TNT CAS Trust News
AUTUMN EDITION
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NUMBER 7 SEPTEMBER 2014
EXCLUSIVE: KATRIEN INTERVIEW SAY NO TO LEAGUE 3 CAFC HOME & AWAY DO AWAY FANS MATTER?
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to the 7TH Edition of CAS Trust News I HOPE YOU will find articles within these pages of genuine interest and quality, as this is our intention for every edition. Charlton’s Managing Director Katrien Meire agreed to an interview request (pages 4-8) we also cover issues that are of concern to fans everywhere like away ticket prices and the B team proposals. We have also examined who is in East Stand, Block A (see pages 10-11) CAS Trust now has a new board in place and I’d like to welcome the newcomers as well as thank those who have left. There is a considerable amount of time and effort needed to get a Trust going, but I must repeat that all those that have worked with me on this are ordinary fans who simply want the best for their club. To me that is what a Trust is all about, and this sometimes untapped energy extends to our members and supporters, and the fan base as a whole. Our Trust was officially formed on the 20th anniversary of our return to the Valley (5.12.12). The club was going through some turmoil but by no means a crisis and it was around that time that the CAFC board appeared to change tack and look to sell the club. Roland Duchatelet took over Charlton in January and began implementing his radical plan for the club. Similar to his track record at Standard Liege he began by moving on some of Charlton’s top players, but also brought in under-utilised players from his other clubs, as well as one from his established scouting network. This was underpinned by what we believe to be a computer based system for player performance reporting and assessment. Chris Powell’s challenging season got that much harder. Having been denied many of his targets
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in the summer he was further hindered when more tion in it on pages 14-15 and argues that some of the first teamers left and he was handed players all of pessimism of the spring might have been misplaced. whom failed to hit the mark for him and his succesThe club has also continued to become more sor, and who have subsequently left the club. Then, commercialised. Catering was recently outsourced, to the further angst of some Charlton fans, his sucfollowing the shop a year or two previously. cessor Jose Riga, who had steered the Addicks away Internally key positions in the club are no longer from relegation with Powell’s men and new talent occupied by Charlton fans. Gradually some of those Diego Poyet, was then also moved on. things that made Charlton special, and arguably conAfter that the roller coaster of the last 9 months tributed to its success have been eroded. The club for Charlton fans seems to have now steadied. We is not the same as it was, and for some this has been have a new head coach in the form of Bob Peeters; painful. Katrien Meire acknowledges that there is a rebuilt first team; a beautiful pitch and a tarted up still work to do to win the doubters back. Valley. The results can literally be seen on the pitch. If no regard is paid to halt the excesses of overM. Duchatelet has used his network to bring in higher commercialisation what may be left is a husk or a quality in the form of Yoni Buyens, Tal Ben Haim franchise. Sure, if there is success on the pitch we and Frederic Bulot. He also invested may have higher attendance, but some serious cash on FC Copenhagen what about when things go wrong? striker Igor Vetokele and in agreeing My own suggestion to answer “Katrien Meire deals with Johann Berg Gudmundsson at least part of this is to say to the acknowledges that owner of the club - take the fans and Andre Bikey. Despite all this considerable there is still work to with you on the journey. Utilise investment plus revived plans for the that energy from the supporters do to win the training ground and some significant and make them agents of the club. reductions in season ticket pricing, doubters back” Avoid taxing their goodwill by over we understand that there are well “sweating the assets” and underover a thousand fans who haven’t take a genuine engagement with renewed their season ticket. The attempt to tempt the fans. For example the spend per head of fans in them back with a free match ticket apparently the ground can be increased by improving quality evinced little take up. and queuing and making it a place for pre match Gates have slid year on year since the season ticket socialising, and avoiding the temptation to over price rises during the last season in League 1, but price. Most importantly though the board should attempts to reverse this appear to be failing. The continue to get out to fans and to reassure them disappointing season ticket take up may be the result that Charlton’s interests and identity are secure and of diminishing disposable incomes as people find the to show fans that they are important to the club. cost of living rising faster than wages. A lot of the One way of doing this is to continue the excellent football played last season on our bog of a pitch was practice of sending first team players and officials out dispiriting fare and it may be that people are waiting to the branch meetings. to see what happens now before committing again. Finally, what CAS Trust wants to offer the club is There has also been some feedback that many long a genuine partnership to continue and build on the term supporters felt so discouraged by what they engagement that began last year on Fill the Valley. saw as the loss of autonomy and identity of the club New ideas as well as the tried and tested ones must in the network that, when Chris Powell was sacked, be employed but in my view only in a partnership they saw it as the last straw and turned away. Richthat distils a feeling of ownership from fans. Barnie Razell, Chairman ard Hunt discusses the network and Charlton’s posi-
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Katrien exclus HEATHER MC KINLAY SPEAKS EXCLUSIVELY TO KATRIEN FOR THE TRUST NEWS. “THE IDEA BEHIND it all is that football is a business for the owner. Obviously being present in the strongest market in the world for football makes sense. The idea was always to buy a club in England.” This is how Katrien explains the decision to buy Charlton. As a lawyer used to doing business in English, she spent just two months on Roland Duchâtelet’s payroll at Standard Liege, dealing with legal matters and player sales, before moving to London a week after the takeover to pick up the reins at Charlton. Katrien is herself a football fan, and describes how she became hooked on the beautiful game: “My grandfather took his daughters to the football, and he also took me. 20 years ago my home team got promoted from the second to the first division in Belgium. I remember waiting in front of the gates to run onto the pitch when they became Champions – it made such an impression on me.” The home team she refers to is Sint Truiden, and
