If you can work it out and tell us today that would probably be the best help of all. Cheers.
 


Fran Hagarty

Well-known member
Jul 5, 2003
2,412
Mid Sussex
Always remember at least a coach full turning up for Fans United!
For those of us who went through that time and turmoil of our club, it would be totally disgraceful if we didn't support them now when they are in need of our support!

As far as I can remember they brought 8 coaches to Fans United.
 






Pogue Mahone

Well-known member
Apr 30, 2011
10,733
Many thanks for all the encouragement and kind words from the majority of posters on this thread. There's a few people asking "what do Charlton fans actually want" on here. I was hoping another Addick would chip in with an answer, as I'm a little removed from things in SE London (not currently attending home games etc) although I have followed things on a daily basis via message boards and the mood of mates who still have season tickets (who have almost all stopped attending Charlton games themselves as a 'boycott' of the current regime). In the absence of any more informed responder, here's my long winded and somewhat subjective reply to some of the questions asked for anyone who's interested. (NB If you're not interested don't waste your time reading this, even I was falling asleep by the end.)

"Charlton won at St Andrews so they can't be in trouble."
Even a terminally ill person will have 'good days' and the same is true of an 'ill' football club.

"The number of empty seats at The Valley shows the fans don't care."
As several others have pointed out (thanks) it shows the opposite. Up to 5,000 current season ticket holders no longer attend games (many go to watch local non-league teams instead when Charlton are at home) as they don't want to put any money - for a pie or a programme or whatever - in our Chairman's pocket. Most who do still attend say they are doing so only "to support the players, not the regime".

"The Chairman is investing in the infrastructure. The fans are expecting too much."
Infrastructure means bugger all when the heart is being ripped out of the club. Many staff have walked out or been booted out and not replaced. We haven't had a communications manager for months now. Our head scout left ages ago - the Chairman refused all recommendations from him and the scouting team and would only sign players recommended by a mate of his at a struggling semi-pro club in Belgium (said mate has recently been bewilderingly appointed as our manager). Meanwhile, the CEO refuses to answer, acknowledge or forward any e-mails she receives from fans on any matter whatsoever and has operated like that since she was appointed. She has given interviews with the Belgian press saying "most Charlton fans are over fifty years old, why should I listen to them?" During a recent pre-match protest she laughed at, pointed at and took photos of the protestors in full of view of them (but behind the safety of executive lounge glass). There is more than a hint of the Blackpool Oystons in the contempt with which this regime view us fans.

"Charlton fans are annoyed that they are a feeder club for Standard Liege."
That was a worry in the early days of the takeover, but is no longer a factor. Particularly as Duchatelet sold Standard Liege in June. We're now the biggest club in his pan-European network. Shouldn't we be happy then? Ask the Standard fans. The moment Duchatelet made an approach for Charlton, Liege fans flooded our message boards warning us (correctly) of what was to come - "he doesn't understand football and he doesn't care even the tiniest bit about the fans". The Standard fans were a lot more proactive in their protests against him than Charlton fans have thus far been, with Liege games being called off due to pitch invasion protests, together with several bona fide riots; on one occasion 3,000 Standard fans broke into the stadium on a non-matchday with flares and fireworks and tried to set light to the boardroom! Search Google for images of anti-Duchatelet protests in Liege and consider that the reaction he engendered in supporters of the home nation team that topped his network really does suggest the problem lies with him rather than the expectations of Charlton fans.

"What do Charlton fans want from Brighton fans?"
Dunno. Our two main message boards, Charlton Life (dominated by bedwetters) and Into The Valley (dominated by wind-up merchants) both had threads saying that Brighton fans were offering to help Charlton fans on Twitter. I'm not on Twitter, so I have no idea what was said there. I can only assume that Charlton fans want advice on the sort of protests and media campaigns that Albion fans waged during the fight for Falmer. There's no direct threat to our stadium (although it's rumoured an application has gone in to knock down the club shop and build flats) so it's not entirely clear how the experience of Albion fans can translate to and inspire the somewhat more existential situation that Charlton fans are in. Attila mentioned he's meeting with some guys from the Charlton Supporters Trust this evening to talk through stuff. I guess that's the kind of help people are after. Just a bit of empathy - eg saying "your Chairman sounds a right dick" to any Charlton fans you meet in pubs today - will go down well. The fact that most fans of other clubs don't understand what we're protesting about is somewhat wearying.

"What do Charlton fans want in general?"
There's no consensus. The vast majority want something to change, but there it differs. Some will be happy if Duchatelet just changes the way he operates; having a wealthy Chairman (he is in the Tony Bloom bracket wealth-wise) is not to be sniffed at, but one who pisses off fans seemingly on purpose - he only attends maybe one Charlton game a season, incidentally - needs to change. Others are fine with the Chairman and just want the CEO to get the boot. A sizeable portion, however, will settle for nothing less than Duchatelet selling up and buggering off like he did at Liege. There are loads of different groups and campaigns - Supporters Trust, Black & White Campaign, We Are The 2% Campaign, G21 Group, etc etc - all with different objectives, who spend much of their time arguing and abusing each other on the internet rather than fighting the regime. Several veterans of the Valley Party campaign are involved in the different factions, and many of these had positions in the club under previous owners (eg communications manager and fans' director) with some suspicions that getting their own noses back in the trough are more a driving force then the protest itself. A large number of fans (myself included) think the Supporters Trust is part of the problem; they recently agreed to work with the CEO to try and build up attendances at a time when thousands are boycotting in order to bring attendances down (in the hope this will force the Chairman's hand). The Trust is seen as a little bit 'Vichy', so to speak, by many. So, in answer to the question "what do Charlton fans actually want?"... We don't really know. We certainly don't agree. If you can work it out and tell us today that would probably be the best help of all. Cheers.

Sounds horrendous.

What do people like this actually get out of owning football clubs? Why do they do it? The team fails, the fan base leaves, and their investment becomes devalued.

It's as if they love being hated. They have so much money that their only motivation appears to be to piss off the proles.

Thanks for taking the time to explain. I can feel educated solidarity now.
 




Doc Lynam

I hate the Daily Mail
Jun 19, 2011
7,200
Who cares what they WANT ?

Because they helped us! Just having a look on one of their fans forums before the match and you find post's like this.

A nice gesture on the part of Brighton fans who in my view are real football fans, I have a lot of time for them as a club and I am pleased for them that they have a stadium to be proud of and that they are going so well in the league, if any set of fans know about poor owners and bad times it's them which makes their current form so pleasing. The fact that they have an eye on our plight speaks volumes for them as a set of fans, they are decent enough to remember our help back then and hopefully we can utilise a bit of their help now.

Read more: http://intothevalley.proboards.com/thread/18724/brighton-fans-twitter-keen-protest#ixzz3tRmqLbP1
 
















Taybha

Whalewhine
Oct 8, 2008
27,179
Uwantsumorwat
Judging by the headgear being sported at Divalls cafe Pants on the head seems to have the edge over storming the pitch dressed as a crossdressing 37 year old former saviour of the world ... ! That will give the extra Cat A fuzz plenty to think about .
 


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