Charlton Athletic fan gets party for 50th anniversary of his first Addicks matrch (From News Shopper)
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Charlton Athletic fan gets party for 50th anniversary of his first Addicks matrch
11:50am Tuesday 5th March 2013 in News By Sam Christie
Alun Jones with his son Chris, wife Gill and mum and dad, Des and Joan, with a framed programme and scrapbook
A LIFELONG Charlton fan has been treated to a surprise party to mark 50 years to the day since his first Addicks match.
Friends and family of Alun Jones arranged for a celebration to mark the milestone at the Three Blackbirds pub in Blendon on Saturday. (Mar 2)
The father of two, whose first trip to the Valley was a 2-0 defeat to Norwich on March 2, 1963, enjoyed lunch and a few drinks before heading to the Championship clash with Burnley.
Unfortunately his beloved Addicks were beaten 1-0, but he did not let the scoreline dampen his day.
Mr Jones, 55, who has only missed about 10 Charlton home games in the last 40 years, said: “We joked that in 50 years we might get a 0-0 draw.
“That’s the joy of following Charlton, you lose more games than you win but when you min it makes it that extra bit special.”
The semi-retired financial controller for an oil company, of Austral Close, Sidcup, was shocked to find a group of his friends and family gathered at the Blendon Road pub.
He said: “I had a feeling that something had been going on but did not know what.
“To be perfectly honest I did not realise it was the actually anniversary. That really was a surprise.
“It was excellent, quite amazing really.”
Two players who starred in the match, Charlton’s Keith Peacock and Terry Allcock of Norwich, sent a letter to Alun congratulating him on his 50 years.
Moira Bartram, daughter of the club’s most famous player Sam Bartram, also passed on her regards.
Alun’s wife Gill created a scrapbrook full of memories from his half a century supporting the Addicks.
Growing up, Alun could see the Valley’s floodlights from his house in Ankerdine Crescent, Shooters Hill, and has had a season ticket with his son Chris, 29, and 29-year-old nephew Colin Reed in the east stand since 1992.
He is just ten grounds short of completing the 92 football league grounds across the country and even travelled to Tunisia to see Charlton in a pre-season tournament in 1975.
He added: “I would like to say a big thanks to my dad Desmond, all my friends who were down at the pub and I’ve met over the years.”