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Katrien confesses that her mother is such a passionate supporter that she converted her Dad to support the team, and no-one can marry into the family unless they support Sint Truiden. I’ve now been in Katrien’s company for about five minutes. Already, I can understand why people find her so engaging. There are no airs and graces and it is very easy to talk to her. I resist the temptation to spend the hour of the interview swapping female football supporter anecdotes. I’m here to do a job for the Trust. I ask about the long term plans. Katrien is well prepared for this one: “I know what the fans want to hear is that the long term plan is to go into the Premier League, which we all obviously want as well, but I don’t want to promise something that is so difficult – how many clubs want that in the Championship? For me, the best plan is to create a good club, a stable club, where the fans don’t have to worry that the owner is fed up with losing money. We will continuously look at investing to make it a better club
in every aspect and I think that is the nicest thing you can propose to a fan.” As we have already seen, the investment she refers to is across the board – the training ground, the pitch, the stadium, the big screen, even the car park gets a mention, plus reviewing the outsourced deals for the club shop and website once these are up for renewal. But the approach is a sensible and step-by-step one, not about throwing money around, “I understand that the fans are sceptical about the owner to a certain degree, but they must realise he does this for a long-term vision. He really wants this to be a good club and not to sell it. He believes in the potential and that should reassure our fans.” But if Roland sees football as a business, then the aim must be to break even at least? “Yes, the goal is to break even, which is extremely ambitious,” explains Katrien, “The monthly running costs of the club basically exceed the turnover – that means it is very difficult. In football the way you lose or make the most money is by
buying and selling players. So it is there that we need to be sensible, not get carried away.” I’m starting to understand this plan a bit more clearly now. Katrien admits that Charlton is unlikely to achieve breakeven this year, due to prior commitments, but she is working hard towards it in the short-term, and is tasked to do so by Roland. Katrien continues, “We did make an investment in buying Igor Vetokele, but we won’t buy a whole team of that kind because it is not sensible. So far we have created a competitive squad – it is now very tempting to think, oh we will make it to the Premier League, but in football getting to the Premier League means everything has to go right – we have to be a bit lucky. So it is my role to say to the owner, look, this is the budget, if you want to invest more, beware there is no breakeven. It is up to the owner to decide and sometimes he will say, ‘yes, Katrien, you are right,’ and another time he will say, ‘no, no, no, I want this new player’.”
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Balotelli !
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Roland clearly sees himself as a talent-spotter. He has hand-picked Katrien to hold the purse strings and be accountable, recognising that he will sometimes be tempted to splash the cash. We have known all along that he believes in youth. It is now becoming clear that this extends beyond football players, and is actually central to his business philosophy. I ask Katrien how she first met him. “Everybody in Belgium knows him, he is very famous there. He has ideas that nobody else had thought about – they might be crazy, they might not be crazy – but he makes you think, ah, this is interesting. So he was the owner of my favourite football team a couple of years ago (Sint Truiden) and as always he had a different idea and he wanted to sell the clubs’ sports rights separately instead of collectively. I was a professional who specialised in competition law so I sent him an email saying I can help you with this. He said OK, I’m interested, come and meet me. And we stayed in touch. Then more than a year ago he asked me to come and work for him, and I said yes. He’s very famous for giving lots of young professionals a chance. I’m not the only one in a higher position in his organisation.” I find it fascinating to discover that Katrien approached Roland in the first place. There is also a rather obvious clue here as to why Duchâtelet appointed Bob Peeters, age 40, over Jose Riga, age 57. While Katrien seems here to stay, it is nevertheless somewhat puzzling to hear her confirm that our new
Head Coach is, indeed, just on a one year contract, though there is an option to extend. Katrien values Roland highly. I ask her to describe him, “Extremely intelligent, stubborn to a certain extent in the way that he has ideas and values – more a visionary, and for me he is a mentor. It’s really a privilege to be working with him. He is also not arrogant while most people I have worked for are, and it is very easy to be arrogant with all the accomplishments that he has, but he is not – quite the contrary.” I do not get the impression that this is PR spin – Katrien genuinely has deep respect for the owner, and seems a little frustrated that he is misunderstood by Charlton fans. I ask what she would say to people who are concerned that Charlton is now just a toy in a multimillionaire’s football and social experiment. It is the one time in the interview that she becomes rather agitated, “It is not. Charlton is not a toy. He really treats it as a business and I think you would rather want that. If it is a toy he will just throw money at it and it will lose its identity but we are
trying to build up Charlton from where it comes from.” We had already talked extensively about the club’s values and history. Katrien confesses that she still needs to make time to read the main Charlton books and watch the DVDs, but even so she describes our core values as, “historic, family-friendly and warm”, admitting to being somewhat surprised at how deeply rooted these were throughout the club, extending to the playing side. “When I came here I noticed the type of players that are here. They are nice guys, and I try to think about that – sometimes a player is suggested, and he might be good, but if he’s too extravagant, it won’t work here, and it might upset the dressing room, so we need to be careful about that and you want the fans also to identify with the players. I don’t think Mario Balotelli would work here.” “So that’s why we didn’t bid for him?” I suggest, resulting in much laughter. Katrien continues, “Until now the fans might be critical that Charlton will lose their identity because we bring in foreign players but you cannot forget that
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News some foreign players represent those values as well. The owner has the same kind of values. He also wants good characters.” I am rather reassured that Curbs’ legacy lives on. The network is a hot topic for us fans, as it is so new. Katrien is quick to point out that it is new for the owner, too, “In January, after acquiring Alcorcon, Charlton and then also the German club (ed Karl Zeiss Jena), the owner said that it’s very difficult to manage for him because it’s so many and it’s different languages, different people. It is difficult to have control over all of them.” This does confirm that Roland is very handson, as does her admission that she has already received four or five emails from him by 10.30am, but I get the impression that she would like the fans to have a bit more patience. This interview is about the future rather than going over old ground, but there is no doubt that lessons are still being learned, and what Roland maybe thought would work in theory does not always translate quickly into practice, as we saw with the January transfers to Charlton from the network. I ask Katrien to explain more about the advantages of the network. “Players are the most obvious one. We now have scouts in the network who are very specialised in France, in Spain, in the Netherlands and here in England – so Phil Chapple can offer input to other clubs in the network.” She goes on to talk about sharing experiences and exchanging information at a more general level between clubs, but
