Close Season

Fixture Frenzy

 

At 9am on Friday 17th June the 2011/2012 season fixtures were released to much excitement from me at least. With the amount of northern teams now in League 1, I could see an opportunity to see Charlton play more often this coming season. So making sure I was in work before 9, logged onto my computer, internet loaded and the CAFC page ready and waiting all I had to do was wait to see if the fixtures would be kind to me. By and large they have been. Most of the away games "up north" are on a Saturday and I only have problems with two games really. Notts County away falls the day after my stepson's 18th birthday and, try as I might, I really don't think I can persuade him to have birthday celebrations in Nottingham. Bury away is Bank Holiday weekend and whilst the Charlton fans are heading north, I shall most probably be heading south to visit my parents. The remaining games, except Sheffield Wednesday are do-able and will come down to funds rather than willingness to go.

 

Sheffield Wednesday is the odd one out as far as away games go. My long suffering, Liverpool FC supporting husband gets taken to all Charlton games I go to. And he has not been to Hillsborough since April 15 1989. If he decides to go, I can imagine it will be emotional for him and yet I hope it lays some ghosts to rest.

 

New Signings

 

Amazingly for Charlton we've already signed some players! I am pleased to see John Sullivan sign for us after his successful loan spell last season. Although I thought Ross Worner was a good 'keeper, I think John will give Robbie Elliott the completion both he and the club need in the push for promotion. Conor Gough and Nick Pope will hopefully continue to improve thus giving Charlton more options in goal. I have to say I don't really know much about Bradley Pritchard but Danny Hollands looks like a good signing. The signing of Cedric Evina should be a good one. Maybe I'm alone, but if he was good enough originally for Arsenal then I'm sure he'll do well for us, and to be honest we could do with a consistent left back. I certainly remember the shot he had for Oldham in the match at Boundary Park in April! Paul Hayes has been brought in to bolster our front line and hopefully will work well with both Paul Benson and Bradley Wright-Phillips. And the most recent signing is Mikel Alonso the elder brother of Xabi. If he's half the player his brother is then it should be fun watching him play.

 

Fond Farewells?

 

As well as bringing in new faces, some older faces have now departed. I feel sorry most for Jon Fortune who has never had much luck with injuries but, on form, was a great centre back. To see him stretchered off the pitch in the last home game against Hartlepool was a very sad sight and I hope he recovers from his achilles injury and wish him all the best for the future. Christian Dailly has been released according to the PFA website. Although it is sad to see him go, I feel Charlton need some younger central defenders and it's time for Miguel Llera (if he stays) to be the elder statesman at the back. It's a shame that Joe Anyinsah could not keep his fitness as he would have given us another option up front. And finally Therry Racon and what can be said about his move. I understand he wants to move to another club, but Millwall? Easy way to make yourself hated by all Charlton fans. On the few occasions I've seen him play he hasn't impressed me that much.

All In all it's been an interesting close season so far and I don't think we've seen the end of it yet.

Family

Some years ago I decided to research my family tree as I really didn't know much about them except the information given to me over the years by my parents. And that wasn't a lot. Also I didn't know what was true and what was family folklore.


I started with Dad as his family were more of a mystery and the 1901 census had just been released. On the census I found my grandparents, Thomas and Elizabeth Young living in Beddington, Surrey. Great I thought, I've got approximate ages I'll go back a little further. Found grandad's birth and entry on the 1891 census. Found grandmother's birth and entry on the 1891 census, plus her parents and siblings. So I build my tree backwards eventually reaching the 1600's.


It's all going well so I decide to start collecting certificates starting with my grandparents wedding certificate. Grandad: Thomas Young, aged 19, lives in Wallington, no father given - brilliant it's the right certificate.


At this point I realise I've committed the cardinal sin of family history research - the Elizabeth on the certificate was not the same one as on my dad's birth certificate. I had an Elizabeth Amy Manning married to Thomas, not Elizabeth Amy Vallance. And this meant that all the research I had done on my "grandmother" was wrong. So I started again but I cannot find any records to match this lady. All I know is her father was James Manning.


