Two points lost

That was the feeling as we left the Ricoh Arena. We took an early lead and seemed to sit back and try to hit the Sky Blues on the break. We certainly seemed to play the more fluent football, but we really should have taken the game to the home side.

Essex supporters travelled by coach, train, car and Tony's minibus. A relatively short and simple journey by road. Quicker by train, but the station is miles from the ground. So we had a few beers in the city centre and made our way by bus to the ground.

We arrived at the Ricoh in time for another beer and were pleasantly surprised by the service. On the concourse were tellys showing the early game. A couple of well staffed bars, with several Happy Meal options. You don't get Balti pies and beer in McDonalds' Happy Meals though. All under cover with a fair amount of space.

I mentioned in an earlier report that Charlton are now selling 300ml bottles of Fosters in the East Stand - for £3. Get this... Coventry sell 500ml Carling bottles for £2.90. That's 66% more for 10p less. I'm sure Coventry don't make a loss, so why are Charlton trying to rip off our own fans. Admittedly neither club let you keep the bottle top or give you a glass, but I can cope with that. If Coventry can do it at that price why can't we?

Another example of Coventry's pragmatism was opening the gates at half time so people could go outside for a fag. Simple straightforward logic which no doubt kept the smokers happy.

At the end of the game there was a sense of anticlimax. But that's nothing new for travelling Addicks. Now looking forward to a similar anticlimax at Hull on Tuesday.

Chant of the game: 'Your ground's too big for you.'

Up The Addicks!

Robin

What's a Ricoh?

Had this one planned for some time now. And there promises to be a good turnout of Addicks up at Coventry. Sold over 1200 tickets last time I heard. Tony's taking his bus up from Grays so there'll be a few Essex based supporters there. Tony often organises an overnight stay, but Coventry isn't far enough for that. There and back in a day. Still got a few spaces in the bus if anybody wants to go with him.

As for me, I'm off with Matt and Toby by train. We're booked on the 9.30 from Euston so it'll be an early start. Time for a few beers in Coventry before getting the bus to the Ricoh. Is Ricoh the name of a sponsor? What's a Ricoh? It makes me wonder how effective sponsorship is if we don't know what a Ricoh is. Somebody must know.

I went to the old Highfield Road a few times with some mixed results. The first time was a memorable FA Cup tie back in 1970. Lost 3-0, but it was one of my first away games outside London so I remember it for that. But the Ricoh is a first for me.

Tony usually gets the parking sorted out beforehand. It's either a local Conservative Club or he'll have sorted something out with the football club. Apparently it's not far from junction 3 on the M6. The Addickted site usually provides tips for getting there and where to park and drink. If not the Football Grounds site is worth a visit.

With Dowie getting a result at Man U the other night, the game should be a bit spicy. I think we're good for a 1-1 draw. Let's hope we're a bit better than the other night.

Up The Addicks!

Robin

Luton 3 Charlton 1

There was something inevitable about this one. I rushed away from work to meet up with the Old Man and Kim, so we hit the road just after 5.00pm. It should only take an hour, but overturned cars and road works meant that we were parking up at 7.30pm.

There must have been around 800 Charlton supporters in the 4,500 crowd. It should have been a stroll going one up in the first few minutes. But to be fair, Luton wanted it more than our reserves. They were first to the ball, and although we had some good chances in the first half, Luton ended up deserved winners.

Despite the extra time, road works on the M25, and a burned out lorry, we were home by half past eleven. Another League Cup campaign over for another year.

Up The Addicks!

Robin

Back to the '70's

Whenever I think of Luton and Kenilworth Road, my mind goes back to the bad old days in the 1970's. I don't have the most pleasant memories there. I was one of only a few that stayed behind to see Mike Flanagan put away a penalty at the far end to pull us back to 7-1. I managed to get in a couple of time during David Evans reign as Chairman when Luton introduced a total ban on away supporters. I remember being one of loads of Charlton supporters in a pub getting little plastic tickets from a supporter based in Luton. No they weren't happy days. Incidentally the 7-1 defeat was not the only seven goal defeat I've seen. More of that when we play Burnley and if we ever play Brighton.

To get into our end at Luton these days, you have to enter turnstiles in between people's houses. You end up on a terrace with plastic seats and to your left is the most bizzare 'stand' in the league. A row of connecting chalets masquerade as executive boxes. Nothing else - just chalets. I could be wrong and it has all changed, but judging from the photo on the football ground guide it hasn't. I'll be adding my own photos after the game so we'll be able to compare.

It's an away midweek game, which is always a challenge. The plan is top get away from work early, back home to Essex, and go with the 'Old Man' by car. I reckon we'll set off by about 5.00pm giving us two and a half hours to get there. The M25 is always a lottery, and the bottom of the M1 has interminable roadworks up to Luton. Apparently they are widening the motorway so they can squeeze more cars onto the road before they introduce tolls there. If anyone knows a better way to get there by car do let me know.

