Supporters' Trust meeting - 4 August

In response to the current crisis, former supporters' director Ben Hayes has called a meeting to discuss setting up a supporters' trust for 7pm on 4 August at Charlton Conservative Club, Charlton Church Lane.

More on this Charlton Life thread.

If you want inspiration, look here. We've history to live up to.

About that Mail on Sunday story

I stuck this response to the Mail on Sunday's claim we're close to administration on Charlton Life, and I should probably stick it here too.

Here's how I see it. I've returned too late from the pub to add much new, but hopefully this brings some threads together.

1. The Mail on Sunday has impeccable contacts within and around Charlton Athletic.

2. Unattributed quotes *often* come from journalists' keyboards. Nobody will say anything on record, but a hack can cobble together a quote based on what s/he knows and attribute it to a "source" or a "friend". It may well be close to what someone's said. But don't imagine someone's rang someone up out of the blue - the MoS has great contacts, and that quote is *probably* the result of at least one conversation which didn't include those exact words.

3. But why would this story appear? Yes, horrors could have shown up in due diligence. But Richard Murray - who, yes, is responsible for past sins, but also knows the books inside out, is on record as saying we will not go into administration. The SLP, Murray's trumpet of choice, reported the board was ready to write off £30million to ease the takeover.

4. So if we were going to write off that debt anyway... is a board member not playing ball? As is mentioned above, when does friendly debt become unfriendly? Or, as is pointed out elsewhere... is this brinkmanship from the consortium? And in any case, who is this "consortium of local businessmen"?

I'm worried. But I think the best thing is to think about *why* that three-paragraph story appeared. If we really were in such very deep shit, it could be a bigger story. Fingers crossed it isn't.

Cut the fancy talk and get to work

While some of you were braving the elements at Park View Road last night, I braved the crush at the bar in the Lord John Russell in Bloomsbury, drinking in good company and plotting for the future.

There are many, many better things to do at the moment than worry about Charlton Athletic. The reason I packed the blog in during February is that the last thing I needed was to depress myself, and because 26 consecutive posts moaning really doesn't do anyone any good. This club had enough moaners when we were doing alright - it didn't need more corrosive criticism while in a tailspin.

But with pre-season under way, what do we find to lift the spirits? Sweet bugger all. Even basketcase Southampton have got new owners, meaning its fans can now get on with their proper task of hunting down Rupert Lowe and throwing him in the Solent.

We have no such new dawn. Yet. The cancellation of tonight's fans' forum meeting - which I had a ticket for, but anticipated like I'd look forward to a root canal operation performed to a sell-out O2 arena - may mean that, finally, the long-drawn-out process of flogging the knackered Addicks is approaching an end.

Because ever since the Zabeel deal fell through, the club has been in suspended animation - eyes wide open, terrified by what might happen next and memories of past mismanagement. Under uninspiring Phil Parkinson, relegation was a certainty at Christmas. It happened, lots of people lost their jobs.

And now where is our shrunken club in July? We've finally said farewell to Zheng Zhi, in retrospect a purchase of Premier League vanity, who'd help us invade China when we can now barely invade our own back yard. Rarely fit due to the demands of his national team, it was no wonder we couldn't sell him in 2008, as the weight of his wages held down the sinking Charlton ship. It's incredible to even imagine we offered him a new contract.

Other barnacles scraped off the hull include Mark Hudson, off to Cardiff in a staggering bit of business, while the club's accountants can breathe a sigh of relief with the departures of Darren Ambrose (off to take his all-out, all-winning mentality to, um, Palace), Svetoslav Todorov and Nicky Weaver.

Coming in, though, we've only seen Miguel Llera, out of contract at MK Scum, arrive - not really a reason to haul myself to Welling to see a team of busted flushes and a manager that hopefully will be given his P45 soon.

The media hates a vacuum, and cafc.co.uk has struggled to fill it - watch our cleaning lady stick a brush down the boardroom toilet on CAFC TV - only £9.99 until August! No thanks.

Unveiling a pretty bog-standard new kit piece by piece was just patronising, and pretending that our sponsorship deal with Medway Towns Credit Union is something incredible just comes across as daft, even if they're paying you to talk them up. I don't think we were beating sponsors off with a stick, were we?

And banging on about being a Kent club - sorry, but shut up. It may have been a unique selling point in the Premier League, but Kent already has one two-bob load of shite in League One. I don't hear any great demand for another.

Let's get back to basics. We're a two-bob load of shite in south London, bob-bob-bobbing along with our fellow two-bob south London club Millwall, and looking to get out of this mess pretty damn quick. No fancy talk, no wishful thinking, is going to help. Investment and, more importantly, fresh thinking is needed at The Valley. The golden days have gone - and we now all have to work our arses off to bring them back again. Now get to it.

