Chris Powell has revealed he intends to participate if Charlton’s fans carry out their planned round of applause at 3.07pm during Saturday’s match against Brighton to mark the anniversary of Colin Walsh’s winning goal on their emotional return to The Valley 20 years ago.
Charlton were then completing a remarkable journey from groundsharing with first Crystal Palace and then West Ham and manager Powell, a club favourite fully aware of their history, was keen to encourage the idea during the fixture marking the 20th anniversary of their move back to The Valley.
“I do like that,” Powell said. “Obviously it is happening at Chelsea now and I’m led to believe it was done for Ricardo Fuller at Stoke.
“I do feel it is a real fitting way to applaud someone or something that has happened. For us to do it on Saturday will be excellent.
“Hopefully we might score in that seventh minute, which would be even better.
“I hope Brighton don’t score because that would kind of be a bit bizarre!
“I tell you what, I think I will join in because I think it is a mark of respect for the team that day, for Colin Walsh – it is forever up there that sign in the North Stand with regards to Colin Walsh 3.07pm – and I think it is superb.
“I hope everyone joins in and we can obviously over the 90 minutes do ourselves proud, do the team proud and do the club proud in respect of what happened 20 years ago.
“I think it will be a real mark of respect to all of the supporters that worked so hard all those years back in getting our club back to its rightful home.
“I was a youngster at Palace at the time remembering Charlton being there every other week and seeing what it was like for the supporters.
“Little did I know 20 years later I would be manager of the team in a superb stadium now at The Valley.
“Even against Portsmouth the hard work that everyone put in to get that game on with the portacabins and the training rooms in the corner, the club was home.
“A lot has happened in the 20 years since of course.
“We hit the heady heights of the Premier League and then Championship and League One.
“We are doing our best to work our way back and I think it is a fitting game really against Brighton, a club that have been through a similar scenario to us.
“They are now at their new stadium back in their home town.
“It is great that the two clubs – but more importantly for us – that we are back home playing at a wonderful arena and looking to get three points in our Championship season.
“It is quite amazing what football clubs mean to people and how they feel about their clubs, the running of it, the players and the manager and all that encompasses being a football supporter.
“So I just feel our club is special in many ways, not only because of that but it does help a togetherness and a bond amongst the small band of supporters that were involved in the fight at the time, the band of supporters that went to Selhurst every other week and went to Upton Park.”
After last week’s 0-0 draw in the South London derby away to Millwall, 13th-placed Charlton go into Saturday’s fixture unbeaten in six and will go level with Brighton, in eighth place with 31 points, if they win.