“When I came here I noticed the type of players that are here. They are nice guys, and I try to think about that”
admits that this is still in development, as most of the time people are focussed on their own club, and there have only been one or two occasions to meet up – the pre-season tournament in Belgium being the main one. The scouts, however, are in regular contact, though this does not always result in unanimity of opinion. “The nice thing about football is that we all see the same game and afterwards we think different things,” Katrien continues, “It’s the same with the scouts – there are different opinions. For a player to get through all the recruitment, he needs to have several ‘yes’.” I am intrigued to know more about the process, so ask specifically about the recruitment of André Bikey, as he had no obvious prior connection to the network. Little did I know that this was a bit of a sore point personally for Ms Meire. “We have a couple of scouts that really know the French market very well. (I know he came from a club in Greece, but he is French.) The name was dropped that he was end of contract. We asked Bob to look at him and he said, ‘I like him, he is a beast.’ So he came to train with us and play in the tournament in Belgium.” Katrien describes how there was
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a split opinion among the scouts, due to Bikey’s slightly chequered past. “Then, on my 30th birthday at 1.30 at night I got a call to do this deal and I was very, very angry – disturb me in the middle of the night in transfer deadline week, but not at the beginning of July! But in the end, I have to say he is completely worth it! And it was Bob who said, ‘I want him’ – it’s a good example of everybody getting involved.” Gudmundsson is another example she gives of Charlton getting in quickly and securing an out of contract player: “I think he will be good value for money.” And so we come back to that point – how exactly will we consistently break even in the Championship? It’s all about the players, and “maximising their potential”. The network helps achieve that. “Lots of clubs have a problem because you have different managers who acquire players on four, five year deals and you are stuck with players that don’t play at all, and that’s why we can shuffle a bit within the network.” As an example, Katrien quotes Ben Haim, “He was disliked at Standard, then he comes here and at Huddersfield he was maybe one of the only ones who performed up to level – we found a solution for him and that’s where it’s great.” The commitment to youth and the Academy is also a real positive under the current ownership, but an alarm bell goes off when I ask about the possibility of good Charlton players being whisked away across the network – Igor, for example. Katrien is quick to
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she talks about engaging with the Fans’ Forum and welcoming the Supporters’ Trust as a critical friend. She has a clear message for all of us: “I urge Charlton fans not to be so negative. It is something of a personal ambition – I am a very positive person by nature. Obviously I know lots of fans moan because it is part of the football culture but we have lots to be positive about from now and negativity won’t help. Critical yes, negative no.” Our new CEO is also keen to learn more about Charlton fans in general, and gain help and input on raising attendances. “I need to understand how I can attract more people to the club. So many years ago, there were so many fans. It’s not to generate more money – it’s just such a shame that a stadium of almost 30,000 is only half full. I need to know what will work and for that we need to hear it from the fans as well.” Answers on a postcard, please... We’ve talked a lot about Charlton, the network and the business of football. To finish off, I ask a little more about Katrien the person. Whom might she invite to her fantasy dinner party? “My all-time favourite footballer, the only footballer I ever had a crush on, was Raul Gonzalez Blanco from Real Madrid. I am still hoping to meet him one day. Then it’s just
a private dinner party for two!” I say that’s cheating, and spoil the fun by getting her to add a few more guests. “Vincent Kompany is a very interesting character, apart from football, he is a businessman and tries to manage lots of things, which is quite inspiring.” She also suggests Belgian female athlete Kim Gevaert, as track and field was her own participation sport. I wonder if there is anyone from outside sport, perhaps an actor or musician. Katrien thinks for a moment, “No, though I like music a lot.” She pauses, then says with a twinkle in her eye, “I also like The Red, Red, Robin – maybe the writer of The Red, Red, Robin if he’s still alive!” This was undoubtedly to counter rumours emanating from the Belgian tournament that Ms Meire had been questioning the worth of our famous anthem... The woman who runs our football club is certainly a bit mischievous at times, yet steely on other occasions, which must come in handy when negotiating player contracts. She is undoubtedly charming and ambitious. Above all, she is passionate – about the owner’s vision, about Charlton and about her job. “The business of football is so much more professional and beyond my expectations as a fan. Every day is a different day which suits me.” Don’t tell her mother, but she has swapped allegiance from Sint Truiden to Charlton. Should we be lucky enough to make it to that promised land of the Premier League, I will be expecting Katrien Meire to lead the pitch invasion. Heather McKinlay
PHOTOGRAPH: CAFC
stress that the players have a say, but also that there would be little benefit for Charlton in a move to Standard Liege. In some ways, I find the answer even more concerning: “The idea behind it is to create or to maximise the value for us – like I said, I have to break even. For Charlton it makes sense that if players are very good, it comes to a point where they are too good, then we will sell them.” So the message is clear that we had better enjoy Igor while it lasts. I guess the reality is that we have nearly always been a selling club, but there is a degree of ruthlessness in the current approach: “I upset lots of people with selling Yann and Dale in January,” admits Katrien, “but it meant our losses were not too high and we have a new pitch. I know it was a gamble, but sometimes we are going to need to do those kinds of things because the owner is not willing to support losses like that every year.” And that is the conundrum. If we want our club to be well managed and financially stable, not be a basket case like Portsmouth or Leeds, then this is the commercial reality which we will need to embrace, or at least grudgingly accept. Is it that different from the Charlton approach of the mid 1990s? Are we patient enough as fans to accept that again? I challenge Katrien on the fact that there is a big difference between football fans and customers in the business world. “Yes, that’s true,” she laughs, “our customers are quite emotional!” Nevertheless, she is keen to build bridges with the fans - agreeing to this interview is no doubt part of this strategy – and