The magic of fixture list day

These kids are up for the new third division season - are you?

It's good to be back - what have I missed? Relegation, you say? I dunno, all I see are the same old miserable faces I saw a few months back. Are you sure all that much has changed?

Fixture list day remains, though, a day that can puncture the gloom of most miseryguts. Years back, it was the only reason to buy an evening paper. Now, for the vast majority, it's click-refresh, click-refresh, click-refresh at 10am as the embargo gets lifted. Dimmer souls will never be satisfied, demanding someone cut and past the entire bloody thing onto forum posts instead of simply clicking on a link, but for the rest of us, it's a glimpse into a future that allows us to dream. Yes, it's Charlton's FIRST EVER League One season! (Well, if it's good enough for Sky Sports News and Burnley...)

In our case, it's the a future that allows us to dream of getting our dignity back. Unsurprisingly, we kick off at home on 8 August to Wycombe, a side we played in the Cup as a Premier League side and a team whose League Two trophy is gleaming in their boardroom. Then it's from bulls (Hereford away in the League Cup) to monkey-hangers at Hartlepool on 15 August.

Other highlights...

18 August: Leyton Orient (a) - a proper midweek London derby! Yes!
29 August: Tranmere (a) - a night on the tiles in Liverpool!
26 September: Exeter (h) - remember when we played them in the Cup in 2003?
3 October: Leeds (a) - strange memories of happier days
31 October: Carlisle (a) - for the hardcore, just as the nights get dark too
21 November: Yeovil (a) - bet this is popular, a first-ever league meeting
1 December: Brighton (a) - inconveniently scheduled for midweek, as is the return fixture
19 December: Millwall (h) - Unlikely to be on that day as aged hardnuts dream of exercising creaking fists
26 December: Swindon (h) - Unlucky Swindon
28 December: Brentford (a) - A festive treat on the terraces
13 March: Millwall (a) - again, unlikely to be on that day and/or time
3 April: to be decided as the Conference fixtures aren't out until 3 July
17 April: Norwich (h) - Will be a big match if we do well
24 April: Exeter (a) - Will be a big match if we do badly
1 May: Leeds (h) - Will be a big match, whatever
8 May: Oldham (a) - Where will be we be by then? Cigars or sobbing in Manchester city centre after?

Full fixture list from the BBC - one element yet to come is the Football League Trophy, to be drawn on 8 or 15 August for the week commencing 31 August. Bet you can't wait.

The moment the rebirth started

Bring on the fixture list - and bring on a fresh start. Come on you reds!

If you haven't got anything nice to say, don't say it

You might have noticed a drying-up of posts lately - as mentioned before, watching and thinking about Charlton Athletic haven't been experiences I've been in a hurry to revisit, the Palace victory aside.

With relegation looking likely, I'm going to put this site on hold to regroup and reassess things, and to gather some strength for the climb out of League One. You'll still find some of my nonsense from time to time on Charlton Life, but after nearly five years, I need a rest from feeling "obliged" to write about miserable experiences. Thanks to everyone who's made constructive and enlightening comments, and to Stuart for chipping in over the past couple of years. This isn't the end... just a bit of a pause.

Charlton 1-0 Crystal Palace

Bloody hell, how good was that? 1-0 against the Palace, and we were simply too strong for them, putting in the kind of performance that hasn't been seen at home since maybe the day we beat Reading. For me, it was two of our loan stars who shone the brightest - Matthew Spring's goal was of the kind we've been praying for all season, while I thought ex-Nigels star Tom Soares was terrific. Also immense was Nicky Bailey, while tonight was the night that young keeper Rob Elliot became a man - some great saves and the look on his face after the match was unforgettable.

Okay, the match had some scrappy moments and saw some dreadful refereeing - where did that five minutes added time come from? - but we played hard and outfought Neil Warnock's niggly tactics. Speaking of which...

"We let them get a grip and they got a goal. Then it was a lesson in time wasting and I think they should have added on 15 minutes at the end." (more)

Shove it up your bum, you bitter old man. Now, who else is full of false hope?

Staggering already

I suppose the result of tomorrow's match against Palace will set the tone for the rest of the season - a surprise win could set up The Great Escape, another defeat will lead to more unhelpful recriminations. The dimwitted plan to have the match at 7.45pm on a Tuesday, colliding with the evening rush hour, isn't going to help matters - and won't win the club any friends among its neighbours.

Still, it's time for cafc.co.uk to wag its finger...

British Transport Police (BTP) is urging fans to stagger their journeys and exercise patience before, during and after Tuesday night's derby between Charlton and Crystal Palace at The Valley.

