EFL Championship
The Valley, Charlton
Admission: Season Ticket
Programme: £5.00
Attendance: 18,752 (3,136 away)
After two Saturdays without a game at The Valley, following an away game at Reading and then an international break, today's game would, on the face of it, represent a good opportunity to extend their excellent and most unexpected unbeaten start to the season, before a run of games that would probably be difficult to get many points from, including Wigan away, Leeds and then Swansea at home, Fulham away and then Derby at home.
After winning 0-2 at Reading, Charlton came into this game in second place, following four wins and two draws from their opening six league games. Birmingham were in ninth place, following three wins and a draw from their opening six league games. Their away form has not been good however, losing both away matches 3-0, as well as a League Cup tie at Portsmouth by the same scoreline. Ahead of the game, I felt this was a very winnable game, but as a team that may not have the standout players in it but is workmanlike, Birmingham could well frustrate us, particularly if they were to take the lead.
For the second time already this season, the matchday programme was sold at an inflated £5.00 price, this time to mark the 100 year anniversary of football being played at The Valley, containing 100 pages and including photos and tales from various club legends, officials and fans. For a Charlton fan, it was a very interesting publication, but these kind of bumper editions always seems a little unfair on away fans to "have" to purchase if they want a souvenir programme for the day.
A report of the game itself can be viewed by clicking here , and brief highlights by clicking here.
So, it was a desperately disappointing performance, with a rather subdued atmnosphere possibly due to the sunny and hot conditions. It was concerning that, with Lyle Taylor out injured, we carried very little threat going forward, and the game panned out exactly as I feared it might - Birmingham staying tight and compact, and once they scored their goal, did everything possible to waste time and break up play, for the last 20 minutes or so. On the receiving side, it was incredibly frustrating to watch something that felt like anti-football, and if teams have to win by such means, football "is gone". But it was one of those situations where it would probably be perfectly acceptable, a professional performance, if it was my team doing it.
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