Charlton Athletic
The club was formed in 1905 and played, initially, at Siemens Meadow which was situated just half a mile away from their current home at The Valley.
Following moves to a number of local grounds the club moved to The Valley in 1919 and turned professional a year later. One year later they were elected to the Football League Division Three (South).
Promoted to the First Division in 1936/37 and finished as runners up in their first season at football’s top table.
Having lost out to Derby County in the 1946 FA Cup Final, they won the trophy a year later when they were 1-0 winners against Burnley.
They were the glory years for the club but in 1984 they almost went out of existence before a rescue package was put in place which saved them from bankruptcy with just 25 minutes to spare.
One year later, unable to retain the freehold of The Valley they moved to Selhurst Park to groundshare with Crystal Palace but despite that won a place back in the First Division in 1986.
At the end of the 1991/92 season there was a move to groundshare with West Ham at Upton Park though they were able to move back to The Valley in December 1992 and in 1997/98 they returned to the top flight following a play off final victory against Sunderland at Wembley.
Relegated to League One in 2007, they have played their football in The Championship and League One since then and their current spell in the third tier began in 2020/21.
Before anyone else reminds you, I might as well get this stat out of the way; Rovers have not won an away match against Charlton in the league since March 29th 1958. There has been 20 away league meetings since!
The 62 league meetings with Charlton has seen 19 Rovers wins, 19 draws and 24 wins for Charlton.
Rovers have two FA cup wins to Charlton’s one and have also won the only League Cup tie between the clubs.
The first ever league meetings took place in 1921/22 with Rovers winning 4-2 at Eastville on September 10th 1921 and Charlton winning the return game 2-0 just a week later.
The last time we met, in 2020/21, Charlton did the double over Rovers, winning 1-0 at the Mem on January 16th 2021 and 3-2 at The Valley on March 18th.
Players to have turned out for both clubs include Bradley Allen, Joe Anyinsah, Dennis Bailey, Leon Clarke, Chris Dickson, Bill Dodgin (Snr), Neil Etheridge, Scott McGleish, Tom Lockyer, Erhun Oztumer, Dick Plumb, Scott Sinclair, David Whyte and Steve White.
Former Rovers manager Malcolm Allison made two league appearances for Charlton early in his career. Former Rovers assistant manager Dennis Booth scored five goals in 77 league games for Charlton while Bill Dodgin (Snr) as well as playing for both clubs, had a spell as manager of Rovers. Two other former Rovers managers, Bert Tann and Fred Ford, were also players with Charlton.
In addition, former Rovers Director of Football Lennie Lawrence is a former Charlton manager.
We will come up against our former manager Ben Garner when we meet Charlton next season after he left Swindon Town in the summer to take over the managerial reins at The Valley.
Players to have made their Rovers league debut against Charlton include John Ball and Edward Harvey (both 1921/22), Alexander Crichton, Andrew Dick, James Gardner, Charles Heinemann, Jonah Wilcox and William Wilson (all 1925/26), Ronnie Dix (1927/28), George Berry, Charles Wipfler and Eli Postin (all 1934/35), Ian Hamilton (1958/59), Bernard Hall (1961/62), Martin Thomas (1976/77), Bob Bloomer and Gavin Kelly (both 1990/91), Daniel Jones (2009/10), Tom Broadbent, Tom Nichols, Liam Sercombe, Adam Smith and Michael Kelly (all 2017/18).
Next season Rovers travel to The Valley on 17th November while Charlton visit The Mem on 7th April 2023.
A round trip to The Valley, from The Mem, takes in 252 miles via the M4, a route which will take you through central London, or 312 miles via the M4, A329 (M), A322, M3, M25 and A20.
Charlton Athletic FC
The Valley
Floyd Road
London
SE7 8BL
Keith Brookman
(images courtesy of Keith Brookman)