I should explain that there were 15 children who reached the age of 18 or more and my dad is the youngest. That's a lot of certificates to buy! First three children were all born to Elizabeth Manning. Then sometime between 1908 and 1911 she disappears. I can't find a death record so far, but she's certainly with Thomas. Then it get's interesting as the next 12 children are born to Elizabeth Amy Vallence or Caroline Elizabeth Vallence. And they are one and the same person! The reason I know this is my uncle Charles (born 1916) has Caroline as his mother but my dad (born 1932) has Elizabeth as his. And they agree that all photos are of the same woman. I know who Caroline was, she was Thomas' second cousin who lived in Dorking and I assume that after the death of Thomas' first wife, she "married" him and became mother to his three children. Then, for a reason unknown to us all, she swapped names between the children having 4 under Caroline and the rest under Elizabeth.


I did think at first that Elizabeth Manning was a pseudonym for Caroline, but Caroline can be found on the 1901 census still in Dorking. And on the 1911 census she's down as married to Thomas for 3 years. So having put some thought to this I've reached a couple of conclusions, which may or may not be correct.


First is that Elizabeth did die, possibly in childbirth as I have an aunt born in 1908; or second that she suffered from post-natal depression and was sent to a mental institution. Either way, Caroline moved in and took the place of Elizabeth and successfully brought up 15 children!


The last confusing piece is that when Caroline died her death certificate said she was born in 1880 - the year Elizabeth Amy Manning was born. 

Blogging

I started blogging and then stopped. So I decided to think about why I started and why I stopped.

 

Writing is something you learn to do at school but generally, unless you have to do it as a job, it's something that's restricted to letters or reports. All of which can be pretty dry stuff. So why do we stop writing creatively when we leave school? Go back 100-150 years and we would have written letters to friends & relations that were more like a diary, telling them what we had been doing, where we had been and any interesting bits of "gossip". There was no other way of communication - as long as you could read and write! We would have kept diaries that were a place to write your feelings, dreams and desires. How many people have a paper diary these days, let alone one that's used for more than appointments? Even 20 years ago, pen pals were a popular pastime and it was easy to write 4 or 5 pages to a friend you possibly would never meet. I'm still in touch with pen pals I made all those years ago, albeit via Facebook mostly.

 

So why did I decide to blog? Well I kept reading some very interesting blogs, mostly about Charlton Athletic, written by a variety of people around the world. My thought was not that I could do better, but I could attempt to put my view over. After all isn't this what a blog is all about? What I forgot was I haven't done any writing for years and it's harder than you think. And because I struggled I kept starting and stopping and have a list of half finished blogs. So I stopped!

 

Another reason why I stopped was I thought who would want to read my blog? I'm not attempting to write a best selling novel, I'm just writing about things that interest me. If other people don't find it interesting, then does it really matter? The answer to that is no.

 

So I may just decide to blog on Charlton's upcoming fixtures for next season, why I love cricket, my taste in music and all sorts of other things and you, dear reader, can decide if you like it or I'm just waffling a load of old nonsense.

Back (at my football) Home

May 7th 2011 I finally went back to The Valley after 12 long years! And boy has it changed. Last time I went the North & West stands were both single tier and certainly were not joined. The main entrance now looks like it  belongs and I love the Sam Bartram statue, although I do miss the ladies toilets that used to be in the car park! Well maybe not.....

I haven't seen Hartlepool play since 1994 when I saw them play a league cup game. To get a ticket I had to prove that I didn't support the opposition. I pulled out my CAFC Fan Card (obligatory in those days) and hey presto got a ticket to the main stand. On a freezing Tuesday (I think) night, with the wind blowing in from the north sea, I sat there and cheered on Hartlepool in my best south London accent. The opposition that night? Crystal Palace.


To be fair the game on Saturday wasn't the best but I was just pleased to be back at The Valley. There are signs that Chris Powell has a plan and with the right players, our future should be good. No goals in the game, but both crossbars were rattled and Charlton went close a couple of times. I liked the look of young Callum Harriott and hope we can hold onto him for a few years. Chris Solly is another decent young player and I'm hearing we have some more on the way.