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Supporters Direct Update A SUPPORTERS DIRECT poll shows that fans “want major reform of football” IN A POLL published in early August by Supporters Direct, and undertaken by leading market research company ICM Research, fans of English clubs have backed Supporters Direct’s call for fan involvement in the ownership of football clubs, with nearly 40% agreeing that football rules need to change to enable it. Other results showed that only 18% of fans believe that their clubs are financially well run, backed up by the 100+ insolvencies in the top five divisions of the English game since 1992. There was also overwhelming backing for fans to be ‘formally consulted on any changes relating to their football club (for example name, shirt colour, badge or location of the football club), with 77% agreeing, an area that Supporters Direct led a session on at the Supporters Summit on 26th July at Wembley Stadium, an issue of serious concern following the cases of Hull City, Cardiff City and Coventry City. Also very significant was the recognition that ‘football is broken’ and that ‘The FA needs to intervene to fix it’, chiming with much of Greg Dyke’s video message to those attending the supporters’ summit, where he also said that the FA Council fails to represent the game as it is – adding as he did that fans were ‘under-represented’. The headline results: The running of the game/governance · 44% of fans agree that “Football is broken and The FA needs to
intervene to fix it” · 49% agree that “supporters and their representatives should be more involved in the running of football” Clubs and how they should be run and owned · Only 18% of fans said that their clubs were financially well run · 77% of fans agree that they should be formally consulted on any changes relating to their football club · 38% agree that football supporters should be entitled by football regulation to a role in the ownership of their football club · 54% of fans agree that “Football clubs should be run as a combination of a community business that balance results on the pitch with work in the local community” Speaking about the results, Robin Osterley, CEO of SD, said: “This definitive poll – the most comprehensive ever undertaken – of the supporters of English football clubs about how they view the running of the game, shows irrefutably that the average fan does care that their clubs are run badly; that they do want to see the FA get control and run it in the interests of all, not just a minority of clubs or officials at the top; and that they believe that part of that should mean a role in the ownership of their clubs.”
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Board Chairman - Barnie Razzell Vice-chairman -Craig Sloman Secretary -Richard Wiseman Liaison - Ken Sinyard Membership Officer -Chris Knott Jonathan Bangs Richard Hunt Richard Pemberton Steve Clarke Web designer - David Hall Editorial - Barnie Razzell, Sub Editor - Richard Wiseman Design, Layout, Photos - Ken Sinyard Additonal photos - CAFC, Getty Images Keith Gillard, Except where indicated copywright CAS Trust 2014
COVER: This month’s main cover photograph was taken by CAFC supporter Chris Dunn on his mobile phone at the game against Colchester in the Capital Cup. It was originally posted on the match commentary on ‘ Charlton Life’ and captured not only the new Valley pitch but a remarkable evening sky. If you have any photographs that you think your fellow fans would appreciate please forward them to secretary@ castrust.org
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GRAPHIC: KEN SINYARD PHOTOGRAPHS: CAFC
’DAAN PEARCE EXAMINES EAST STAND A BLOCK IVE SUPPORTED CHARLTON for about twenty five years but I’ve never been in a position to have a season ticket before. My granddad took me to a few games when I was a kid and then I followed the team from afar as a teenager. I got back into going to The Valley when the club were in the Premier League, but I was only able to afford occasional games - usually against the lesser teams. Also, I was working on the Underground at the time so the shift pattern meant a season ticket wasn’t an option even if I had had the money. I’ve been out of work now for almost three years so match tickets have been out of the question. When I heard about the new £150 season ticket in East Stand block A I thought it was a great idea and excellent value. I saw it as the club making a gateway for supporters like me to get in and see games. After two games I am not disappointed. The block has been full and lively with a brilliant atmosphere. There is a good blend of young, old and families. In my view there is the right balance of chanters, clappers and watchers and I am pleased about this because, before the season, I was worried the block might be full of Herberts ! There is plenty of banter with the away supporters and The North Stand and it has mostly been good humoured. It is only two games but I’ve seen no evidence of people moving from block A to more expensive seats. The view and atmosphere are good, and I think that people value the gesture by the club and don’t wish to abuse it. There is a lot of good will. There can be no doubt that the ticket is very good value, particularly with the flowing football we’ve seen in the first two games. But having a season ticket means more than that. The day my book arrived on my door mat I started to feel a much greater connection to the club than I’ve felt before. I feel more involved and I feel that I matter more to the club. It may sound odd, but I feel privileged. Other people in the block have similar stories to tell. CAS Trust has heard from Glenn who is a 40 year old postman who has been a supporter for 30 years. He relocated to East Stand Block A from the North Upper. You might think that this means that the club have lost money, but it isn’t necessarily that straight-
...is fo forward. Like many people these days Glen has found that his bills are increasing quicker than his wages so a cost saving was necessary. He is also concerned about rumours that Royal Mail might be extending his shifts to half past two or even three o’clock, meaning that he might miss most if not all of the first half. Maybe he would have thought twice before buying a season ticket at all this year ? Mick relocated from the North West stand with his mate who used to sit behind him. A change of circumstances at work means that he might miss more games this season but the cost in Block A makes it worthwhile to have a season ticket. He has even paid for a Valley Express season ticket for the first time to get up from the south coast. He is very happy with the view from his seat in row P and hopes that, now the seats are all sold to regulars, there won’t be so much movement in and out by people “intent on buying
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burgers and drinks all game long”. Gary has never been a season ticket holder before but bought tickets for himself and his son in Block A this year which, at £200, he sees as unbelievable value after paying £25 per match last season. This is well worth not being able to see the big screen. He is also pleased that it gives him higher priority in buying away tickets so he won’t have to rely on others so much. He describes the atmosphere so far as “pretty lively” with plenty of “full-voiced” singing. Interestingly, he thinks this actually helps to pacify the away support. He reckons the “kiosk service speed is good and the new bar area adds a great choice. Even the pop up pie and salad stall is a good addition”. The only downside is that the toilets are “in a bit of a sorry state” Richard (29) and his brother (20) relocated from Block C in the East Stand. Their priority reason was
or Addick
but who are the new A Block East Stand?
