Charlton Athletic F.C.
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| Charlton Athletic | |
| Image:Charlton Athletic crest second.png | |
| Full name | Charlton Athletic Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Addicks |
| Founded | 1905 |
| Ground | The Valley, London (Capacity 27,111) |
| Chairman | Image:Flag of England.svg Richard Murray |
| Manager | Image:Flag of England.svg Alan Pardew |
| League | The Championship |
| 2006–07 | Premier League, 19th (relegated) |
Charlton Athletic Football Club (also known as The Addicks) is a professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. Charlton was founded on June 9, 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the south-east London area, including both East Street Mission and Blundell Mission, combined to form Charlton Athletic Football Club.
The club is based at The Valley, where it has played at since 1919, apart from one year in Catford, during 1923–24, and seven years at Crystal Palace and West Ham United between 1985 and 1992.
Charlton turned professional in 1920 and first entered the Football League in 1921. Since then, it has had four separate periods in the top flight of English football; between 1936 and 1957; 1986 and 1990; 1998 and 1999, and 2000 to 2007. Historically, Charlton's most successful period was the 1930s, when the club's highest league finishes were recorded, and the 1940s, when the club reached the FA Cup final twice, winning in 1947.
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[edit] History
Charlton Athletic were formed on June 9, 1905[1] by a group of 15 to 17 year old boys in an area of Charlton which is no longer residential, near where the Thames Barrier is now. In the club's early years of existence, it's progress was hampered by the nearby presence of Woolwich Arsenal F.C. (now Arsenal), which was one of the largest club's in the country, and Charlton spent the years preceding the war playing in local leagues. Woolwich Arsenal's move to North London in 1913 gave Charlton an opportunity to develop, and they became a senior side by joining the Lewisham League.[1] After the First World War, they joined the Kent League for one season (1919–20) and then becoming professional, appointing Walter Rayner as the first full time manager. They were accepted by the Southern League and played just a single season (1920–21) before being voted into the Football League. The club's first Football League match was against Exeter City in August 1921, which was won 1–0. In 1923 it was proposed that Charlton merged with Catford Southend to create a larger team with bigger support.[2] In the 1923–24 season Charlton played in Catford at The Mount stadium and wore the colours of 'The Enders', light and dark blue vertical stripes. However, the move fell through and the Addicks returned to the Charlton area in 1924, returning to the traditional red and white colours in the process.[3] Charlton finished second bottom in the Football League in 1926 and was forced to apply for re-election which was successful. Three years later the Addicks won the Division Three championship in 1929[4] and they remained at the Division Two level for four years.[1] After relegation, Jimmy Seed was appointed as manager and three years into Seed's reign, the Addicks had gained successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division in 1936.[1]
In 1937 Charlton finished runners up in the First Division,[5] in 1938 finished fourth[6] and 1939 finished third.[7] They were the most consistent team in the top flight of English football over the three seasons immediately before World War II.[1] This continued during the war years and they won the "war" cup and appeared in finals. They remained in the First Division, and were finalists in the 1946 FA Cup, but lost to 4–1 to Derby after extra time. The Addicks made amends when the reached the FA Cup final again in 1947. This time they beat Burnley 1–0, Chris Duffy scoring the only goal of the day.[8] In this period of renewed football attendances, Charlton became one of only eleven English football teams to average over 40,000 as their attendance during a full season.[1] The Valley was the largest football ground in the League, drawing crowds in excess of 70,000.[1] However, in the 1950s little investment was made either for players or to The Valley, hampering the club's growth. In 1956, the then board undermined Jimmy Seed, and Charlton were relegated the following year.[1]
From the late 1950s until the early 1970s, Charlton remained a mainstay of the Second Division. Relegation to the Third Division in 1972[9] caused the team's support to drop, and even a promotion in 1975 back to the second division[10] did little to re-invigorate the team's support and finances. In 1979–80 Charlton were relegated again to the Third Division,[11] but won immediate promotion back to the Second Division in 1980–81.[12] Even though it did not feel like it, this was a turning point in the clubs history leading to a period of turbulence and change including further promotion and exile. A change in management and shortly after a change in club ownership[13] led to severe problems, such as the reckless signing of former European Footballer of the Year Allan Simonsen, and the club looked like it would go out of business.[14] In 1984 financial matters came to a head and the club went into administration, to be reformed as Charlton Athletic (1984) Ltd.[1] But the club's finances were still far from secure, and they were forced to leave the Valley just after the start of the 1985-86 season after its safety was criticised by Football League officials. The club began to groundshare with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park[1] and this arrangement looked to be for the long-term, as Charlton did not have enough funds to revamp the Valley to meet safety requirements.