The highlight of the game has to be the sight of 40 Hartlepool fans dressed as Oompa Loompas. If that wasn't enough there were another 10 or so dressed as Father Christmas. And the best thing of all? The Oompa Loompas and Father Christmas' swaying in synch and doing the "Poznan" Those Hartlepool fans certainly knew how to enjoy their last game of the season and for that I salute you!


Unusually for me my pre-match routine included a visit to a pub. This was a special visit as I was due to meet people i had been chatting to on Twitter. And a lovely bunch of people they are too! So my thanks to making my first trip back to The Valley such a memorable one goes to Algordon_cafc & Heidi, Whereslordlucan & Hideabout, Samkimber24, Nickorob, CAFCgirl87, Addicktedaddick, Marcocasual, Keithlewis90, Paulraisey & Bill and Deepestdarkest. And I look forward to seeing you all next season.

22 Years On

Normally I would write about Charlton Athletic but, for a change, I'm writing about something that affects my adopted city of Liverpool. It doesn't matter which team you support, or even if you don't, the Hillsborough Disaster affects the whole city.

Pretty much everyone knows that on 15th May 1989 Liverpool played Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup semi final and, for reasons which may be made clear in the future, gates were opened, fans streamed in and 96 fans lost their lives and countless more were injured. At 3:06 that afternoon the game was stopped. To late to help those trapped at the front, early enough to save more lives. The footage is still haunting to this day.

This weekend has got me thinking. Rightly a lot is said about those who died and the families who want answers, but what about those fans at the back? They were the ones blamed by the press and the government of the day. And I wonder how many of those wake up on a regular basis feeling guilty about what happened? How do you go about your life knowing that you were part of that? Unfortunately we will probably never know.

RIP 96

First One Up

Brighton and Hove Albion became the first team to be promoted from League One this season, and well deserved it is too. In Gus Poyet they have a young, ambitious manager who, if Brighton don't get there, will most certainly end up managing a Premiership team within the next few years. They will also have a new purpose built ground and I'm sure every Brighton fan is eagerly awaiting the first game at the new stadium. 

I hope that Gus Poyet gets some funds to strengthen the team and that they are reasonably successful next season. After the last few years Brighton fans deserve to have a few good times. And I guess it would make it even sweeter for them if a certain South London club were to be relegated to League One.

A Point Gained

A point today at Oldham. A point when so many, including me wanted three. And it was a point gained after Christian Dailly was sent off in the 34th minute for retaliation. It was a high boot by Rueben Reid but also disappointing that Dailly retaliated. This meant that Therry Racon was sacrificed to bring Jon Fortune on.

Now as I don't see Charlton very often I have to rely on those on Twitter and the website to tell me how the players are doing. So these are the players who stood out for me:

John Sullivan - kept a clean sheet and looked more than capable. Thought he dealt well with everything thrown at him and apart from one ball across the area I didn't think Oldham would beat him. My Man of the Match.

Chris Solly - first time I've seen this young man and was pleasantly surprised. He's got a lot to learn but kept his shape with the back four and didn't appear to be worried about anything thrown at him. Definitely one for the future!

Jose Semedo - Lost his partner in crime in Therry Racon when Dailly was sent off, but that didn't deter him. He bossed the midfield and made runs to support Wright-Phillips and Benson as well as being his usual tough tackling self.

Michael Stewart - I was impressed by Michael and hope we can sign him permanently. Although he was set for centre midfield, he seemed happy enough to play wide. Looked determined.


Scott Wagstaff - I'm a big Waggy fan and he didn't disappoint today. Started off on the right wing, but moved across to the left when required. Helped Chris Solly out when needed.


Paul Benson - I reckon Benno covered virtually every blade of grass today. Ran non-stop and linked up well with Bradley Wright-Phillips. Good to see him back in the team and he got more service than last time I saw him! 


One last note: a person highlight for me today was getting to meet the very lovely Sue Gallop, known to her friends on Twitter as @suzysue8.