Ground Revisited: The Valley
Tuesday 4th April 2017
Charlton Athletic 0-2 Milton Keynes Dons
Skybet League One
Attendance: 10,943 (446 Away)
Admission: £10 (Student)
Says, it was a slightly different experience at The Valley last night compared to my solitary previous outing there over nine years ago. On that occasion The Addicks were hosting Crystal Palace in the upper regions of The Championship, as a side containing international superstars like Zheng Zhi, Matt Holland and Madjid Bougherra successfully overcame their South London rivals. On that evening the stadium was virtually sold out and the atmosphere was electric.
Last night, however, a midweek derby against a fellow South London rival would prove to be a much tamer affair. Had it not been for swathes of their fanbase breaking their boycott to honour the tragically deceased PC Keith Palmer, the Charlton season-ticket-holder murdered in the Westminster attacks a fortnight ago, the stands would have been even sparser on the evening.
Unfortunately for those who did break their abstinence, Charlton were unable to churn out any sort of performance fitting for his memory and build upon the touching pre-match tributes that took place. This was the second time I've seen them in a month and quite incredibly, they managed to churn out even more of a gutless, clueless performance than when I saw them at Northampton. One-nil down within six minutes, they never looked at any stage of getting back into the game and could have played until midnight and not scored. The Dons strolled past them with effortless ease and the two goal margin they won the game by should have been more handsome. While chants of "you're not fit to wear the shirt" will not have aided the cause of a squad where the confidence is clearly shot to pieces, the frustrations were certainly understandable and the sentiment was fitting.
Karl Robinson really is proving himself to be the fat, clueless, fraudulent gobshite that we knew about all along. With only one win in their previous 14 games, on showings like that it's going to be difficult to work out where they're going to glean the five or so points they'll require to secure safety. League Two football is a distinct possibility next season. I've never been the biggest Charlton lover - not out of any particularly worthy reason - other than that growing up, they successfully extracted support from all across Kent by offering cheap match tickets and coach travel, denting the support base for clubs like mine. They always had the feel of a dull family club.
But their current plight is sad to see. The Valley is an absolutely outstanding, sexy stadium and should be hosting Championship football at the very minimum. It's everything that I like in a football ground. Set in a rough, urban area (see the tower block behind the Jimmy Seed stand). Four proper individual stands - but two of the corners being filled in just gives it that enclosed echoing feel that's great for atmosphere.
As for Milton Keynes, well, I've never been been able to stomach the sickening sanctimonious hypocritical bullshit espoused by AFC Wimbledon, a club that was dying on its arse and being deserted in great droves prior to the logistical move to a city with the thirst for hosting league football. Ok, I'm trolling a bit here. But whatever's happened has happened and they're here to stay. People need to grow up and accept it. Personally I think you can only judge a football club on their own mitigation and my own dealings with MK Dons as an away supporter is that they are a welcoming, hospitable, friendly club (much in contrast to AFC's cokehead stockbroker fanbase). While they didn't travel in great numbers last night, those that did turn up were decent and cohesive in noise and should be praised. Fair play to them. Up the real Dons.
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