Stereotypes

Upon hearing the name Fulham, for some of us, it conjures up the notion of 'jolly hockey sticks', a game of 'rugger' with the chaps, and a certain comedy character from the nineties. You know the one, "What an absolutely, thoroughly, bloody nice bloke!" For others of us we immediately think of Danny Murphy's wife. But we are football supporters and if anyone is going to milk the phrase 'stereotype' it's football fans, heaven knows, the Daily Mail readers are mindlessly tarring us with absurd regularity. Yes, I know what I did there.

Surely though there has to be some basis behind stereotypification? Well if I should have ever fancied a game of 'rugger' myself, the 19.01 train to Charlton from London Bridge last night was packed with suitable team mates. Harry Enfield couldn't have mimicked the accents any better, it was a public school outing into unknown territory, a thoroughly exciting time which was to be had by all. I say unknown territory for one lad, speaking to his father (master?) spotted our train pulling into Deptford and proudly proclaimed we had arrived in the Isle of Dogs. Another two were scrolling their smart phones looking for team news. They 'goshed' and 'guffawed' at the away sides selection, yet stared in puzzlement at the Addicks starting eleven. Not one of these fellows had they heard of! Terribly nice lads to share a train with certainly, but bloody dim.

Thankfully around fifteen hundred of them managed to find their way to the ground from the station to watch their side take a step closer to Championship safety. With Rotherham and Millwall both winning over the Easter weekend Fulham had found themselves back in serious contention to join Blackpool in League One next season. I'd like to think if we found ourselves in such a situation (again) we'd manage to encourage slightly more to make a short hop across the capital to rally the troops.

If Fulham are up for the fight we definitely gave some assistance and made it look easier for them. An early soft goal set the tone, to which they could have added if it wasn't for a couple of fine saves from Henderson in either half. If you thought the dreadful day in Bermondsey on Good Friday was just a blip, be warned, we've taken our foot well and truly off the gas and have an eye firmly planted on the June sunshine and sand of some far flung destination. And who can blame them. We've worked our socks off over the past couple of months to ensure safety, now the end can't come quick enough.

In the Charlton way and true to form this wasn't going to be just an end of season game to forget. We've long memories in SE7, Fulham and bad refereeing decisions go hand in hand. Poetic justice then that our equaliser rustled a few Fulham feathers as they believed a flag should have been raised for offside. A lot of us thought the same but, well, what goes around and all that.

Then of course there was Scott Parker. If you wanted to go down the stereotype road again you'd presume we'd boo him all night long. Well, long memories to the rescue again, we did. I've seen articles today on forums and other such dreaded places I really shouldn't venture near stating that it's time we grew up, he was a young lad influenced by pound signs before the eyes. Well I say bugger that. He knew what he was doing and he could have moved on to the 'big time' with a lot more class than he did. But of course that's all water under the bridge for him isn't it? Judging by the way he squabbled and made gestures to the supporters in the North stand he despises us more than we do him. My biggest grumble was our choice of song. "One greedy bastard" sang the covered end choir forgetting of course that there is Jermaine Defoe in a similar bracket and Diego Poyet too for that matter. Perhaps "Average greedy bastard" would make him feel less superior should he ever return? However, the chorus of "that's why you're going down" after the most calamitous of quick free kicks was nothing short of superb.

A Fulham free kick on the edge of the box in stoppage time had the makings of a Parker finale but thankfully we were spared the arrogance as he left it for a teammate to kick high and wide. A point a piece and on reflection a fair outcome. The last floodlit fixture at the Valley of the season and the last late night train ride home. As we queued by the shut platform gates we caught brief moments of conversations around us. This Fulham chum was mentioning something about how both he and his lady friend had shed a tear when they went to see Les Mis. I kid you not. But as my comrade Jim quite rightly pointed out, next time we are stood here it will be in the middle of a group of Leeds fans. Now if you're going to start talking about stereotyping...

Soul time

Fulham away or a film? Granted, not the sort of choice many of us have to make but when entering the last week of the month and the pay-packet has all but dwindled away a man needs to prioritize his disposable folding in a manner most beneficial to him. And this was no ordinary film.