The usual Essex Branch bus isn't going on Tuesday. Fiddler has an airport run that night - Gatwick not Luton. Kim should be back from holiday and should be going. I hope so as she asked me to get her a ticket. Kim's not been to Luton before. She's in for a treat!

As for the game, I reckon we'll be playing a load of reserves. We should still be too strong for Luton though and expect us to win 3-1 after extra time.

Charlton 2 Leicester 0

Picked up my duplicate season ticket, bought Hull tickets, had a couple of pints in the Horse and Groom. Personally I'm not sure that women's international football should have had priority over a game between our competitors, but that's what was being shown. To be fair they had a sign outside declaring: Here the England Lionesses roar. I looked inside but the lionesses weren't in there, so I assume they meant 'Hear' the England Lionesses roar.

Walked up to the ground, just past The Oak there was a rather unpleasant incident. At first all I could see was a Charlton fan chasing a bloke, calling him 'Millwall scum'. Getting closer to the incident it seems that a car with Millwall stickers had knocked a young Charlton fan down. An ambulance had been called and the police were on the scene. There were accusations that the driver - the bloke I had seen being chased away -had been driving erratically. Something that wasn't necessarily football related was regarded as such by many people around the incident. I didn't see it so can't comment, but I did wonder what would happen if I was driving so close to the New Den through hordes of Millwall supporters ten minutes before kick off.

We sit in different stands, but in the East Stand there was mobile beer! A bloke was wandering around with a backpack full of bottles of Fosters. At £3 for a 330ml bottle, it's a bit steep, but for the first time in memory I managed to get a beer at half time!

And what an enjoyable half time it was. Carrying on the good form from Tuesday we had a deserved two goal lead. I thought Leicester were better opposition than Norwich and posed us more of a challenge, but we still looked the better side. There's a long way to go, and I'm sure there will be better teams to play, but considering Pardew has brought in a whole new squad, he must be given credit for getting them to gel so well.

Just a quick word about the journey home. We got the bus to North Greenwich, tube to West Ham and were all home well before 6.00pm. I reckon that has to be as quick as most people get back to Kent. And probably cheaper.

Up The Addicks!

Robin

A police matter?

A thorough search was undertaken. Rubbish bags were searched. And eventually the police were called. This is the process you have to go through when you lose a season ticket. With Matt still in Egypt I was entrusted with his season ticket and promised it to friends and family. With the season ticket lost, I've spent the past few days working out what to do and say.

In the end I phoned the club. It seems I have to get a police lost property number before Charlton will consider replacing it. So I wasted some police time, got a reference number, and called the club back again. For thirty quid Charlton will replace it. If I get over to The Valley early enough I'll have the replacement ticket in time for the Leicester game. This means my relative will be able to go to the game - only the second of the season for him.

For me it will be my ninth. The aim is to go to every game this season. Obviously I'll be at Charlton early tomorrow. I'll probably pick up the Hull tickets while I'm there. Getting to the ticket office early means I'll be in the pub earlier than usual. I'll probably start off on my own so will head for the renovated Horse and Groom. At least they have the big screens, even if they don't have any tables. With nowhere to put the beer down you end up drinking quicker. Let's hope I'm still in a state to watch the match.

Now that the Foxes have got rid of 'Mad Dog' Allen it'll be difficult to know how the game will go. But after the performance the other night, we've got to hope for a win. That will then set us up nicely for three away games in a week. Travel plans are already being made.

Tomorrow I'm going for 2-1.

Up The Addicks!

Robin

Charlton 2 Norwich 0

You can have a small crisis, and you can have a big crisis. Yesterday I had a big one. In actual fact it started the night before.

I should explain that my brother is on holiday in Egypt and entrusted me with his season ticket. He wanted it to go to a good home for the Norwich and Leicester games. I dutifully promised it to a relative who doesn't get to so many games now. So everything was set.

Unfortunately on Monday night, the two season tickets that I had been eying on the coffee table for the past week turned out to be my seaon ticket, and my last season's ticket. So at midnight on Monday I began searching the house looking for my brother's ticket. At 2.30am I gave up and it still wasn't found. Not wanting to let anybody down I spent Tuesday contacting the club to see what my options were. It seems you can buy a duplicate match day ticket and if the season ticket turns up within five days they will refund the match day ticket - less an admin fee.

To cut a long story short, the relative couldn't make it in the end, so I didn't need to get a match ticket. But the problem remains. I still haven't found my brother's season ticket. Guess what I'm doing between now and Saturday.

Because I got to the ground early I picked up some Coventry tickets for friends, collected some Luton tickets from Fiddler in the Con Club, had a pint in the Hope and Anchor. The H&A was a bit crowded so I met friends and family in the newly refurbished Horse and Groom. It seems this pub has now sacrificed the furniture for some TV screens. Perhaps the new management couldn't afford both.

