Charlton Athletic
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| Full name | Charlton Athletic Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Addicks, Red Robins, The Valiants |
| Founded | 9 June 1905 |
| Ground | The Valley |
| Capacity | 27,111 |
| Owner | Roland Duchâtelet |
| Chairman | Richard Murray |
| Manager | Karl Robinson |
| League | League One |
| 2015–16 | Championship, 22nd (relegated) |
| Website | Club home page |
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London. They play in League One, the third tier of English football.
The club was founded on 9 June 1905 when a number of youth clubs in south-east London, including East Street Mission and Blundell Mission, combined to form Charlton Athletic. The club play at The Valley in Charlton, where they have played 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.
The club's traditional kit consists of red shirts, white shorts and red socks, and their most commonly used nickname is The Addicks. Charlton turned professional in 1920 and first entered the Football League in 1921. Since then they have had four separate periods in the top flight of English football: 1936–1957, 1986–1990, 1998–1999 and 2000–2007. Historically, Charlton's most successful period was the 1930s, when the club's highest league finishes were recorded, including runners-up of the First Division in 1937. After World War II, the club reached the FA Cup Final twice, losing in 1946 and winning in 1947.
Charlton Athletic F.C. were formed on 9 June 1905 by a group of 15- to 17-year-olds in East Street, Charlton which is now known as Eastmoor Street and no longer residential. Charlton spent most of the years before the First World War playing in youth leagues. They became a senior side in 1913 the same year that nearby Woolwich Arsenal relocated to North London. After the war, they joined the Kent League for one season (1919–20) before 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. Charlton's first Football League match was against Exeter City in August 1921, which they won 1–0. In 1923 The Addicks became "giant killers" in the FA Cup beating top flight sides Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion & Preston North End before losing to eventual winners Bolton Wanderers in the Quarter-Finals. Later that year it was proposed that Charlton merge with Catford Southend to create a larger team with bigger support. 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. Charlton finished second bottom in the Football League in 1926 and were forced to apply for re-election which was successful. Three years later the Addicks won the Division Three championship in 1929 and they remained at the Division Two level for four years. After relegation into the Third Division south at the end of the 1932/33 season the club appointed Jimmy Seed as manager and he oversaw the most successful period in Charlton's history either side of the Second World War. Seed, an ex-miner who had made a career as a footballer despite suffering the effects of poison gas in the First World War, remains the most successful manager in Charlton's history. He is commemorated in the name of a stand at the Valley. Seed was an innovative thinker about the game at a time when tactical formations were still relatively unsophisticated. He later recalled "a simple scheme that enabled us to pull several matches out of the fire" during the 1934–35 season: when the team was in trouble "the centre-half was to forsake his defensive role and go up into the attack to add weight to the five forwards." The organisation Seed brought to the team proved effective and the Addicks gained successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division between 1934 and 1936, becoming the first club to ever do so. Charlton finally secured promotion to the First Division by beating local rivals West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground, with their centre-half John Oakes playing on despite concussion and a broken nose.
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