Despite the move away from the Valley, Charlton were promoted to the First Division as Second Division runners-up at the end of 1985–86,[15] and remained at this level for four years (achieving a highest league finish of 14th) often with late escapes, most notably against Leeds in 1987, where the Addicks triumphed in extra-time of the play-off final replay to secure their top flight place.[1] In 1987 Charlton also returned to Wembley for the first time since the 1947 FA Cup final for the Full Members Cup final against Blackburn.[16] Eventually, however, the Addicks fell to relegation in 1990.[1] Manager Lennie Lawrence moved to Middlesbrough in 1991 and was replaced by rookie joint managers Steve Gritt and 34-year-old Alan Curbishley.[1] The pair had unexpected success in their first season finishing just outside the play-offs, and 1992–93 began promisingly and Charlton looked good bets for promotion. However, the club was forced to sell players such as Rob Lee and Anthony Barness to secure a return to The Valley, which eventually happened in December 1992.[17] Less than three years later, however, new chairman Richard Murray appointed Curbishley as sole manager of Charlton.[18]
Under his sole leadership, Charlton made an appearance in the playoffs in 1996 but were eliminated by Crystal Palace in the semi-finals and the following season brought a disappointing 15th place finish. 1997–98 was Charlton's best season for years. They reached the Division One playoff final and battled against Sunderland in a thrilling game with ended with a 4–4 draw after extra time. Charlton won 7–6 on penalties,[19] with the match described as "one of the finest games ever seen at Wembley", and were promoted to the Premier League. Charlton's first Premiership campaign began promisingly but they were unable to keep up their good form and were soon battling relegation. The battle was lost on the final day of the season but the club's board kept faith in Curbishley, confident that they could bounce back. And Curbishley rewarded the chairman's loyalty with the Division One title in 2000 which signalled a return to the Premiership.[20] After the club's return, Curbishley proved an astute spender and by 2003 he had succeeded in establishing Charlton in the top flight. In the 2003–04 season, Charlton spent much of the campaign challenging for a Champions League place, but a late-season slump in form, combined with the sale of star player Scott Parker to Chelsea, left Charlton in 7th place,[21] which was still the club's highest finish since the 1950s. However, Charlton failed to build on this achievement and Curbishley left two years afterwards in 2006, after 15 years as manager.[22]
In May 2006, Iain Dowie was named as Curbishley's successor,[23] but was sacked after twelve league matches in November 2006, with only two wins.[24] Les Reed replaced Dowie as manager,[25] however he too failed to improve Charlton's position in the league table and on Christmas Eve 2006, Reed was replaced by former player Alan Pardew.[26] Despite an improvement in fortunes, Pardew was unable to keep Charlton up and relegation was confirmed in the penultimate match of the season.[27] Shortly afterwards the Addicks were linked with a foreign takeover,[28] but this was swiftly denied by the club.[29]
[edit] Stadia
- See also: The Valley
The club's first ground was Siemens Meadow (1905–1907), not a meadow but a patch of rough ground by the Thames. This was over-shadowed by the now demolished Siemens Telegraph Works. Then followed Woolwich Common (1907–1908), Pound Park (1908–1913), and Angerstein Lane (1913–1915). After the end of the First World War, a chalk quarry known as the 'Swamps' was identified as the new ground for Charlton, and in the summer of 1919 work began on the ground to create the level playing area and remove debris from the site.[30] The first match at this site, now known as the club's current ground The Valley, was in September 1919. Charlton stayed at The Valley until 1923, when the club moved to The Mount stadium in Catford as part of a proposed merger with Catford Southend Football Club. However, after this move collapsed in 1924 Charlton returned to The Valley.
During the 1930s and 1940s, significant improvements were made to the ground so that it was one of the largest in the country.[30] In 1938 the highest attendance to date at the ground was recorded at over 75,000 for a FA Cup match against Aston Villa. During the 1940s and 50s the attendance was often above 40,000, and Charlton had one of the largest support bases in the country. However, after the club's relegation little investment was made to The Valley as it fell into decline.
