About Kevin Nolan

AFC Bournemouth 2 (Grabban 26,66) Charlton 1 (Kermorgant 49).

Kevin Nolan reports from Dean Court aka Goldsands Stadium.

Kevin Nolan’s Match Report is brought to you in association with Maybridge – the CIS Tax Refund Specialists, 294 Burnt Ash Hill, London, SE12 0QD.

A marvellous strike from Yann Kermorgant -already streets ahead as Charlton’s goal of the season- went to waste down on the South Coast as Bournemouth’s Lewis Grabban trumped the Frenchman’s ace by adding a brilliant 25-yard blockbuster of his own to his first half opener.

Kermorgant’s spectacular rifle shot four minutes after the interval was one of too few bright spots in an otherwise disappointing afternoon near the sea. Some bright spot it was though. So let’s talk it up.

Charlton were deservedly trailing to Grabban’s 26th minute header when spirited ex-Addick Harry Arter’s clumsy foul on Bradley Pritchard near the halfway line set the wheels in motion for Kermorgant’s ultimately fruitless heroics. Chris Solly’s deeply flighted free kick was retrieved beyond the far post by Rhoys Wiggins, whose cross deflected off a defender and reached the Breton level with his left hip. Keeling over in textbook style, Kermorgant’s vicious volley, struck necessarily with his “wrong” foot, was rippling the net almost before Ryan Allsop moved a muscle.

It was a strike of power and majesty but mattered little in the overall scheme of things. The truth is that, while far from outclassed, the visitors were given a hard time by Eddie Howe’s eager beavers, who deserved all three points. Faster to the second ball, more committed to potentially painful challenges, willing to go that yard further, the Cherries were impressive. The only stain on their escutcheon was the predictable booking collected by Arter, who followed a gratuitous foul on Solly by grousing about it to spot-on referee Andy D’Urso. But Arter’s lapse into villainy paled into insignificance alongside the savagely out-of-character assault launched on substitute Ryan Fraser by Pritchard seven minutes from time. No doubt there had been a spot of “previous” between the chaps but Pritchard’s lunacy was impossible to excuse. His dismissal footnoted a thoroughly depressing defeat.

Roared on by their enthusiastic following, Bournemouth sustained a high tempo throughout, faltered slightly after Kermorgant pegged them back but reasserted themselves and cruised home. The groan with which their supporters greeted the announcement of six added minutes turned into a purr of approval as Eddie Howe’s men handled the extra burden with ease.
In Grabban, meanwhile, the Cherries were led by a centre forward on his game and hungry to hit the ground running in early August. They were more than holding their own despite early half chances falling to Callum Harriott (sliced carelessly wide) and debutant Marvin Sordell (a dangerous header deflected off an unwitting defender) when Grabban opened his account.
A left wing corner conceded by Solly was taken quickly by Marc Pugh to Arter, a ruse already tried once before but still slipping under Charlton’s radar. The busy midfielder chipped over a measured cross, which Grabban’s clever header sent back over Ben Hamer into the opposite corner.

It was no more than Bournemouth deserved and Wes Thomas should have immediately doubled their lead but made a scuffed mess of converting Pugh’s perceptive pass. Grabban was typically more accurate before the break but Hamer was alertly positioned behind his snapshot.

Missing the steadying influence of injured skipper Johnnie Jackson, the Addicks improved briefly following Kermorgant’s equaliser. A goal of such stunning quality could hardly fail to galvanise a struggling side and, anyway, the bristling Kermorgant was far from finished. His cross from the right touchline, curled in deliciously with the outside of his right foot, picked out Pritchard but was headed narrowly but wastefully over the bar. Hardly renowned for his heading ability, Pritchard was wretchedly unlucky later in the half when he nodded over the poorly placed Allsop during a penalty area free-for-all but saw his effort booted off the line by Elliot Ward. By that time, Grabban had all but put them in their place with a truly superlative winner.

Moving from left to right some 25 yards from goal, the Cherries No.9 delayed his shot until time and space were ideally aligned, then blasted an unhibited rocket beyond Hamer’s desperate right hand and unstoppably inside the left post. It was a goal worthy of winning any game. So was Kermorgant’s typically venomous volley but, as regretfully stated, it amounted to nothing in concrete terms. So the honours stayed down beside the seaside, leaving Charlton to re-group and try again. There’s absolutely no call to panic. It’s early days and that’s one thing their manager miserably fails to do anyway.

Bournemouth: Allsop, Francis, Daniels, Cook, Ward, Coulihay (Fraser 55), MacDonald, Arter, Pugh, Grabban (PItman 90), Thomas (Surman 85). Not used: Flahavan, Elphick, Harte, O’Kane. Booked: Arter.

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Dervite, Wiggins, Pritchard, Gower (Stephens 77), Hughes (Green 77), Harriott, Kermorgant, Sordell (Church 65). Not used: Pope, Wilson, Evina, Cort. Booked: Kermorgant. Sent off: Pritchard.

Referee: Andy D’Urso. Attendance: 10,108 (1421 Charlton).

Relegation in 1998-99 brought Charlton back down to earth and Division One with a painful bump. A promising start was made to their first season in the Premiership, with 0-0 draws at Newcastle and Arsenal sandwiching the 5-0 drubbing of Southampton at The Valley, but a gruelling battle to stay up ended in the 1-0 home defeat by Sheffield Wednesday in their last game, which ensured Southampton’s survival at their expense. The Wembley play-off euphoria already seemed like ancient history but promising seeds had been sown for a prompt return to the top flight.

Backed by his board, Alan Curbishley managed to keep his play-off squad together in 1999-00 and was rewarded with the Division One title after his side rampaged through most of their opposition. Led magnificently by skipper Mark Kinsella, his champions put together a club record-busting run of 12 consecutive victories, which began with a 2-1 home win over Crystal Palace on Boxing Day 1999 and concluded in 4-2 victory over Walsall at Bescot Stadium on March 7th 2000. The bubble was burst by relegation certainties Swindon Town, who beat the Addicks 1-0 four days later through a freakish goal conceded by the normally impeccable Dean Kiely. The scoring was led by Andy Hunt, whose twenty four league goals included successive hat-tricks at Norwich City and Stockport County, while an injury-hit Clive Mendonca contributed nine goals from 19 starts. After running out of steam, Charlton crawled painfully over the line but secured the title with a 1-1 draw at Blackburn Rovers on April 24th before closing the campaign in the crushing anti-climax of a 3-1 home defeat by Ipswich Town.

Having regained their Premiership status in spectacular style, the South East Londoners settled down to a period of consolidation. A respectable 9th place finish in 2000-01, featuring a league double over Chelsea and 1-0 conquests of Arsenal and Tottenham, was also illuminated by a nerve-tingling 3-3 draw with Manchester United at The Valley. Their 5-0 Boxing Day demolition by West Ham caused only brief concern, followed as it was four days later by the 4-1 rout of Manchester City at Maine Road. With Clive Mendonca already forced to retire through injury, Andy Hunt’s career was ended by illness on September 30th 2000, his 60th minute equaliser against Coventry City turning out to be his final touch in league football. The scoring slack was picked up Finnish international Jonatan Johansson, who notched 11 goals from 27 starts.

