Charlton Athletic

Charlton Athletic ended their fourth consecutive Premier League season, in seventh 
place, an achievement, in itself, that should prove a salutary lesson to every club that 
gets into the top flight because of the way ‘The Addicks’ established themselves in the 
elite, after being relegated following their first campaign.

Under Alan Curbishley Charlton won promotion, via the play-offs, to take their place in 
the Premiership for 1998–99 and a storming start of four points from two games saw 
them top the table and Alan Curbishley Manager of the Month but after a goalless draw 
with Arsenal they dropped to fourth and they declined into the bottom three by 
Christmas.

After victory over Nottingham Forest, in the first game of October, Charlton won just one 
game, ironically against the manager’s former club, West Ham, 4–2, before a dreadful run 
that yielded only three points from 13 games, including eight consecutive defeats, by 
February 1999. Charlton won three in a row, against Wimbledon, Liverpool and Derby, 
and Curbishley was again Manager of the Month but the damage was done. From 16th 
Charlton won just two more games before the end of the season. The double was 
completed over The Hammers and Aston Villa were beaten, leaving The Addicks needing 
a last-day victory over against Sheffield Wednesday and hope that Southampton failed 
against Everton. Charlton lost and Southampton won so it was back to Division One.

That was when step one, in the ‘Charlton Athletic guide to becoming an established 
Premiership club’, came into being. The club resisted the ‘time honoured’ knee-jerk 
reaction to relegation, of sacking it’s manager and that continuity was an investment 
that paid handsome dividends.

With the prolific Andy Hunt netting 24 League goals, aided and abetted by Clive 
Mendonca, 9, John Robinson, 7, Graham Stuart, 7 and Richard Rufus, 6, Charlton 
stormed to the First Division championship winning 27 of their 46 League games to take 
the title with 91 points, two points ahead of Manchester City. Then, as if underlining 
any doubts about the title-winning margin Charlton thumped City 4–0 on the opening 
day of the Premiership.

Charlton didn’t have a prolific scorer in 2000–01 but again the goals were spread 
amongst the team. Jonart Johansson finished top scorer with just 11 League goals, but 
Shaun Bartlett, Claus Jensen. Graham Stuart and Matt Svensson all hit five each. A 
couple of useful unbeaten runs kept Charlton floating around mid-table although they 
were fifth in September, after beating Newcastle. The best sequence, nine games 
unbeaten, came between the last game of 2000, when the League double was 
completed over Manchester City, 4–1, and a goalless draw with Middlesbrough, that 
left The Addicks in eighth place. Alan Curbishley was delighted to end the campaign 
ninth in the table.

The following season was similar in that the team reached as high as eighth, at the turn 
of the year, but no wins in the final eight games brought them perilously close to the 
drop but three draws from the last four games ensured safety in 14th place.

Ably assisted by Keith Peacock and Mervyn Day Alan Curbishley built a sound squad 
capable of holding its own in the elite with a good balance of experience, with Chris Bart 
Williams, Chris Powell and Graham Stuart along with up and coming youngsters Scott 
Parker and Luke Young and it looked as if the team might make a real impact and five 
successive wins in early 2003 elevated the side up to sixth but defeat by Arsenal 
started a downward spiral of eight defeats in the last 10 games for a 12th place finish.

Charlton did so well in 2003–04 that they even threatened to claim a Champions’ League 
slot but in the end had to settle for the kind of final placing that 13 other Premiership 
clubs would have taken, not to mention £ 7.6 million of prize money that would be well 
utilised by Alan Curbishley.

Charlton have been established in the top flight with a combination of sound judgement, 
good buys and the development of quality players, by Alan Curbishley, a lesson to clubs 
who think cheque-books can buy success. The biggest task ahead is retaining the 
manager who has managed the minor miracle.

Managers

Steve Gritt and Alan Curbishley          Joint managers 1991–1995

Alan Curbishley                               June 1995–