The Addicks' clash with Palace starts at 7.45pm, and in a statement issued by BTP, chief insp Jim Little said: "We're expecting in excess of 15,000 people to attend the match, with a large number of people expected to converge on the London Bridge area and travel from there.

"Busy rush-hour commuter rail services will run before the game on a normal schedule, and no extra train services will be available.

"Fans are reminded that the kick-off will not be delayed for them if they do not make it to the ground before 7.45pm, so they are urged to arrive at the Valley turnstiles in plenty of time to assist police and stewards."

Of course, if Charlton hadn't moved evening kick-offs forward from 8pm to suit fans from distant Kent and beyond, then getting to Charlton wouldn't be such a hassle for fans, police, and locals alike. It's going to a fraught night.

Anyhow, if Chief Inspector Little (who clearly is also taking our published attendances with a pinch of salt) is so determined the match will kick off at 7.45pm, come what may, perhaps the best we can hope for is that Palace's team bus breaks down somewhere on the South Circular, and Neil Warnock's still installing the spare tyre come kick-off.

Izale like a Lion at the Den*

In an attempt to bypass my current inability to say anything sensible about Charlton's current plight, All Quiet In The East Stand is going to take a feed of stories from the official site, cafc.co.uk. Hope you enjoy them - here's the first.

Charlton striker Izale McLeod enjoyed a winning start to life on loan at Millwall as the Lions snatched a 1-0 win over Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.

After a poor first half, proving just why two Charlton managers have barely played a striker they've wasted several hundred thousand pounds on, McLeod (right) stepped off the substitutes' bench for the start of the second period and instantly provided the cutting edge Millwall were lacking, latching onto Super Neil Harris' header and firing a shot against the upright on 50 minutes for the Mighty Lions.

Mugs could be heard banging against cell doors from Belmarsh to Brixton as the Lions made the breakthrough on 71 minutes as Marc Laird headed past Danny Coyne from six yards.

Afterwards, Millwall boss Kenny Jackett paid tribute to the judgement of Alan Pardew and Phil Parkinson.

"They're right, McLeod's awful. He's so bad for Charlton, I've got him here for the rest of the season - it's best for them," he chuckled.

"I'm sure Charlton fans will be delighted to hear that south-east London will be represented in the Championship next season by a team of hungry youngsters, with a team spirit moulded through adversity and persistence. Maybe we'll play them in a friendly next season."

After Saturday's FA Cup match at Hull City (3pm), Izale's plucky Lions go on to face Scunthorpe United at the New Den on 31 January (3pm, tickets 0870 403 3357, 53 bus from Charlton Village to Ilderton Road, special charabanc from the Isle of Sheppey).

McLeod is eligible to feature in the FA Cup for Millwall against the Tigers, having not played for Charlton in the competition this season, or, indeed, hardly at all. The Lions have yet to ask Charlton permission for the forward to play in the tie, although we have asked them nicely if they'd take him off our hands.

In League Two, Addicks midfielder Dean Sinclair made his debut for Grimsby Town and played the full 90 minutes as the Mariners inflicted a first home defeat of the campaign on leaders Wycombe Wanderers with a 1-0 win.

Town boss Mike Newell stated: "I didn't know this bloke Sinclair existed. I'd heard about Charlton throwing money at players that clearly didn't exist, and was about to complain to the FA when he suddenly turned up on my doorstep. He ain't bad, you know.

Grimsby will be looking to build on the victory when they host Rotherham United at Blundell Park on Saturday (3pm, tickets 01472 605050, "Cod Express" bus leaves Billingsgate Market at 10am).

Back in League One, Addicks striker Stuart Fleetwood was on the losing side as Brighton & Hove Albion slipped to a 2-0 defeat at home to Leeds United.

"It's not easy for Fleetwood," said Seagulls gaffer Micky Adams. "He's forgotten who Charlton are. He thinks we're playing them next week when it's actually Cheltenham we're playing."

Meanwhile, ex-Addicks striker Francis Jeffers fired one home for the first time since the invention of the internet as Sheffield Wednesday hammered doomed Charlton Athletic 4-1 at Hillsborough (hold on, have you got the point of this? - Ed).

Jeffers, injured when his shell suit caught light in a cheap nightspot in South Yorkshire, was the man of the match for Owls boss Brian Laws.

"I was told he was one of the biggest wastes of money Charlton had ever signed," Laws told the press. "But at least he got a few games."


(*does anyone else remember that graffiti outside London Bridge station?)

There's more to life (etc)

Normal Charlton service was resumed with a defeat at Sheffield Wednesday which was, by all accounts, abysmal. Did I go? Nope. I can't really add anything that hasn't been said already, and I just feel spent with the whole thing, really.

So, in the meantime, here's an amusing video of some kittens.

See, that made you smile a bit, didn't it? Oh...