A confident manager by now, Curbishley guided the Addicks through a building process with 14th and 12th place finishes keeping them comfortably enough in the Premiership. The departure of both Mendonca and Hunt inevitably reduced their firepower and, in 2001-02, he was grateful for the 11-goal contribution made by Jason Euell to the team’s one-per-game total of 38 league goals. With 10 strikes in 2002-03, Euell again top scored as goals (45 this term) continued to be scarce. The outstanding goalkeeping of ever-present Dean Kiely received stout support from resolute centre back Richard Rufus and imperturbable left back Chris Powell, with elegant Dane Claus Jensen and precocious local boy Scott Parker supplying artistry in midfield. The surprise arrival of Italian firebrand Paolo DiCanio in 2003 added glamour as well as a guarantee of unaccustomed headlines during his brief, rumbustious involvement.

In 2003-04, the Addicks finished in 7th position, their highest top flight position since 1953-54. Despite struggling nobly against superior financial odds, however, Curbishley was beginning to receive inane criticism from a section of the Valley crowd, unable or unwilling to accept that Premiership finishes in the top half of the table represented over-achievement by any reasonable standards. Many of the “experts” had begun following the club since the second promotion in 1999-2000 and knew little about the hard times which preceded Charlton’s dramatic rise. No doubt wearied by the abuse he was apparently expected to endure, a financially secure Curbishley’s mutually agreed resignation at the end of the 2005-06 season signalled the onset of a disastrous slide.

Abruptly, the managerial stability, which had underpinned the club’s unlikely rise, was replaced by chaos at the top. Iain Dowie took over in May 2006, pursued through the door by subpoenas, lawsuits and colourful accusations of wrongdoing between himself and Michael Heseltine lookalike Simon Jordan, his ex-chairman at Crystal Palace. Dowie’s brief tenure ended mercifully in November 2006, with perennial bridesmaid Les Reed filling in until Christmas Eve, when Alan Pardew stepped into the widening breach.

Nobody in football has a higher opinion of Pardew than Pardew himself but he proved incapable of keeping his new employers in the Premiership. Relegation was gamely resisted but proved ultimately inevitable.

Pardew was given the opportunity to revive Charlton’s fortunes in the Championship but following a bright start, a disappointing 11th position was the best they could manage. Rumours of financial takeover by Dubai-based businessmen abounded but came to nothing. A net loss of 13 million pounds was announced at the end of the 2007-08 season, with gloomy bulletins from the boardroom mirrored by depressing results on the field.

Charlton’s second outing in the Championship brought further humiliation. Disastrous results, culminating in a 5-2 home hammering on November 22nd 2008, saw Pardew make an unlamented exit, his spurious big-time-Charlie persona superseded by the workaday personality of Phil Parkinson. What you saw was what you got from the likeable Parkinson.

Handed an impossible task to save the Addicks from relegation to the third tier of English football, the new manager did his best but Charlton were effectively doomed by Easter Monday, by which time they were 12 points adrift at the foot of the league, with just four games to play.

In his first full campaign (2010-11), Parkinson led a spirited attempt to bounce back. Charlton reached the League One play-offs only to suffer the heartache of losing on penalties to Swindon Town in the semi-finals. But the boss had done enough to earn himself a reprieve.

Parkinson began the 2011-12 season still in charge but was summarily -and somewhat harshly – sacked in January 2012, with his side hovering just outside the play-off positions. His surprise successor was a charismatic former Charlton player, who commanded a level of respect reserved for the fabled likes of Sam Bartram, Stuart Leary, Mark Kinsella and various others.
Chris Powell’s new job began promisingly with four consecutive victories but quickly tailed off into a run of 11 games without a win. His credentials would obviously be tested by a full season in charge, for which he prepared in the summer of 2011 by making an almost clean sweep of his playing personnel and replacing them with some 19 shrewdly recruited new signings. Gone were the peripatetic loanees, who had flitted in and out of the 2010-11 team; in came players committed to Charlton. On a tight budget, an almost entirely new side was re-built and the rewards were instant.

To say that Charlton were a class above League One in 2011-12 is no overstatement. Topping the table on September 17th 2011 after a 3-2 win at Rochdale, the Addicks proved impossible to dislodge. Promotion was clinched, as oddly enough it had been on two previous occasions, at Carlisle United on April 14th 2012, where top scorer Bradley Wright-Phillips bundled in the only goal. The championship was delivered at The Valley a week later, where Wycombe Wanderers were beaten 2-1 and a record-equalling total of 101 points was reached on May 5th with the 3-2 home defeat of Hartlepool United, when Yann Kermorgant’s stunning volley added the last goal and an appropriate flourish to a barnstorming season. But the campaign was galvanised by back-to-back 1-0 victories in January over promotion rivals Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United, both of them secured by inspirational captain Johnnie Jackson’s unstoppable free kicks. The rest of the league were struggling in Charlton’s slipstream after those psychological blows had been landed.

Three depressing seasons in League One were finally over. With little or no money to spend, it became Powell’s challenge to maintain the momentum and consolidate his tightly knit group’s place in the far more rarefied air of the Championship, where the opposition reads like a Who’s Who of recent members of the Premier League. The step up in quality, the superior stadiums, the thin line dividing top from bottom in a league where no result is a surprise, all were taken in his stride by the admirably calm boss.

For as this journey through the chequered and- as already disclaimed, unscientific- history of Charlton Athletic hauls itself up to date, the Addicks have completed their first campaign back in the Championship in an entirely creditable 8th position. Though not officially safe from relegation until the concluding stages, their impressive total of 65 points exceeded, by no less than 15, the number normally required for safety. The play-offs, in an ultra-competitive race, were tantalisingly out of reach by the time Yann Kermorgant’s spectacularly volleyed goal lit up the buccaneering 4-1 demolition of Bristol City at The Valley on May 4th. Poor home form, belatedly put right by four consecutive victories at the end of the season, undermined Charlton’s magnificent form on the road, which saw them win nine times and was highlighted by the club’s record-busting romp on April 13th at Barnsley, where six separate scorers staged what amounted to a prize-winning trolley dash through a supermarket on their way to Charlton’s biggest-ever (6-0) away win

Quietly effective captain Johnnie Jackson’s 12 goals led the scoring, with talismanic Kermorgant’s 11 strikes running him close. But the fans’ Player of the Year, for the second consecutive season, was the phenomenally consistent right back Chris Solly, with ball-of-fire left winger Callum Harriott emerging hungrily from a medal-winning group of U-21 professionals who will be clamouring for first-team recognition in 2013-14.

Presiding over the steady improvement, meanwhile, was the imperturbable Chris Powell, arguably the most promising young manager in all four divisions. Dismissed by chin-stroking experts as either too soft, too nice or too inexperienced, he has made fools of his critics. This dude is diamond-hard beneath the sharp suits and affable manner, entirely comfortable with the reality that, in football, you can never please all the people all the time. His decisions are considered and crisp, even when, as in the case of Scott Wagstaff’s release, they cause him personal pain. The club comes first any and every time. Charlton are in affectionate, capable hands. Stand on me.

