Sir Stuart Etherington discusses 25th Anniversary Committee's plans

Olly Groome reports

Sir Stuart Etherington, Chair of the 25th Anniversary Committee, is encouraging fans to give their input on ideas to celebrate the anniversaries of both the return to The Valley and the creation of the Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT).
 
December 5th 2017, marks 25 years since the Addicks’ historic return to SE7 after a seven-year exile, while CACT is celebrating being a quarter-of-a-century old this year and a special committee has been setup to oversee a calendar of events to mark the occasion.
 
The 12-person committee, which also includes club legend Keith Peacock and CACT CEO Jason Morgan, have begun work on a number of special events from the start of the 2017/18 season. All proceeds from the celebration events will be donated to CACT to support their work in local communities.
 
Sir Stuart wants suggestions to ensure fans stay at the forefront of the celebrations.
 
“I want the fans to become involved and see this as their series of events,” he explained.
 
“There is a whole range of ways the fans can get involved and they can email me or the club to discuss the best ways of celebrating. We have some ideas, but we’re open to others.
 
“We’ve been speaking to supporters’ groups who we want to become involved, to comment on what we’re doing, as well as thinking about ways that they might help by organising local events.”
 
Sir Stuart, who is CEO of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, played a big part in the Queen’s 90th birthday celebrations last year which raised over £700,000 for charity, and has given a hint of what supporters can expect for the club’s upcoming 25-year celebrations.
 
“There’s a whole range of things that are being planned,” he said.
 
“There’s a charity football match which will take place later in the year and a dinner is being planned, as well as a big concert.
 
“But perhaps the most important of all, will be the game in December, close to the anniversary itself of when we came back 25 years ago when we’re hoping that as many of the old 1992 team as possible will come back for the day.”
 
More news about 25-year anniversary events will be announced in the coming months, while supporters can get in touch with their ideas by emailing the committee at anniversary.committee@cafc.co.uk.