Charlton legend brian kinsey has a stern word for today's stars

“It’s a different attitude today,” he said. “At the end of my first season we got relegated and there was a list of the retained players up for us to see if our names were on it.

“I was in, but that day I saw good, honest professionals crying when they found out they weren’t being kept on.”

Kinsey feels that Charlton have been lucky to have good supporters through thick and thin and if any player wants to leave as soon as they are relegated it is not on.

“If the players aren’t good enough to keep the side up they shouldn’t be playing in the top division,” he added.

Kinsey, 70 last week, can be considered Charlton through and through. Born in Charlton – even being delivered by a future director – he went on to work for goalkeeping legend Sam Bartram in his sports shop, before playing 377 games for the club he loved.

Due to his father’s insistence, Kinsey learned his trade at Henry Sykes’ firm in Woolwich Road while starting his career at Charlton.

He played his first game for the club as an 18-year-old at The Valley against Newcastle United in 1956, but he was brought straight back to earth a couple of days later.

“There were 52,000 there,” said Kinsey. “I was numb. I was just a kid down there on the pitch but it was a dream come true.

“Then on the Monday morning I went to work and they all clapped me in. One of the lads, a northerner, said to me, ‘I read in the papers you did well, but let’s keep things in perspective’. He then gave me 20p to get him a cup of tea and two cheese rolls from the canteen.”

Kinsey’s life story is an eventful one. His house was bombed during the Second World War when he was just a few months old and is forever grateful to the same doctor who delivered him – Dr John Montgomery – for giving him emergency surgery.

Some shrapnel could not be removed, however, and he played out his whole career with it lodged in his arm. He grew up in the area and loved going to The Valley to watch his uncle, Peter Etherton, play.

He turned down a big move to Spurs and went on to play 14 seasons at The Valley for the only team he ever wanted to represent.

After his playing career ended he coached in South Africa and was later a coach for the Kuwait national team in the 1982 World Cup finals.

But, through all that, one memory stands out for Kinsey from when he was back working in Bartram’s sports shop as a young man and he was taught a lesson about fame that lived with him forever.

“After the matches I used to go to the ground to give Sam the keys,” he said. “One time he asked me if I can do him a favour and take two players to the station.

“Standing there were football and cricket legends, Leslie and Denis Compton, two of the world’s greatest players. I couldn’t believe it.

“They wanted to stop for some chips on the way and as we went in the shop they were mobbed by fans and signed their autographs on chip wrappers.

“They were good days, but nowadays players just drive straight to the car park and get escorted in by stewards. It’s not the same – something has been lost.”

rob.virtue@wharf.co.uk