So there you have it, 108 often turbulent years in the progress of a football club they tried at times to finish off but failed. It all resumes on August 3rd 2013 at Dean Court, or wherever it is that Bournemouth play nowadays, because football only briefly pauses for reflection. I’ll be on board again, wondering how it all turns out. You just can’t tell, can you?…

The 1980s brought the best and the worst of Charlton Athletic. The achievement of Lennie Lawrence’s 1985-86 squad in winning promotion to the First Division was moving and outstanding. It seems all the more remarkable in hindsight when considering that the season began, for players and fans alike, in blissful ignorance of the behind-the-scenes plotting which threatened the very existence of their famous old club.

Nothing less than a bombshell awaited the 6,637 fans who turned up at The Valley on September 7th 1985 for the home game against, ironically enough, Crystal Palace and were handed a a coldly worded leaflet, informing them that after the next home fixture with Stoke City, Charlton would be moving to Selhurst Park to ground-share with Palace. There was no explanation offered, no room for negotiation, only an implied invitation to like it or lump it. The Addicks were finished in S.E.7 and, like the Mafia, the suits assured us there was nothing personal in their contract killing. It was quick, unemotional and efficient. And strictly business. But it wasn’t over.

If Lawrence and his players were affected by the disastrous development, they gamely hid their feelings. In front of miserable crowds at Selhurst Park (3,767 to watch Oldham Athletic on March 22nd 1986), promotion was secured with a 3-2 victory over familiar fall guys Carlisle United at Brunton Park on April 26th. A 3-3 draw with Millwall, having trailed by three goals inside 20 minutes, was a heartening highlight in an against-all-odds triumph.

The following campaign introduced a shortlived innovation which required the team finishing fourth from bottom of Division One to fight for their top flight status in play-offs against the top three Division Two finishers. Following an exhausting nine-month ordeal, Charlton almost inevitably ended up in the dreaded 17th position, before prevailing by an aggregate of 3-1 over Ipswich Town in a two-legged semi-final, then facing the almost demented challenge of Leeds United in what turned out to be a violent three-game epic of a final.

Given a one-goal lead at Selhurst Park by Jim Melrose’s 87th minute header, the Addicks stood firm against United’s brutal onslaught in the second leg at Elland Road, conceding only Brendan Ormsby’s second half goal and living to fight another day in a one-game play-off at Birmingham City’s St. Andrews on Friday 29th May 1987. With former Charlton captain Mark Aizlewood exemplifying his team’s ruthless attitude by picking up his third booking of the series, Leeds confidently expected to finish the job but were doomed to disappointment. After John Sheridan’s precise free kick gave then the lead in extra-time, two rapid-fire replies from improbable goalscorer Peter Shirtliff sickened them. The vast majority of football neutrals celebrated Charlton’s survival.

In 1987-88, the Addicks again diced with the play-offs, narrowly avoiding them by a skin-of-their teeth 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in the last scheduled game of the season. The Pensioners were relegated after losing to Middlesbrough in the play-off final.

Charlton’s First Division status was brief. They were relegated in 1989-90, having finished 13 points from safety. The following season brought the departure to Middlesbrough of Lennie Lawrence and the novel appointment, by the board, of joint managers in former Addicks Alan Curbishley and Steve Gritt. But it was rumblings away from their new temporary HQ, West Ham’s Upton Park, that were gathering momentum in the early 90s. Behind the scenes, fan power was beginning to wrest control of the club’s future away from the directors.

The sequence of events which led to the iconic 1-0 victory (Colin Walsh 7 mins) over Portsmouth in front of 8,337 freezing onlookers at The Valley on December 5th 1992 were best chronicled in Rick Everitt’s exhaustive Battle for the Valley tome. The ceaseless endeavour by the rank-and-file; the patience to roll with the constant buffets handed out by many members of a craven Greenwich Council; the ingenious advertising campaign masterminded by Richard Hunt; the cheerfully irreverent refusal to be cowed by so-called lords and masters. Everitt covers it all. It was the fans who marched Charlton back home by the scruff of the neck, propelled on their way, it has to be said, by a team of Charlton-supporting directors and the restless agitation of Voice of the Valley, an anarchic fanzine still inspiring nostalgia among old-timers.They were the stuff of legend, which marked out Charlton as pioneers in the movement toward more democratic stewardship of football clubs, a shift in emphasis from which the followers of many other beleaguered teams briefly benefitted but one which is newly threatened by obscenely rich oligarchs who treat clubs as their personal property.

Already popular figures at a gradually refurbished Valley, Gritt and Curbishley soldiered on together through the establishment, in 1992-93, of the Premier League and satisfactory finishes in what consequently became known as the First Division until, in the summer of 1995, new chairman Richard Murray made the difficult decision to dismiss the greatly respected Gritt and place Curbishley in sole charge.

The only viable rival to Jimmy Seed as Charlton’s most successful manager, Curbishley hadn’t exactly illuminated The Valley until he guided his side to Wembley in May 1998 to contest a First Division play-off final against Sunderland. Skippered by inspirational Irish international Mark Kinsella, Charlton had finished in fourth position, two points behind Sunderland, before knocking out old shoot-out opponents, Ipswich Town, with a pair of 1-0 play-off semi-final victories. The final itself, before 77,739 fortunate souls, turned out to be an epic with a reasonable claim to be included among the best games of football ever witnessed at the storied old stadium. Behind 2-1, 3-2 and 4-3, after leading 1-0 at half-time, Clive Mendonca’s 103rd minute equaliser completed a fabled hat-trick (immoveable centre back Richard Rufus had picked the perfect time to claim his first-ever goal in making the score 3-3) and sentenced two shattered sides to an impossibly tense penalty shoot-out. The Addicks were pitch-perfect in converting seven consecutive spotkicks, which placed the growing pressure squarely on the shoulders of Sunderland left back Michael Gray. A weakly dribbled penalty was gobbled up by goalkeeper Sasha Ilic to trigger contrasting scenes of wild delight and bleak despair. For every winner, of course, there has to be a loser and it was Curbishley’s Charlton who looked forward to competing, in 1998-99, among the Premier League’s elite for the first time. But that’s a story for another day and another article…

Charlton 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1 (Meekings 80).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

Charlton’s final pre-season friendly did rather more than hand them their only defeat before the campaign begins in earnest at Bournemouth next Saturday. It also left manager Chris Powell pondering a glaring deficiency in a 21-man squad which boasted, in Yann Kermorgant, only one striker with genuine experience, with back-up provided by rookie Joe Pigott, a 19 year-old whose bright promise has been untried at league level.

Elsewhere, the Addicks seem solid if uninspiring. Every area, from the capable goalkeeping back-up provided for Ben Hamer by David Button, through a well-stocked defence and midfield, seems conscientiously covered. But up front, following the departures of Danny Haynes and Ricardo Fuller, Kermorgant seems destined to toil alone. Expect bulletins outlining his general wellbeing to be posted daily on an easel outside The Valley because Yann does enjoy a spot of ill-health from time to time. Pity the poor manager. And cut him some slack. His 4-5-1 formation seems as much a matter of expediency as tactics. It doesn’t help that he’s skint. Or so we hear.

In Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Charlton’s last pre-season opposition was well chosen. The Caley Jags, as they are colourfully known, matched their hosts in organisation and spirit. They were also scrupulously fair in their physical approach and commitment. Mainly English immigrants, there was none of the William Wallace (as wildly misrepresented by sassenach-hating Mel Gibson) about them but they gave as good as they got. Terry Butcher’s well organised side drew the sting from their hosts, wore them down and eventually “sent them hame tae think again” with a fine goal ten minutes from time.

