I must say I was a little taken aback by the dip in the attendance on Saturday, I thought we had about 12,500 only - for a London derby that is poor. I don't do demographics well and think it is all bulls-hat, but from my vantage point, I thought that the drop in attendance seemed to be in the north lower - so the kids were missing and the West stand - so we were missing a few of the more genteel fans or the bovrils. The catering inside the stadium which we discussed was like a food drop in Ethiopia, but I thought outside the stalls looked promising. The ground does lack that magic - it does not have the wow factor, maybe it was me, but the ground outside does not have that noise, that fever, that excitement. Maybe it was first game disappointment I don't know but it lacked something. Feel free to agree with me.
It was just a 'blop'. The masses will return once we go 10-12 points clear at the top... Without the Watford fans, the attendance would have been marginally over 10k, and that is worrying. The rotisserie chicken van is doing nothing, whereas there used to be a healthy queue for the burger stall. However, I'm taking a pack of kids to the Boro game, so you will see an improved atmosphere for that one. That is all I shall say on the matter.
I think it could be saga cruise time for the Bovrils now that the kids have gone back to school and the cost of holidays drops. Two weeks away and then they will roll back dragging their vacuum flasks and sandwiches with them. They dont make much noise in any event but it is like losing the stuffing in a duvet it looks a little careworn and less welcoming when the seats are empty.
My assignment right now is having to call 72 clubs to ask about attendances and how first teams are traveling. From what I'm gathering attendances are down on the whole, though surprisingly clubs like Middlesbrough are growing - home and away. From the charlton perspective, IMO, a lot of charlton fans (out demographic of fans is still older than a greater % of clubs) is there is a distrust of the new regime still. That's why I agreed with SIG about if we are in the top 6-9 come Christmas I think we will sell a host of half season tickets. A bunch of freebies and undisclosed fees don't galvanise the casual fan. A few of us have conceded our summer business was strong, a lot still need to be convinced.
The trouble with this particular discussion is that we are still going to the Valley, you need to ask those who have stopped going why that has happened. Failing that, I must admit to a drop in enthusiasm this season, and I ask myself why? Probably because I was so enthusiastic about the way things were going under Jose Riga at the end of last season, with the focus being on our Academy products, The Harriotts' 5 goals, Poyet's POTY and the way our style of play improved under JR. Despite the fact that our style of play is similar under Bob, the beautiful pitch, our winning start, I can't feel the same identification with this team, and I wonder whether some stay-away fans feel the same.
The trend has been on a downward curve for 7-8 seasons. We were regularly getting 21,000 under Pardew, and 18,000 under Parkinson. Under Powell we then fell to the 15,000-16,000 mark. We now seem to be at around 14,000, at best. We are not alone - Palace had less than 23,000 in the Premier League last Saturday, and as for Millwall ....despite their stunning start to the season.... barely 10,000 at home to Rotherham I have said it before, but our supporter base at home is so old. In contrast, I would guess that 80% of the 2,000 we took to Brighton recently were under 40.
Good post, FHB. Do you think greater numbers would be turning up if we were more reliant on the likes of Gomez, Piggott and other youth products? In other words, perhaps more fans would turn up to support players they feel a certain affiliation to (even if we were struggling at the bottom of the table). Or is it more to do with the ownership?
PEA I always maintain I would never go to the Valley if the team was full of foreigners. I am two players short of a total boycott. But seeing the kids like Gomez, Jenkinson, and Poyet comes through does sort of give me that fuzzy glow. Of course 6 months later they all fack off to wherever really pisses me off. It must be like the queen is feeling right now, Scotland is a beautiful place, full of ginger haired simpletons running freely in the lochs and lomonds, but it is out growing me, the world is changing, do I stand by the Club or the Culture?
I don't know, we have to ask those who have found other things to do. Maybe there is a general disillusion with football as a whole, the way it has become predictable. There is a glass ceiling for almost every club, when we produce players like Poyet or Gomez we don't expect to see them in a Charlton shirt for long, just hope we get them on a contract which will enable us to get a decent price for them. As soon as any club starts to beat the Big Boys, the Big Boys will flex their financial muscle and buy their best players- like Southampton have just found out. Personally I blame the so-called "Champions' League" up to a point, which means players are aiming to play in a "Champions League Club", something which was never guaranteed in the days of the European Cup and the Cup-Winners' Cup. There is also the fact that Football Clubs without exception rip their own fans off through ticket prices, merchandise prices and catering prices.
I must admit that I am one of the absent fans... from being a season ticket holder season before last I have not seen the first team play this season..... why? 1) I refuse to go and watch a money grabbing git pull on my teams red shirt... hell will freeze over before I watch TBH pull on a Charlton shirt; 2) I do not trust the Douche 3) I do not like Bob... after an initial period of distrust over JR I grew to like and trust him.... not with Bob, sorry OK 4) I do not like the fact that the senior team has not signed a single British player, we are an English club for god sake let's play some, we had 4 Brits as starters last Saturday.... playing in the Championship! I go to the U18 home games, I pay my Valley Gold money but I will not pay towards TBH's wages... NEVER! No amount of cheap tickets or glitzy promotions will change my mind, get rid of Bob and TBH and I will return but the chances of that happening are slim so I will spend my Saturdays doing DIY for some time to come.
