South to Charlton

I'm a country boy and visits to the Capital are viewed with distaste. To some it is vibrant and alive, to me it's crowded, dirty and unfriendly. Plus, I'm never quite sure how to get to where I'm going. So it proved. My carefully planned route led me along the crowded roads almost to my destination then let me down, so that I went too far along the road, under the Thames and up on the wrong side of the river!! I promptly went back under the water and managed to find my destination, a parking spot within easy reach of The Valley, home to Charlton Athletic FC.

The last 30 years or so have been turbulent ones for the Addicks fans. In 1985 because of poor financial planning, Charlton had to leave their ground and share with other clubs, notably Crystal Palace and West Ham. After much work by all associated with the club, including political skirmishes with Greenwich  Council, the club moved back to their home in 1992. More work remained to be done, but this was the major step. More progress of note was the opening of the North Stand in 2002, a fact commemorated by a large plaque on the wall of that stand.

The Valley now has three sides of the ground enclosed, forming a giant U-shape, with the open end bottled up by the stand-alone, single tiered South Stand, which houses the away fans.

Probably Charlton's greatest ever player was Sam Bartram, a fine goalie, who played out his entire professional career with the club. He was certainly one of the first professional footballers of whom I have memories, though he was never selected for England. I still have my copy of the 1954 "FA Book for Boys" with an article by Sam Bartram on goalkeeping and a photo of him cutting the cake, with Jimmy Dickinson in close attendance, presented to him celebrating his 500th appearance for Charlton. There is a statue of the great man outside the club reception in the West Stand. I have to say it does not look remotely like the Sam Bartram I remember, but then memories can be deceptive.

Another feature around this area is a memorial walk of stones commemorating Addicks fans who are no longer with us. A nice touch, which I have noted at several grounds.


The game was nerve-wracking for Forest fans. Injuries and tactics meant that Billy Davies selected a team quite different from that which faced Derby. Once again Andy Reid was our saviour, scoring direct from a free kick way out on the right touchline in the first few minutes. However, this was not the signal for a complete demolition of a Charlton side which was short of recent form. In fact, the home side completely took over the game, playing delightful football. Half time could not come soon enough for the Forest fans or the team and, luckily, it was still 1-0 to us at the interval.

Second half was more of the same, desperate defending by us with Charlton continuing to play pretty well.  They soon scored and played for the winner. As is our wont, we came into it strongly towards the end, but neither side could find a winner. Forest being far the more relieved to claim one point than Charlton.