In the 1980s matters came to a head as the ownership of the club and The Valley was divided. The large East Terrace had been closed down by the authorities after the Bradford City disaster and the ground's owner wanted to use part of the site for housing. In September 1985, Charlton made the controversial move to ground-share with South London neighbours Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park. This move was unpopular with supporters and in the late 1980s significant steps were taken to bring about the club's return to The Valley. A single issue political party, the Valley Party, contested the 1990 local elections in Greenwich Borough Council on a ticket of reopening the stadium, capturing a creditable 11% of the vote,[30] aiding the club's return. The 'Valley Gold' investment scheme was created to help supporters fund the return to The Valley, and several players were also sold to ensure the club's return. For the 1991–92 season (and part of the 1992–93 season), the Addicks played at West Ham's Upton Park[30] as Wimbledon had moved into Selhurst Park alongside Palace. Charlton finally returned to The Valley in December 1992, celebrating with 1–0 victory against Portsmouth.[17]
Since the return to The Valley, three sides of the ground have been completely redeveloped turning The Valley into a modern, all-seater stadium with a 27,111 capacity. There are currently plans in place to increase the ground's capacity to approximately 31,000 and even around 40,000 in the future.[31]
[edit] Supporters
Charlton are rare among football clubs, in that they reserve a seat on their director's board for a supporter. Any season ticket holder can put themselves forward for election, with a certain number of nominations, and votes are cast by all season ticket holders over the age of 18. The current director is Ben Hayes,[32] who was elected in 2006 and will last until 2008.
Charlton's most common nickname is The Addicks. Among the theories on the origin of the Addicks name are that it was the south-east London pronunciation of either 'addict' or 'athletic'. However, the most likely origin of name is from a local fishmonger, Arthur 'Ikey' Bryan, who rewarded the team with meals of haddocks and chips.[33] The progression of the nickname can be seen in the book The Addicks Cartoons: An Affectionate Look into the Early History of Charlton Athletic, which covers the pre-First World War history of Charlton through a narrative based on 56 cartoons which appeared in the now defunct Kentish Independent. The very first cartoon, from October 31, 1908, calls the team the Haddocks. By 1910, the name had changed to Addicks although it also appeared as Haddick. The club has had two other nicknames, the Robins, adopted in 1931, and the Valiants, chosen in a fan competition in the 1960s which also led to the adoption of the sword badge which is still in use. The Addicks nickname never went away and was revived by fans after the club lost its Valley home in 1985 and went into exile at Crystal Palace. It is now once again the official nickname of the club.
The fans' favourite chant is entitled "Valley, Floyd Road" (Floyd Road being the street on which the stadium is situated) and is sung to the tune of Paul McCartney's "Mull of Kintyre". The team run out to "The Red Red Robin" and the version played is one by the Billy Cotton band first recorded in the 1950s. A number of versions have been recorded, however this version is now well established.
[edit] Colours and crest
In 1963, a competition was held to find a new badge for the club, and the winning entry was a hand holding a sword, which complied with Charlton’s nickname of the time, the Valiants.[34] Over the next five years modifications were made to this design, such as the addition of a circle surrounding the hand and sword and including the club’s name in the badge. By 1968, the design had reached the one known today, and has been used continuously from this year, apart from a period in the 1970s when the just the letters ‘CAFC’ appeared on the team’s shirts.[34]
With the exception of one season, Charlton have always played in red and white. The colours had been chosen by the group of boys who had founded Charlton Athletic in 1905.[35] The exception came during the 1923–24 season when Charlton wore the colours of Catford Southend as part of the proposed move to Catford, which were light and dark blue stripes.[36] However, after the move fell through, Charlton returned to wearing red and white as their home colours.
[edit] April Fools
On 1st April 2002, Charlton ran a full length article in it's match day programme stating that Greenwich council, who had previous sabotaged Charlton by sending them from the Valley, though the sword on the logo was too threatening and require changing.
There were three options given to the fans, the first was a take a haddock surrounding a football, an obvious take on the clubs nicknames, the Addicks. The second was a robin, again with a football, this relating to the tune the club runs out to on matchdays, "the Red, Red, Robin". The final was a take of local London club Fulham.
Despite the obvious prank many supporters were seen around the ground showing their disgrace at the logo having to be changed, and also discussing which they felt should replace the current club logo. Over 200 people voted on the club website, however it would have been more wise of them to check the date.
[edit] Players
- As of 19 October 2007.[37]
[edit] Current squad
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[edit] Out on loan
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[edit] Notable former players
- For more details on this topic, see List of Charlton Athletic F.C. players.
[edit] Player of the year
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[edit] The Boardroom
[edit] Charlton Athletic PLC
[edit] CAFC LTD
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