financial and he describes the view as “only marginally poorer”. For him the match day experience has definitely been enhanced as he found the atmosphere in the east stand “nigh on non existent” in previous seasons. He also thinks the food quality has improved and is impressed with the new pitch and the ground generally. He agrees with Gary that the toilets could do with a refit as they are still “pretty rank”. Mick Everett (CAFC Head of Match Day Operations) is also pleased with the way things have gone and the mix of people occupying Block A. He agrees that there has been little evidence of people moving to more expensive seats, although one person was “collared” at the Wigan game. Monitoring of the Block from the observation point showed that the stand was 95% full which is in line with expectations for an August game. He is keen to ensure that The Valley is a suitable place for children and has therefore
closed off the section of the Jimmy Seed stand nearest to Block A for the first two games to reduce the amount of gesturing and goading between supporters. He recognises that won’t be possible when away support is much higher when our friends from Bermondsey and Yorkshire come to call. It would be great if the club could create a second “Block A” to fill those empty seats in the upper West stand. It would certainly be welcomed by supporters and would add to the atmosphere. But I recognise that the club have salaries and bills to pay and have the aim of breaking even within a few years. We tried to get a comment on the financial implications from Chief Commercial Officer Ben Kensall (who deserves credit as the architect of the Block A idea) but he was not available for comment. We hope that he will be able to analyse this for us in a future edition when more data is available.
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VETO’S 20/20 VISION Charlton’s new £2.5 million Summer signing from FC Copenhagen has proven he knows exactly where the goal is with 5 in 5 league starts -bagging him Championship player of the month. He must surely be the answer to the long search for the first 20 goal a season man for the Addicks since Darren Bent. Although the former Valley hero was a rumoured loan target last week Charlton failed to land any more strikers before the window closed. They did however manage to capture Frederic Bulot - a left sided midfielder on a year’s loan from Standard Liege - concluding business for now at least.
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PHOTOGRAPH: CAFC /GRAPHIC KEN SINYARD
THE NETWORK. It’s the new word in the Charlton fans’ lexicon. It’s fair to say that in the early months the word incited more fear and loathing than excitement, not least because the players who arrived so suddenly in January turned out to be more or less useless to the cause. But how does it look now? Are we any closer to understanding how it works? And should we be interested in how Carl Zeiss Jena get on this weekend? Here is a reminder of who is in the network: Standard Liege, one of Belgium’s traditional Big Three, Champions League qualifers, but already out ; Alcorcon, in the Spanish Second Division, from the suburbs of Madrid, with a capacity of 7,000; and Carl Zeiss Jena, in the German 4th/ regional league, with average gates of 2,000. Together with Charlton they are all owned by Staprix, N.V. When talking to UEFA, Roland Duchatelet will claim that this is the Network. However, he passed ownership of the Belgian Second Division club, Sint-Truiden VV, to his wife, while the official owner of Hungarian First Division club Ujpest is his son Roderick. Based on the pre-season tournament held at Sint-Truiden and the movement of players in the close season, there is little doubt that STVV and Ujpest are also part of the network. In the early days the majority view over here – encouraged by word coming out of Belgium – was that Standard was the “mothership”, and that all the other clubs including Charlton were ‘feeder’ clubs. A few pointed out that the revenue boost from Charlton getting to the Premier League far outweighed what Standard could earn from getting through the Champions League group stage, but they tended to be drowned out as people watched in horror as Thuram punched wildly at every cross.
However, the close season has been a pleasant surprise to the more pessimistic. Early on, we absorbed the arrival of a young striker, Igor Vetokele, not from the network, and for a fee that probably makes him our biggest signing since the Pardew era. All the early signs are that he will richly repay the investment. He was quickly followed by Yoni Buyens on a year long loan from Standard. Our Belgian correspondent from Die Morgen, Douglas de Coninck, wrote “Believe me, Yoni Buyens will bring you great joy!” (although he also said that the other arrival from Standard - George Tucudean - was the worst incoming transfer ever at Standard, from a long list of candidates.) So M. Duchatelet appears to have learnt lessons and is committed to upgrading the Charlton squad. But was this at the expense of other clubs in the network? Certain Belgian websites, and Belgian fans of other clubs have, suggested that Standard’s squad was weakened in that good players were sold, and the money wasn’t re-invested. Fans, it was claimed, were up in arms – something Standard fans are rather good at, historically. Their poor league start and Champions League capitulation to Zenit St Petersburg appeared to confirm a weakened squad. However none of those reporting were close to Standard, and Douglas de Coninck has corrected a number of misconceptions. The players that were sold (especially star striker Batshuyai) may not have been sufficiently committed to the team. The Standard team that lost to Zenit lacked six key players through injury. There was not much belief anyway that they could make it to the group stage. It’s therefore likely that Standard have not “lost” Champions League money, as they probably didn’t count on it in this year’s budget. Douglas paints a picture of a reasonably positive fan
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News base, and one that will be patient, as they feel that the peculiar Belgian play-off system heavily rewards those teams that hit their best form after January. And what of the other clubs? We had a brief email exchange about Ujpest with Gaby of www.hungarianfootball.com. He described general sympathy for the Duchatelet family over the financial scandal that threatened the existence of the club only weeks after they took over. The mood seemed to be one of gratitude that one of Hungary’s most famous clubs was in the hands of decent people. Ujpest’s young side flirted with relegation, but have started well this season. So the mood there seems positive. This seems to be the case at Alcorcon too. They made a strong surge towards a play-off place last season, and in the close season built a new, albeit modest, stand. Back in Belgium Sint-Truiden had a decent season, as did Jena in the German 4th division. So it might just be possible to conclude that there is no dastardly plan to favour one club; that in fact RD has settled on a strategy of cautious advancement at all the clubs. That implies that, far from being suspicious of the other clubs, we might want to wish them well. The more money from success that flows into Staprix, the more confident our owner will be in investing further. But that still leaves the question of how the player network is supposed to function. Trust analyst Mundell Fleming has long argued that it may still be a work in progress : “Beyond the sharing of a scouting network and related intelligence, a coherent network strategy would have to involve group-wide structure and discipline in the recruitment and development of players, but there is very little evidence of this. What we do see appears to be largely ad hoc. This is, perhaps, largely because there is, for the most part, very little overlap between the needs of the different clubs or, in turn, a limited suitability of players in one club to meet the needs of another. Standard appear, if anything, to be a “loser”, because they are lending players they might have otherwise have sold, while STVV appear to be a bit part player. Charlton are the clear exception. We are being developed and we are being
