Like every other Addick, I was saddened this morning to hear of the death of Charlie Wright. All our thoughts go out to his family and friends, hopefully the warmth of the appreciation to be shown by our club and others, most obviously Bolton, will be of some comfort.
I must have seen Charlton goalkeepers before him; Mike Rose and Peter Wakeham spring to mind, but mainly from scrapbook cuttings. Charlie was the first Charlton keeper that I truly remember, the uncontested number one for an extended period (195 games over five years, including ‘that season’ when under Eddie Firmani we almost made it back to the First Division).
I can’t claim to have actually talked to him during a game, or thrown a sweet in his direction, let alone shared a cigarette, but I remember this all going on, to the extent that as a child I thought warning the keeper that there might be danger coming and to turn around was part of the supporter’s role. In those days my father and I stood in the unnamed/uncovered/away end for games. He would take me down to the front behind the goal to get a good view, then go back up the terrace a little to talk to his friends (which became a rite of passage as eventually I was invited up to join them for the second half).
Before I left Blackheath for France the builders doing the roof – I discovered too late that they were Spanners – told me that they knew Charlie, from his Greenwich café days, and passed on a few anecdotes. That he was ‘a character’ is beyond question, a decent keeper too. Thanks for the memories Charlie.
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