Has it been worse than this? Yes and no.

As our 2008 nightmare continues, there is an increasing amount of debate about just how bad things are and if it's the worst we've ever seen. The angst on the forums is palpable and tempers are fraying.  It's worth ten minutes, therefore, to consider the last two occasions in living memory when we have been relegated to the third division. Ok, so we've not been relegated yet but let's consider worst case as that's what everyone seems to be doing.

1971-72

The "first" occasion (since 1935) was when we finished second bottom on 33 points from 42 matches. These were the days of 22 clubs in the second division, two teams up, two down and only two points for a win. Nonetheless, we actually managed a creditable 12 wins and 9 draws. Our home form was won 9, drew 7 and lost 5 and an average of 10,430 attended the Valley. Theo Foley was the manager and he was kept on, eventually steering our return three years later.

Prior to this season, we had been in the second division for 14 seasons since relegation from the top flight in 1956-57. It was obviously a huge disappointment for a club that had the largest ground capacity in the football league (66,000), many of whose fans could still remember winning the F A Cup (only 25 years ago) and who still saw their club as true sleeping giants.

However, communication between supporters was limited to the archaic Supporters Club which was part-controlled by the Club and which tended to attract a particular type of supporter who tended to be more optimistic and accepting than the norm (some might say that little's changed here). Membership was relatively small and meetings were few and far between. There were no independent publications and communication outside of the Supporters Club was limited to the people you stood near to on match days. I am reliably informed that criticism of the club and players was widespread but largely based on gallows humour or homourous piss-taking of poor or average players who were usually trying their best. The local papers helped air the mood but the reporters on these tended to be mindful of upsetting the Board and losing their platform for speaking with players and officials.

The Board themselves were dominated by the Gliksten family who, whilst relatively wealthy, were typical of Chairmen of their day who didn't see the need to spend heavily and, frankly, who could usually rely upon the ability of their manager to make the difference.

1979-80

After four seasons back in the second division (8th, 7th, 17th, 19th) we went down bottom of the table with 6 wins, 10 draws and 26 defeats from the 42 matches. Our home form of won 6, drew 6 and lost 9 was the worst in living memory and even that meant we only managed 4 draws away from the Valley.

I saw the majority of these games including the humiliating 6-0 F A Cup hammering at Wrexham. Reality had been sinking in during the 70's and, whilst Theo Foley's charges from 74-75 had managed two decent seasons back in the second division (albeit under Nelson), we had struggled badly in 77-78 and 78-79 whilst our stock in the national game was as low as it's ever been. During 77-78, our Chairman, Michael Gliksten had decided to cash in on the success of the North American Soccer League and actually allowed three of our most influential players to go on loan to New England whilst we still had five games to play to avoid relegation! During 78-79 we had the spectacle of both of our strikers sent-off for fighting each other, such was the mood in the camp. We were about as "unfashionable" as it was possible to be. We were relegated in front of an average Valley crowd that year of a miserly 7,208. 

Supporter organisation hadn't improved much since 71-72. The Supporters Club was still ineffectual but the Covered End were more vocal and there were frequent post-match demonstrations outside the West Stand where Michael Gliksten and his family were invariably the targets having been blamed over the generations for failing to reinvest profits to grow the club when we were generating them; an accusation that was hard to argue against. It was after one of these following a 1-0 defeat by Birmingham City that Andy Nelson was finally relieved of his role as "General Manager" and Mike Bailey was effectively given the Managers job. The Kentish Independant and The Mercury were much more inclined to report supporter unrest and were giving more honest appraisals of playing short-comings.

2008-09

Well we're certainly on track for relegation. Bottom of the table with 4 wins and 5 draws from 21 matches in line with previous relegation seasons. However, other things are markedly different; we've nearly been bought out by fantastically wealthy foreigners; we've sold most of our saleable players; we've already sacked one manager and are trying a second.

Relegation would come on the back of another relegation from the top flight in 06-07 after 7 previous years of playing the best in England. This was undoubtedly a golden era in our lifetimes so far but we shouldn't forget that most of these seasons were a struggle; we never qualified for Europe and often struggled at home which wasn't great for the majority of seson ticket holders who don't go to many away games. We still didn't make a Cup semi-final.

The biggest difference though, has to be supporter interaction and organisation. We have had a supporter on the Board for years now (even if that's being brought to an end) and communication with the Clubs owners has prospered in the last 15 years. Our supporters communicate like never before; the Club's own website supports debate, not all of it favourable; we have several on-line message boards which run 24-hours a day and we have a dozen regular Bloggers and as many occasional others. A sign of the times is the fact that we have an active and vocal international fan base and we've even chosen this crap season to launch our internet based CAFCTV service. On-line communication is so prolific that the local press largely takes a back seat and rarely has any actual "news" to convey. As things stand we are averaging 20,000 paying Customers albeit based upon expectations of a decent season and the distance promise of a free season ticket.

So, for me , the answer is very clear. It was worse in the past, particularly 79-80. However, it feels like this is much worse because of the expectation of supporters, the fact that so many more are watching us now and because our fall seems to have been so much further so much more quickly. We should remind ourselves of this tomorrow night when we play Coventry and again in a week's time when Derby visit us. Both of these clubs believe they belong in the top flight; Derby won the Championship in the 70's and Coventry the FA Cup in the 80's. Coventry struggled all last season and Derby were bottom of the table for the first ten games of the season.

I firmly believe that we all play our part in how our club performs, how our players are affected by results and how we are perceived by the rest of the footballing world. At the moment we are in danger of looking like spoiled brats who can't stand losing; if that's what we've become through the behaviour of the majority, then I am afraid this season is lost and we will need to lose those who cannot stand it before we once again get back to the fan base we once were who enjoyed our football, were proud of our club (irrespective) and supported our team come what may. We had a touch of humility which made the big days so much more enjoyable. That's not to say we shouldn't let players know they are not pulling their weight or feel we can't express our disappointment but the witch-hunt has gone on for long enough. Pardew's gone and we're left with the sort of squad you expect when you've recouped £15m and brought in 7 loan players. There doesn't look to be a magic wand, so we've just got to roll our sleeves up and get on with it. A couple of wins and it could all look a lot better.