Charlton’s season was an underwhelming one on the pitch - but off it – fans continued the fight to drive owner Roland Duchatelet out of their club.
News Shopper has picked out the six major protests, held by supporters, which will live long in Charlton’s history.
Above is a gallery of pictures ranging from the pig protest in October to the ‘Unity Protest’ demonstration where Duchatelet’s Belgium was invaded by hundreds of unhappy Addicks.
Here are the six protests we picked out…
1) The pigs – October 15, 2016:
The Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) said they would hold off on any protests to give then-boss Russell Slade the chance to get the best out of his team. And two months was long enough. Charlton’s home game against fellow crisis club Coventry saw both sets of fans march to the Valley in a pre-match protest against their owners.
But they didn’t stop there – as soon as the game kicked off, the referee stopped play for six minutes while toy pigs, thrown by supporters, were removed from the pitch.
2) Taxi for Roland – November 13, 2016:
Following the global media attention that the pig protest achieved, Charlton fans stepped up their efforts by travelling to Duchatelet’s home country, Belgium, in a black cab. The personalised taxi was covered with images and messages reading ‘Taxi for Roland’, ‘Roland Out’ and ‘We want our Charlton back’. To make things worse for Duchatelet, this visit by fans took place during his birthday.
Charlton owner Roland Duchatelet
3) Toy taxis and balls – November 26, 2016:
In similar fashion to the pig protest, the home tie against Sheffield United was immediately disrupted as Addicks fans threw toy taxis and footballs on to the pitch.
4) Unity Protest – March 4 - 7, 2017:
Arguably the biggest protest of the season took place during Charlton’s 2-1 defeat to Northampton. Protest groups such as CARD, Women Against the Regime (WAR), the 2Percent and the Belgian Twenty travelled to Belgium to demonstrate against Duchatelet for three days. Hundreds of fans stormed the streets of Sint Truiden pleading for the Belgian businessmen to sell-up. They even protested inside St Truiden’s stadium, one of Duchatelet’s network clubs.
5) The pigs 2.0 – April 14, 2017:
Charlton travelled to the Ricoh Arena to take on Coventry. An almost identical protest took place to the one that happened in the reverse fixture. A pre-match march to the stadium occurred and the game was stopped as toy pigs, thrown by both sets of supporters, were cleared off the pitch.
6) The End Game – April 30, 2017:
In Charlton’s last game of the season, a major demonstration was organised an hour before kick-off where fans vented their frustration after another disappointing campaign. At full-time, hundreds of supporters flooded the Valley pitch and directed their anger towards the directors’ box.
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