One hundred years ago tomorrow, a group of teenagers gathered in Charlton to form their very own football club. A century later, a 26,000-seater stadium stands almost on the same spot. LOUISE TWEDDELL reports on the history of Charlton Athletic FC ...

EVEN the most ardent Addicks fans will have a job to recall the names Jim MacKenzie, Harry Wells and Eddie Marshall but without them, their beloved club may never have been born.

As football fever swept Edwardian England, teenagers from the area decided to join the craze by forming Charlton Athletic FC.

At first the club played in the Lewisham League against the likes of Millwall Rangers.

But in 1920 after finishing fifth in the Kent League, where they played Summerstown, it was decided to turn the club professional and it was admitted to the Football League joining the Third Division (South) in time for the 1921/22 season.

By 1933, legendary manager Jimmy Seed had taken over and took the club to the First Division in 1936, where they met the likes of Brentford and Grimsby.

The 1940s witnessed Charlton Athletic's heyday, with a losing FA Cup final against Derby County in 1946 followed a year later by a 1-0 cup final win against Burnley.

In the 1948/49 season the club attracted its highest-ever average attendance 40,216.

Superfan Jean Tindell, of Palace Road, Bromley, who was a founder member of Charlton's supporters' club in 1949, remembers the glory days as if they were yesterday.

She said: "My dad used to sit me on the wall. It was so high I thought I was in heaven. I saw Stanley Mathews play and remember thinking the ball was attached to his foot with a bit of elastic, he was so good."

The next four decades saw hard times at the club with battles against relegation and a move away from The Valley to ground shares at Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park and West Ham's Upton Park.

But in 1992, the club was back where it belonged, at The Valley.

In 1998 they made it to the Premiership through the play-offs but a cruel twist of footballing fate, saw the club relegated on the last day of the following season.

However, a year later happier days were soon back when they returned to the Premiership as First Division champions.

Former player and current club director Derek Hales said: "When you look back at what the club was 12 years ago, it was struggling to exist and so to come here today and see what they have achieved today, it's some feat. Fair play to everybody at the helm and long may it continue."

These are exciting times at The Valley with a proposed stadium expansion expected to take the capacity to 30,900 and a squad of players which have established the club in the top flight.

Chief executive Peter Varney (pictured) said: "Alan Curbishley has done a fantastic job in transforming us into an established Premiership club and he intends to further strengthen the first team squad during the summer."

Both the club and the supporters' club have lined up a host of events to commemorate the centenary.

A statue of Sam Bartram, the club's goalkeeper from 1934 to 1956, will be unveiled on June 9 and a march followed by a party will take place on June 12.

FACTS AND FIGURES

  • 1905: Charlton established in East Street
  • 1920: The Addicks go professional
  • 1934: Goalie Sam Bartram makes his first appearance
  • 1947: Charlton win the FA Cup by beating Burnley 1-0
  • 1956: Jimmy Seed is sacked as manager
  • 1992: The club moves back to The Valley after leaving in the mid-1980s
  • 2000: The team make it back to the Premiership under current manager Alan Curbishley
  • 623: The number of appearances by goalkeeper Sam Bartram
  • 40,216: The club's highest average attendance, during the 1948/49 season
  • 23: The number of years Jimmy Seed remained manager
  • 5,000: The lowest attendance at the club between 1989 and 1990
  • £10m: The amount Chelsea paid for midfielder Scott Parker in 2004
  • 11: The club's 2004/5 end of season Premiership place
  • 16: The club's youngest player, Paul Konchesky, signed in August 1997