Chris Thompson

I’ve not posted anything on this blog for months partly due to laziness and the lack of action but mainly the seemingly never ending ongoing ownership issues. 

I had intended to dust down the old laptop to post something celebratory if, and when, Thomas Sandgaard took over. 

Sadly, for totally opposite reasons I’m now typing away to post on the blog. 

It was a real shock to learn just a couple of hours ago of the passing of Chris Thompson. My condolences go to his wife and family. 

Chris aka Ketts aka Dr Kish was a lovely, lovely man. He had such a wealth of knowledge of football that extended well beyond Charlton. 

Chris was also a very proud family man who he always spoke of very fondly. 

I first met Chris when we played Norwich away on Saturday 19^th September 2009. 

It was typical of him that he arranged to meet at half time in response to my request to publish my blog on the Dr Kish site. 

He agreed even though I was hardly adding to the excellence of the site! 

Following that we’d meet up with John and various others at half time at home games and chew the fat over all things Charlton. 

In more recent years Chris was accompanied by his grandson. He was clearly proud and pleased that he too had developed a love of the Addicks. 

Chris was able to offer more insight into proceedings not just because he was teetotal and I am usually a bit squiffy from pre-match imbibing! 

Chris had a fantastic ability to read the game and his Charlton knowledge was second to none of course. Partly that arose from not having missed a game, home or away, over many, many years. 

Chris had such dedication to the Charlton cause that holidays were always booked to coincide with gaps in the fixture list that allowed to pop down to his beloved Cornwall for a few days. 

Regular readers of Dr Kish will be aware of Chris’s meticulous planning for away games that would often see him walking the dog at about 5am before heading to catch what must have been the first train out of Kettering! 

In as much as a few thirst quenchers are part of the match day ritual for me, Chris’s pleasure arose from pre-match fish and chips. I believe he had an encyclopedic knowledge of all the best 92 football ground chippies! 

Chris was always so encouraging in respect of my blogging efforts. Very generous of him as, in that respect, he was Shakespeare to my Steve Bruce! 

Chris was nothing less than prolific in respect of his blog. The quantity of his output never diminished the quality despite publishing something on an almost daily basis. 

This was something he managed to achieve even during the summer, quite an achievement. Further to that what he wrote was always relevant and insightful. 

I spoke to Chris several times over the lockdown and during the summer. The lack of football for such a dedicated fan was hugely frustrating, as was, the wait for his second knee operation with the first one causing him to miss a game for the first time in many a year. 

When I last spoke to him about two weeks ago, I observed that this was the longest period I’d gone without seeing him since we first met him all those years ago at Carrow Road. 

Only the close season would not see us meet up. When we did it was always like we’d only seen each other a few days ago such is the camaraderie of the Charlton fan! 

Chris’s love affair with Charlton goes back to 1952 and he was an Addick courtesy of his dad who took him to his first game on 24^th April that year. 

Of course during that time he witnessed some amazing games and events. Chris cited the infamous 7-6 win over Huddersfield as his favourite game and his all-time favourite player as Johnnie Jackson whom he described as a genuine legend. 

Chris described supporting Charlton as being part of one large family. Amen to that! He is so right of course and it’s one very special family. 

Matches at The Valley will indeed never be the same and I do feel I've lost a family member.

Fans like Chris are the lifeblood of every football club and people like Southall, Farnell etc. could never understand the passion, enthusiasm and dedication of someone like Chris. 

They are the complete antithesis of the genuine, lovely man who loved his club and gave so much of his life to supporting it. 

For the sake of the memory of fans like Chris, Seb and many others we have to pray that the club will rise again to honour the dedication they showed towards it. 

RIP Chris, thanks for the friendship, support and memories over all those years. You will be greatly missed by so many people.