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strengthened, courtesy of the Liege link.” This analysis seems to fit well with Katrien Meire’s explanation in her interview elsewhere in the magazine, and is reflected in what has happened close –season involving Charlton. Tal Ben Haim was unpopular at Standard, but looks likely to resurrect his career with us. There are various stories about why Yoni Buyens left Standard but it seems unlikely that we would have got near to signing him if it had not been for the network. Frederic Bulot also comes recommended by Douglas. Two players have left us through the network too. Piotr Parzyszek has gone to STVV and Loic Nego to Ujpest. One view is that they were bad signings, and this is an expedient way to make use of them. But in Polish Pete’s case, dropping down a level may be exactly what is needed to get his mojo back. He will be more closely monitored by Charlton-related people than if we had sent him on loan to a 3rd division club in England. There is still a lot that is unclear and untested. Ujpest, for example should be in the Europa League, thanks to winning the Hungarian Cup. They were disbarred by UEFA because of the ongoing financial case. That might actually be a blessing for RD, as otherwise UEFA might have taken a good long look at whether Ujpest and Standard can both be in the Europa League without breaking ownership rules. What is very clear is that our worst fears about “feeder clubs” for the Standard mothership were unfounded. Years of neglect of the pitch has been fixed. The club went about its business early in the summer in a way reminiscent of 2011. The squad looks solid right across the park, barring an inevitable weakness upfront if Vetokele isn’t available. Across the Championship we see that the only other person buying a club in the last year has been a Sardinian with a court case hanging over him. The arrest warrant called him a man of “marked criminal tendencies ... capable of using every kind of deception to achieve his ends”. Bear that in mind and it starts to look as if we actually got lucky when Roland Duchatelet and his network plans alighted on The Valley. Allez les Rouches! by Richard Hunt
“But that still leaves the question of how the player network is supposed to function.”
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AS THE NEW season kicked off this August, 40,000 devoted fans flocked to a football stadium in Coventry. They weren’t there to welcome home the city’s then sadly exiled football team, but rather to join the growing ranks of spectators for professional video game playing. As bizarre as it may seem, young people are increasingly interested in watching other people play video games, complete with commentary and post-match expert analysis. And when they’re not filling football stadiums they’re spectating from the comfort of their own settees. Football clubs may believe they’re still riding the crest of the game’s post 90s popularity, but can they hold on to their supporters and attract new ones when there’s cheaper and more modern entertainment out there? Can a rainy night at the Valley compete with fighting online with Chaos Knight, Slardar and Crystal Maiden ? Clubs will need to keep improving the match day experience, especially if they want to draw in the next generation of younger supporters. The Premier League reported in 2013 that the average age of its spectators was 41, and some supporters’ trusts have expressed concern about a lack of younger supporters. Clubs need to ask themselves whether they’re really offering true entertainment, an exciting atmosphere and value for money. Maybe they can’t guarantee regular goalfests and slick, attractive football, but an easier way to improve the match day experience would be to encourage away fans to attend in higher numbers.
ARE WE PRICING AWAY FANS OUT OF FOOTBALL?
The Football Supporters’ Federation’s ‘Away Fans Matter’ campaign makes a strong case for fairer ticket pricing for travelling fans. It highlights the noise and colour that away fans bring to grounds, often sparking the home support into life and generating an exciting atmosphere. The campaign suggests that fewer supporters are travelling away, in part due to high ticket prices, rising travel costs and inconvenient kick-off times. Our midday FA Cup quarter final kick off in Sheffield last season – before the first train from London even TEAM Norwich City Leeds United Middlesbrough Brighton Nottingham Forest Fulham
arrived in the city! – illustrates the cursory consideration away fans often experience. A quick skim through the opening 2014-15 Championship fixtures reveals how high some away prices in the Championship have become – Norwich and Leeds being the worst offenders during the opening round of fixtures. Wigan fans travelling to Charlton for our first home game might consider they got off lightly with a £24 ticket price. And certainly in terms of our own supporters, Charlton can certainly be applauded for
CHEAPEST AWAY TICKET £35 £34 £31 £30 £30 £28
MATCH v Watford v Middlesbrough v Birmingham v Sheffield WedS v Blackpool v Millwall
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News TEAM Charlton Leeds Norwich Middlesbrough Derby Birmingham
CHEAPEST HOME TICKET £15 £26 £27 £26 £21.50 £20
some of their home ticket pricing this season. There are £150 season tickets, £15 tickets for individual matches and £5 tickets for under 11s. There’s also a conscious move to improve our atmosphere through the A block in the East Stand. So for our own fans, Charlton should be congratulated. And yet, there’s a slight niggle about why we’re charging away fans £24, when home fans can pay just £15 to sit in our spacious and relatively modern upper West Stand. At our opening game, Wigan fans faced a 400 mile round trip, and then coughed up £9 extra to sit in a lower tier, behind a goal in a cramped and less modern stand with a pillar bang in the middle. Of course, Charlton aren’t the only club charging away fans higher prices than the cheapest available to home supporters. Twelve Championship clubs did the same for their opening home match this season. While Norwich charged Watford supporters an incredible £35 for the first game at Carrow Road, their home fans could pick up tickets for £27. And the Middlesbrough fans that paid £34 at Leeds might be disappointed to hear that home fans could watch the same match for £26. Above is a quick table of the clubs with the biggest price differences
CHEAPEST AWAY TICKET £24 £34 £35 £31 £26.50 £25