So I forwent a drinking blitz in Putney and a stroll through the park to Craven Cottage, settling instead for live coverage of the match on 'the home of football', the bloody awful Sky television. A London derby, television cameras, it wasn't as if I was going to miss something magical. My feet were planted firmly on the floor.

Those that did venture west on Friday night were certainly in full voice and enjoyed the evening far more than the 3-0 scoreline would suggest. At home one could here nothing but the Charlton following singing from the first to the last minute, they threw down the gauntlet to the team showing far more soul than the players during the first forty five minutes. Thankfully the team accepted the challenge and were for the second period the more threatening side.

With Igor Vetokele still out we just didn't look like capitalizing on all this pressure, attack after attack just seemed devoid of direction and other than Lawrie Wilson's effort against the post, a rather fragile Fulham defence got away scot free. There were plenty of positives, Karlan Ahearne-Grant came on with a quarter of the match left and attacked, chased, and ran at everything and everyone showing confidence that belittled his seventeen years. Johnnie Jackson, emulating Stuart Balmer with a head bandage, skippered the side from the front and was in the thick of just about everything while Jordan Cousins enjoyed his chance to play a more central role in place of the suspended Buyens.

Another youngster, Morgan Fox, had moments of pure brilliance briefly mixed in with more wayward passes than I witness when watching Combined Counties League football. I'm still undecided which is the more atrocious, the passing, that dreadful orange kit, or having to witness Scott Parker basking in victory.

The scoreline wasn't a true representation of the game as a whole but was a true representation of clinical unselfish finishing. Fulham's first touch passing at the start was delightful, in contrast we kept getting bogged down with the ball, and no amount of booing was going to stop Parker running the show and displaying what a wonderful footballer (if not person) we developed.

That was Friday, Saturday night I still had my weekend spending money in my pocket and was going to, to.......the pictures? But this, again I say it, was no ordinary film. This was Northern Soul and I'd been waiting a long time to watch it.

A small British independent film, the release had been delayed for months before finally hitting the big screen a week ago, yet major cinema corporations had turned their noses up at it even if Steve Coogan and Ricky Tomlinson had both been recruited for small cameo parts in an effort to raise it's prominence.

Had I wanted to watch it during it's first week I'd have had to travel to Victoria, by waiting it came to Horsham, still the only place between London and Brighton showing it and even this was in a small cinema screen on the side of the theatre.

The time had come though, I had arranged a pre-film pint with a Crystal Palace supporting fellow scooter rider that I knew through work, Northern Soul doing again what it had done the first time around - breaking down barriers!

I'm no film critic, believe me I just manage to survive muddling through writing about football, but this was all it promised and more. Set obviously in a northern town during the early seventies at a time of general gloom, it dealt with issues such as bullying, racism and general hatred and distrust of the system by bonding the young people of this and surrounding towns with unknown soul music from across the Atlantic.

The film was a very close representation of the time, the clothes, the school, the attitude, the murkiness, but also surprised me with one or two things I wasn't aware of. I knew about the amphetamines (how else could you dance all night long?) but wasn't aware of the needle epidemic being around then, I always presumed that came later.

The storyline mirrored the gloominess of the surroundings with a darker undercurrent and moments of true sadness, yet at the heart of it all was some great dancing and even better soul music (about forty different tunes). I may have been shocked when it opened up to the hippie sounds of Melanie singing but that was soon blown away when the first soul record was spun in the local youth club.

It's already available to buy on DVD, ask for a copy for Christmas if you can wait that long, it was well worth missing a football match for. Northern Soul wasn't just breaking down the walls of heartache, it was breaking down the walls of bigotry, fascism, boredom and depression. Quite monumental when you think about it.

All quite fitting really when you realise that Fulham used their fixture against us on Friday night as their 'Season of Action' game to promote Kick it Out, an organization combating racism and discrimination in football. I shouldn't think playing Northern Soul would be a good idea at the Cottage though, I can't imagine that stand at the Putney end is strong enough survive the dancing!

False Start

The final pre season match has come and gone, and the new season has started, almost. The thing is, it doesn't really begin until Saturday, the league table is still in alphabetical order, yet we have already endured the bitter taste of defeat.

Once upon a time there was only the one season curtain raiser, the Charity Shield. Back in the day this was a hotly contested and almost meaningful match, just ask Kevin Keegan, but today unfortunately it plays a poor second to the lucrative tour of either the far east or America.

