Huddersfield Town 3 (Lynch 40, Hogg 77, Hammill 82) Charlton 2 (Stephens 32, Sordell 59).

Kevin Nolan reports from the John Smith Stadium.

A Tuesday evening jaunt to Yorkshire for a devalued Cup competition usually involving second-string teams, amounts to a self-inflicted ordeal guaranteed to separate the men from the boys, the women from the girls, the sane from those feigning sanity.

There were 179 such troubled souls at John Smith Stadium, 29 of whom had travelled in the single supporters coach. Among these odds and sods was your reporter, his brief to bring you news first-hand of Charlton’s stirring fight to win a place in the third round. With alcohol banned from the coach, we were left to survive, as W.C.Fields lamented, on nothing but food and water. And, needless to say, we were doomed to disappointment. You never get used to it. You’d think we would but we don’t. We don’t have many marbles between us, you see.

Not that our heroes went quietly. Far from it. For lengthy periods in this entertaining Cup tie, they were a better side than in-form Huddersfield, leading twice before succumbing to two late goals. The point is, though, that they came up with still another way to contrive defeat, when unexpected victory seemed unavoidable.

Making eight changes from the line-up which started the abortive league game against Doncaster Rovers at the weekend, Chris Powell sent out an experimental team, featuring three sturdy centre backs and two fleetfooted wingbacks. If the idea was to “have a go” at Town, who had battered Bournemouth 5-1 at this pleasant venue at the weekend, the early results were gratifying.

As the visitors moved quickly into gear, Lawrie Wilson’s vicious drive was beaten away by Alex Smithies, Michael Morrison had two efforts blocked after Richard Wood headed Dale Stephens’ corner down to him and Stephens glanced Cedric Evina’s clever cross narrowly wide. Although James Vaughan caused concern in failing, by inches, to convert Adam Hamill’s flighted pass, the Addicks had already done enough to justify the lead Stephens gave them just past the half hour.

Desperate to check Evina’s menacing run before he crossed the 18-yard line, Hamill crudely chopped him down from behind. Mission accomplished, it seemed, until Stephens threaded  a low free kick through the toilsome masses and in off the far post. As soon as the good news reached the other end of the ground, celebrations were heartfelt among the pilgrims, whose painful progress up the clogged motorways briefly promised to bear fruit.

Completely on top by now, Charlton’s celebrations were promptly silenced by Town’s 40th minute equaliser. Bringing the ball out from the back at a retreating defence, left back Joel Lynch chanced his arm from distance, caught Ben Hamer by surprise and squeezed an unremarkable shot between the keeper and his near post.

Driven forward by the midfield trio of Stephens, the insatiably hardworking Bradley Pritchard and most encouragingly by skipper Johnnie Jackson, whose return from a brief period on the panel is especially timely, the Addicks reacted well to the setback. Uninhibited youngster Joe Pigott ‘s rasping drive tested Smithies before his partner Marvin Sordell restored Charlton’s lead on the hour.

An apparently nettled Sordell had begun the second half by picking up a yellow card for a ludicrously late challenge on veteran centre back Peter Clarke. He might well have seen red for the offence but used the escape to maximum effect. Peeling off his marker as Pigott nodded Evina’s fine cross back from the far post, the embattled striker dispatched an emphatic volley beyond Smithies. His first goal for Charlton was at least memorable.

But it wasn’t enough because Mark Robins’ full strength Terriers were proving hard to shake off. Helped by a large slice of luck, they were level again 13 minutes from time. Oliver Norwood’s optimistic drive was probably heading into Hamer’s arms when a wicked deflection off teammate Jonathan Hogg left the keeper flatfooted and helpless. Although Hamer kept them briefly at bay with an excellent save from substitute Sean Scannell, the suddenly buoyant home side kept coming. Another blocked effort from Scannell rebounded to Hamill, who made no mistake from close range.

