Accrington Web - 2020/21 Prediction League; Game 23 v Charlton Athletic (away)

Charlton Athletic

Accrington Stanley

2020/21 Prediction League Game 23; v Charlton Elastics (away)

I've commented over a few weeks now about the number of well-known and well-loved ex Pros who've so sadly passed away in the past twelve months; many were 'of an age', so that footie fans of my era remember them well, but the number of 'names' has been staggering; some I picked up on and did brief "in memoria" ...... Jack Charlton, Tony Waiters, Paulo Rossi, Nobby Stiles, Maurice Setters ............. some were earlier on, before the trend started ........... and some - many - others have died recently ........... Colin Bell was a member of Man City in the days I used to watch them; my first team, because my best mate at school after we moved from Colchester was a City fan; Ken Barnes, Trautmann, Paddy Fagan, Joe Hayes, Bobby Johnstone, then Bill Leivers, Cliff Sear, Dave Ewing, Mike Doyle, Mike Summerbee, Franny Lee, Colin Barlow .... and Colin Bell ........... who was magical ....... RIP Colin

But then I started to realise there were actually many more who've passed in the last twelve months or so ............ Gerard Houllier; Tommy Docherty (I wonder what an Employment Tribunal would say if someone got sacked these days for bedding a work-mate's wife?); Albert Quixall - Man U from Munich onwards; Ron Saunders; Theo Foley, who managed Northampton in their one-season sojourn in Division One; Jim McLean, who managed Dundee United from 1971 to 1993, including into Europe - where they beat Barcelona over two legs (twice - P4 W4), Anderlecht on away goals, Monaco 5-2 away, Monchengladbach 5-0 at home, and again in a different season; and Dutch-born Anderlecht star Rob Rensenbrink ...oh goodness, the memories ....... RIP each and every one

But there were two names I didn't know, and should have; wing half Cyril Robinson, of Mansfield Town, Blackpool, Northwich Victoria, Bradford Park Avenue, Southport, Buxton, Lancaster City, Toronto City, Fleetwood, Blackpool Mechanics, Hellas, and Newcastle, who played 21 games for the Tangerines over four seasons between 1951 and 1955, but who was the only surviving member of the Matthews' Cup FInal-winning team of 1953, and Gwyn Jones - ex Wolves and Bristol Rovers - who declined to have anything to do with the Peter Swan/Bronco Lane/Tony Kay match-fixing scandal of 1964 and, as I read somewhere, assisted the investigation.......... and did you know that ex-Arsenal player Peter Storey was convicted (after his stopped playing) of keeping a brothel (to try and make enough money to flee to Spain, apparently, and thus avoid his pending trial for conspiracy to counterfeit gold coins) - he got a suspended for the brothel, and three years in chokey for the coins!

Charlton, if you don't know your geography of London, is an area of southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich; it's east of Greenwich and west of Woolwich and 7.2 miles east-southeast of Charing Cross. 'Charlton next Woolwich' was an ancient parish in the county of Kent, which became part of the metropolitan area of London in 1855. The name derived from the Old English 'ceorl' and 'tūn', and means 'farmstead of the freemen or peasants', and the parish was also known as Charlton next Woolwich to distinguish it from Charlton by Dover.... which I assume was somewhere near Dover

Famous people associated with the Borough of Charlton itself (or "CharltonBorough") include Egyptologist Flinders Petrie, and Charles Dryden (1666–1704), the first son of the poet John Dryden. Around 1683, it seems that Charles went to Italy and was appointed Chamberlain to Pope Innocent XII, before returning to England about 1697 or 1698 and drowning in the Thames near Datchet (Sir Walter Scott recorded that Charles was attempting to swim across the Thames). Other Charltoneers include Walter John de la Mare, the English poet, short story writer, and novelist, Andy Fordham (one-time BDO darts World Champion), and Admiral Sir Hugh Justin Tweedie KCB.0, of whom I've never heard either ..........