I had my enthusiasm blip last season when I gave up my ST and went pay as you go. I decided to renew this year as it was literally half price (my old seat in the east is now £525. I paid £250 early bird for front row west upper block K). The price point makes me feel like a pensioner, but I thought it would be a ell worth the punt for 11 quid a game even if RD had turned out to be a madman which, thankfully, is not yet proven. I would not have paid £525. 'm really enjoying it. The old place is tidy and the team, whilst flattering to deceive just a touch I'll wager, are a class above the dross we've been watching for the last two seasons. I can also say that a lot Of the apparent empty spaces are because loads of people have moved seats, presumably due to the new price points. We were in splendid isolation in K block last year. Now it is mobbed. I suspect that the other relevant factors are: 1. The football bubble is generally slowly and inexorably bursting. It will take a while but it will go pop at some point. My kids could not be less interested, not can their mates. 2. Whilst we ST holders and pay as you go troops are well aware that it is dead cheap to go to the Valley this year, I suspect it is a well kept secret outside our close knit fraternity. I have seen very little external marketing. I'll be interested to see what happens once all the holidays are finished and if we are still doing well, but I suspect our core support for non premiership football is lower than people think
All perfectly solid reasons to stop going, but did you also boycott Selhurst /Upton Park for 7 years ? I can put up with the foreign influx & can swallow RD's motives for now. My personal tipping point would come if and when any owner decided to move us out of The Valley. That would spell the end of my active support for the Club. For me Charlton = the Valley, and all of the memories that go with it. You can stick your soul less Greenwich Peninsula plans up your arse-nal.
I admire your morality, but I don't understand some of the hatred. Ok you don't want to watch TBH, but he is not a greedy bastard, he was being paid what was mutually agreed by the Chairman and Manager of Portsmouth at the time. I do not understand the hatred of Bob Peeters, what has he done to incur your wrath? To me he is a good Manager and person, I don't understand your comments at all. Charlton has always had Foreign players playing for us Eddie Firmani, Simonson etc. I would like to see more British players but it is a simple fact of economics. Good Championship players are expensive, both in transfer fees and wages. Bob Peeters has played Academy products, Solly, Gomez, Harriott, Wilson, Cousins, Fox in the first team this Season, that is more than most Championship clubs. TBH and Bob Peeters are going to be paid whether you go or not. You are rather cutting off your nose to spite your face. I will go to the Valley if we have a whole squad of outer *****lians. I support Charlton and will carry on doing so.
AHLL is still supporting Charlton through Valley Gold. Everyone has their tipping point, and if Murray had sold the Valley and moved the club out to Kent somewhere I'd have reached mine, probably gone to Dulwich Hamlets. I've nothing against Bob, but was bitterly disappointed when JR was sacked, and look forward to giving him a huge welcome if Blackpool don't sack him.
But why is getting rid of Riga Bob Peeters fault? You can like what Riga did and like Bob Peeters which is my stance. They both did/ are doing a good job.
AllHell - there's Stephen Henderson, so we have signed 1 British player. I'm in 2 minds on the issue of foreign players. On the one hand, I cling to the romantic notion of a team full of Brits with a sprinkling of academy products, all of whom play for the love of the club above anything else. On the other, I recognise that even the British players at Charlton aren't playing for the club because they love it, rather because we're paying them, and the likes of Henderson and Wiggins have no more emotional connection to Charlton than Bikey, TBH, Buyens, Igor etc. Even the academy products support other teams (Solly - Arsenal, Fox - West Ham and so on). And then there are the likes of Poyet, who put their own career ambitions ahead of staying loyal to us. I don't necessarily blame him for that, but it does show that for almost all players the football club is just an employer for them. I agree with Vol ( ) that the Valley is Charlton. If I'd been alive at the time I think I would have gone to Selhurst and Upton Park, but I would have seen them merely as the venue where Charlton were staging their home games. The Valley is a special place, and I hope RD is aware of that. I might not like TBH as a human being based on what happened at Portsmouth, but I'm not there to judge him as a man, merely as a footballer. And so far he's proved himself to be a classy centre-back. So as much as I understand AllHell's position, I can't imagine not wanting to go and see Charlton play. I'll be there tonight, as nervous and as emotionally involved as ever.
Personally I moved from North Lower to North Upper this summer as it was the same price unlike in recent years, it looks terrible when watching highlights of our games though, so many empty seats there. The plastics will be back in a few months if we're still doing well. The funny thing about being in the Prem is people who claim to support us seem to have more disposable income when we're there, but they wouldn't renew if we were relegated.