So that was the Capital One Cup taken care of for yet another year. Our 29 coach survivors were swelled by one with the addition of a one-way traveller and off we journeyed into the darkness. Never again! Never ever again! Well, at least not until three weeks from now when we’re back in Huddersfield for another Tuesday evening engagement, this time in the league. We won’t let anyone down. We’ll be there. We don’t have the sense we were born with.

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

Huddersfield: Smithies, Gerrard, Clarke, Lynch, Hogg, Hamill, Clayton (Stead 70), Norwood, Carr (Hunt 55), Paterson (Scannell 46), Vaughan. Not used: Bennett, Ward, Gobern, Wallace.  Booked: Hamill, Lynch.

Charlton: Hamer, Wilson, Morrison, Dervite, Wood (Cort 79), Evina, Pritchard, Stephens, Jackson (Green 85), Sordell, Pigott (Kermorgant 85). Not used: Pope, Hughes, Wiggins, Cook. Booked: Sordell.

Referee: Geoff Eltringham. Att: 6,250.

Charlton 1 (Church 37) Doncaster Rovers 3 (Keegan 2. Brown 17,23).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley

Abandoned at half-time due to waterlogged pitch.

It’s obvious that being reprieved at half-time by a biblical deluge when 3-1 down at home, has to be considered a massive break. And it’s just as obvious that if you’re leading at the time of the abandonment, you’re entitled to curse your luck.
This particular case, though, wasn’t quite so clearcut. Not quite. It’s true that Paul Dickov’s wild Rovers had taken the Addicks apart with three ruinous goals inside 23 irresistible minutes and that, had the game proceeded without interruption, they would almost certainly have completed a rout. The on-song visitors had almost to be frogmarched from the field when referee Lee Collins ordered a half hour moratorium after 26 minutes play to assess the situation. Their mutinous reluctance to break early for tea was perfectly understandable but it got worse.We found out later what becomes of the brokenhearted.

By the time Mr. Collins brought the teams back with about 18 minutes of the first period remaining, however, the situation had drastically changed. Donny’s keen edge had been blunted, their lead promptly reduced by Simon Church’s opportunistic goal, a setback quickly followed by the dismissal of opening goalscorer Paul Keegan for two of the more boneheaded yellow cards you’re likely to come across. Rovers faced an awkward second period.

The momentum had certainly switched but it was an incident shortly before the long-delayed interval which possibly helped the indecisive official to make up his mind. With the goal at his mercy from six yards, two-goal Chris Brown was foiled in his efforts to complete a quickfire hat-trick by a treacherous riptide, leaving Ben Hamer the simple task of paddling out to retrieve the ball. The increasingly farcical conditions were sportingly brought to Mr. Collins’ attention by a caring home crowd, responsibly alive to health and safety considerations and equally anxious that the pitch wasn’t irreparably damaged.

During the interval came confirmation that Mr. Collins shared their concerns. The game was called off. Charlton were off the hook. Or was it Doncaster? Nah, probably Charlton. They were, after all, two goals down. Mind you, Rovers had been clearly shaken by the twin blows before the break and had already depended on keeper Ross Turnbull for three outstanding saves, the best of which kept out Bradley Pritchard’s fulminating volley. They were in a bit of a pickle. Nah, still had to be Charlton. Who wants to resume at two goals down? So definitely Charlton.

His normal, calculating self after the drama, Chris Powell’s private relief won’t lead him to sweep under the carpet the debris left by that disastrous opening spell. Charlton’s resistance was minimal as the visitors moved effortlessly into a 3rd minute lead through Keegan’s spectacular header. Powell will probably require explanation of the dozy defending that left an unmarked Theo Robinson space to collect a routine throw conveniently held up by the worst section of the pitch, then pick out the onrushing midfielder with an accurate cross to the penalty spot. Keegan will be chagrined to learn that while his “goal” will be expunged, his dismissal means punishment. Silly boy!

