You make your own history

When you’re young time passes slowly in much the same way that everything appears much larger than it will do in later life. As a young boy in Greenwich in the late 60’s, there were reminders of the war all around you – bombsites abounded and nearly everyone’s Grandad was a veteran if they hadn’t actually died during the war – and yet the war seemed like it was so far away.

Charlton Athletic appeared in both F A Cup finals immediately after the war and we had actually won it only twenty years ago (1947). We had narrowly missed out on an automatic return to the First Division barely ten years earlier (1957-58). The Valley was still the largest league ground in England with an enormous capacity of 66,000. Grown men spoke wisely of sleeping giants and we clung to the hope. Trouble was we were firmly second division and any ambition the Board of Directors may once have had was long since gone and the next fifteen years would see us flirt with Division 3 more than once and never come close to challenging to regain our top flight status.

Some real characters and the occasional swashbuckling performances aside, the 70’s were a dark period in the history of our club and nothing summed up the depression for me more than matches against Millwall. Trips to the Den were dreaded as you plotted your day and took your chances. In addition to always being intimidated and occasionally being punched or chased as fans, our side hardly ever turned up. Perhaps we weren’t alone at this time when the Den was such a grim prospect for visitors but our record against them was dire and we didn’t do much better at the Valley.

Millwall’s staunchly working class following was increasingly moving out into our traditional heartlands and this was their annual opportunity to lord it over us and their side rarely let them down. Passion, determination and physicality played a much bigger part in football matches in those days at the expense of skill, pace and creativity and we were often lacking against Millwall. At the open Valley their bully boys had the run of the ground and the intimidation could be as evident as it was at the Den.

However, things changed in the 80’s and more so in the 90’s. The gap between our respective clubs has grown so large that our game against them on Saturday will be the first for 13 years. The last time we played them, we did the double. Both wins were relatively straightforward. The game has also moved on and players are so much more professional than they ever were. Bullying is far less effective a tactic and assaults like the Van den Hauwe one on a teenage Sean Newton simply aren’t tolerated anymore. Matches are better policed and the penalties for violent behaviour are finally a deterent. Grounds are segregated and matches all-ticket. In today’s environment Millwall fans can still be peasants but they are no longer the threat they once were on or off the pitch.

Whilst we face them as League One sides they again get fleeting parity but we are looking down on them and we might have to wait a few years yet before we play them again. There is no reason why we can’t better them over the two games this season and begin to make up a little of the lost ground. No doubt some Millwall fans will be unable to control themselves, especially if we beat them, but we won’t be intimidated like in years gone by. It might only be another five or six seasons before we are the old men talking about sleeping giants. Wouldn’t it be great if we have started to adjust that terrible record against the Lions in the meantime.

As the decades have marched on, I have learnt that things change and that we make our own history. Saturday is just another day and just another football match but we should look forward to playing our part, supporting our team and getting the result we need to continue to influence our history. Our players will turn-up and so should we.