A dire and worrying 13,600. We are going to be in Millwall territory soon, if we carry on losing supporters at this rate. When you consider that we have 10,000 season ticket holders and Donny brought 626 with them, are we really now getting less than 3,000 fans who pay on the day ? Whatever we think of the owners, you can't even use cost as an excuse. £20 to get in is very reasonable compared to other clubs. It was only 3/4 seasons ago in this same league, playing dire football under Pardew & Parky, that we regularly got 18,000 for league games. I haven't got an explanation or an answer, is anyone else worried about this ?
I am extremely worried by the drop off in fans.I am extremely worried about how our Club is being run off the pitch.I am worried that good experienced Charlton people like Wendy Perfect, Rick Everitt, Reed the HR lady, Kavanagh, Varney have left under a cloud. Now Paul Ellison has been suspended. I am extremely worried that all of our players(with the exception of three)Manager, coaches are all out of contract next Summer.I am extremely worried that it will all get worse on and off the pitch.
The Olympics actually opened a lot of young eyes as to what sports entertainment should be, travelling was a breeze, the fun, the friendly atmosphere, the success, the pride. Compare that to the atmosphere at the valley, parking is awkward, stewarding is straight out of aushweitz, the catering is like a UN food drop in Somalia. The stadium has the atmosphere of a tea room in East Grinstead, the play on the pitch is predictable and boring. My kids lost all interest in cafc after the Olympics and to a huge degree so did I.
Dick, With all due respect that is about the piss poorest excuse for attendances dwindling I have ever heard. Are you saying that because the catering manager has been suspended, the gourmet loving cafc fans are staying away in protest? Are you suggesting four thousand cafc fans have no sense of taste and smell. Even, the Thamesmead burger chavs in the north stand don't eat the crap that this club call food. I think you and the supporters truss ought to look at yourself very carefully at who is killing this club
Just a small anecdotal example, but when we went to take our usual seats in the CE yesterday, we found them splattered with week-old bird ****e. It was the same for the season ticket holders either side of us. We all stood and waited until kick off, and then moved to clean seats nearby. It summed up the apparent lack of care and attention at Charlton right now. At least let your paying customers sit on clean seats, FFS.
Have got to say that the equipment they used to try to clear the pitch yesterday looked less than state-of-the-art At one stage I was half expecting to see Tony Jiminez run on the pitch wielding a mop he had borrowed from the chippy.
On the attendance front, the weather was crap, it was August bank Holiday with many people on holiday and we are on a losing streak. No surprise the attendance is down. That you sit in seats with week old bird crap on is a sign of attention being paid to the wrong things and it may symptomatic of the changes going on in the back office staff at the Valley. My first match of the season yesterday and there was certainly a lack of atmosphere but the issues listed above can all be temporary. If the new administration and operational managers bond with the people who work for them (communication works guys) then they can overcome the unpleasantness of dispensing with long serving staff who may not have been performing to the best of their ability. Motivating people to give the paying punter a good experience whether it be catering, seating or just polite safety and security staff is important. Personally I had no problems with any of that aspect yesterday. Getting the team performing will get the crowds back If global warming continues to make the pitch wetter than my local swimming pool and the walk from where I park the car an experience to be forgotten, then we have a longer term problem which might mean accepting an offer for the valley and moving to a ground where there is good car parking and better drainage - I would be against that but it may be a practicality we have to accept if we want to compete for crowds. Agree from the visit to the valley yesterday that something was not right off the pitch and we need to look at why, but will not jump to conclusions about it being the departure of the old guard, the lack of money or the fact that it is still August. Knee jerk reactions usually are those you look back on with regret.
The atmosphere was excellent yesterday from before KO all the way through. Thing is whatever's happening fans staying away isn't helping I will be there season ticket holder whatever performances we have on the pitch. Or troubles off it
I was one of those who didn't go- I was on my way back from the Edinburgh Festival. This is the peak holiday period. I didn't stay away out of sympathy for Matt Wright Paul Ellison etc. From what I've been reading our back 4 seem to be continuing their slide, which is pretty alarming considering that they have been the basis of our success in getting promoted then consolidating. This was not an area where I thought we needed strengthening, and it gives The Doctor a headache he could well do without in these difficult times.
However..... Three years ago, the first home game of the season, and whatever village team we were playing (note to dicky here, when the cafc 6 were still at the club) the club shop was not open or closed at 2.30, the club could not afford to get the scoreboard repaired (at a cost of £1800) the catering in the west stand was reduced to just two outlets, the woman's team and numerous other long serving cafc employees were sacked or had been sacked a few months earlier (where was Ricky and the trust then?). Was yesterday any worse?
