EFL Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £3.00
Attendance: 18.080 (1,750 away)
Following my earlier game at Parkside, home of Aveley but to watch the match between Basildon United and Tilbury, I then proceeded to drive along the A13 to the London Docklands area, through the Blackwall Tunnel, passing by Canary Wharf and the O2 en route, and then park up about a 20 minute walk away from The Valley, arriving at the ground with about half an hour to spare.
This really would be a crucial game for Charlton in the battle to avoid slipping into the relegation zone for the first time this season. I came away from the last home game, a 3-1 win against relegation rivals Luton Town, feeling a lot more comfortable that we would steer clear of the relegation zone. However, two away games since then changed that, first losing with a goal deep into added on time at Sheffield Wednesday, 1-0, although that did not tell the full story of what was a dire performance where we hoped to cling on for a point but apparently ultimately got what we deserved, and then a devastating 4-0 defeat at relegation rivals Huddersfield Town, although again, that did not tell the full story, as two late goals gave the final scoreline a distorted view. With other clubs at the bottom of the table hitting decent form, that left Charlton in 20th place in the table, following ten wins and nine draws, just two places above the relegation zone, and one point above the first team in that zone - Middlesbrough. They arrived at The Valley in dreadful form and in freefall though, not having won since New Years Day, picking up just five points from ten games since then, and manager Jonathan Woodgate will no doubt be very glad he has one the most patient chairmen in football in Steve Gibson. In the reverse fixture in early December, Middlesbrough won 1-0, in what was apparently a very blunt and limp display by the Addicks on the day.
A match report can be found by clicking here, and brief video highlights by clicking here.
This really was an awful performance by the Addicks, particularly in the first half, when players made so many basic mistakes. The second half was certainly an improvement, as we went on to create some decent chances to equalise, and were denied a clear penalty when a defender held Lyle Taylor for dear life as a corner was coming in. But overall, as Charlton sank into the relegation zone following this defeat, this was perhaps the first time I really felt that relegation is looking more likely than survival, considering most of our injured players are back to fitness yet still results are poor, and losing against relegation rivals in successive games is not a good sign.
However, little did I realise when leaving the Valley of the events that were about to take over the season. This match was played under the shadow of the looming and encroaching threat of COVID-19. The game on the following Saturday was still looking likely to take place as late as Thursday, when the government announced that, whilst taking precautions such as washing hands regularly, people should still go about their daily life and events should still took place. However, as it was announced that more and more players and coaches had to go into self-isolation having shown symptoms of the virus, all professional games were called off on the Friday. The situation quickly developed from there, and it soon became apparent that there would be no restarting of football for a long, long time - May / June at best.
Yet, that was by no means the only concern for Charlton fans, as on the Monday night following the Middlesbrough game, an almighty public spat played out between the major shareholder, Tahnoon Nimer, and Executive Chairman Matt Southall, with allegations classily vented by Nimer on Instagram that Southall had been living an extravagant lifestyle at the club's expense, then announcing he was pulling out of the club, with Southall announcing that the club had accepted Nimer's resignation from the board, and bizarrely suspending long time club secretary Chris Parkes, a decision which was reversed within 24 hours. Nimer then seemed to have a change of heart, announcing that he was determined to rid the club of Southall, enlisting club officials to suspend and remove him from The Valley, and eventually it was announced that Southall and fellow board member Jonathan Heller were removed from the board, and replaced by two unknown Romanians - one with past allegations of bribery and corruption against him. With it far from certain that Nimer has the money to fund Charlton - his failure to do so previously led to the club having a transfer embargo during the January transfer window, not known until now - who knows how this will pan out, as Charlton's (and The Valley's) very existence looks in grave danger. Perhaps the COVID-19 provoked suspension of football came at a good time for Charlton, giving the club some time to resolve issues behind the scenes without affecting on-field performances.
Returning to the COVID-19 outbreak, tragic news broke on 26th March that the club's superfan, Seb Lewis, had passed away after contracting the virus. This was devastating news for the club and its fans, at the passing of a popular, likeably eccentric character at the age of just 38, and had racked up a whopping 1078 consecutive games, home and away, following Charlton since February 1998. A brief news report can be viewed by clicking here. The club will certainly be the poorer without his amazing support up and down the country.
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