Butcher’s ersatz Scots might have won more comfortably had Ross Draper been a trifle luckier with an excellent 16th minute effort. Taking Danny Williams’ square pass in his stride, the powerful but elegant midfielder beat Hamer with a curling drive, which rebounded harmlessly off the left hand post. Draper also forced a smart save from Hamer with a firm snapshot before the busy keeper dealt with Aaron Doran’s awkwardly skidding low drive at the second attempt.

The Addicks had started purposefully, with the aggressive Chris Solly creating two chances for Bradley Pritchard, the first of which was turned dangerously across Dean Brill’s goal, the second, from Solly’s quickthinking throw, sliced comically close to a corner flag. It was the menacing Kermorgant who came closest to breaking a less than riveting deadlock by connecting meatily with Callum Harriott’s perfect cross but directing a downward header too close to Brill.

Those fleeting chances aside, Caley handled Charlton comfortably. Allowing them to pass laboriously among themselves, mainly sideways and back, they remained watchfully goalside, conserving their energy while they awaited the inevitable error. Lacking dynamism, Powell’s men rarely threatened and inevitably ran out of steam.

Organising the visitors’ sturdy resistance was 20 year-old centre back Josh Meekings, a former Ipswich Town academy graduate. Butcher knows a bit about centre halves and in Meekings he seems to have found one after his own heart. The youngster’s give-and-take duel with Kermorgant was an interesting feature in an otherwise routine encounter.

With a goalless draw on the cards as time wore on, Meekings made a rare foray over the halfway line before seeking out wide man Doran with what briefly seemed an over-enthusiastic pass to the right byline. The exuberance of youth was served, however, by the 22 year-old Irishman who not only reached the ball but cut back an inviting cross. Having intelligently followed his own pass, Meekings crisply half-volleyed wide of second half keeper Button. Kermorgant almost immediately equalised but his expertly struck volley shaved Brill’s bar.

So the day belonged deservedly to the cross-border raiders and was celebrated with feeling by the knot of supporters who followed them down and had thrown themselves generously into the festivities surrounding groundsman Colin Powell’s testimonial day.

Fair play to them but Caley left a sombre Powell with more questions than answers about his prospects. His forward line consists of one forward and, as such, can it be accurately described as a forward line? Added to which, does he have a playmaking schemer capable of the occasional defence-splitting pass? Or a ruthless defensive midfield enforcer (the absent Andy Hughes perhaps). The answers to these and other pertinent inquries are eagerly awaited, not to mention urgently sought. Because these Addicks appear a little understaffed. Still, whadda we know? They could make liars of us!

Kevin Nolan’s Match Report is brought to you in association with , 294 Burnt Ash Hill, London, SE12 0QD.

Charlton: Hamer (Button 46), Solly, Morrison, Dervite (Cousins 87), Wiggins (Evina 65), Pritchard, Stephens (Green 63), Gower (Pigott 76), Jackson, Harriott, Kermorgant. Not used: Wood, Cook, Hollands, Wilson, Cort.

Inverness: Brill, Raven, Warren, Meekings, Shinnie (Tremarco 78), Doran (Devine 85), Draper, Polworth, Vincent (Greenhalgh 72), Williams (Ross 53), McKay. Not used: Esson, Cooper.

Referee: C. Breakspear.

It’s a personal theory, one shared by many fellow sufferers, that Charlton’s heroic failure to secure promotion on the last day of the wildly exciting 1957-58 season broke the club. The Addicks were doomed to struggle in the Second Division for 13 years until further humiliation was heaped on them by relegation to the Third Division in 1971-72. Top flight football, meanwhile, remained a dim memory until Lennie Lawrence’s incredible achievement, from exile in Surrey, at the end of the cataclysmic 1985-86 campaign. The depressing interlude included the club’s record league defeat (11-1) which was inflicted by Aston Villa at Villa Park on November 14th 1959, though it’s worth recording that Charlton had their revenge when the Division Two champions were beaten 2-0 at The Valley in the reverse fixture on April 2nd 1960. Until the highly unlikely superhero Lawrence rode to the rescue, there were few highlights.

The 60s limped along, in Charlton’s case, with a stone in their shoe. From their point of view, the decade was anything but swinging, more Old Kent Rd. than Carnaby Street. Following several undistinguished seasons, relegation was avoided by the skin of manager Frank Hill’s teeth in the last fixture of the 1962-63 campaign. The scenario at Walsall’s Fellows Park on Tuesday May 21st 1963 was starkly simple; in a neat reversal of the 1957-58 situation, Charlton needed victory to survive, with their equally desperate hosts requiring only a draw. The Saddlers’ frustration, when referee Roper was forced to call a halt at half-time, with the score 0-0 on a waterlogged pitch, can easily be imagined. During the replay three days later, the roof of their battered stadium figuratively caved in on them.

The teams were locked at 0-0 again when Walsall’s goalkeeper Boswell fractured a cheekbone in the 41st minute and was forced to leave the field. With substitution an innovation still some three years in the future, right back Palin took over in goal and the Addicks took ruthless advantage by scoring twice early in the second half. 10-man Walsall gamely reduced their arrears with 18 minutes left but the nervewracked visitors clung on grimly to Second Division survival. They hadn’t exactly covered themselves in glory but for 18-year old left winger Keith Peacock, who scored Charlton’s opening goal, there was an intriguing glimpse into the future when, less than three years later at Burnden Park, Bolton on August 22nd 1965, he would stake a claim to an important slice of football history as the first-ever substitute in a Football League match. Peacock had made his first team debut at Roker Park on August 22nd 1962 and went on to set a club record of 591 outfield appearances (107 goals) over 17 faithful seasons of service at The Valley. He can safely be described as a club legend and is still a cheerfully important part of Chris Powell’s set-up.

Only one other season warrants attention in the 60s. Under the management of former great player Eddie Firmani, a brave tilt at promotion in 1968-69 petered out into a third place finish behind champions Derby County and runners-up Crystal Palace. Two defeats at the hands of mid-table nemesis Millwall were depressing but not fatal because, with a six-point advantage, Palace would have gone up anyway by virtue of a vastly better goal average. Hardly consolation, of course, but comfort is sometimes found in unusual places.

Once again, gallant failure sowed the seeds for disastrous decline. After avoiding relegation by beating Bristol City 2-1 on the last day of 1969-70, the Addicks staggered to safety a year later by finishing third from bottom, ahead of demoted Blackburn Rovers (the irony was umistakeable) by three precarious points. It couldn’t continue, of course, and a 21st place finish, under Theo Foley’s stewardship, sent them down to the Third Division in 1971-72. Average gates of 10,430 at a steadily decaying Valley told their own story.

By contrast with the dismal 60s, the next decade, after a slow start, was undeniably colourful. No team with the charismatic likes of Colin Powell, Mike Flanagan and Derek Hales could fail to beguile. With Powell’s uninhibited wingplay providing the chances for bearded buccaneer Hales, promotion back to Division Two was earned by finishing third in 1974-75, with Hales’ 20 league goals leading the way, a total he improved to 28 a season later. Goals also began to flow for Flanagan, his tally of 23 from 42 league games in 1976-77 including the superb Easter Monday hat-trick which helped destroy Chelsea 4-0 on Easter Monday 1977. By then Charlton had cashed in on their prime asset Hales, who departed to Derby County before Christmas with 16 league goals from the same number of games. Needless to say, the last hadn’t been heard from the ubiquitous, prolific goal machine .

