The Year of the Robin: Watching It All Go Wrong for Charlton Athletic and the World

by Jen Offord

SHORTLISTED IN THE SUNDAY TIMES SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2023 FOR NEW FEMALE SPORTS WRITING

'Jen has captured the human (and humorous) side of following a football team. A compelling story hilariously told' Sara Pascoe

'From family to football, Jen Offord has captured something we can all relate to. Funny and heartbreaking in equal measure. A must read.' Cariad Lloyd

'Hilarious and moving in equal parts' Carrie Dunn

Jen Offord watches it all go wrong for Charlton Athletic and the world.

When her beloved Charlton Athletic clinched promotion to The Championship in May 2019, sportswriter Jen Offord splashed out on season tickets for herself and her sceptical brother Michael, setting out to chronicle the south-east London outfit's first season back in the second tier of English football.

But this season, more than any other before it, would be a game of two halves. A billionaire takeover backfired spectacularly; the team plummeted into the relegation zone just as Coronavirus swept in to suspend life as we know it.

The Year of The Robin is a love letter to the power of football even when there is no football to actually watch, filled with wild characters searching for redemption and wrestling over issues of money, racism and mental health. A funny, sharp and a thought-provoking exploration of the idea of family in unprecedented times and season from which the world may never fully recover.

352 pages, Paperback

First published June 9, 2022

Reviews

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoy sports, perhaps a bit too much. I remain fanatical about the Chicago teams I learned to root for as a child and have since developed affinities for some of the local teams in the city I have lived for the past 25 years. The only sports team that I have ever consciously (and randomly) chosen to affiliate myself with is Charlton Athletic Football Club. CAFC is the only non-U.S. squad that I actively follow, something that began two decades ago when I decided to attach myself to an English Premier League team in the hopes of better understanding the sport.

Ever since, I have been grateful for how that random decision played out. Indeed, this year I was able to take my children to The Valley for the first time, with them walking away from the match seemingly understanding, at least in part, why I've developed this odd obsession with a third-division English football team.

Among all of the great things I've been introduced to or experienced as an Addick are the books written about Charlton or by Charlton supporters. Jen Offord, a Charlton supporter, has researched and written a fantastic book about Charlton in "The Year of the Robin," adding yet another treasure to my library.

Jen's book is ostensibly about the disastrous 2019-2020 season for the club, but is also about her family, her life, and the club as a whole -- not just about what happens on the pitch, but everything about Charlton that makes it such a special club. By personalizing these experiences through her family's history with the club as fans, Jen connects her subject matter with the lives of those Addicks that pick the book up.

I had a lovely time working through Ms. Offord's first book and look forward to reading her work in the future.

[Paul Shrimpton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is predominantly an average read. I found myself picking up the book to read out of habit, as opposed to wanting to see the next chapter. The book is primarily about a football club, although interestingly the book has chapters when the author tackles societies’s more challenging topics, upon which the writing and engagement to reader elevates significantly. The books is worth a read to all, football fan or not.

[Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tad scattershot, and the chronology is...loose. But a fun read - as fun as reading about a relegation season and covid can be. A great look at a great club.