2005-06 Season

13th in the Premiership
League Cup: 4th Round, Blackburn Rovers h. 2-3
FA Cup: 6th Round replay, Middlesbrough a. 2-4

Highlight:
Winning on penalties at Chelsea in the League Cup 26/10/05

Low Spot:
2-5 home defeat to Manchester City 4/12/05

Good:
Darren Bent:
Bent scored 22 goals and the next best managed 5. That's a pretty vital contribution.
Pacy, strong and direct he gave the Addicks a real cutting edge. Whether he will be around to do so next season remains to be seen.
Danny Murphy:
Spud Murphy started the season in magnificent fashion and provided the guile which saw Charlton off to a flyer.
Then something seemed to happen and Alan Curbishley didn't like him anymore. The team definitely missed him after he had gone though.

Bad:
Jason Euell
Whatever happened to this guy? He used to be a consistent performer and a regular goalscorer but now he can't even complete a move to Birmingham.
Kevin Lisbie
Another player who the club can't seem to shift, it can't be for want of trying.

In Brief
Charlton won their first four games and did so in some style with the midfield purring and new boy Darren Bent on fire up front.
Then came the customary slump and five on the bounce were lost between October and December. The club also lost disapointingly in the League Cup, and later in the FA Cup also.
This is always a club you are waiting to collapse but with Curbishley finally calling it a day and 4 of the last 5 games being lost next season looks like being critical.

Charlton Athletic Football Club history
Charlton Athletic Football Club was formed in 1905 and was more or less a youth club in its early years. The club also remained amatuer until 1920. Progress was swift, however. The club turned professional on entering the Southern League and were elected into Division Three South of the Football League a year later in 1921.

Charlton struggled to make an impression initially, failing to make a top ten finish in their first seven seasons in the league before suddenly carrying off the championship of the Southern section in 1929.

Only two points separated the top six teams that season and Charlton secured a place in Division Two ahead of Crystal Palace by virtue of a superior goal average.

In 1933 the club slipped back into Division Three South but this only led to a remarkable surge forward up to the start of the Second World War. This was maintained immediately after the war despite the seven year interruption.

Charlton won the Division Three South championship in 1935, were promoted from Division Two as runners up the following season and managed finishes of 2nd, 4th and 3rd in the years immediately preceding war.

Straight after the war Charlton reached successive FA Cup finals. In 1946 the Addicks defeated Fulham, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Preston North End and Brentford in two legged ties before beating Bolton Wanderers 2-0 in the semi final. There was disappointment in the final, however, as Derby County ran out 4-1 winners in a game most famous for a bursting ball. The game was closer than it sounds, requiring extra time after Bert Turner had scored for both sides in normal time.

In 1947 Charlton edged past West Bromwich Albion, Blackburn Rovers and Preston North End before thumping Newcastle United 4-0 at Elland Road in the semi finals. This time Charlton collected the trophy after a Chris Duffy goal in extra time was enough to defeat Burnley.

Charlton managed to retain a first division place until 1957. The club then remained locked in the second division throughout the 1960's before dropping into Division Three in 1972.

The club were promoted in 1975, relegated back to Division Three in 1980 and promoted again in 1981.

The Addicks had seemed more interested in simply maintaining their second division status than anything more adventurous before suddenly winning promotion to the first division as runners up in 1986.

The following season saw the introduction of play offs at the end of the season and with the first division being reduced in number by two teams Charlton ended up having to fight for survival despite finishing 19th in the table.

Two Jim Melrose goals gave them victory over Ipswich Town in the semi finals and Melrose was on target again as the two legged final with Leeds United ended 1-1 on aggregate.

In the replay at Birmingham's St Andrews ground Charlton fell behind in extra time but still managed to recover to win 2-1 with both goals coming from the centre half Peter Shirtliff.

The club were relegated in 1990 and spent the next eight years in English footballs' second tier. They reached the play offs in 1996 but lost to Crystal Palace in the semi finals, which is about as bad as it gets for an Addick. They clinched promotion to the Premier League via the same route in 1998, however.

Charlton progressed at the expense of Sunderland after a truly remarkable game at Wembley. Clive Mendonca fired a hat trick as the teams finished level at 4-4 after extra time. The penalty shoot out went to 7-6 in Charlton's favour before Michael Gray missed for Sunderland.

The Addicks slipped to an immediate relegation but returned to the Premier League at the first time of asking after winning the Division One title in 2000. Since that time the club have surprised many by retaining their status for the past five seasons with a highest position of 7th in 2004.

The club have an awful League Cup record having only gone as far as the 4th round on three occasions in 1963, 1966 and 1979.

In 1987 the Addicks made it to the final of the Full Members Cup before losing to Blackburn Rovers.

Perhaps Charlton's most famous player is goalkeeper Sam Bartram who holds the clubs appearance record. Bartram made 583 league appearances for the club despite missing out on seven years of his career because of the World war II.

The current manager Alan Curbishley has also managed a freakishly long time in charge at the Valley and is now entering his second decade in the hotseat.

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