With Peacock finally calling it a day following a 0-0 draw at West Ham in April 1979, the 1978-79 campaign was infamous for the on-field brawl between a rehabilitated Hales and Flanagan during a Third Round FA Cup clash with non-league Maidstone United. Both players were dismissed by referee Martin and, three days later, Hales was sacked, only to return mere months later to start 1979-80, by which time Flanagan had moved on to QPR.

The latest incarnation of their prolific marksman wasn’t enough for Charlton to avoid yet another relegation in the first season of the new decade. A miserable total of 22 points meant a bottom-place finish, which was turned around spectacularly a season later. Hales top-scored with 17 league goals but received stout support from Martin Robinson (10) and sensational new kid Paul Walsh (11), both of whom scored in the 2-1 win at far-flung Carlisle, which guaranteed promotion on 25th April 1981. Average gates of 7,206 at The Valley were, however, a harbinger of hard times ahead.

Becalmed for a while in the Second Division, Charlton made the headlines in November 1982 when the sensational arrival of dimunitive Dane Allen Simonsen was promptly followed by the sacking of manager Ken Craggs and the appointment, initially as caretaker, of his assistant Lennie Lawrence. Simonsen and Lawrence were destined to leave indelible impressions in the club’s annals.

A former European Player of the Year, with Borussia Dortmund ( for whom he scored in the 1977 European Cup Final defeat by Liverpool) and Barcelona, the impish Simonsen had fallen out with the Spanish giants and was persuaded by cheeky chairman Mark Hulyer to drop temporary anchor in South East London. In seventeen games for a below average Charlton side, which finished sixth from the bottom of Division Two, the Danish genius scored nine times, including twice in the 5-2 rout of Chelsea on March 5th 1983. His impact on the club was brief but memorable. The same can hardly be said of Lawrence, whose defiant tenure as manager co-incided with the most dramatic, darkest period in the club’s chequered history. Charlton’s pragmatic survivor deserves to kick off Part V of this potted history of a singular, remarkable football club, as the story continues…

Having set a war-weary nation alight by reaching the first two peacetime Cup Finals, in the second of which they won the fabled trophy for the first and only time in their colourful history, a charitable veil is drawn over Charlton’s subsequent Cup record. A pair of quarter-final appearances represents the height of their achievements. Since 1947, they haven’t featured in the semi-final draw.

Once the Wembley glamour faded, Jimmy Seed’s bread-and-butter preoccupation was to maintain the club’s position in Division One. Against considerable odds, he was successful for eleven seasons, during which their fifth place finish in 1952-53 stands out. Relegation was staved off under desperate circumstances in 1949-50, when two goals by the peerless Charlie Vaughan in a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City at The Valley on April 22nd 1950, saved the Addicks at the expense of their doomed visitors. Respectable, if unexciting, mid-table positions were normally achieved without undue drama.

Scorer of 94 League and Cup goals in 238 appearances, Vaughan was 27 years old when he made a scoring debut in a 3-0 victory over Brentford at The Valley on March 22nd 1947. It’s reasonable to assume that he would have established a club scoring record if the Second World War hadn’t sidelined his promising career. Hook-nosed and bandy-legged, Charlie was just one of a galaxy of outstanding players who graced the red shirt in the late 40s and early 50s. A pool of talented South Africans, of whom Eddie Firmani, Sid O’Linn, John Hewie and the extravagantly gifted Stuart Leary were the pick, was scouted by Seed’s astute brother Angus and played with great distinction at top flight level. Charlton’s late, great historian Colin Cameron rated Leary the best Charlton player he ever saw, a position he stoutly maintained despite spirited counter claims on Vaughan’s behalf by your author.

Flamboyant goalkeeper Sam Bartram was in his pomp, Frank Lock a flawless left back, Billy Kiernan a diminutive, gravity-defying left winger. In January 1951, with the Addicks in dire trouble near the bottom of Division One, a blond-haired Swedish buccaneer named Hans Jeppson arrived among them, scored 9 goals in 11 league games, including a hat-trick in a 5-2 demolition of Arsenal at Highbury, then with his rescue mission completed, disappeared into a phone box on March 31st 1951 and departed as mysteriously as he’d arrived.

There were other stars, none more brilliant than urbane centre half and captain Derek Ufton, few more ruthless than slide-tackling right back Jimmy “Jock” Campbell but cracks were beginning to appear. A disastrous start to the 1956-57 campaign featured five consecutive losses, the fifth of them a record 8-1 defeat by Sunderland at Roker Park on September 1st 1956, and brought the panicky dismissal of legendary boss Seed after 22 seasons in charge and the appointment of assistant Jimmy Trotter, his former playing colleague at Sheffield Wednesday, in his place. The worthy Trotter, better suited to training rather than managing, proved unable to halt the slide and Charlton finished hopelessly bottom of Division One, ten points adrift from safety. Returning from a selfless stint spent fighting for the future of Cyprus as an overpriced, sometimes violent holiday destination, a recently demobbed Royal Corps of Signals National Serviceman found Bartram retired, Seed sacked and Charlton relegated. To be fair, his was probably not the only life blighted by the experience. But that’s what you get for turning your back for a bit.

In 1957-58, a gallant effort was made to regain First Division status at the first attempt. A freewheeling season, which saw 105 league goals scored while 93 were conceded, included the legendary 7-6 epic involving Huddersfield Town, about which myth and magic have been woven and about which nothing new remains to be said. 5-1 down with 28 minutes to play, reduced to 10 men following the permanent withdrawal of Ufton, the Addicks forged ahead 6-5, were pegged back at 6-6, then won 7-6 in the last minute. The five goals scored by Johnny Summers on that incredible December 21st afternoon, in front of only 12,535 spectators, won this greathearted forward a special place in club folklore. Johnny died from cancer several years later. His memory is undimmed. Happily, Derek Ufton lives on.

Sadly, the heroic deeds of the Huddersfield 10 ended in failure in the last game of the season, at home to Blackburn Rovers, in front of a massive 56,435 crowd at The Valley on April 26th, 1958. Needing only a draw to pip Blackburn to second place behind champions West Ham, Charlton went ahead through Fred Lucas’ early header but found themselves 3-1 behind at half-time. A 62nd minute penalty by Bryan Douglas increased Rovers’ lead before goals from Peter Firmani (76) and John Hewie (83,pen) made it 4-3 and turned the famous ground into a pulsating cockpit of emotion. Under Ronnie Clayton’s inspired captaincy, the besieged visitors clung on gamely to earn promotion and were sportingly saluted by Trotter as “the better side.”

Entrenched as a Second Division Two side for 14 more mainly undistinguished seasons until the humiliation of relegation to the Third Division in 1971-72 under Theo Foley’s management, Charlton were, to some extent at least, broken by the heartbreak of 1958. With the exception of a stirring, but ultimately unsuccessful, promotion bid in 1968-69, the 60s were largely forgettable, as they certainly were for this correspondent who spent them in California. We’ll piece them together in Part Four of The Potted History of Charlton Athletic….

