, Supporters support
With an increasing trend for foreign ownership, ROSS KEEN asks whether the Fit and Proper regulation is in fact Fit and Proper? And if not, then what is to be done to protect supporters’ interests…
Is it time for charters?
IT WAS the darkest November night and the coldest anyone has ever been. I was 6 years old and as me, my Dad and my Grandad walked the seemingly never ending walk down through Charlton Park to The Valley the excitement built.
High off the recent summer of Euro ’96, the weeks and weeks of persistent pestering had paid off as I was finally invited to see my local team, Charlton Athletic.
I don't recall much of the evening’s football - I have no idea of the result and it largely doesn't matter; but I can vividly picture the bright colours on show dazzling under the Valley floodlights, the contrasting purest green pitch and the bold brave red shirts as the home side played an exotic Grimsby side (which I now know probably featured my future hero Clive Mendonca).
The temporary warmth offered by the crowd, fuelled by an innocent and old fashioned passion and optimism, has remained with me ever since; and I remember returning home with a smile and seeing my breath in the freezing night sky after an evening that everyone had enjoyed.
And it's a similar story with the hundreds and hundreds of subsequent Valley games witnessed since; a season ticket holder since 2003/04 - when Charlton had arguably their strongest team of the modern era - my main match day memories do not solely comprise goals, players or results. Players have increasingly come and gone and almost all largely been forgotten over time - from stalwarts like Graham Stuart to nonentities like Cory Gibbs – but the match day experience itself and the associated joys have stayed the same and, despite a decade of relegation and relative mediocrity, so has the enjoyment factor.
The quality of football, the level of play or the excitement of a season is by and large irrelevant once you are devoted; a three-year stay in League One between 2009 and 2012 still yielded an average attendance for Charlton of around 17,000. The rapid decline of Premier League to third tier in just three years was not enough to kill the Charlton support, which still comprised families and friends, and generations of fans; each supporter’s habitual ritual a sacred and unique experience as they went Into The Valley; betrothed and divine.
Typically, this goes for all football fans - no matter who they support or how they support them; why else would Portsmouth fans bother?
However, now at Charlton, with the dissatisfaction at the unparalleled mismanagement and the ongoing dismantling of the football club at its peak - robbed off its culture by a despot and
ignorant owner in the Belgian Roland Duchatelet – Addicks fans are on the brink. Supporter unrest is dangerously high and a breakaway fans’ group (‘CARD’ or Charlton Against Roland Duchatelet) are attempting to encourage supporters to not renew season tickets, as well as promoting disruption.
Since buying Charlton in 2014, Duchatelet has ripped the soul from this once proud club.
Intentionally or not, the Belgian and his boardroom accomplices’ naivety of English football – failure to display a core understanding of the qualities required by staff and players for the team to survive and prosper - has been shown up time and time again; and in doing so making the club a farce and disrespecting the paying fans.
Charlton are once again on the precipice of relegation at a time when going down would be more critical than ever before to the club’s survival; particularly given the relocation of West Ham to the Olympic Stadium and the apparent apathy around The Valley.
There is an argument that, objectively speaking, Duchatelet has invested in the club. And on the face of it, it can be said that the Belgian, an obviously shrewd businessman, must see the clear potential in Charlton Athletic (in terms of location, existing fan base and infrastructure) that would have attracted him to the club in the first place.
A reported £8m has been invested in the playing squad in his time and further investment has been made with the development of the training ground and renovation of The Valley pitch and match day facilities.
Duchatelet’s most serious crime, however, is far more terminal than those that are purely football related.
Fuelled by his own stubborn ignorance, there has been a severe failure to recognise that a sustainable football club is a focal point of the community; in which thousands of people’s hopes and dreams, passion and identity are invested and reside within – often even their very purpose and their personal pride.
The fact that Charlton’s CEO, Katrien Meire, has implicitly referred to fans as ‘customers’ perfectly demonstrates this failure to comprehend the British football fan’s psyche.
Sadly, this story is an increasingly common tale. Owners are dismantling clubs across the country and across the leagues, with the likes of