Next game on the London football tour was Charlton vs Sheffield Wednesday at the Valley in South East London - a Championship encounter (the old Division 2).
Set off from home with plenty of time in hand, and did I need it! Managed to get what must have been the only train from Waterloo that didn’t stop at my stop and ended up practically in Kent! It was so rural that a fox was trotting along next to the train. Some other footie goers made the same mistake, so we all headed sheepishly back to London for a second shot at it. Got talking to one of them, he was a season ticket holder who lived in the Isle of Wight, so he gets a ½ hour ferry to the mainland, then an hour long train into London. He’s planning to go to a game in London on Tuesday night so he thinks he will get home at 4am! Great dedication.
Off the train and it was a short walk back to the ground. Having recently been in the Premiership, Charlton has a relatively large supporter base. This makes the pre- and post-game atmosphere that much more busy and exciting. With over 20,000 people at the game it had a big game atmosphere. The club shop was well laid out with a wide range of Charlton gear, even a Charlton themed air-freshener. Food options looked pretty good as well, a little sparse in options – I only spotted burgers (vege and chicken options as well) and fries, but the burger I had was pretty nice.
The ground is 75% of the way to being totally encircled, and planning permission already exists for the remaining stand-alone grandstand to be demolished and the rest of the stands to be combined into an all-in-one stadium. An ambitious plan, and one that would require the club to return to the Premiership to pay for it.
Game wise, the players’ skill level was a step-up from the League 1 game I last saw. However, the combinations weren’t as good and there was a fair bit of long ball footy played. Charlton went 1-0 up, and then Sheffield Wednesday scored twice, in their only two chances of the game, in 3 minutes to lead 2-1 at half time. After the break not much action, but Charlton had all the possession without really threatening to score. End of the game saw boos ring out around the ground.
After the game the ground cleared, and I was surprised to see the two sets of fans mixing freely. A reasonable police presence with a fair number of horse mounted officers. Everyone wanted to catch the train back into London, and so 3 or 4 trains went past before I could get on one. At least the queue was a classical orderly English one, and the station was kept safe by restricting access to the platforms. A quick 30 minutes later and I was safely back home.
Unfortunately a lack of planning led to the camera battery failing on start-up – so no photos!
As a side note, since I saw Millwall win, they have won their last 4 games. I hope I won’t give Charlton the same consistency!
Millwall and Charlton down so the list remaining is Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Leyton Orient, Barnet, Brentford, Dagenham & Redbridge.
Set off from home with plenty of time in hand, and did I need it! Managed to get what must have been the only train from Waterloo that didn’t stop at my stop and ended up practically in Kent! It was so rural that a fox was trotting along next to the train. Some other footie goers made the same mistake, so we all headed sheepishly back to London for a second shot at it. Got talking to one of them, he was a season ticket holder who lived in the Isle of Wight, so he gets a ½ hour ferry to the mainland, then an hour long train into London. He’s planning to go to a game in London on Tuesday night so he thinks he will get home at 4am! Great dedication.
Off the train and it was a short walk back to the ground. Having recently been in the Premiership, Charlton has a relatively large supporter base. This makes the pre- and post-game atmosphere that much more busy and exciting. With over 20,000 people at the game it had a big game atmosphere. The club shop was well laid out with a wide range of Charlton gear, even a Charlton themed air-freshener. Food options looked pretty good as well, a little sparse in options – I only spotted burgers (vege and chicken options as well) and fries, but the burger I had was pretty nice.
The ground is 75% of the way to being totally encircled, and planning permission already exists for the remaining stand-alone grandstand to be demolished and the rest of the stands to be combined into an all-in-one stadium. An ambitious plan, and one that would require the club to return to the Premiership to pay for it.
Game wise, the players’ skill level was a step-up from the League 1 game I last saw. However, the combinations weren’t as good and there was a fair bit of long ball footy played. Charlton went 1-0 up, and then Sheffield Wednesday scored twice, in their only two chances of the game, in 3 minutes to lead 2-1 at half time. After the break not much action, but Charlton had all the possession without really threatening to score. End of the game saw boos ring out around the ground.
After the game the ground cleared, and I was surprised to see the two sets of fans mixing freely. A reasonable police presence with a fair number of horse mounted officers. Everyone wanted to catch the train back into London, and so 3 or 4 trains went past before I could get on one. At least the queue was a classical orderly English one, and the station was kept safe by restricting access to the platforms. A quick 30 minutes later and I was safely back home.
Unfortunately a lack of planning led to the camera battery failing on start-up – so no photos!
As a side note, since I saw Millwall win, they have won their last 4 games. I hope I won’t give Charlton the same consistency!
Millwall and Charlton down so the list remaining is Arsenal, Chelsea, Fulham, Tottenham, West Ham, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Leyton Orient, Barnet, Brentford, Dagenham & Redbridge.
2 comments:
Didn't Charlton have an "arrangement" with NZ Soccer a wee while back?
Yeah, a quick google search showed Charlton vs NZ All whites in 2006 for a 1-1 draw. Of the Charlton team that day, only 2 players featured in the match I saw!
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