One of the arguments i have seen put forwards is that the current owners dont want fans in key management positions within the Club. The inference seems to me that certain people were appointed on an 'old pals act' basis by Richard Murray and Peter Varney. Personally, that notion would not surprise me The one thing i would say about the ex employees is that whenever you contacted them about an issue over the years, you could see that their heart was in it, and you got a genuine and heartfelt response. I would class Varney, Everitt, Everett (Mick) and Matt Wright in that category. Whatever you think of some of their motivations, it simply cannot be good for any business to lose such a swathe of long standing employees so rapidly, particularly when those remaining palpably have little or no interest in the welfare of CAFC.
Billy, Is it true that Jim Davidson was appearing at the Edinburgh Festival for the first time this year
Didn't see him being advertised. There was a "Football comedian" (his name wasn't Jiminez) but he wasn't performing on the days I was there.
All we've ever had to go on since this new lot arrived is rumour & gossip, An atmosphere that was always going to happen due to their secret set up, and the fact they've never given us a clear indication of their intent, it's no surprise fan support has dissipated... Fans have no idea what to think, believe, or trust... We've seen our Man City supporting front-man becoming more aloof... His initial interviews were upbeat, ambitious, even boastful... Our largest shareholder, who could do a walk in for Teller from Penn and Teller in a flash, has happily played the mute since he walked into the building, and seems happy to remain doing so, keeping his intentions for the club to himself... Is it a surprise that as fan morale has fallen so have attendances..? Having said that let's not forget it was Murray's reign that landed the club in £30m debt which still stands there today, shifted sideways into a separate company, a company he passed the baton to, and it's there for any future investors... Nothing has changed, we needed investment/takeover under Murray back in 2004 & we still do... Support started tailing off slowly but surely back then, and it's been a steady slow burn ever since... Personally "Takeover threads" are all I'm really interested in reading about now, as every other topic can be covered pretty much in one predictable boring sentence... "We have no money"... At least I still have my hopes raised in a takeover thread... The "manager out" threads that are no doubt doing the rounds in a forum near you, don't even get me to raise an eyebrow any more.
Talk of a takeover will remain wishful thinking whilst the asking price remains at £40m. According to VOTV and others, potential buyers value us at no more than £25m. The huge elephant in the room is what happens if K.Cash & Co get bored, or run out of money before long. The consequences can be seen at clubs like Portsmouth and Coventry.
But £25M doesn't even cover the debts, and Del & Rodney are still holding out for profit, as will Murray, who fleeced the fans of their shares, and put himself in a position to receive any future profits from this lot when he passed the baton over.. Portsmouth and Coventry are a worthy analogy, but so are Southampton & Palace who proved administration isn't the end of the world either. Bottom line....It's only worth what somebody is willing to pay for it... I don't believe there's a magical figure that'll give us what us what we want... Wasn't it sold to this lot for a £1..?
£40 M is cloud cuckoo land. 25M is a good offer for where we are now.The pressure is mounting on our owners, do they take a lower offer or do they hold out for 40M which is a non runner. What are there ongoing plans? What do they think will be achieved by running the players contracts down? Is administration an option. All will be revealed in time.
Is it..? We have no idea what the figure could be, because we have no facts about all these supposed prospective buyers, and more importantly, we know nothing about how deep their pockets are... £40m to a man on the street is bundles, equally somebody else could see it as small change... Many addicks have this great knack of undervaluing the club, they don't even know there doing it... I doubt our current board cares either way, but what I'm sure they do care for is coming out of this with a profit, and if that doesn't happen we all know what's to follow, but as other clubs have proved it doesn't mean it all has to end in tears.
What some of you are overlooking is that the new type of owners are not necessarily looking to make a profit, or even break even, when owning a football club. There are many more promising ways to invest money around the world if that were their main concern. Most of them have made their money in illegal or unethical ways. They are awash with money and are buying clubs as a way of legitimising themselves and presenting themselves as "men of the people" in case the political climate changes and they are in danger of being deported or ostracized by the powers that be. In such a case a club like Charlton with our squeaky clean reputation and flourishing Community Trust is an ideal public relations investment. Roman Abramovich owns two yachts costing 485 million and 300 million dollars. 40 million for a football club is small change to someone like that. When you have so much money that you could not spend it in twenty lifetimes, why not buy a football club as a hobby instead of, or as well as, racehorses, yachts, palaces, etc? The point I am making is that normal commercial or accounting practise does not apply.
