Two Fat Ladies

Charlton Athletic  5  Mansfield Town  0

FA Challenge Cup – First Round Replay

My two Grandma’s were wonderful people.

Chalk and cheese in many ways, but so alike in others. They developed a close bond with each other, and every year, until it became impossible, they would have a week’s holiday in Blackpool, staying at the Sheraton Hotel.

The holiday used to be made up of food and drink, trips out, shows and of course bingo. My Grandma on my Dad’s side was a bingo fanatic. Of course, both of them loved a laugh, and my Dad and Uncle spent many a Christmas poking harmless fun at them as we sat around the dinner table on the 25^th, as was tradition.

It was one Christmas while we were playing bingo, that the caller (it may have been my Mum), cried out, “Two fat ladies, eighty eight”

Under his breath, one of the aforementioned men, responded with “Two fat Grandma’s”, which was met by chuckles from those of us within earshot. I seem to recall a stern glare from the bingo caller, while one of the Grandma’s piped up with “What are you lot laughing at?”. We quickly moved on…

I remember, again it would have been around the time when my passion for football was growing by the day, that I asked my Dad who had the biggest ground in the Football League, and his answer surprised me, for I was expecting either Old Trafford or Anfield.

The Site Of The Old Terrace

Charlton Athletic was the answer, apparently, holding 75,000 spectators. The Valley was a huge arena with a massive terrace that spread all the way down one side of the ground.  It didn’t last though, as following a financial crisis and subsequent administration, the new ‘phoenix’ club didn’t have ownership of the stadium, so in 1985 they left the Valley and embarked on periods ground sharing at both West Ham United and Crystal Palace. The club reached the top flight of English football, despite it’s problems, very soon after the club were reformed, and by 1991 work had begun on redeveloping the Valley following its acquisition, which in itself was a highly political process.

Respect

Following relegation, the club returned to the Premier League in 1998 after the epic Play Off Final against Sunderland, and remained there for one season before relegation, however they quickly bounced back and were top flight then until 2007. Since then they’ve moved between the second and third tier of English football, but in the period since getting back to the Valley, the ground has been redeveloped superbly into a 27,000 capacity stadium, which during the Premiership years was always full to capacity.

I never ever got to see a game at the Valley though, but, as luck would have it, with a two night stay in Milton Keynes on the horizon, the Addicks managed to draw their FA Cup First Round tie at Mansfield Town, so the replay was scheduled perfectly to allow a visit.

Jimmy Seed Stand

Tickets were on offer at just £15, so the whole thing had fallen nicely into place. The journey through heavy rain was going perfectly well until I reached the Blackwall Tunnel, and I have to say, I’m just glad that doesn’t form part of my daily commute, what a nightmare it is getting through that at tea time!

Once through and past the O2 Arena, it was a left turn towards Woolwich and some pre-researched street parking was found with ease. I’d arrived early so went in search of sustenance, and that came via a five minute walk up a hill which took me to Charlton Village, a very nice area with a busy main street housing pubs, café’s and restaurants. It was certainly a very different area than that I’d parked in, and also something of a contrast to the general vicinity around the Valley.

Fed and watered, it was time to walk back down the hill, with fantastic evening views of the brightly lit Canary Wharf and the City. With a crowd of less than 2,000 expected at the game, it was fair to say that it wasn’t especially busy around the stadium, and the fact it was tipping it down was never going to drag the casual punter out of the front door.

The Valley is impressive, the old Jimmy Seed stand sits behind the West goal and housed the 300 or so who had travelled from Mansfield, while the rest of the ground is effectively one structure that runs round three sides. The only area open to home fans was the lower tier of the main stand, with the East goal tall and empty. What was the old South terrace is now a sharply banked single tier of seating, a far cry from the days when it was the single biggest terrace in English football.

Tickets Available

The game was an interesting one played in an atmosphere that reminded me of a Youth Team game. It was a case of ‘take your pick’ when it came to the seats so I chose the padded ones in front of the executive boxes!

Charlton took the lead through the impressive Lyle Tyler in the eleventh minute, but to be fair, Mansfield had plenty of chances to find parity, but just lacked a touch of composure in the penalty area to find the back of the net.

Taylor netted a second goal just after half time and then a third goal arrived through Mark Marshall with ten minutes to go, albeit in controversial circumstances when Mansfield shaped up for a free kick that they thought had been awarded to them, only to see it go the other way with the team completely out of place.

Taylor then scored his hat-trick goal with a sublime chip, before Nicky Ajose got the fifth goal for Charlton in injury time. 5-0 was probably a bit harsh on the Stags who’s first half performance must have given them hope of getting something from the game.

Take Your Pick

Escape from the general  vicinity from the Valley was easy, and the Blackwall Tunnel at 10pm was not an issue. The rain continued to pour though and the driving up the M11 and round the M25 with the various European number plates having no idea of the Highway Code was enough to keep me on my guard. Milton Keynes was reached just after 11pm, and ground number 88 had been chalked off in terms of doing the 92.

And we go the full circle, with this being ground 88, it just reminded me of those two lovely Grandma’s of mine.  They both quite liked football, and both of them were around when Derby County won the FA Cup in 1946, and who did they beat, Charlton Athletic of course….