As a kid my Dad once took me to Charlton and I marvelled at the huge bank down one side of the pitch (Pictured above), that seemed to sway like the movement of the ocean. I recall being mesmerised for much of the game much to the annoyance of my Dad who had paid a few coppers to get me in. He said that once it was just a mud bank and that fans regularly slid from top to bottom on a wet day, I’m not sure if he was pulling my leg but I’ve never forgotten it in over 50 years.
Sorry off topic, but here we go for this week’s edition of IN FOCUS as we look at the in-form Charlton Athletic.
CHARLTON – THE STORY SO FAR
Charlton are currently sitting in 6th place in the table with a record of PLAYED 12, WON 7, DRAWN 2, LOST 3, GF 17 GA 12 with 23 points to their name.
FORM AT A GLANCE – WWWWWDL
LEAGUE RECORD
Burton Albion 4 Charlton 2
Gillingham 1 Charlton 1
Charlton 3 Fleetwood 2
Portsmouth 0 Charlton 2
Charlton 2 Oxford 0
Northampton 0 Charlton 2
Blackpool 0 Charlton 1
Charlton 1 Wigan 0
Charlton 0 Sunderland 0
Lincoln 2 Charlton 0
Charlton 1 Doncaster 3
Crewe 0 Charlton 2
THE MANAGER
Lee David Bowyer aged 43 and born in Canning Town, London. As a midfielder he started his career in 1994 with Charlton Athletic and has often been in the spotlight for his antics on and off the pitch, and are too numerous to mention, but if you are interested, a walk through Bowyer’s background is colourful to say the least, none more so than when he was sent off fighting Kieran Dyer who was his teammate at the time at Newcastle.
As well as Charlton he has played for, Leeds United, West Ham on two separate occasions, Newcastle, Birmingham City on two separate occasions, and finally Ipswich Town in 2012.
He played a total of 604 domestic games scoring 99 goals and represented England at Under 18’s and 21’s plus once for the full X1 in 2002.
This is his first appointment as a manager, a role he took up in March 2018 as Caretaker after Robbo left for Oxford United and was made the permanent boss at the end of the season. He initially turned down the opportunity to continue as manager the following season but later reversed that decision for a 1 year rolling contract.
His managerial record stands at GAMES 134, WON 57, DRAWN 29, LOST 48 and gives him a 42% Win Ratio.
FORMER PLAYERS
Sam Bartram (623 games as goalkeeper) which would have been many more but for 6 years lost during WW2, Darren Bent, Billy Bonds, Bob Bolder, Paolo Di Canio, Derek Hales, Harry Gregory, Mark Kinsella, Paul Konchesky, Robert Lee, Stuart Leary, Kevin Lisbie, Scott Minto, Alan Pardew, Scott Parker, Keith Peacock, Chris Powell, John Robinson, Jonjo Shelvey, Bradley Wright-Phillips to name just a few.
PLAYED FOR BOTH
Ben Reeves, Jake Forster-Caskey, Chuks Aneke, Alex Gilbey, Izale McLeod, Adam Chicksen, Simon Church, Danny Green, Miguel Angel Llera, Charlie McDonald, Diego Poyet, Wade Small and Bally Smart.
FORMER MANAGERS
One of the worst conveyor belts for managers in the modern game, and a few have wondered why Robbo ever took it on with an ownership seemingly hell bent on upsetting the fan base, but he seemed to do well and got out on his own accord.
Since 2000 there have been 18 different managers at the Valley, and
previous incumbents include Karl Robinson, Russell Slade, Kevin Nugent, Bob Stokoe, Alan Mullery, Lennie Lawrence, Alan Curbishley, Steve Gritt, Iain Dowie, Alan Pardew, Phil Parkinson, Keith Peacock and Chris Powell.
FAMOUS FANS
Lee Ryan (Pop Singer with Blue), Jim Davidson (Comedy), Bjorn Borg (Tennis)
MASCOT
It used to be Floyd the Dog and Harvey the Cat, but a few years ago junior fans designed new mascots, a Knight and a Robin, who knows why.
SHOOTERS BOOTS – Conor Washington and Chuks Aneke with 5 goals each..
CURRENT MATCH ODDS – Charlton 4/9 Draw 3/1 MK Dons 5/1
LAST TIME ROUND
Tuesday 14th August 2018 – MK Dons 3 Charlton 0 (LG Cup)
Team – Nicholls, Williams, Cargill (Jackson), Walsh, Kasumu, Brittain (Muirhead), Houghton, (Moore-Taylor), Hancox, Cisse, Watson, Asonganyi.
Unused Subs – Sietsma, Agard, Nesbitt, Sole
Goals – Asonganyi 7’, Watson 16’, Own Goal 71’
Ref – John Busby (1 Yellow)
Attendance – 3, 052
HEAD 2 HEAD
2017/18 – MK Dons 3 Charlton 0 (LG Cup) (Asonganyi, Watson, OG)
2017/18 – MK Dons 1 Charlton 2 (Agard)
2017/18 – Charlton 2 MK Dons 2 (Agard 2)
2016/17 – Charlton 0 MK Dons 2 (O’Keefe, Barnes)
2016/17 – MK Dons 0 Charlton 1
2016/17 – MK Dons 3 Charlton 1 (FA Cup) (Powell, Reeves, Bowditch)
2016/17 – Charlton 0 MK Dons 0 (FA Cup)
2015/16 – Charlton 0 MK Dons 0
2015/16 – MK Dons 1 Charlton 0 (Bowditch)
2011/12 – Charlton 2 MK Dons 1 (Bowditch)
2011/12 – MK Dons 1 Charlton 1 (Williams)
2010/11 – MK Dons 2 Charlton 0 (Powell & S Baldock)
2010/11 – MK Dons 1 Charlton 2 (JPT) (Chadwick)
2010/11 – Charlton 1 MK Dons 0
2009/10 – MK Dons 0 Charlton 1
2009/10 – Charlton 5 MK Dons 1 (Wilbraham)
