EFL Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 25,363 (2,063 away)
Despite what was, on the face of, a very average fixture, a very rare these days bumper attendance was assured today, with it being chosen as the club's annual Football For A Fiver fixture which, resulting in all seats in the stadium being sold for just £5. A promotion running annually since 2011, in recent years that resulted in increased attendances, but still about 10,000 short of a full house. Partly due to the club being in League One, but mostly because of the fans' disenchantment with the club under previous owner Roland Duchâtelet, but with the outlook looking infinitely brighter for the Addicks now, in the Championship and with new owners at least saying all the right things, this year's fixture was a sell-out days in advance.
Such days always brings an air of trepidation amongst Charlton fans, as their team always seems to turn in poor performances and invariably lose - or struggle to a dire stalemate - whenever the club runs such promotions to boost the attendance. Indeed, the last time Charlton won on a football for a fiver day was back in 2015. Since Charlton's last home game, a crucial 2-1 victory against relegation rivals Barnsley, two very difficult away fixtures followed. Last Saturday, they put in a very limp performance apparently, losing 3-1 at Stoke City, but then followed that up with a magnificent performance at Nottingham Forest in midweek, winning 0-1 against a club that would have climbed into the automatic promotion places with a win. So, Charlton came into this game in 19th place, six points above the relegation zone, following nine wins and nine draws from 32 league games. On paper, this felt like a tough game to win for Charlton, with Blackburn up in tenth place in the table six points adrift of the play-offs, following 13 wins and eight draws from their opening 32 league games. They were in decent form too, picking up three wins and two draws in their last six league games. The reverse fixture of this game was played on the opening day of the season, when Charlton, most surprisingly, secured a 1-2 away win.
A match report of this game can be found by clicking here, and brief video highlights by clicking here
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