The manager will also pinpoint the simplicity with which Robinson used James Hubbard’s pass into his feet to twist past Michael Morrison and set up a near post chance for Brown to double the lead; not to mention the confusion that reigned as David Cotterill’s outswinging corner was headed goalward by Bongani Khumalo, before cannoning freakishly off Brown’s nose past a startled Hamer. Heads might roll.

So we’ll do it all again some time in the future, much to an unusually restrained Dickov’s displeasure. He will fear, as an experienced pro, that the outcome might well be different then. On the other hand, It might be a good idea to steer clear of Powell if this humiliation is repeated. No two ways about it. This is a manager with problems to solve.

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

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Cort, Wiggins, Pritchard, Gower, Cousins, Harriott, Kermorgant, Church. Not used: Pope, Dervite, Evina, Green, Sordell, Wilson, Pigott. Booked: Gower.

Doncaster: Turnbull. Wabara, Jones, Khumalo, Husband, Cotterill, Wellens, Coppinger, Keegan,  Brown, Robinson. Not used: Quinn, Furman, Syers, Duffy, Paynter, McCullough, Maxted. Booked (twice) Keegan:sent off.

Referee: Lee Collins. Att: 13,633.

Barnsley 2 (O’Grady 16,55), Charlton 2 (Cousins 64, Church 72.)

Kevin Nolan reports from Oakwell.

Under normal circumstances, Charlton’s retrieval of an away point after trailing 2-0 in the second half would be cause for celebration. And when the truth is that you’ve been outplayed for over an hour but pulled yourselves together sufficiently to get back on terms, you’re entitled to a pat on the back. Most of the time.

It’s not quite as straightforward as that because circumstances are anything but normal around The Valley these days, both on and off the field. The Addicks’ haul of one point from three games against moderate opposition hardly inspires confidence but it could be worse. In fact, it actually Is worse just a few miles down the road in a neighbouring borough. None of our business, of course.

Of more concern than Charlton’s plight near the bottom of the Championship is the ominous atmosphere hanging over the club like an ever-darkening cloud. As rumours multiply, misgivings concerning its administration increase proportionately. The natives camped outside its walls are restless, the alternative presses are rolling, there’s an unmistakeable whiff of revolution in the air. Those besieged within, meanwhile, operate a rigorous code of omerta. They neither confirm nor deny. We’ve been here before. Just over 20 years ago.

The 461 fans who followed the Addicks to South Yorkshire were happy to temporarily park their doubts, get behind the team and seek comfort in the essential simplicity of football. They had, after all, witnessed the shattering of a club record at this venue a mere four months previously. There were happy memories to be raked over.

Humiliated 6-0 on that inauspicious occasion, Barnsley had other ideas. Vengeance was on their agenda and during a one-way first half, they gave their visitors scarcely a sight of the ball. The 1-0 lead they took back to the dressing room at the break was poor reward for their complete superiority. Their inability to convert their dominance into goals, however, was to prove their undoing. Football never tires of punching home that message.
Any hint of a Charlton revival seemed remote as the Tykes, with a burning sense of mission, played their erstwhile tormentors off the park. They were well worth the lead given them by Chris O’Grady just past the quarter hour.

Most of Barnsley’s steady pressure had been launched down the left flank, where full back Tom Kennedy and Scott Golbourne combined intelligently. Kennedy supplied Golbourne with the pass which the mobile wide man whipped dangerously into the six-yard area. Bustling in front of Michael Morrison, O’Grady forced an untidy opener past Ben Hamer.

Shortly after their success, the South Yorkshiremen squandered a golden opportunity to capitalise on their advantage. With Dorian Dervite outmuscled by Chris Dagnall, Jacob Mellis pounced on the loose ball to hit a post from close range. The rebound ran kindly for Dagnall who, with the goal at his mercy, was foiled by Hamer’s brave, painful intervention.

Charlton’s solitary contribution to a dismal first half was the clever free kick, awarded for Jim O’Brien’s handball, which Mark Gower cut back for Callum Harriott to force a fine, lowdown save from Luke Steele at his right post.

