The Year 6 Football Zone

Tonight I will be flying back from Nice Airport to Gatwick, spending the night at my parents house and then getting up early no doubt, yet full of anticipation for what should prove to be a brilliant day for every Addick across the Globe!

The last few years have been incredibly miserable for Charlton fans. The Curbishley era quickly faded away into distant memory – being replaced instead by a string of incompetent managers, half full stadiums, dismal performances and a most heart-breaking of all – the loss of that unquantifiable thing that made Charlton, Charlton.

The ghosts of Mendonca, Robinson, Humphrey, Lee, Leaburn, Jenson, Parker, Konchesky, Keily, Rufus, Bent, Kinsella, Stuart, Bowyer, Brown etc made this loss even more difficult. The memory of all those magnificent players, playing their heart out for CAFC week in week out made the half-hearted efforts of many a journeyman footballer in a Charlton shirt even harder to stomach. All that those legendary players had done to get Charlton to the position they were in seemed like it had been thrown away and that we were destined for third tier, if not worse tier, football for a long long time.

Then something happened, along came SCP and within 18 amazing months, we finally had our Charlton back and one of the greatest season’s in the clubs proud history to enjoy. I, like another 27,000 Addicks, can not wait until tomorrow and enjoy what will be an incredible day. The chance to thank Sir Chris, the current crop of players and their ability to evoke that lost Charlton spirit will be something that I shall relish win, lose or draw!

Bring on the Championship.

COYA

After three long years in league one, Charlton Athletic finally secured promotion back to the Championship after defeating Carlisle 0-1.  The ‘massive’ Sheffield Wednesday could only draw with Colchester United which meant mathematically, second tier football was finally guaranteed for the Addicks – who have led League One since September 2011.

I was actually on a stag-do on Saturday; so at 3pm I found myself in an executive-box at Upton Park, watching the Hammers destroy Brighton 6-0. Luckily, the box did have a TV with Sky Sports on it so I was able to follow proceedings at Brunton Park and the Weston Homes Community Stadium.

I greeted both final whistles with a huge roar of delight, and a tear in my eye as I saw the delirious fans run onto the pitch up North to celebrate. Five years of football misery finally ended with a feeling of utter joy, shared by every Addick across the globe. The celebrations continued long into the night – making my flight back to France the next day, a little sketchy, but this truly was a weekend to remember and to be extremely proud of Chris Powell, the CAFC squad and all those fans who remained loyal to the almighty Addicks.

COYA

Today Charlton lost to Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium charlton were down to 10 men and had a unlucky defeat from an early penalty and lost 1-0.

Mr Jones said it was important.

I spent my first ever Christmas away from the UK this year, which meant I didn’t attend a boxing day Charlton match in god knows how long. What a game to miss. Over 800 Addicks, including my Mum, Dad and friend Vernon, did make it to Yeovil and every single one of them would have returned home full of Christmas cheer. Charlton came from behind twice to win 2-3 in the last minute through Danny Greens first goal for the club!

I spent my afternoon sat in glorious sunshine in the Cours Saleya in Nice eating and drinking with friends, but managed to get back in time to follow the last 10 mins of the game. It was 2-2 at that point, but according to Twitter it was all Charlton, but we couldn’t find a way through until the 91st minute when an unstoppable Green shot whistled into the net. Twitter is a great way to follow football when you can’t get commentary, however the negativity that appeared when we were 2-1, down and 2-2 reminded me about the bizarre expectation levels that remain at Charlton. The criticism about a team, top of the league, halfway through an unfinished game when following #CAFC was astonishing! I guess a lot of those ‘tweeps’ were the boo boys when we were mid table in the Premier League.

Anyway, at the final whistle, any sense of negativity disappeared, especially when a quick look at other results showed that Walsall had also staged a comeback all of their own against non other than our main promotion rivals, Sheffield Wednesday. They beat them 2-1 in the last minute! Christmas dreams can come true!

Next up, Orient away – I’m gutted I can’t make it as its always a great atmosphere (from the Addicks at least) at Brisbane Road, but I’ll put up with any feeling of homesickness for a point or three.

COYA.

I know I may not seem lika a girl who is interested in football, although I have a team that I always want to win! I started to like it after I saw them play, most of the boys like them. I love barcelona! My grandma loves Man U and when they were playing against each other I wanted Barcelona to win, because I’m so lucky they did! But my grandma was very dissapointed, I felt so sorry for her.

GO BARCELONA!