Ten years ago: Charlton lose top six place

Charlton were in the top six of Division 1 on 8th October 1994, but they weren't there at the end of the afternoon having gone down 1-2 at home to Reading in a front of a crowd that broke through the 10,000 barrier at 10,602. Despite fighting a cold and a temperature, I made my way to The Valley but was not pleased by what I saw. A Norwegian band was playing at the ground and one old guy said to me, 'It's just like the old days with the Royal Artillery Band.' Charlton started very uncertainly and were a goal down after five minutes. My notes say 'Their play was bad in the first half - poor passing, poor finishing and, above all, poor defence.' Mark Robson equalised after 56 minutes but an error by goalkeeper Andy Petterson put Reading ahead again. After that the Reading defence played well while Charlton were often hesitant.

The programme reported that there had been minor vandalism in the East Stand gents. 'If you see anybody acting suspiciously, tell a steward.'