The wait is over.

Even though we've had a superb international football tournament to enjoy this summer, i say summer..., it seems an age since our celebrations of early May. How we've all missed our passion that is domestic football.

Charlton along with a host of other clubs enjoyed their first run out since they returned to training today.
It's an opportunity for spectators to see the new kit for the first time, watch trialists they have no idea the name of, get a glimpse of and make assessments of the new signings and most of all, watch their club play under no pressure.
This isn't just a friendly warm up for the players. Supporters need to get match fit too, it's a long season ahead for all of us.

Welling United once again hosted the Addicks for this traditional curtain raiser, although at times many jokingly speculated if the game could be called off due to a waterlogged pitch.
Again, i say summer...

Chris Powell fielded a different eleven each half including a trialist keeper named Jacobo who has certainly got people tweeting.
After an even first forty five minutes, Charlton showed their dominance in the second to run out 4-0 winners.
Goals from Michael Smith, Johnnie Jackson from the spot and Danny Haynes secured the win after an own goal opened the visitors account.

Charlton won't begrudge another side taking all of today's headlines though. Maidstone United returned home after a 24 year absence. As Charlton fans (and Maidstone's visitors Brighton) will know, the day you return home to your own ground is a day that will live clear in your mind for years and years to come.

I went to the old Athletic Ground with Sutton United back in the late 80's for a GM Vauxhall Conference game. I believe it was New Years Day but i could be mistaken, it was possibly Boxing Day. Mark Golley was the talk of the terraces as the former Sutton hero was helping Maidstone to the title and a life in the football league.
At that time you could never have envisaged what would unfold over the next few years.

The ground didn't meet Football League standards so Maidstone went off to Dartford to share their Watling Street stadium.
They started well in the big time making the play offs but the following season the form dipped as did the attendances. Charlton legend Keith Peacock was at the helm during this period, the poor results on the pitch cost him his job. His successor, Graham Carr didn't last long either!

With the club in a dire financial situation bankruptcy was inevitable and Maidstone were expelled from the Football League.
Admittedly there are different circumstances involved (most notably Sky's TV revenue), but Rangers take note. The new Maidstone, named Maidstone Invicta initially, dropped seven tiers to the Kent County League fourth division playing youth football!

Games were played at the training ground at this level but to move up the ladder, and to play at a senior status, a new home had to be found. Sittingbourne's Bourne Park became the next stop for Kent's nomadic football team as the Stones entered the Kent League.
This is where Maidstone stayed as they progressed into the Isthmian League. During this period a piece of ground in James Whatman Way was destined for their own new home. Still financially struggling, work on the stadium was however infuriatingly non existent.

In a cost cutting exercise Maidstone would move again as cheaper rent made Ashford Town's ground seem a more appealing prospect. In the long run dwindling attendances put paid to this idea and saw a return to Sittingbourne for the 2011-12 season.
Encouraged by larger crowds and the very obvious rapid building work to the new stadium, Maidstone's performance on the pitch improved last season giving a great foundation for the side to build on as they return home for the new campaign.

Brighton went to Kent and ran out five nil winners today. This was of little consequence though, the wait is over for the Stones supporters, football is back in Maidstone!
Hopefully I'll be able to write a similar piece regarding Kettering Town in the future.

As a little postscript to this piece, and as we're on a little good news roll, it is ten years ago this week that i went down to Gander Green Lane to watch a rather special pre season friendly. Sutton United entertained a side who were playing their first ever football match, AFC Wimbledon.

Good news doesn't sell papers though so I'm guessing Rangers will still dominate tomorrows back pages.

We'll saddle for a draw

If any of you had seen my tweets from this morning concerning events happening outside my place of work, you'll understand that today was never going to be a straight forward day.
In fact it had been quite a couple of days really.

After my previous post about Gary Speed, we were privileged enough to read in The Daily Mail (if we waited long enough there had to be something worth reading in there) an article by former Addick Leon McKenzie on his battles with depression. A very brave piece by another true Gentleman of the game.
McKenzie is currently with Kettering Town of the Conference Premier division and is about to retire. I believe next Saturday is his last game of football. May i wish him all the best for the future.