Most clubs will now have a competitive interlude between actual friendlies and league fixtures in this modern football world, with the first round of the League Cup, or COC as it's now known, due to 1, sponsorship and 2, a good name for the referee's used for the competition.

After the impressive 'behind closed doors' friendly victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage last Friday, many would be forgiven for getting a little above themselves with their hopes of what will unfold over the next few weeks. What we all needed was a little reminder that this season is going to be a lot harder than anything this squad has come across before. Thank goodness Charlton delivered.

A blind man wouldn't have known the Cottage was empty last week, the home end still as vocal as normal. He also wouldn't have seen Monday's announcement of the squad numbers.
I hate squad numbers with the player's surnames boldly written above. It should always and forever more be 1 to 11, we know the names of our players and don't rightly care who the opposition are.
When Stuart Balmer wore the number one shirt in defence we took a different view of the system and inadvertently threw an anarchic spanner in the works. Bring it back i say!

There were few surprises, as is usual the unwanted and soon to depart are given the low numbers behind the up and coming youngsters.  Last season Rob Elliot won the honour, this time around Paul Hayes and Leon Clarke know where, or more appropriately don't know where their future lies, wearing 39 and 40 respectively.

Kevin Lisbie and David Mooney returned once more to The Valley with Leyton Orient (disguised as Millwall in their blue and white away strip) for this low key London cup tie.
It's not a competition we've excelled in, even the word average would be an over statement in trying to describe our performances and our record in it, still, we're a club on the up and eager to let rip into some poor unsuspecting team. Just not right now.

Chris Powell didn't field an actual second eleven but it was a side noticeably missing of the 'names'. Kermorgant, who has this pre season increased his popularity and standing at the club to quite an extent was a notable absentee whilst skipper Johnnie Jackson and top scorer Wright-Phillips were both on the bench.

Those that did start can all stake a claim to a place in the normal eleven though. These are all players knocking on the door as opposed to a Charlton XI in it's true meaning.

New signings Lawrie Wilson, Jordan Cook and Salim Kerkar all got a competitive debut and there was also a start for Michael Smith who, i thought, had a great pre season for us.

Is it too early to say we are concentrating on the league? Chris Powell obviously wanted to win this one as his frustration, rather surprisingly, got him sent to the stands (for throwing a water bottle at the ground).
It just wasn't to be our day, the East Londoners wanted this a little more and it was the O's who held the winning lottery ticket at the end.

A goal apiece after ninety (and forty five) minutes, both sides had an effort cleared off the line during extra time. All to no avail, it would be a late journey home for those hardy souls in attendance.
We've had great penalty memories with Sasa Ilic and co, and awful ones with Nicky Bailey, they have certainly made their mark in our history. Last night's penalty shoot out won't be remembered for long in the memories but summed up 'Charlton and the League Cup' as hopes of a cup run once again fizzled out.

Johnnie Jackson is up there with Clive Mendonca in the penalty taking stakes, but even super Clive must have missed one. If the skipper misses you know it's not your night and we are just one in a large handful of Championship teams that have fallen at the first hurdle.
Included in this unfortunate group are Millwall who also went out on penalties to Crawley Town. After losing to the League One new boys in West Sussex a couple of weeks ago, Crawley completed an impressive double at The New Den.
Result of the round however must be Scunthorpe's win at Derby, again on penalties. After ninety minutes this was five all! How did they manage to both keep a clean sheet for the thirty minutes of extra time?

Orient have been rewarded with a trip to Goodison Park to face Everton in the second round. We of course don't need that kind of fixture congestion at this early stage of the season.

The real thing gets underway Saturday at Birmingham. Kermorgant had better be starting that one!

Come on you reds!

The magic of the third round

The FA cup. It's always special whether you're watching a combined counties league side in the preliminary round or the worlds finest at Wembley in the competitions showcase.

The third round is probably the most special round of all. The non league survivors get their chance of national limelight whilst the big boys are worried of humiliation. The fact that the third round always falls on the weekend closest to my birthday adds to the magic as well.

