Family fun day

A Charlton fan who took his family gives his impressions: '[A club official told me] it was a bit last minute, could have been done much better and they were not expecting so many people to turn up. The OS estimates that a thousand came through during the day but could of been more or less who knows.'

'I was surprised that everyone wasn't milling around the west stand but you could go and admire the new velvet carpet of a pitch from the north end. And it looks splendid with new random sprinklers going off too.'

'The skills sessions: a couple of players appeared now and then in front of the tunnel, had a short kick about and disappeared - often before you could get down there to watch!'

'Anyway, it was all going on in Crossbars. I was warned that it was carnage in there and a look through the window from the seats revealed Oxford Street on Xmas Eve. The decision to host in Crossbars was to promote that area as the other suites are sold out for the season. So we went to the youth club opposite the club shop cash point and played table tennis! A nice Canadian guy gave us an interesting run down on the programme'.

'Now, the big thing, the Q&A with Dick, Kate & Bob! Was anyone else puzzled when they advertised this for the Media Suite? - a bit small! So I thought people would shuffle through in phases, ask some questions and then give others some time in there. Nope. [A club official] explained that 40-50 had been squashed in there, and that was it they weren't coming out and the trio of club personalities were in there for the long haul. He thought it should have been in a larger suite but agreed when I suggested that perhaps they didn't want that level of scrutiny. I asked if it would be on Player and he thought that it would.'

'Love the players but wasn't going to queue for an hour to see them. Maybe they should have had separate queues per player as you had to shuffle along all of them, and it would have been rude to pass on some. So this slowed it down a great deal. You wouldn't want to snub Mr BK - a huge beast of a man.'

'The face painter's were working their socks off and with a queue of 8-10 my youngest girl was happy to make a badge instead. The lovely ladies on that table gave us a £20 voucher off a full kit, which was nice.'

My comment would be that it's always possible to learn for these events and do things better, but I would commend the club for making the effort.

Some footage of the event is here: Fun Day

Men of Kent and Kentish men

This article on our sister site on football in Kent may be of interest to some readers, there is some reference to Charlton: Men of Kent

To tattoo or not?

There has been some controversy on one of the boards about tattoos. A number of people posted photos of their Charlton tattoos. One of the problems may be that tattoos do not photograph that well.

Let me make it clear from the start that I regard having a tattoo as a matter of personal choice. I prefer to see people with a single or two or three well done tattoos rather than mass of them, but that's just a preference. At least if you have a tattoo of your football club you may be less likely to regret it one than a tattoo of a one time loved one.

Of course, culture can make a difference. I once watched a rather dull match in Chile in which the home team was Catholica (the team linked to the Catholic University in Santiago). When the single goal was scored, the scorer ripped off his shirt to reveal that his back was covered with a tattoo of Jesus on the cross.

A recent report has found a big shift in attitudes towards tattoos. It was noted, 'Tattoos were once the preserve of sailors, prostitutes and criminals: a warning as much as a decoration. Now they are most likely to be found daubed on to the skin Britain’s middle class, 28 per cent admitting to having at least one tattoo. The figure means that the middle class has leapfrogged the working class, which had only 27 per cent of its number marked'.

'It is a trend that has even become well established in the rarefied “AB” upper [professional and managerial] class — 19 per cent have been under the needle. Aman Malhotra, research assistant at Harris Interactive, which conducted the study, said that the tattoo was no longer the preserve of the working classes.'

The study, which looked at more than 2,000 people across the country and from different demographics, found that 19 per cent of the middle classes had between one and two pieces of body art, 6 per cent had between three and five and 17 per cent had between six and ten. Not everything has changed though: only 1 per cent of the middle classes had more than ten tattoos and Mo Coppoletta, the founder of The Family Business tattoo parlour in Clerkenwell, north London, said that their approach to body art was still “conservative”.'

I would guess that one would find more tattoos in the Covered End than anywhere else with the smallest number in the West Stand.

Charlton in three cornered battle for Delort

Charlton are in a battle with Brentford for the signature of 22-year old French striker Andy Delort while Rennes are trying to keep him in France. He scored 24 goals in 36 games for Ligue 2 last season. People have been having fun on Wikipedia changing the name of the club he plays for.

Sources close to the beverage department are saying that he was at Sparrows Lane yesterday. He was supposed to arrive at 2, but didn't get there until 5, limiting the possibility of talks, but it is claimed that they continued on Saturday.