Another highlight of the past couple of days has been the double honours picked up by the club. The gaffer, Chris Powell was awarded the nPower league one manager of the month award for November whilst our awesome (and i don't use that word freely) centre half, Michael Morrison, received the players equivalent. Both very justifiable and both very much deserved. Such a shame the former comes with it's attached stigma. Some would say curse.

On then to an away day that, in the current light, many would have expected to win. Walsall (that's in the West Midlands not Poland by the way) and the Bescot stadium isn't however the simplest of places to go when the home side are desperate for points. And believe me, they are always desperate for points.
Last season we faced them on our final away day of the season and had a certain Julian Gray to contend with!

Back to a strong side after the exploits of the FA cup last weekend, the travelling Addicks faithful were in great voice at kick off and were anticipating another goal fest. Tuning in on CAFC player, we were led to believe that there were over two thousand Charlton supporters in the ground. This did truthfully turn into a far more conservative 1065 but that is still fantastic support for two weeks before Christmas, especially considering the current financial climate we live in.

Last season the ageing Jon Macken (ageing, like i can talk...) caused our defense all kinds of problems and it was to be the experienced striker who opened the scoring today. In fairness it came against the run of play. After an initial shot  from a corner hit one of their own, Macken was there to slot the ball home. Charlton weren't happy but the goal stood. Like i say, some would call it a curse.

Walsall weren't going into the break ahead though. Yann Kermorgant headed home from a cross from loanee Hogan Ephraim just before the interval. On the radio they jested about Chris Powell's ferocious half time team talks and how the players were scared of them. I think the Frenchman proved these BBC commentators right.

With the radio mics left on during the interval, us listeners were treated to the directions to the toilets and how these masters of football commentary all took their coffee. Make a cup of tea yourself and you risked missing a genius piece of broadcasting!

The second half saw goal line clearances, the woodwork hit and a good penalty claim dismissed by the referee. Another day could have seen plenty more goals for both sides but it ended 1-1. And a fair result it was too, even if the Saddlers did finish the game with only ten men.
A point away from home is always a point gained in my book and although Sheffield Wednesday won and closed the gap slightly, we are still five points clear at the top. I can think of twenty three teams in our division who would swap places with us.

It was a good winning streak, six in the league and eight in all competitions, but it had to come to an end at some point. Perhaps we can start another winning run next Saturday when we entertain Oldham.

Come on you reds!

Shocks in all the right places

As is always the way with these earlier rounds, i hate the term 'proper', of the FA cup sponsored by that dreadful American (with German roots) lager, there were plenty of shocks and more than a headline or two to embarrass the professional players in today's papers.

I was fortunate enough to see two games from the first round, one in person and one on the TV, both of which had favourable results and both turned out to be good games of cup football.

Gander Green Lane, Sutton, was first on the agenda Saturday afternoon. The U's are enjoying a fantastic first season back in the conference south (or bet square or whatever) and although they went into the game against Kettering Town from the conference premier division as underdogs, there were in fact only a handful of league places between the two sides.

It was lovely to see the ground looking so busy again, a crowd of over 1500 turned up. That's about twice the size of a regular Saturday down the lane.
I say 'again' as it brought back many a happy memory for me. I've seen that ground both empty and crammed full over the years, not to mention everything in between, and yesterday we had a wonderful atmosphere reminiscent of some great days in the clubs history.

I did most my growing up in Sutton and during my teenage years spent a lot more time at GGL than i did at Selhurst Park to watch the Addicks. It was a lot cheaper than league football which, for a YTS lad, was much kinder on the pocket.
I saw their first conference game against Telford, i was there for the big ones against Middlesborough and Coventry plus getting the coach to Norwich and the Boro replay. These were great times but i was also there for the Surrey senior cup matches in the rain midweek. I hardly missed a match in the late eightees. I was a big Sutton fan and i do feel sometimes that i don't get there anywhere near as much as i should, and perhaps I've in some way let the club down as we've drifted away from each other. There are however different seasons in our lives and Sutton United were definitely at the centre of that one of mine.