The greatest third round memory has to be Sutton's defeat of Coventry City at Gander Green Lane, three days before my eighteenth birthday. That however is a story for another day, but yesterdays experience is definitely going to be a cup memory which will stand out for years to come.

With over 7000 addicks descending upon SW6, all of whom in party mode, this London derby match was always going to have an electric atmosphere in the Putney end stand.
I arrived in Putney early as for once i didn't have to work the morning. I was making the most of this and was determined to have a good day on the beer.
Walking down Putney High Street at half eleven i was struck by the number of Charlton fans already there. It seemed that i wasn't the only one making a day of it.
Another reason it was special for me was Putney being an old stomping ground from my twenties. I saw many a band in The Half Moon amongst other pubs, myself and my friend Jim reminisced on how you used to get stuck to the carpet in there. Many a good pair of shoes ruined! One such old haunt was The Dukes Head, a Youngs pub by the river. This was my first stop yesterday but we moved on to The Bricklayers Arms which is a highly awarded real ale pub, well loved by large men with beards who like to chew their beer. We were spoilt for choice and tried many different ales although i was partial to the Pressed Rat & Warthog!
Myself and Marco were a little concerned for our mate Jim who ordered a pint of some lethal draught cider just before we left, but I'm glad to say he survived it and went back for more afterwards!

So we crossed the river and went for a stroll through the park en route to Craven Cottage. Last time i went we had terracing to stand on, this time a new stand which had a very temporary feel to it, especially when 7000 addicks started bouncing.
Charlton were in great voice and no matter how Fulham tried to drown us out with their music over the tannoy, we could still clearly be heard. Unlike the Fulham support. I can't honestly recall hearing one song come from the home areas. I appreciate they must get a lot of rich upper class fans in Fulham, but there must be a section of them from the Roehampton council estates. I expected a little more from them, very poor support.
One thing i will say about our fans is the content of the songs. At a time when racism is raising it's ugly head again and reports of a SMALL section of Charlton fans singing racist songs to Kevin Lisbie at Orient, i can honestly say i heard nothing like that at Fulham. Valley Floyd Road was awesome, the others songs good natured. Obviously Danny Murphy got booed but nothing untoward.

Fulhams performance on the pitch was a lot better than their performance in the stands. In the middle of the park they showed some of the quality you expect to see in top flight football but for all their moments of flair, Charlton equalled it with grit and determination.
Bradley Pritchard, who only a year ago was playing non league football, looked well worthy of his starting place and Chris Solly was immense again winning balls full backs from a higher level would have struggled to win.

4-0 definitely flattered Fulham. Two goals which took deflections and a penalty that was very dubious meant Fulham and Clint Dempsey had their stroke of luck. At half time at only one goal down, i really felt we still had a good shout on the game. For twenty minutes at the start of the second period we really threw everything at them and on another day Bradley Wright-Phillips would have done a lot better than he did with his finish when he was through on their keeper. If we had clawed it back to 1-1 i think we could have gone on to get another but it wasn't to be. Fulham got their second though and after that it was really all over. It's a shame that in years to come people will see the stats and forget how well Charlton actually played.

The support was fantastic at Fulham, if those travelling to Sheffield Wednesday next Saturday can get behind the team to within a small percentage of what we did yesterday, we will once again have the twelfth man and have to raise our chances. It was definitely a proud day to be Charlton.

Another point of interest for all addicks was Paul Benson scoring the winner, and his first goal, for Swindon in their giant killing at the hands of Wigan. We all wished this well loved addick the best of luck at Swindon and that is a great way to start his account there.

Back to the Bricklayers for a few post match beers rounded off the day nicely. The result didn't really matter, the performance was what counted and everybody had a great day out. It will stay in the minds of fans and players alike. The magic of the third round!

It's the Sheffield sides now. This is a big big test for Charlton and the promotion push. Hopefully Sheffield Wednesday won't have come back down to earth after their cup win over West Ham. Far more important than the FA cup, thank goodness we didn't get a draw at Fulham and have to have a replay in between them!

Come on you reds!

The good, the bad, and the ugly (and that's just us!)

Today was no ordinary Valley matchday experience. Bank holiday's are notorious for disruption, but in all honesty i only expected it on the trains.