Welling United 0 Charlton 5 (Pigott 2, 14, 38, Kermorgant 40, Green (pen) 83.

Kevin Nolan reports from Park View Road.

This sports-daft nation of ours had almost more than it could handle over the weekend as the thrills came thick and fast. Be fair, it was hard to keep up with the drama.

First there was the rare pleasure of watching the Aussies being chewed up and spat out by rugby’s Welsh Lions (helped out here and there by the occasional foreigner). My personal highlight actually arrived a week earlier when George North slung that large Antipodean over his shoulder, briefly forgot he was there but remembered in time that the rules called for him to set the poor sod down gently and make him a nice cup of tea. George was an absolute gent about it.

A brief pause to catch the breath before, a little over 24 hours later, Andy Murray squared off with Novak Djokovic -as they seem destined to do regularly in the immediate future- at Wimbledon. Apparently 77 years of hurt were ended by Andy’s thoroughly deserved victory, although I can honestly say I haven’t been personally suffering. Until I recalled that I’d backed him to win in four sets. Not his fault, though, it’s down to that bloody Djokovic not being able to put his name on even one set.

But sandwiched between the starters and the afters came the piece de resistance when Charlton popped up in the usual, chaotic, sundazed conditions of Park View Road to fulfil their annual commitment to swell Welling United’s coffers. A surprisingly fit-looking complement of 22 players was divided into two 45-minute teams and recorded victories of 4-0 and 1-0 respectively over the last year’s Blue Square South champions.

The first of the sides – one which, with a tweak or two- shapes up as Chris Powell’s preferred selection, brushed aside the somewhat outclassed Wings. A sharp hat-trick from young Joe Pigott launched Charlton’s new campaign and served notice that if the club’s finances shackle Powell’s activities in the transfer market, last season’s triumphant U-21 squad might pick up some of the slack.

Pigott’s genuine hat-trick of three consecutive goals featured a shrewd lob, a raking low drive and still another clever lob. All of his goals were assisted by Yann Kermorgant, who added a ruthless fourth before the interval. An injury to the talismanic Frenchman doesn’t bear thinking about.

Worthy of mention also were impressive goalkeeper Nick Pope and confident left back Morgan Fox, both ambitious teammates of Pigott in Nathan Jones’ talented, trophy-winning team. Standing up for the veterans, Chris Solly resumed in exactly his fine form of last season, skipper Johnnie Jackson exuded authority in central midfield and the insatiably hardworking Bradley Pritchard warmed the cockles with his selfless industry.

Almost predictably, Charlton’s “second string” struggled to maintain the momentum in the second half. In fact the pick of the Addicks was keeper David Button, who produced two fine saves from Lee Clark and Kiernan Hughes-Mason, then rode his luck as Joe Healy’s header rebounded off the bar. Only Danny Green’s successful penalty, awarded for Blaine Hudson’s handball relieved the tedium. Still, 5-0 away from home- it was almost like playing Barnsley. Not nearly as memorable, of course.
Now for the Ashes on Wednesday at Trent Bridge, where England will have to go it alone without any Welshmen (but plenty of former colonials) in their line-up. It seemed a bit of a stroll just a couple of weeks ago but the Aussies have pulled themselves together and are looking all leathery and lantern-jawed again. If nothing else, we’ll be reminded that  20-20  should never be confused with cricket.

Charlton (first half 4-4-2): Pope, Solly, Wood, Morrison, Fox, Pritchard, Jackson, Hughes, Harriott, Pigott, Kermorgant.
Charlton (2nd half 4-5-1): Button, Wilson, Dervite, Cort, Evina, Green, Stephens, Gower, Hollands, Cook, Smith.
Referee: Ian Crouch.
Att: 2,140.

Kevin Nolan’s Match Report is brought to you in association with , 294 Burnt Ash Hill, London, SE12 0QD.

After taking over the management of a team which had finished bottom of Third Division (South) in 1932-33, Jimmy Seed’s immediate priority was to lift morale, halt the slide and begin a systematic re-building process. A satisfactory fifth place finish in 1933-34, only two points behind promoted Coventry City, represented a solid start but gave little warning of the record-breaking run of success which would catapult Charlton from the Third Division to the First Division within two stunning seasons.

A sobering 2-1 loss to Cardiff City kicked off the 1934-35 campaign but was quickly followed by five consecutive victories as The Addicks found their form. On October 27th, a 2-1 victory over Clapton Orient at The Valley announced the arrival of marksman Ralph Allen, who claimed both of the goals on his way to a club record of 32 league goals in 28 games. Allen’s brief Charlton career statistics featured 48 goals scored in only 54 games.

The Third Division championship was clinched with an eight-point margin over Reading, the prolific Allen receiving stout scoring support from Harold Hobbis (15), George Robinson (12) and Jimmy Wilkinson (10) as 103 league goals were rattled in. But it was the debuts of two players destined to become legendary Addicks, which added even more significance to the season.

A native of Simonside, Co. Durham, flame-haired goalkeeper Sam Bartram’s iconic status was established over 22 seasons with the club, during which he made 623 first team appearances, interrupted by World War Two. Seed and Bartram became synonomous with Charlton Athletic, their departures under vastly different circumstances in 1956 signalling the end of a rampaging era. Still revered as the most popular player ever to wear the famous red shirt (or green roll-neck in his case), Sam’s statue continues to guard the ground he helped to make famous.

Prematurely balding forward Don Welsh joined from Torquay United, quickly assumed the captaincy and served with distinction during Charlton’s most productive period. His major accomplishment was to lead the team to the first two post-war Cup finals. He also earned several England international caps, an honour which was scandalously denied his charismatic teammate.

Running Manchester United close (one point separated them) in the race for the 1935-36 Second Division title, the Addicks made triumphant work of their brief stay in the division, securing promotion to the First Division with a nervy 1-1 draw at Port Vale in their last league game. Scorer of the vital goal was ever-present left winger Hobbis, one of 23 he contributed during their barnstorming progress. Both Bartram and Welsh were by now regulars in the side.

Completely undaunted by their lofty surroundings, Charlton distinguished themselves in their inaugural season in the First Division with a second place finish to champions Manchester City. Disastrous defeats by Derby County (5-0) and Chelsea (3-0) in March meant they finished three points behind City but they had fared rather better than Manchester United, who were relegated back to Division Two. A worthy successor to Allen had been found, meanwhile, in George Tadman, who scored 11 times in 29 league games on his way to a three-season record of 47 goals in 87 games. He added three in six Cup ties and was bureacratically denied two more league goals in the aborted 1939-40 campaign.

Having set their standards so high, Charlton could be said to have gone backwards with a fourth place finish in 1937-38 but rallied to place third in the last completed season before the war. Their meteoric rise was the stuff of comic book fantasy and it’s a matter of conjecture where it might have led them but for the belligerent interruption of Hitler and his testicularly challenged henchmen.

