Charlton were elected to
the Football League in 1921, and gained promotion to the First
Division in 1936. They remained in the First Division, winning
the FA Cup in 1947, until 1957, when they were relegated.
From the late 1950s until the early 1970s, Charlton remained a
mainstay of the Second Division. The Valley was the largest
football ground in the League, drawing crowds in excess of
70,000. Relegation to the Third Division in 1972 caused the
team's support to drop, and even a short-lived promotion in 1975
did little to re-invigorate the team's support and finances.
In 1984 financial matters came to a head and the club went into
administration, to be reformed as Charlton Athletic (1984) Ltd.
Away from The Valley
From the mid 1980s Charlton played at Crystal Palace's football
ground, Selhurst Park, as the team's financial situation
prevented much-needed refurbishment of The Valley. Winning
promotion to the First Division in 1986 did little to aid the
failing club.
In 1990, the club again faced relegation. That same year, club
supporters formed their own political party in response to the
London Borough of Greenwich's refusal to allow the proposed
stadium refurbishment. The Valley Party won 15,000 votes and was
able to force the council to approve plans to renovate The
Valley.
The next year, Charlton left Selhurst Park for West Ham United's
ground, Upton Park.
Return to The Valley
In 1992, at last, they returned to a new and improved Valley.
Under the leadership of manager Alan Curbishley, Charlton
returned to the top flight (now known as the Premiership) in
1998, only to be relegated again on the last day of the season.
They returned to the Premiership in 2000, where they look likely
to remain for some time. After a poor start to the 2002 / 2003
season, losing all of their first four home games, the team
found its form with runs of four and five consecutive wins
taking them up the table. Curbishley was rewarded for this
success with the Manager of the Month award for February 2003.
In the same month the players Scott Parker and Paul Konchesky (both
graduates of the club's youth academy) were selected for the
England squad for a friendly against Australia. While only
Konchesky actually played in the match, it was the first time
ever that two Charlton players had been picked in the same
England squad.
While Charlton remains a club with a reputation for spending its
money sensibly, the current squad boasts an encouraging blend of
quality players from home and abroad. In January 2004 Scott
Parker was sold to Chelsea in controversial circumstances for
around £10 million, and in the following summer, many new
players were bought, including the Danish international Dennis
Rommedahl, Francis Jeffers and Danny Murphy from Liverpool.
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