On 9 June 1905 a group of teenagers from south-east London decided to form their own team. Charlton Athletic turns 122 on 9 June 2027. It is a story of red shirts, fish and chips, and a ground the fans won back with their votes.

Fifteen-year-olds in red shirts

The founders were boys aged 14 and 15, with an average age of around fifteen and a half. They played football in East Street, Charlton, today's Eastmoor Street, near the Thames.

No church, school or factory was behind the team, which was rare at the time. Its first ground was Siemens Meadow, next to a telegraph factory, and several more followed before it found a permanent home.

The red and white were chosen by the teenage founders themselves. The cloth for the first shirts was bought from a draper's shop in nearby Woolwich.

Despite a popular belief, the shirts were not borrowed from neighbours Woolwich Arsenal. The only big exception came in 1923-24, when the club moved to Catford for a few months and wore light and dark blue stripes.

A second break came in 1964-66, with an all-white kit and red details on the shoulders. Otherwise, the plain red shirt has been the club's identity for more than a century.

Haddock, swords and nicknames

The best-known nickname, "The Addicks", has a taste to it. A local fishmonger, Arthur "Ikey" Bryan, treated the team to haddock and chips, and in a 1908 cartoon the players were called the "Haddocks", which by 1910 had become "Addicks".

"The Robins" arrived in 1931, and in the 1960s fans voted for "The Valiants" in a competition. Another competition, in 1963, produced the badge: a hand holding a sword, which reached its current form in 1968.

The Valley, exile and return

After the First World War the club found a derelict sand and chalk pit. Volunteers dug out the pitch by hand, and on 13 September 1919 the first match was played at The Valley.

In 1985 Charlton were forced to leave and share Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park, and later West Ham's Upton Park. The fans founded the Valley Party, which took about 11% of the vote in the 1990 local elections, and in December 1992 the team came home with a 1-0 win over Portsmouth.

Cups and incredible comebacks

Charlton reached two consecutive FA Cup finals. In 1946 they lost 4-1 to Derby, and in 1947 they beat Burnley 1-0 in extra time with a goal from Chris Duffy; in both years the ball actually burst during the final.

On 21 December 1957 the team, down to ten men, were losing 5-1 to Huddersfield and won 7-6, with five goals from Johnny Summers. In 1998 Alan Curbishley took them up to the Premier League after a 4-4 draw with Sunderland and a 7-6 penalty shootout.

Goalkeeper Sam Bartram holds the record with 623 appearances, and Derek Hales is the top scorer with 168 goals. In 2025 the club won the League One play-off final and returned to the Championship.

Celebrate with us

From the fifteen-year-olds of East Street to the return to The Valley, Charlton prove that a club belongs to its people. Happy 122nd birthday to the Addicks!

See our collectible jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: The Valley stadium – Marathon, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.