Qualification for two Wartime Cup (South) finals at Wembley, the first lost 7-1 to Arsenal, the second a 3-1 victory over Chelsea, were harbingers of their historic appearances in the 1946 and 1947 peacetime finals. The first cup run featured, for the first and only time in the FA Cup, two-legged ties, during which Charlton became a quiztime teaser by becoming the only club to have lost a cup-tie but also to have reached the final; in the third round, they beat Fulham 3-1 at The Valley, before losing the second leg 2-1 at Craven Cottage. In an emotional first Cup final for seven years, they were outlasted by Derby County 4-1 after extra time, with Welsh international wing-half Bert Turner making history by scoring at both ends.

In 1947, the year it became personal for your author, Charlton proved to be the scourge of the North on their way back to Wembley. In successive rounds, they beat Rochdale (3-1), West Bromwich Albion (2-1), Blackburn Rovers (1-0) and Preston North End (2-1) before confronting moneybags Newcastle United ( with Jackie Milburn and Len Shackleton in their ranks) in a dramatic semi-final at Elland Road. With half the team stricken overnight by food poisoning, the heroic Addicks took the Tynesiders apart 4-0 with goals from Tommy Dawson, Welsh (2) and Gordon Hurst. In the 85th minute, their ecstatic supporters serenaded them with an impromptu rendition of the current hit song, which just happened to be “Give me five minutes more”. Two-goal Welsh later collapsed in the dressing room.

The 1947 Cup Final, played in blistering heat at Wembley on April 26th, suffered in comparison. Readily forgotten by all but its modest participants (not to mention an undeserving 10 year old kid from Downham who, to date, has declined to apologise to the fan he deprived of a coveted ticket), a dire game was limping to a dreaded replay until, with seven minutes of extra-time remaining, Bill Robinson crossed from the right, Welsh managed a faint, headed touch and free-scoring Scottish left winger Chris Duffy nearly burst Burnley’s net with a volley struck with a right foot normally used purely for balance. In an era noted for self-consciously restrained celebrations (“let’s not forget the plucky losers!”), Duffy’s hysterical reaction was ground-breaking. Running manically downfield, he hurled himself headlong into the welcoming arms of left back Jack Shreeve to commune with the big Geordie. Regardless of its aesthetic limitations, the 1947 Cup Final remains, for the hopelessly hooked kid we agreed earlier not to mention, the best game of football ever seen by mortal man. And he’ll fight anyone who says different.

At which high point, we conclude Part Two of Charlton’s potted history. More stormy chapters, involving Johnny Summers, decline, recovery, eviction, South Norwood, local politics, Colin Walsh, further Wembley heroics and beating Arsenal 4-2 at Highbury are expected to feature in the next instalment…

This six-part history of Charlton Athletic is biased, prejudiced and one-sided. No claim is made to unerring accuracy because the passing of time fogs the memory and football fans remember what they choose to remember anyway.

A game effort was made to check statistics against those supplied by good old Colin Cameron, a mine of information now closed to us as most mines have been. He didn’t object to a spot of cheerful plagiarism here and there. All opinions and conclusions, on the other hand, are my own so feel free to disagree with any or all of them. Honestly, I don’t mind.

In anticipation of a pedants’ revolt, I hold my hands up to a little personal vagueness in dealing with the middle 50s and the entire 60s decade, for which I offer an explanation, if not an apology.

The National Service years from 1955 to 1957 were spent in Cyprus, where I selflessly joined my mates in proving conclusively that war doesn’t necessarily have to be hell. Not when there’s a sparkling ocean, glorious sunshine and a golden beach on which to skive.

Possibly sulking to find, on demob in August 1957, Sam Bartram retired, Jimmy Seed fired and Charlton relegated, the lure of Southern California proved irresistible. The 60s were devoted to raising kids on the West Coast and completely missing the point of Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit. I understand there wasn’t much fun to be had following Charlton in my absence.

Anyway, there it is, from Porky Bonner to Yann Kermorgant in six breathless instalments, the nutshelled story of a unique football club. Though it has its serious side, it might be a good idea to stick your tongue firmly in your cheek while wading through it. You could say that Thomas Hardy had it upside down when he claimed that “war makes rattling good history but peace is poor reading.” It seems to me that football takes up the slack from war and makes rattling good history in peace time, when possibly it matters more. That’s MY story and I’m sticking to it.

Kevin Nolan -June 2013.

The way things have been going lately, you could be forgiven for thinking that Charlton Athletic is all about internal strife, financial gloom and pub rumours. It prides itself on being a family club but it seems, at times, fatally split down the middle. Like many families, come to think about it.

It wasn’t always this way. Not back in 1905, anyway, when a bunch of 16 and 17 year old kids were encouraged by two local youth missions to form a new football club down on Eastmoor Street in an area now dominated by the Thames Barrier. They were singleminded chaps who, without any shilly-shallying, elected to call themselves Charlton Athletic and to play in red shirts This band of brothers clearly started as they meant to go on.

An advertisement in the Kentish Independent, which described their standard as “medium strength” swelled the initial ranks and with support from local publican Harry Wells, the new team opened their account with a 6-1 victory over Sivertown Wesley United on Siemens Meadow in December 1905.

Among the line-up was a husky outside right called William George Bonner, better known to his mates as “Porky”, who went on to make his mark in club history by scoring their first competitive goal in a 6-1 mauling of Nunhead Swift Reserves on September 22nd 1906, by which time the newcomers were members of Lewisham League Division Three.

Porky died in Lee in 1954 but remains connected to the famous club he helped create through successive generations of his family, who continue to hold season tickets at The Valley. West Stand regular Terry Bennett grew up on his colourful grandad’s footballing stories, not to mention his important contribution as a Royal Artillery cook during World War 1. Apparently Porky’s notorious dumplings caused untold havoc when lobbed across No Mans Land into enemy lines. “Probably shortened the war,” recalled their modest creator.

In 1910, the club’s chairmanship was taken over by Arthur “Ikey” Bryan, an enterprising fish ‘n chip entrepreneur reputedly responsible for their mysterious but jealously guarded nickname. Clearly not the full shilling on match days, Ikey took to turning up at games with a haddock pinned to a pole. The story goes that haddock morphed colloquially into ‘addock, then further into ‘addick. It might, on the other hand, be explained by the simple erosion of Athletic but Ikey Bryan’s endearing lunacy has the virtue of uniqueness and meets with almost universal approval. So the Addicks they became and the Addicks they remain.

Porky Bonner had left the playing staff by 1911 when a critical development two miles down river from Eastmoor Street cemented Charlton’s place as the region’s premier football club. They were more than interested spectators as the questionable machinations of Woolwich Arsenal FC chairman Sir Henry Norris moved the powerhouse Arsenal lock, stock and gun barrel across the Thames into the North London bailiwick of Tottenham Hotspur, where they remain to this day as a thorn in Spurs’ side. Norris’ provocative action paled into insignificance alongside the infamous backroom chicanery which promoted Arsenal to the First Division in 1919 at the expense of their outmanouevred new neighbours.

Arsenal’s furtive flit was the making of Charlton, their humble cousins from the next parish. In one fell, if not foul, swoop, the riverside rookies became cocks-of-the-walk in Woolwich, where many of the Royal Arsenal’s betrayed workers switched their allegiance to them. Football hates a vacuum as much as nature and this one was filled with alacrity.

