LIVID Charlton fans have shown football bosses the red card for the "shambles" which forced them into a wasted 600-mile journey.

More than 500 Addicks' fans travelled to watch their team play Newcastle United only for the match to be postponed minutes before kick-off.

Now the supporters who made the 15-and-a-half hour round trip have hit out at the FA, claiming it is treating them "like mugs".

Referee Mike Dean had passed the pitch at St James' Park fit to play, despite heavy snow before the Premiership clash.

But with kick off just 20 minutes away, Newcastle's safety officer decided to call the game off because of concerns about supporter safety.

The Bromley branch of the Charlton Athletic Supporters' Club has more than 350 members, many of whom made the fruitless trip north.

Branch secretary Jean Tindell, of Palace Road, Bromley, said: "Why can't the London clubs play each other over Christmas? Nobody at the FA seems to be using their brain.

"Nobody seems to care about the fans. They forget we help pay the players wages. It is a total shambles."

Betty Hutchins, who spent £28 on a ticket and £12 on coach travel, was one of those left stranded.

She left her home in Humber Road, Dartford, at 11am and arrived home at 2.30am the following morning without seeing a ball kicked.

Mrs Hutchins, who has supported Charlton for 40 years, said: "It is a joke the FA is making us go up there at this time of year.

"There were kids on the coach who had never been to Newcastle and were looking forward to seeing their heroes. It's so sad.

"The fans are being treated like mugs. It's absolutely disgusting."

Charlton chief executive Peter Varney is also unhappy.

He described the situation as "absolutely diabolical".

The FA says all fixtures are decided before the season by a computer but added it is not possible to avoid some long-distance fixtures at this time of year.