between their cheapest home and away tickets: So, based on this season’s opening fixtures, Charlton is top of the Championship in terms of its £9 difference between the cheapest home and away tickets. Surely there’s a Football League regulation to protect away fans against inflated pricing ? Well, not really. Section 34.2.8 of their regulations says that “no club shall charge higher admission prices for visiting supporters for accommodation that is ranked as comparable with or inferior to that used by supporters of the Home Club.” Charlton seem to comply with this by charging higher prices than you might reasonably expect for home fans in the lower tier of the Covered End – directly opposite the away fans in the Jimmy Seed stand. But David Colgan (Head of Ticketing and Systems at CAFC) argues that our away pricing is eminently reasonable. First of all he points out that there is no obligation to charge away fans the cheapest price point available. Secondly, he notes that away fans now pay roughly the average price available to home fans. For example, for the Wigan game, just under half of adult match ticket sales in home areas paid the same as or more than away fans. The Football
DIFFERENCE £9 £8 £8 £5 £5 £5
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MATCH v Wigan v Middlesbrough v Watford v Birmingham v Rotherham v Brighton
League are perfectly satisfied that the club’s approach complies with their regulations. Thirdly, David reminds us that away fan prices have actually been reduced by £2 from last season’s levels. Finally, he makes the point that, when Charlton stage “Football for a Fiver” games, they are under no obligation to extend this offer to visiting fans. In fact, however, the club have always done so which has received a fantastic response from the visiting club. Last season it was of course Wigan fans who benefitted from this. As part of its Away Fans Matter campaign, the Football Supporters Federation is campaigning for a £20 cap on away tickets, which seems a good place to start. There’s a petition on their website and an opportunity to share your views through their survey. They even organised a march on the Premier League and Football League headquarters in London back in August. I’ll be taking part wherever possible and hope that other Charlton fans will join the campaign if you haven’t already. Hopefully together we can keep football as exciting as watching video gamers battle it out in Coventry. Otherwise, see you in the virtual jukespot my fellow heroes. Andy Hudson
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In this article we see how World War II affected the club: What happened to the players, what happened to league football and how the war put a stop to the fastest period of growth in the club’s history. ON THE 30TH September 1938, Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain returned from Munich declaring that there would be a “peace for our time”. Sudetenland had been ceded to the Nazis, which Chamberlain believed would be sufficient appeasement to avoid war. The next day he attended a football match at The Valley - a 4-4 draw between Charlton and Birmingham City. You might think that this was just a case of a man relaxing after returning from the most important business trip of a lifetime. You might think he was just following his local team. He was, after all, born in Birmingham and had been the mayor of the city and MP for the Ladywood constituency that contains St Andrews. But this wasn’t just any old footie
to 28,336 in 1937/38. More people were paying more money to watch the most successful team in Charlton’s history. Unfortunately this success was not to last. On the 2nd September 1939, Charlton beat Manchester Utd 2-0. Having won two of their opening three matches they were looking like strong contenders but at 11am the next morning war was declared. With immediate effect the government introduced a ban on the gathering of crowds for public safety reasons. By the 8th September, the FA announced that all football would be suspended “until official notice to the contrary”. No such notice was ever given and the results of those three matches were expunged from the official records. It didn’t take long though for football to be played again - first in the form of charitable friendlies, then in regionalised leagues but attendances were poor. By February 1940 Charlton’s average crowd was 1,600, with matches frequently held up for air raids. The club was struggling
CHARL TON WORLD WAR II
trip - it was a grand piece of political opportunism. As Colin Cameron reports, “Prayers were offered as thanksgiving for Munich and the crowd sang Land of Hope and Glory”(1). Chamberlain was using the game to present an air of normality. It was a PR exercise designed to make people think that Munich had been a success. However, within a year, nazi-Germany had invaded Poland and war was declared. To understand the effect of the war on Charlton it is necessary put it into the context of the preceding period. In the 1930s the club underwent a period of unprecedented success. In 1934/35 they were promoted to the Second Division as Champions of the Third Division South and the following year were promoted to the First Division, becoming the first English club to reach the top flight on the back of two successive promotions. In the following three seasons they finished 2nd, 4th and 3rd in the top division. Average home attendances rose from 10,574 in 1933/34
to keep going with average gate receipts at just £12. Manager Jimmy Seed declared that, “The public don’t want football, the Directors don’t want football and the players don’t want football, so why go on?”(2). There were also disputes over how the leagues were organised. In June 1941 Charlton, along with thirteen other clubs were expelled from the league for refusing to play. Crewe objected to being placed in the Southern section whilst Charlton and the others believed
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News that fixtures against teams in further away coastal areas were unacceptable. The London clubs formed their own league, with a later compromise with the FA seeing both London League and Southern League fixtures being played. The war brought about many changes for players. Those living in club accommodation had their rents waived, while the introduction of rationing saw players using their own clothing coupons to obtain kit. The biggest change though was the introduction of National Service - all men between 18 and 41 were liable to be conscripted into one of the armed forces or a reserved occupation. Playing football, quite obviously, was not considered a priority. Many players could no longer represent the club as their national service took them out of the area. Don Welsh joined the army. Albert ‘Sailor’ Brown and Sam Bartram joined the RAF. Monty Wilkinson served four years with the RAF mainly in India and Burma, and at one time was officially classified as missing. He managed to survive three weeks in the jungle living solely on berries and under the constant threat of capture by the Japanese. Fred Ford missed three seasons due to the war and lost a finger when crossing the Rhine; he returned to play just one more game. The Glicksten Brothers’ time was taken up with Government war contracts and so Jimmy Seed ran the club single-handedly. With players forced to travel around the country a new phenomenon arose - the guest player. 81 players guested for Charlton during the war. Notably Frank Swift - the Manchester City goalkeeper whose fine England performances helped prevent Sam Bartram from being capped and who would sadly perish in the Munich air disaster. Chris Duffy of Leith who would later sign for Charlton and score a winning FA Cup Goal; Dai Astley a £10,000 rated Blackpool striker who had made 96 appearances for the Addicks earlier in his career; and Tommy Lawton - a player so good that his ashes are now kept in the National Football Museum. The war also led to Charlton’s second dabbling with ground-sharing. Just an hour after the end of Millwall’s final match in the 1942-43 season, the 2,000 capacity main stand at The Den found itself in the middle of a