Apparently he had talks with Athletico Madrid and Leicester in May, but they came to nothing: why is not clear. It may be that he likes a French-speaking environment, a need which Charlton as the Belgian club that plays in London could meet.

Leeds United fans are now saying that it is a done deal that he is going to them, but one site is insisting that it's a battle between Brentford and Charlton: Delort . This appears to have been correct as Leeds have now stated that they will not be signing him, which means we are back to the original three cornered race: White flag

He has played once for France's under 20 side and also for French beach soccer under the management of Eric Cantona: Career

In case he does come to Charlton, here is some video: At his best

Charlton win friendly

Charlton won their friendly at Portsmouth 2-1 in spite of a missed penalty. Vetokele won the penalty in the second half, there was an argument over who should take it, so Bob Peeters decided that Jackson should and he missed.

Addicks goalkeeper Stephen Henderson was given a welcome reception on his return to Fratton Park. The same could not be said for Tal Ben Haim, however, who was roundly booed every time he touched the ball.

All the goals arrived in a six-minute first half period, as Danny Hollands’ header was sandwiched between Igor Vetokele and George Tucudean strikes. It was Charlton who broke the deadlock on 19 minutes when Vetokele hammered an unstoppable shot past Michael Poke from the edge of the box. But Pompey hit back moments later, with former Addick Hollands stooping to head home from virtually on the line after Wallace’s cross had been sent back across goal by Ben Chorley. The Addicks soon restored their advantage, however, as Tucudean was left in too much space to drive home a fine finish. There was almost a second equaliser by the hosts immediately after, but Henderson made a fine stop to keep out James Dunne’s well-struck effort.

In the second half Devera made a crunching challenge to prevent Addicks substitute Simon Church racing through on goal.

Of the crowd of 3,912, 362 were Addicks.

Pre-season matches

Charlton go to Portsmouth today in their latest pre-season friendly. No doubt if we lose, or even if we draw, pessimists will claim that it means a relegation battle ahead.

I am going to a pre-season at my local non-league club today. I haven't been to any of the others, perhaps just as well as they lost 1-2 at home to Cheltenham Town, 1-3 to Walsall (admittedly at almost full strength) and could only draw 2-2 away playing the Bardsmen at the Anne Hathaway Stadium. The only win has been 3-2 against Birmingham City's development side. Do I therefore conclude that they are facing a relegation battle: no.

However, the manager has been complaining in the local press that he hates pre-season matches. Actually, his comments seem a bit bland compared to the swearing in his Black Country accent which happens when he comes into the vice-presidents' lounge before a game. Nevertheless, he has my sympathy. A number of players have already picked up niggles and we have just one physiotherapist to deal with them.

Even at Charlton's level, there is nothing worse than getting an injury in a pre-season match. I remember Matt Svensson banging the side of the dugout in frustration when he got injured at FC Roda: it kept him out for a long time. (A happier memory of that game was sweeping up in equine magnate John Window's Merc: he told the car park attendant that we were Charlton directors).

In the old days there was generally one practice match pre-season, Probables v Possibles or Reds v Whites or sometimes Blues v Reds. These were generally played behind closed doors, although the one on 11 August 1956 attracted a crowd of 3,392 and that on 11th August 1957 saw 3,843 at The Valley. A combination of senior and junior trial matches in 1958 brought in 4,095. A match today between the first and second eleven might well attract a bigger crowd. But I hope those going to Pompey today enjoy themselves.

Jenkinson joins his friends

Former Addick Carl Jenkinson has joined West Ham on a year's loan from Arsenal. He says that he has 'a lot of friends' at the Boleyn Ground and it is the place where 'he always wanted to go'. Possibly one new friend he will make is Diego Poyet and they can swap stories about their escape from The Valley. Read more here: Jenkinson

My season ticket has arrived, something that always heralds the start of a new season. Equine magnate John Window got his last week and I was in some trepidation about mine coming at all after the local Post Office managed to lose a parcel addressed to me. However, the mystery was solved when it transpired they had been looking at the sender's address in Andover rather than mine.

Apparently Michael Morrison and Lawrie Wilson, two popular players, have been delivering season tickets to some fans personally this afternoon, a nice idea.

Many fans will, of course, be using the Rickshaw service this season which will be augmented by new First World War surplus vehicles from Belgium - picture below.

New standards of rider comfort