The trains certainly lived up to expectation with an extra change required both ways compared to a regular Saturday service, and i gave myself plenty of time with the added bonus of not having to work a few hours beforehand.
It transpired that every connection was as smooth as a Danny Hollands pass and i actually walked into the Rose of Denmark in record time. Even the journey home was very acceptable.

A pleasant couple of hours in the rub-a-dub catching up on Christmas and new year tales with plenty of the twitter crew was a perfect prelude to Charlton's first match of 2012. Many thanks to the miserable ol' git you know why matey!

Queuing at the turnstiles and still nothing out of the ordinary when, out of the corner of my eye, i saw a flapping steward. Seconds later every turnstile to the upper north was shut. No announcement, just puzzled faces. There were only five people in front of me at the time, i was that close. Five minutes later there was a queue down the road, police everywhere and still no one any the wiser.
Eventually an explanation. A power cut in the whole of the upper north stand and we are told are tickets will be valid in the west. Oh how i momentarily felt for the stewards!
What followed was literally a stampede around the corner to the west stand turnstiles. Kick off had been delayed by fifteen minutes but it didn't appear any supporters were taking a chance and rushed to get inside for kick off.
I plumped for the upper stand on the basis that there were probably less season ticket holders and less chance of having to keep moving out of people's seats.

The teams came out and Brentford, the visitors, were resplendent in black and yellow stripes living up to their 'bees' nickname.
The home side saw a couple of changes with Leon Cort partnering Michael Morrison at the heart of the defense, the very deserving Bradley Pritchard getting a start in the middle of the park with Danny Green recalled out wide.

I wish for many reasons that the game itself could have been the main talking point here but unfortunately, for my matchday experience, it wasn't.
There was nothing wrong with the game other than it being quite obvious it was at the end of a hectic period. Charlton took the lead on the half hour with Morrison heading it past the keeper after the ball seemed to hang around the six yard box for an age.
Brentford could feel hard done by a little as they had defended well up to that point. Charlton's defense was just as good though with the new partnership looking strong and Solly and Wiggins both on form.
A second goal however was always needed as Brentford sensed there was an opportunity to claw something back.

The temperature rose in the second half with Yann Kermorgant hitting the post and, much to the disgust of Chris Powell, Rhoys Wiggins getting booked for time wasting whilst waiting to take a free kick.
Danny Green finally put the game beyond reach on ninety minutes when he came inside his man and slotted the ball home. As you'll read in a second, i was glad to see him get on the score sheet.
Another note was Leon Clarke getting a 10 minute run out for a debut, he got a better reception in real life than he did on the Charlton forums!

In the Rose of Denmark i saw the good side of our support. Great people with hearts of gold that I'm proud to call friends. Every single one of them would go out of their way to help another addick, no matter what their dress, accent or general mannerisms.
In the upper west i saw the bad and the ugly.
Behind me were a family of three, mother father and daughter. To give you a clearer picture, the daughter was older than me and the mother looked like she was chewing a wasp. Throughout the whole game they moaned. Danny Green couldn't do a thing right in their eyes and i got the feeling this wasn't a one off with him being their regular recipient of disgust. During the whole game they never had a good word to say grumbling about every pass and every set play Charlton attempted. Not once did i hear them get behind the team!

Although irritating, i can put up with what i call 'bad' support. The ugly however is another matter.
One upper north vagrant chose to sit next to me second half. He came over on his own (not surprisingly) and used the foulest of language for forty five minutes. In the heat of the moment it's forgivable to let the odd word slip, it is of course a working class game. When it's constant it becomes quite offensive.
In front of me were a middle aged, middle class couple, real stereotypical west standers. These people pay their money and enjoy their football like we do. They may show it differently but they have every right to enjoy it in a comfortable atmosphere.
So when they asked this monkey to tone it down a little, the verbal assault they received was horrific. I tried to help and got a mouthful myself. I wanted to move but felt compelled to stand my ground in case this couple got more of the same and needed some support.

On leaving the stand, he started again at this poor couple giving them the impression they weren't worthy of being there. Pot kettle and black eh?
I personally don't believe in evolution, being a creationist, but if I'm wrong and evolution was the way, this character was left well behind. He wasn't even a kid either, this man was my age and definitely old enough to have learnt how to behave in public.
On my journey home i was wracking my brains to think of an occasion when I've been this embarrassed about a Charlton 'supporter'. I couldn't think of one, not to this extent.