So this cup match was far too good an opportunity to miss. I took Heidi, my wife, as she had never witnessed non league football before. I doubt very much she'll be witnessing it again though. What i would call a buzzing atmosphere she would call intimidating, what i think of as a vital part of Saturday entertainment she's finds a chore.
She was most definitely in the minority as Sutton held their own against a physically strong Kettering side. The first period may have been a little slow but the crowd had value for money in the second forty five. On more than one occasion the poppies (most apt nickname of the weekend award) threatened the Sutton goal forcing Kevin Scriven to make a couple of first class saves.
Sutton aways looked threatening on the break however and got the goal we were hoping for with a tidy finish from Craig Watkins just after the hour. There could have been more for the hosts had the finishing had been a little better, but the boys in yellow were going to make us all sweat right up to the final whistle as Kettering continued to put the pressure on.
There were wonderful scenes of delight once the ref had blown for full time. This was a football match that meant so much to the fans and one in which the players showed bags of character. There wasn't the slightest chance that a certain friendly international afterwards was going to have anywhere near as much heart and soul as was on display here.

As M&S would say, FA cup success, priceless. And of course, with a good cup run,  it is all money in the bank.

Today saw my first love, Charlton, play (unlike Sutton) their first game in this years competition.
The ITV cameras rolled into Halifax hoping to see the conference north side take a major scalp, in the same way as Northwich Victoria did a couple of years ago, and give the baying mob of armchair supporters what they want.

Chris Powell's Charlton are a different side to that which fell before them and they left that particular version of the script at home.
Yes it was a tough game of football, it was never going to be anything else, but the addicks were professional about it and at no point looked nervous.

Matt Taylor's first goal for the club was a peach of a header before the interval and should have settled things down a little. Halifax were however unlucky not to go in level when they hit the top of bar just afterwards. This meant they were still feeling upbeat and came out for the second half looking very bright.
A couple more chances plus the introduction of a young lad, St Juste, on the left hand side and it was most definitely still game on.

With Euell and Hayes starting up front and neither looking like having the greatest of afternoons, it fell to skipper Johnnie Jackson to seal things for the Londoners. A neat little piece of footwork teamed with a low shot resulted in a deflation in the voices of the commentators. From that point on, you felt that ITV hated us more and more, almost like we'd gone back on some kind of unwritten agreement.
As Hollands and then Pritchard (after great work on the right from debutant Michael Smith) put away numbers three and four, the independent terrestrial channel of the year must have felt we were rubbing their noses in it. Shame.

I have tremendous amounts of respect for the supporters who got up at the crack of dawn to be there for a half twelve kick off, and also for the club laying on free transport. I'm proud of the players for a quality performance in front of all and sundry including those I'll see at work tomorrow, so i don't have to undergo a tirade of ribbing from smug armchair fans.
Andy Townsend however, and how i so wish he read this blog, i am neither proud of you or do i have respect for you. I speak for all of us addicks there I'm sure.

As for the second round draw, well for a moment i was getting a little worried. Balls 25, Charlton, and 26, Sutton, were both still in the hat and most had already been called. I could not imagine the two coming out together, not so much who to support but I imagined being in the covered end hearing the ones i love signing things about the ones i love. I may well have stayed away.

I need not have worried though. Sutton entertain Notts County once again, just as they did three years ago. This will be the third meeting between the two, and God willing, perhaps third time lucky. This could of course give ITV the opportunity to use some of that old Coventry footage again and bring their outside broadcast team to Surrey. I could yet get the chance to tell Mr Townsend of my feelings towards him.

Charlton got a much less glamourous tie at home to Carlisle. This is in all honesty the perfect tie from the clubs point of view, and may well set us up with a windfall third round gem in January. We shall see.

Next weekend it's back to league action and my first ever trip to Griffin Park. Excited doesn't even begin to describe it.
Come on you reds!