Dagnall’s miss appeared irrelevant when O’Grady doubled the Tykes’ lead ten minutes after half-time. In an uncanny reprise of Lewis Grabban’s opening goal for Bournemouth a fortnight previously, Dagnall created space for Mellis to cross accurately from the left. O’Grady nodded back across Hamer into the far corner and Charlton’s future looked bleak.

Unlikely though it seemed at the time, Barnsley relaxed, Charlton improved and young substitute Jordan Cousins marked an impressive full debut by reducing the arrears just seven minutes after O’Grady’s apparent clincher. On hand to meet Steele’s inconclusive punch near the 18 -yard line, the stylish teenager drove his effort forcefully into the ground and was gratified to watch it bounce high over the stranded goalkeeper into the net. Not the most artistic of strikes but worth its weight as a tonic for a jaded team.

Barnsley’s instant panic was alarming. They were caught hopelessly square on the halfway line as Yann Kermorgant’s devastating pass sent Simon Church sprinting clear from a clearly onside position in his own half to clip past the advancing Steele and agonisingly over the goalline, despite O’Briens’s desperate attempt to clear.

Unexpected and to some extent undeserved, Church’s fine equaliser has Charlton off the mark for the season. Relief was apparent but celebrations were muted. There just isn’t much to celebrate around S.E. 7 at the moment. It provided a silver lining. But the clouds continue to gather.

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

Barnsley: Steele, O’Brien, Wiseman, M’Voto, Kennedy, Dawson, Perkins (Etuhu 33), Mellis (Digby 67), Golbourne, Dagnall (Scotland 76), O’Grady. Not used: Alnwick, McNulty, Cywka, Cofie. Booked: Wiseman.

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Dervite (Cort 46), Morrison, Wiggins, Wilson, Stephens (Cousins 46), Gower, Harriott (Evina 77), Kermorgant, Church. Not used: Pope, Green, Sordell, Pigott. Booked: Dervite.

Referee: Jeremy Simpson. Att: 9,554.   

Charlton 0 Middlesbrough 1 (Jutkiewicz 72).

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

A study in glum world-weariness at the best of times, Tony Mowbray is a decent bloke who finds little to kid about in life. When called upon to smile, his mournful face seems faintly caught by surprise. Put it this way. If owners look like their dog, Tone has a basset hound.

As Middlesbrough’s manager, Mowbray has been under pressure since Boro failed to make the promotion play-offs last season. They’re a bit full of themselves on Teeside and the club’s perceived failure caused considerable chuntering on the terraces and backbiting in the boardroom. Even Steve Gibson, one of the best chairmen in the game, has been vilified. That’s football for you.

An opening day home loss to Leicester City, followed by an embarrassing Cup exit at the hands of Accrington Stanley, piled on the agony. In mutinous disarray, Boro shaped up as a nice little earner for Charlton, themselves boosted by their imperious midweek dismissal of Oxford United. Naturally, there was a nasty shock in store for the Londoners. We’ve been here before… more than once.

The Northeasterners were actually no great shakes but they were clearly too much for their bewildered hosts. After subjecting them to a thoroughly uncomfortable first half, during which the Addicks made only fleeting contact with the ball, they stepped up the pace and, eighteen minutes from time, grabbed a goal which, in its inevitability, was becoming as plain as the nose on Mowbray’s face. Stuck out a mile, in other words.

Secretly relieved no doubt, the beleaguered boss formed his post-game features into a pleasant enough grimace, from which his eyes stayed watchfully aloof, before muttering a few platitudes about “asking the right questions” and “deserving what we got.” Then he disappeared back to his beloved Teeside, leaving rival manager Chris Powell to pick up the pieces of a depressing setback made worse by a disastrously conceded goal.

Powell will be doing more grimacing than smiling when he reviews this debacle. Until Marvin Sordell blasted tamely over the bar in first half added time, his side hadn’t managed an attempt on goal. They didn’t set the woods on fire after the break either.