Charlton’s growing reputation persuaded them to embrace professionalism in 1920. A single season spent in the Southern League prefaced their admission to the Football League (South) for the 1921-22 campaign, which they kicked off with a 1-0 win over Exeter City at The Valley on August 27th, with Tommy Dowling scoring the momentous goal. Still on the books since 1905 was sole survivor Albert “Mosky” Mills, who made two league appearances during the groundbreaking 1921-22 season.

Two years after entering the Football League, the Addicks embarked on a giant-killing Cup run, which still defies belief. This fledgling Third Division team, still wet behind their professional ears, won through two preliminary rounds before knocking out, in succession, vaunted First Division opposition in Manchester City (2-1), Preston North End (2-0) and West Bromwich Albion (1-0) to earn their place in the quarter-finals against Cup legends Bolton Wanderers. On March 10th, 1923, they succumbed 1-0 to a David Jack goal before 41,023 sardine-packed Valley onlookers as the Trotters proceeded to the first Wembley Cup Final, where they beat West Ham 2-0 in the chaotic White Horse Final. Don’t expect to hear their wonderful feat mentioned whenever Cup giant-killers are feted. That kind of attention is normally paid to minnows who manage just one historic result. Charlton knocked over three Goliaths. Then lost 1-0 to the eventual Cup winners. Hardly worth making a fuss about.

Continuing in the Third Division, Charlton were promoted as champions to the Second Division in 1928-29 and survived there until their bottom placed finish in 1932-33 saw them relegated. During that catastrophic campaign, manager Alex McFarland was sacked in December 1932, with former goalkeeper Albert Lindon filling in until, in May 1933, Jimmy Seed took over the helm. Part one of Charlton’s incredible history was complete.

The arrival of the astute Seed, himself a decorated player with Spurs, Sheffield Wednesday and England, kickstarted Part Two – a meteoric three-year rise into English football’s elite, where they remained from 1936 until 1957, appeared in two post-war Cup finals, took part in the most amazing football game ever played, then went on to distinguish themselves in the financial jungle that is the Premier League. But that’s another story for another day.

Coming soon: Part II

Charlton 6 (Pigott 10,57, 67(pen), 90, Azeez 22, Smith 82), Huddersfield Town 1 (Crooks 52).

A four-goal salvo from powerhouse centre forward Joe Pigott led the demolition of Huddersfield Town in a one-sided Under-21 Development League play-off semi-final at Sparrows Lane on Tuesday. The hapless Terriers were sent home with their tails between their legs after being outclassed by Nathan Jones’ hugely talented young pros.

Pigott’s exploits naturally hogged the limelight but there was excellence all through Jones’ hungry team of young Addicks. Underage midfielder Diego Poyet proved himself a skilful chip off his dad Gus’ all-purpose block; left back Morgan Fox seemed nonchalantly willing to tackle an irritated rhinoceros in defending his goal; you wouldn’t want to tangle with centre backs Semi Ajayi and Kevin Feely (there’s a Gaelic football pedigree in this rawboned kid’s DNA, stand on that) in their ruthless line of business; skipper Bradley Jordan is the side’s heartbeat and, in the near future, will be doing his stuff at a higher level.

But it was blond bombshell Pigott who tore the visitors to shreds. His 10th minute opener was almost all his own work. Controlling Fox’s routine throw-in from the left touchline on his chest, he spun silkily infield  to shake off his marker Tommy Smith, took careful aim for the far corner, then curled a low beauty across keeper Lloyd Allinson and neatly inside the right post.

Charlton’s second goal, twelve minutes later, was scruffier but no less effective. Jordan’s inswinging corner from the left was driven against teammate Ajayi by Pigott, leaving Ade Azeez the easy task of sweeping the rebound past Allinson.

Before the interval, Callum Harriott, the solitary first teamer in the line-up but fully entitled to a place alongside his recent colleagues, tested Allinson from 25 yards, Azeez lobbed narrowly over the bar and Jordan was desperately unlucky to hit the foot of the post.

Little or nothing had been seen of Town up front but it wouldn’t be Charlton, if the Terriers weren’t thrown a consolation bone. I’m not being funny but, sure enough, in an uncanny reprise of Bristol City’s goal on Saturday, a misunderstanding involving Feely and Nick Pope caused the goalkeeper’s hasty clearance to cannon off Chris Atkinson. Striker Matt Crooks made the most of the confusion to lob neatly into an empty net.

The West Yorkshiremen were allowed to hope for less than five minutes before Pigott picked on them again. From a free kick awarded for Murray Wallace’s foul on Azeez, Fox delivered to the far post where Feely headed back for Pigott to net via a slight deflection.

When left back Robbie McIntyre ended Jordan’s burst into the penalty area with a crude challenge from behind, there was clearly to be no dispute about the identity of Charlton’s spotkick taker. Pigott not altogether convincingly completed his hat-trick to make it 4-1.

Just past the hour, Town’s worst nightmare had been realised with the arrival of Michael Smith to relieve Azeez. There were now two towering blond strikers, both of  them dangerous in the air but equally effective with the ball at their feet, to cope with. It was Smith, himself a four-goal destroyer of Tonbridge Angels in the recent Kent Senior Cup Final, who continued the rout with arguably the best of the six. A flowing five-pass move was distinguished by the sharp exchange between the big Northeasterner and substitute Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, which Smith finished by sidefooting clinically past a hopelesly exposed Allinson.

There was still time for Jordan Cousins’s fine pass to pick out Smith, who squared unselfishly from wide of the far post, leaving Pigott to unhibitedly score his fourth. Then the focus fell on the upcoming final against the winners of the other semi-final between Leicester City or Cardiff City. Away from home, unfortunately, otherwise I’d be there like a shot. You know me.

So what, in the meantime, are infrequent observers, among whom your reporter must be numbered, to make of the pool of talent applying pressure on Chris Powell just below the first-team waterline? Well, it seems to this occasional witness (my attendance at the Millwall league clincher rubberstamped my glory-hunting credentials, by the way) that there’s an embarrassment of riches on the way up. These kids are mustard.

From top to bottom, in fact, the club is in fine fettle. There’s an outstanding young manager at the tiller, enthusiastic coaches at all levels, a rich blend of experience and youth in the playing ranks. And, lest we forget, the best training facilities, stadium and fans in South East England. It ain’t a bad time to be an Addick.

It’s too good to be true, of course. Just watch some interfering busybody come along to spoil it. Speaking of which, let’s get Chris Powell all signed, sealed and delivered on a lengthy contract before the word gets out! That’s a priority because, let’s face it, Millwall are looking for a new manager.
It’s a  joke. Calm down, it’s a joke. You can’t even have a joke these days. He wouldn’t go to Millwall, anyway, would he? I mean, would he?! Blimey, I’ve got meself worried now.

Charlton: Pope, Osborne, Ajayi, Feely, Fox, Cousins, Jordan, Poyet, Harriott (Holmes-Dennis 81), Azeez (Smith 63), Pigott. Not used: Phillips, Lennon, Sho-Silva.

Huddersfield: Allinson, Holmes (more than useful, this, energetic, versatile teenager ), Smith, Wallace, McIntyre, Sinnott, Hopson, Charles (Cox 69), Atkinson, Homes, Crooks. Not used: Colgan, Strakey, Burke, Leonard.

Referee: Ian Fissenden.

Kevin Nolan’s Match Report is brought to you in association with , 294 Burnt Ash Hill, London, SE12 0QD.