I've addressed this question to Argyle and our friend brb.........I'll explain. What I noted today...........I went to Charlton with my son,son-in-law and two grandsons, what I observed was up to thirty coaches parked not far from the ground. OK what is strange about that.....not one of those coaches was from Stevenage,......although there was a good number of Stevenage supporters at the match.....there coaches I did not see.....they were obviously parked somewhere else. The coaches I am referring to came from all over Kent........Kent is quite a large county.....Margate/Ramsgate must be roughly 90 miles away and along the channel coast 60 miles or so.........the destinations on those coaches covered every part of the county......they where coaching-in in my estimation over 2000 Charlton fans. The crowd was 26546 today........they had done a special £5 ticket for this match........must of added 10000 to the gate. Two Questions. 1).....Can anyone tell me what Argyle do about coaching-in fans from all over Devon and of course Cornwall..........obviously organized by the club. 2).....This question is for brb........what do Gillingham FC think of coaches leaving the Medway towns and beyond taking fans all the way to Charlton. Maybe this started when Charlton were in the Premiership.....I don't know.......and continued through quite a few bad years. That aside.......old sick-note Bradley is a real favourite down the Valley.......the biggest cheer when announced.........and when he scored the roof came off.
Plymborn - quite often in the past Charlton fans would be able to tell you I make references about the 'red buses' - this refers precisely to what you have mentioned. I see them as travelling from all over Kent, although I have never looked to see how accurate that reference is. Albeit it I refer to them in a jokey manner, at the time our Chairman was less pleased and this was reconfirmed when we met them at the Valley in League One a few seasons back...http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/g/gillingham/8580382.stm Do I personally care, not one bit. I am a traditionalist, so I believe you support your team with all your heart until your death. If someone chooses to jump on one of those red buses, they are entitled to their choice of entertainment but for me my club is my life. Although from a commercial aspect, I can understand why people running our club would be upset with the buses. If this ever comes up in banter with the Charlton fans, I always refer them to the second and third paragraphs of this story (cannot find the original report)...http://www.skysports.com/fanzone/blogs/story/0,24015,17729_6807439,00.html that sums up those fans for me. Probably a bad example but it gives me a laugh. I think we should also do more special ticket offers, the problem we have is to do that, you upset your season ticket holders and core business including me. So any such structure would have to be in place before next seasons ticket sales, so we all have fair chance to scrutinise the best options/offers available for our loyal custom. Our club is currently in the process of setting up the running of incentive priced buses from Ashford via Maidstone (not sure if it has started yet), which will help many travelling Gills fans in those areas and is a positive move. I give Charlton credit where it is due, if they have the initiative to do this, then it is my own clubs failing in my opinion to not being more commercially aware. I suppose we could argue that League Two football is not going to be able to compete with football of a higher division, I then refer back to my second paragraph.
Thanks brb.....I didn't realize all that.........they are certainly well organized at Charlton.......tremendous stadium and facilities.....not many police visible and no hint of trouble anywhere.....although there were over 1300 away fans........Chris Powell one of the very few black managers in the league seemed to be well loved by the crowd..........I expect having 72 points and still in February helps a little. Our Bradley can do no wrong in the fans eyes and is now on 15 league goals for the season. Not a Flag in site anywhere in the ground , no sign of organized cheer leading......but with 26000 in ground it aint needed.
Yes Mrs LaLa......our Bradley........a term of endearment .........he was given away for nearly nothing, the sort of thing that happens under poor management......he had the ability to get in behind defences........could have scored six yesterday........Stevenage weren't taking prisoners yesterday.....they scythed him down on one occasion and he needed quite a bit of treatment.