Without being exactly dynamic, the visitors led widely on points at half time. Josef Varga’s early drive caused Ben Hamer brief discomfort, Lukas Jutkiewicz fired Albert Adomah’s pass too high, Grant Leadbitter curled a drive narrowly wide. George Friend closed the session by bending a 20-yard free kick dangerously over Hamer’s bar as the home fans squirmed. This one ain’t gonna end well was the general conclusion.

Home hope flared briefly upon resumption, with Callum Harriott’s blistering run and accurate cross setting up a far post chance for Danny Green. Rejecting the invitation to shoot first-time with his stronger right foot, Green chose to check back left-footed, by which time Jason Steele made ground to smother the close range effort. Boro’s swift riposte was delivered by attacking left back Friend, who exchanged passes at lightning speed with Mustapha Carayol before drilling a low crosshot inches wide of the far post.

Left sided wide man Carayol was proving an awkward handful for Chris Solly. Operating on the opposite flank, new arrival Adomah was equally troublesome for Rhoys Wiggins. Watching their outstanding full backs being given a gruelling run-around was a novel sight for Charlton fans, who had enough on their plates anyway.

A boring, if useful, goalless draw was on the cards when the Addicks caved in. Leadbitter’s outswinging right wing corner was headed out strongly enough by Solly and returned from the edge of the penalty area by Dean Whitehead. Preparing to deal with the dropping ball six yards from goal, a less than assertive Hamer was impeded by Yann Kermorgant, whose skyward header was neatly nodded into the empty net by Jutkiewicz. Defeat had been plucked from the jaws of, erm, if not winning then not losing. Sounds a bit laboured but you catch my drift.

Green’s powerful drive forced Steele into a tumbling save and Kermorgant’s astute cross was headed narrowly over the bar by substitute Dale Stephens (skipper Johnnie Jackson’s interval withdrawl was a reason for further gloom) during the late going but Charlton were well beaten. Two successive league defeats might not cause panic at The Valley but there should be concern. Charlton were lifeless, clueless, ominously spiritless.

Ordinarily a trip next weekend to homely old Barnsley would be keenly anticipated. But those little Tykes have it in for the Addicks after being massacred 6-0 as recently as last spring. Revenge could be a dish waiting to be served up piping hot at Oakwell. Just doing my bit to ease the widespread pessimism.

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

Charlton: Hamer, Solly, Morrison, Dervite, Wiggins, Green (Wilson 72), Gower, Jackson (Stephens 46), Harriott, Kermorgant, Sordell (Church 77). Not used: Pope, Evina, Cort, Pigott. Booked: Stephens.

Boro: Steele (Leutwiler 77), Richardson, Williams, Woodgate, Friend, Adomah, Varga, Whitehead, Leadbitter (Smallwood 83), Carayol (Emnes 90), Jutkiewicz . Not used: Parnaby, Gibson, Ledesma, Main. Booked: Whitehead.

Referee: P. Tierney. Att: 14,882.

Charlton 4 (Church 18,57, Green 48, Pigott 90 pen) Oxford United 0.

Kevin Nolan reports from The Valley.

Quite apart from the novelty of reaching the second round of the League Cup, Chris Powell had at least ten other reasons to be cheerful on Tuesdayevening. His second string X1, completely overhauled, with the exception of keeper Ben Hamer, from the side which lost at Bournemouth three days earlier, made easy work of demolishing League Two visitors Oxford United. There appears to be satisfying depth to his squad, not to mention healthy competition for first team selection. Those are problems welcomed by any manager.

Winners of the League Cup in 1986 and buoyed by their 4-1 victory over Portsmouth at Fratton Park on Saturday, Oxford United pulled into town, confident of becoming the latest lower tier team to embarrass Charlton in knockout football. Their 771 travelling fans clearly fancied their chances and were bullish in letting us know how they felt. Before the end, however, they were ruthlessly put in their place and, in many cases, were suspected of “sneaking out.”

