Charlton Athletic
Also written as Charlton.
The club
Charlton Athletic were founded on 9 June 1905 in Charlton, south-east London, and play at The Valley in the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The ground has been theirs since 1919 and holds 27,111. The club are the Addicks, a name traced to a local fishmonger, Arthur Bryan, who fed the team haddock and chips. They play in red shirts, white shorts and red socks, colours adopted after the founders borrowed kit from Arsenal in the club's earliest matches. The Valley's history is part of the club's identity: Charlton left in 1985 and ground-shared with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park until December 1992, and in 1990 a single-issue Valley Party contested the Greenwich Borough Council elections on a platform of reopening the stadium, taking 11 per cent of the vote.
Recent seasons
Charlton spent five seasons in League One after relegation from the Championship in 2019/20. They were seventh in 2020/21 with 72 points, 13th in 2021/22, tenth in 2022/23 and 16th in 2023/24. Nathan Jones was appointed manager on 4 February 2024 with the club in that 16th place, and in 2024/25 took them up through the play-offs, beating Leyton Orient 1-0 at Wembley on 25 May 2025 in front of 76,193, Macaulay Gillesphey scoring with a first-half free-kick. It was Charlton's first promotion to the Championship since 2019/20.
The first season back, 2025/26, was a survival campaign. Charlton finished 19th of 24 with 53 points from 46 games: 13 wins, 14 draws, 19 defeats, 44 goals scored and 58 conceded, six points clear of the relegation places. The record was built on control rather than football: they ranked 23rd in the division for possession, 23rd for expected goals and 22nd for goals scored, and the style divided the support. Survival was effectively sealed by a 2-1 win over Hull City at The Valley on 25 April 2026, which proved their last win of the season; they lost 3-1 at Swansea City on the final day. Average home league attendance was 20,066, the highest in 17 years.
Honours and landmarks
The FA Cup of 1947, won 1-0 against Burnley, is the club's one major trophy. They were beaten finalists the previous year, losing 4-1 to Derby County in 1946. Their highest league finish is First Division runners-up in 1936/37. League titles are Division Three South in 1928/29 and 1934/35, and League One in 2011/12, when the 101 points remain a club record. They were promoted from the Second Division in 1985/86 and from the Third Division in 1974/75 and 1980/81, and have won the play-offs three times since: the 1998 First Division final against Sunderland, drawn 4-4 and won 7-6 on penalties, the 2019 League One final, 2-1 against Sunderland, and 2025 against Leyton Orient. Most league goals in a season is 107, in 1957/58. Sam Bartram holds the appearance record with 623, Derek Hales the scoring record with 168. Record attendance is 75,031 against Aston Villa in an FA Cup fifth-round tie on 12 February 1938, a 1-1 draw.
Notable scorelines
Record victory: 8-0 against Stevenage on 9 October 2018. Record defeat: 1-11 against Aston Villa on 14 November 1959. The 1998 play-off final, 4-4 with Sunderland at Wembley before Charlton won the shootout 7-6, is the match the club is best known for in the modern era. From last season, the 2-1 home win over Hull City on 25 April 2026 was the result that kept them up.
Head-to-head notes
Charlton do not publish all-time head-to-head records on their own site, and the standard reference archives for English clubs blocked automated access, so all-time records against the 2026/27 Championship field are not established here. What can be stated: Millwall have dominated the recent derby, with statistical aggregators recording no Charlton win in the last 15 meetings and only one in 18 since 2006, Millwall winning ten of those. Charlton met Chelsea at The Valley in the FA Cup third round on 10 January 2026 in front of 26,475, the club's biggest home crowd of the season. Six of this season's opponents are new or renewed at this level: West Ham United, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers came down from the Premier League, and Lincoln City, Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers came up from League One.
Right now (2026/27)
Nathan Jones remains manager, in post since 4 February 2024 and now into his third full season. The summer was run without money: Sports Mole recorded a net spend of nil. Centre-back Ivan Mesik joined from Heracles Almelo on 30 June 2026 for an undisclosed fee and centre-back Billy Koumetio from Dundee on 1 July, also undisclosed. Forward Karlan Grant arrived free from West Bromwich Albion on 19 July and right-back Danny McNamara free from Millwall on 23 July. Winger Millenic Alli signed from Luton Town on 26 July for an undisclosed fee. Out went Macaulay Gillesphey, the play-off final scorer, to Bradford City, Karoy Anderson to Blackpool, Alex Mitchell to Plymouth Argyle and Kaheim Dixon to Novi Pazar, all for undisclosed fees, with Terry Taylor to Stevenage on a free and Luke Berry and Lyndon Dykes released. Ty Ewens-Findlay went on loan to Crawley Town.
Pre-season brought wins at Dartford (1-0, 3 July), Gillingham (1-0, 18 July) and Colchester United (2-0, 28 July), a 1-1 draw with NK Maribor on 10 July and a 2-0 defeat at AFC Wimbledon on 25 July. The competitive season starts in the EFL Cup first round away to Cheltenham Town on 8 August 2026. The Championship campaign opens at home to Derby County on 15 August 2026, with the first away trip to West Ham United.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlton_Athletic_F.C. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_Charlton_Athletic_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_Charlton_Athletic_F.C._season https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025%E2%80%9326_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026%E2%80%9327_EFL_Championship https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_EFL_League_One_play-off_final https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/charlton-athletic/transfer-talk/feature/charlton-athletic-summer-transfers-all-confirmed-ins-and-outs-2026_599192.html https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11719/13373221/charlton-athletic-1-0-leyton-orient-addicks-win-league-one-play-off-final-at-wembley-to-seal-promotion-to-championship https://www.charltonafc.com/history/mens-club-history/1929-1943-pre-world-war-two https://www.cafc.co.uk/news/nathan-jones-appointed-manager https://feeds.bbci.co.uk/sport/football/68178900 https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/charlton-athletic-fired-nathan-jones-warning-its-the-biggest-talking-point/ https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/49173379/efl-championship-fixtures-schedule-2026-27-full https://footystats.org/england/charlton-athletic-fc-vs-millwall-fc-h2h-stats
Researched and written for not4quarters. Where a fact could not be established from the sources read, this page says so rather than guessing.