Saturday 31 March 2007
Wigan home. What was the score? Won 1-0
Not being able to watch the game is desperate. Ignoring the commentary, I started off by following the game on BBC live text, then tuned into Soccer Saturday's internet feed, where Jeff Stelling purposely tests every football fan's heart rate with the way he builds up the excitement before announcing a vital piece of game news.
Not being able to watch the game is desperate. Ignoring the commentary, I started off by following the game on BBC live text, then tuned into Soccer Saturday's internet feed, where Jeff Stelling purposely tests every football fan's heart rate with the way he builds up the excitement before announcing a vital piece of game news.I was almost nauseas when with 5 minutes remaining Jeff suddenly announced that there was a penalty at The Valley. It seemed like a lifetime before Chris Kamara's voice broke the deathly silence and announced which way it had gone. Darren Bent stepped up and the crowd noise told me the rest. Then I just sat on the sofa in a trance like state flicking around every source of media available until the result came through. A mate called me with minutes left and asked me "if someone had died," such the state I was in.
The game passed me by somewhat, a few more grey hairs but an even greater appreciation for a man called Alan Pardew. His influence on our club has been phenomenal. He inherited a club in chaos and the first thing he did was to give us some pride back, then he gave us hope and we fed on that hope, as he worked hard to instill a togetherness not witnessed for a long time.
But now Alan Pardew's superb man-management skills, relentless positivity and match-winning technical nous has given us more than hope, he has given us a chance. Cheers Al.
Opinions of those who were at The Valley: Sky Sports; BBC Sport; cafc.co.uk; The Independent; The Telegraph; All Quiet; Frankie Valley; Addicks Diary; Charlton Athletic Online.
Super Al: "We've got something going at the stadium at the minute and I don't think you'd find a better atmosphere anywhere else in the country. The fans were fantastic for us today. It wasn't a cast-iron penalty, he was certainly facing goal looking to get a shot off, but there was a big shout from the crowd and the players all appealed."
¶ 22:15