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bonfire. That Autumn, The Lions switched their home fixtures to The Valley while their stand was being rebuilt. Meanwhile, Charlton’s reserves had the pleasure of playing their home games in New Cross. However, despite the presence of a number of important military targets nearby, The Valley came through the war with less damage than many other grounds. One bomb landed on one of the penalty spots and another on another part of the pitch. There was “a small roof fire in the main stand’3 and the ambulance hut was hit. One area of success for Charlton during the war period was cup football. On 1st May 1943 they played their first ever match at Wembley in the The Football League (South) Cup. They were beaten 7-1 by Arsenal but they weren’t finished. They were back the following year beating Chelsea 3-1 in front of an 85,000 crowd. Watching that day was future US President Dwight Eisenhower. Flip-flopping in a way that would make any modern politician proud, Eisenhower reported that he started supporting the Blues when they scored first but switched allegiance to the reds when they started scoring. Two years later it was back to Wembley for a losing FA Cup Final against Derby County and, in 1947, they went one better beating Burnley through a solitary Chris Duffy goal. Despite this cup success, Charlton’s league form suffered badly as a result of the war. The first three post-war seasons saw 19th, 13th and 9th place finishes. For the next decade the club bumped around the lower reaches of the division only occasionally achieving a mid table finish. That might seem pretty creditable compared to recent seasons, but the impetus of the 1930s had been lost. By 1957 Charlton were relegated and they would not return to top flight football for the best part of 30 years. One can only wonder just how great this club might be if its best period of growth and development had not be halted. Jon Laysell (1) Cameron, C. (2003), Home & Away 1920-2004, p.82 (2) Rollin, J. (2005), Soccer at War, p.1123 Everitt, R. (2014), Battle for The Valley, p.45
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FANS AGAINST LEAGUE THREE
AT THEIR ANNUAL meeting in June the Football League clubs voted to reject Greg Dyke’s proposal to introduce an extra division between League 2 and The Conference where Premier League B teams could compete. They also voted to reject the idea of “strategic loan partnerships” which would have allowed clubs from the top two divisions to loan up to eight players to a lower division partner team. Despite this, there has been no announcement yet that the proposals are to be withdrawn, and there is no guarantee that they won’t be promoted again, maybe with a cash inducement from Premier League clubs. Commission member Danny Mills is still promoting them.
The aim of the proposals was to create opportunities for young English-qualified players to gain competitive game time instead of sitting on the bench at their host club or being loaned out to a lower league club whose coaching facilities and approach might be lacking in sophistication. Greg Dyke’s commission believed their proposals would help increase the talent
pool available to the England manager, but it was never satisfactorily explained how this would come about. Clearly, with appearances by England-qualified players in The Premier League falling below 30% of total appearances last season, it can be seen that opportunities to compete at the highest level are few and far between as the top clubs invest in foreign players. But few people were convinced that competing at Conference level would provide our young starlets with the opportunity to improve their skills to an extent which would benefit the national team. The point was made by Bradford Chairman Mark Lawn who used Tom Cleverley as an example: “He started at Bradford, went to Manchester United when he was 12; went out on loan to Leicester, Watford and Wigan and then went back to United. If they are going to end up playing for England they need to be playing at least at Championship level” The Commission pointed to the fact that B teams exist in Spain and Germany where the national teams have been very successful in
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recent years, but could produce no evidence to suggest that B teams played any part in the success. It is much more likely that easier access for young players to superior coaching was the crucial difference. Even if the arguments were convincing it is hard to believe that B teams would be worth it given the enormously detrimental effect that their introduction would have on the existing English football structure. There would have to be limitations on how far a B Team could be promoted up the pyramid and this would seriously undermine the integrity of the divisional system that has existed pretty much unchanged for the last century. Furthermore, B Teams would inevitably exclude long-established clubs from opportunities to rise and develop. These are typically clubs with very strong roots in their local community (Fleetwood Town is a current example) and some are owned or part-owned by their Supporters Trust. These clubs would be expected to make way for the artificial entity which is a Premier league B Team with very minimal away support. Attendances and atmosphere would suffer and traditional local derbies would be lost to the football calendar. Fundamental values such as community, localism and tradition would be thrown out of the window.
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N G I A CAMP
ANTI B TEAM
Photo inset: Greg Dyke at The Valley earlier this year with Trust Chairman Barnie Razell and local MP Clive Efford
PHOTOGRAPH KEN SINYARD CASTRUST
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Danny Mills claims that “the majority of Premier League clubs want B teams”. Well, as Mandy Rice-Davies might have said, they would, wouldn’t they ? B Teams give top clubs all the more licence and opportunity to stockpile young talent to the detriment of lower league clubs and supporters. As Supporters Direct said in their written response to the Commission:
“B Teams will serve the interests of a small group of elite clubs who are unwilling or unable better to share the proceeds resulting from the popularity of English club football amongst the wider game..... and would fundamentally undermine part of what makes football clubs so important. Football clubs do not exist as factories to produce playing talent. They are symbols of identity and pride for local communities and millions of fans” You can register your opposition to the proposals by signing the petition against them at: http://www.change.org/p/football-association-say-no-to-b-teams
Richard Wiseman
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