Upon leaving the stand i caught up with this couple and had a chat with them. I felt the need to apologise for the monkey and explain how not all north stand supporters are this mentally disabled. I explained how the majority of fans who travel home and away are decent folk and full of respect for all football enthusiasts.
I should NOT have to stand on the steps of The Valley telling Charlton supporters that Charlton supporters are nice people. It was, for me, a sad day.

Hopefully that will all be water under the bridge (poor poor pun, sorry) as we look forward to a journey down the Thames and a break from the important stuff and enjoy a day out at Premier league Fulham in the FA cup on Saturday. With 7000 Charlton fans going it's going to have a real party atmosphere and a day out to remember.

Come on you reds!!!

Cup fever

If one of our South London rivals can win at Old Trafford, there is no reason why a team that plays far more attractive flowing football (most of the time) can't have a little cup run themselves.

An opportunity to treat a young family member to a rare trip to SE7 also gave rise to my own chance of a little FA cup action yesterday which earlier in the week i didn't think was going to happen.

Carlisle United was one of the least attractive cup ties i can remember in recent years, but after a four nil drubbing in the league back in October, at least goals were on the cards and my young companions 100% Charlton record wasn't in danger.
Even at half time i was still confident of both of these facts.

Little Harry, who will be nine in a couple of weeks time, was introduced to some of the crew in the Rose Of Denmark prior to kick off. Here he was dutifully fed plenty of E numbers opening many a opportunist door for showing off and the chance to behave like a right little geezer. Just like i did at the football at his age!
The quickest of trips into the club shop, just to tantalize him before his birthday, ensued and the conformation that it's the red home shirt (luckily as it's already bought and screen printed) that's top of the birthday present list.

We bought tickets for the west stand as the upper north was closed. In all the years I've been going to Charlton, i don't think I've ever been in the west before, and i admit it was one of the deciding factors. It's now just the north west corner that hasn't hosted my matchday experience, as Harry's last visit saw us in the family stand. Never again.
It is every kids right of passage to experience the atmosphere of a packed upper north in full voice. Next time Harry i promise.

A first half of very little note did nothing to dampen our spirits. For Harry everything was big and colourful, and an almost silent seven thousand odd crowd is still huge if you know no better. I say odd, mainly due to the bloke in front of me who didn't think December warranted long trousers. I was of course tempted to offer him an ice cream, if only you could buy such a thing.

The second half picked up and we got that chance to go crazy when Michael Morrison (i really like this lad) netted at the second attempt after Leon Cort's initial header.
Substitute Jason Euell cemented the win with a very popular goal in stoppage time meaning the number 64 ball in the hat had our name, and our name alone on it.

As far as the team went, Chris Powell picked a stronger side than most sat around me had expected. Cedric Evina and Bradley Pritchard grabbed the chance of a start and showed that we already have the makings of a championship squad with plenty of talent further down the pecking order.

The Carlisle players, staff and fans had a long journey home but the supporters we met were in good spirits on the train back to London Bridge. Early December for a second round cup tie you're expected to lose, and i think four hundred is great support for Carlisle, even if they didn't have any songs to sing!
Whilst we're on the subject of the visitors, they wore yellow for the second time at The Valley this season. Obviously blue clashes with red in these modern days of colour film.

Harry and I returned to the outback here in Surrey in time for a visit to the Laser Hub in honour of his sisters birthday. I gallantly played the part of Carlisle and lost.

Fulham away then in the third round. It's a couple of days before my birthday, so with a little bit of luck I'll be able to get my grubby hands on a ticket and make a day of it.
I feel it's a great draw and the perfect opportunity to see just how far Chris Powell's red and white army have come. A winnable game and an away day London derby. Heaven.

The only downer of the weekend was Sutton United losing at home to Notts County. Again! A decent crowd and the TV cameras of ESPN meant some well deserved cash coming in and from what I've read, Sutton certainly deserved to be on the same pitch as their more illustrious visitors.
The third round draw produced it's normal amount of gems today and once Christmas is out of the way we get to do it all over again.

The FA cup, i love it. Que sera sera............