Among the various successes in the new red shirt, none was more impressive than 19 year-old debutant Joe Pigott. A centre forward rooted in an old tradition, the well-built kid takes his lumps, retains possession skilfully and brings supporting teammates into play. He can give and take pressure while working unselfishly for his team. Pigott was responsible for two of the best passes this entertaining game had to offer, the first of which laid on what should have been a hat-trick goal for strike partner Simon Church, the second a wonderfully reversed delivery to lay on a late chance for Marvin Sordell.

Along with highly regarded Sordell, Church is expected to augment Yann Kermorgant’s contribution to Charlton’s scoring column. He duly got off the mark with two opportunistic efforts, both of them resulting from his sharp reactions to fortunate ricochets.

Just past the quarter hour mark, Church was conveniently positioned as Pigott’s hastily contrived shot rebounded to him. With United’s defence hopelessly wrongfooted, the predatory forward took a touch before whipping a crisp drive across Ryan Clarke into the far left corner.

United’s best first half moment was provided by Australian midfielder Ryan Williams. The loan signing from Fulham combined at express speed with Johnny Mullins, reached the right byline but bundled his short cross against a rapidly retreating Leon Cort. It’s a rainy day for Aussies right now, bless ’em, and Williams ended up as moist as the cricketers.

Three minutes after the interval, the tie was all but settled by Danny Green, Standing over the 25-yard free kick awarded for Asa Hall’s foul on Church, the setpiece specialist sized up the possibilities, liked what he saw and drilled a low effort into the net through the congestion zone. A faint touch on the way might have helped.

Almost immediately, the first of Pigott’s telling passes, following devastating interplay with Jordan Cook, set up Church to tap in a third. His squared delivery left the new arrival the simple task of finishing from close range but was instead screwed haplessly wide.

Like all good strikers, Church didn’t brood over the miss. Again unmarked as Cedric Evina’s miscued shot arrived at his feet, he turned sharply to beat Clarke with a low, left-footed crosshot. On this evidence, Powell has himself an accomplished “goalhanger”, as we called them, with some bitterness, at school years ago.

The wholehearted Cort, meanwhile, snuffed out the U’s’ substitute Alfie Potter as the speedster shaped to finish a superb solo run but Chris Wilder’s men were otherwise being comfortably handled. In added time, Pigott completed their annihilation.

Fellow academy debutant Jordan Cousins had belatedly replaced stylish Dale Stephens and brought his own elegance with him. His close dribbling skill proved too much for Danny Rose, who wearily brought him down in the penalty area. With Powell apparently having forgotten to name his penalty taker, Pigott persuaded Green and Sordell that the responsibility for converting the inevitable spotkick was best left to him. No mistake was made from 12 yards and the youngster has the first of what promises to be a healthy total of senior goals. There were no hard feelings from his strongarmed colleagues.

For Powell, there was considerable relief in discovering, following the Bournemouth defeat, that his squad has depth and quality. Not one of his ten outfield replacements let him down. Each of them made genuine cases for first team selection, none more so than the excellent Cort, a resurgent Danny Hollands and creative wide men Green and Cook. The result also presented the boss with an unusual experience. It’s not often he retains any interest in the Leaue Cup after the first round. Tomorrow (Thursday) he will actually hear Charlton’s name read out in the second round draw. Who knows, he might even recognise it.

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

Charlton: Hamer, Wilson, Wood, Cort, Evina, Green, Stephens (Cousins 88), Hollands, Cook (Harriott 81), Church (Sordell 77), Pigott. Not used: Pope, Dervite, Kermorgant, Jordan.

Oxford: Clarke, Mullins, Wright, Hunt, Newey, Williams (Rigg 76), Whing, Hall (Potter 65), Rose, O’Dowda, Constable (Smalley 65). Not used: Crocombe, Raynes, Davies, Ruffels.

Referee: A. Davies. Att: 4,935.

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…