The game itself saw Charlton playing some of the best football seen at The Valley for a long time. Norwich barely got out of their own half for the first 30 minutes. But we hadn't scored and had to rely on a superb save from Weaver to keep it 0-0. The second half saw Norwich make more of a contest of it, but we were still the classier side. It's a pity that it came down to two penalties in the last few minutes but nobody could say we didn't deserve it. But best of all was that our bet on a Charlton win and Reid to score the first goal came in at 7-1.

During the game I got a text from Grace a young girl from Chingford that rarely gets to Charlton games, but managed it last night as her stepdad supports Norwich. It's a shame we didn't meet up before the game, but we've vowed to get her down for more games this season.

Right now I'm off to look for that season ticket. Anyone seen it?

Up The Addicks!

Robin

"Let's be 'avin you"

We've had Owls, Eagles and next up are the Canaries. What is it with nicknames and birds? We've beaten the first two, lets hope we make it a hat trick of stuffed birds. And talking of stuffing birds, I assume that Delia will be there. Perhaps she'll try the delighful fare on offer at The Valley. I hope she has to queue for half an hour for a tepid pie like the rest of us do, particularly in the East Stand.



Our Essex contingent will be coming straight from work so will be travelling from Basildon, Westminster and Birmingham. Not sure where and when we'll end up eating, but we'll probably have a couple of pints in the Anchor. Also need to find time to pick up the Luton and Coventry tickets from Fiddler in the Conservative Club. The Con Club doubles as the ticket office for Essex supporters. September has been an expensive month for tickets.



As for how we'll do on Tuesday, it'll depend on how many of Saturday's injured are able to play. There seemed to be too many calf injuries on Saturday for my liking. Don't they warm up properly? Talking of warming up, I'm still recovering from circumnavigating Colchester on Saturday before we eventually found the ground. Walked for hours in the wrong direction we did!



Still, it wasn't a bad point, and the penalty shoot out at half time with the kids was a laugh. We should re-introduce them at The Valley.



Up The Addicks!



Robin

Colchester 2 Charlton 2

It's been twenty odd years since I've been there but the changes have been amazing. Now covered on all four sides, with facilities that you'll struggle to find anywhere else in the country. For those that haven't been there, you really missed an experience!

Biggest problem we had though was finding the bloody place. We left early enough by train from Romford and got to Colchester well before 1.o'clock. Multimap said it is a 41 minute walk from the station to the ground. And it probably is if you walk in the right direction. An hour and a half later we eventually stumbled over the ground. Ironically several Charlton supporters in cars asked us if we knew where the ground was. As if! Not sure if they were taking the piss to be honest.

But otherwise a pleasant day out. Minor irritation having Palace supporters on the train on their way up to Norwich, but the journey was short and relatively cheap. God knows what happened to the trains on the way back. Communication wasn't the best at the station so we'll never know what happened to the 6.03. But we got back OK on a later train.

Because it took so long for us to find the ground we ended up in the nearest boozer to the ground. Forget what it was called but it had a separate bar for away fans so that was OK.

As for the game itself, we could have won, and we could have lost. I really don't understand why Ready wasn't on from the start. The only truly skillful player on the pitch made such a difference in the second half. It might be regarded as a useful point if we win the next two home games, but we'll have to see what the state of our injured players are though.

It was the second away game in succession where we had to stand. Whatever happened to that Taylor report that said stadia had to be all seater? We've spent a fotune getting The Valley to it's present standards. Not sure what's happened at Layer Road.

Chant of the day: "We beat the scum 1-0" (This could become a favourite).

Up The Addicks!

Robin

Layer Road

It's a long while since I've been to Layer Road. Possibly the 1980s. I remember a few skirmishes with the home supporters and the ground was a bit of a dump. Apparently it ain't changed that much. It looks like we're standing behind the goal, and that will feel a bit odd. Standing on a proper terrace as opposed to the seats like in the Arthur Waite stand at Palace.

For Essex based supporters it's a local game. Thankfully we've got the tickets we wanted so there'll be a good few of us there. We've got a bus load from Grays, but I'll be catching the train from Romford. I understand it's best to get a bus into 'town' from the station, and a 20 minute walk from there. The best pubs are the Hospital Arms in Crouch Street and the Fat Cat in Butt Road. There are the normal chains in town but most of them pretty crap. Looks like the Fat Cat for me.

Anyone going from Liverpool Street should note that Palace are away at Norwich. They'll probably be gone by the time we get there, but anyone leaving early or arriving home late might want to point out that we beat them 1-0, AGAIN!

It'll be interesting to see what team we have out on Saturday now that Varney looks like he's fit. With the games coming thick and fast we might find out what our best team is. I'll be content with the draw, but it's definitely a winnable game.

Up The Addicks!

Robin