And you may want to know - if you every get your car impounded by the Boys in Blue in London - that a Metropolitan Police car pound is located in west Charlton, off Eastcombe Avenue. (The What3Words location is apparently "Nicked.Your.Car")

Charlton Athletic F.C. was formed on 9 June 1905 by a group of 15- to 17-year-olds in East Street, Charlton. They spent most of the years before the First World War playing in youth leagues, although in 1913 they became a senior side in the same year that nearby Woolwich Arsenal relocated to North London. After the war, they joined the Kent League for one season (1919–20) before becoming professional, and they were accepted by the Southern League, but played just a single season (1920–21) before being voted into the Football League; their first League match was against Exeter City in August 1921, which they won 1–0. In 1923 (White Horse Final year) they pulled off some notable giant-killing in the FA Cup, beating top flight sides Manchester City, West Bromwich Albion, and Preston North End before losing to Bolton in the Quarters.

They finished second bottom in the Football League in 1926 and were forced to apply for re-election - which was successful - but a mere three years later the Addicks won the Division Three championship (1929) and they remained at the Division Two level for four years. After relegation to Div3South at the end of the 1932–33 season the club appointed Jimmy Seed as manager, and he oversaw the most successful period in Charlton's history. Seed was an innovative thinker about the game at a time when tactical formations were still relatively unsophisticated, and he later recalled "a simple scheme that enabled us to pull several matches out of the fire" during the 1934–35 season: when the team was in trouble "the centre-half forsook his defensive role and went up into the attack to add weight to the five forwards." The Addicks gained successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division between 1934 and 1936, becoming the first club ever to do so.

In 1937, they finished runners up in the First Division, in 1938 they finished fourth and 1939 they finished third. In its history, the club has had four separate periods in the top tier: 1936–1957, 1986–1990, 1998–1999, and 2000–2007. They also lost the 1946 FA Cup Final, 4–1 to Derby County (who may lose to Chorley in this year's Round 3!), but they made amends by reaching the 1947 FA Cup Final as well, and this time they were successful, beating Burnley 1–0, with Chris Duffy scoring the only goal. Famous managers (apart from Jimmy Seed, who held that job from May 1933 to September 1956) include Bob Stokoe, Eddie Firmani, Theo Foley (see above), Pardew, Parkinson, Peacock and Powell, Russell Slade and Karl Robinson ............ nickname is "The Addicks", "Red Robin" or "The Valiants" (which I thought was Portly Vale - who've just sacked John Askey as manager) ... They play at The Valley, and have done - bar a few random seasons when they moved elsewhere - since 1919; the site of The Valley is apparently an old Clay Pit; their current manager is Lee Bowyer .......... their record League win is 9-0 @ Stevenage on 9 October 2018, and worst-ever League defeat was 1–11 v. Aston Villa, 14 November 1959 .... Most appearances were by GK Sam Bartram (623), with Keith Peacock - an outfield player - a decent second on 591; highest-ever career scorer is Derek Hales (168); Jonjo Shelvey is their youngest ever player (16 years 59 days - and it took him 251 days to score), and Sam the Man was the oldest (42 years 47 days); quickest goal in a Charlton shirt was Jim Melrose (9 seconds), and the current holder of the "Quickest Sending Off" Club record is Naby Sarr (now of Huddersfield)

They finished Covid-hit 2019/20 season in 22nd place, with a record showing P46 W12 D12 L22 and a -15 GD (one point from safety), having been 2nd early in the season but having only taken 3 points from their last (post-covid) seven games - D3 L4.......... six left in the close-season; LB Lewis Page joined Exeter, Naby Sarr (as above) went to Yarkshire, Welsh CB Tom Lockyer signed for Luton and Israeli striker Tomer Hemed went to New Zealand, joining Wellington Phoenix (which I think is a mythical bird cooked in pastry) ...... they also sold striker Macauley Bonne to QPR and GK Dillon Phillips to Cardiff

They signed eleven, best known of whom might be striker Conor Washington from Hearts, CMF Ben Watson from Forest, AMF Marcus Maddison from the Posh, Omar Bogle from Cardiff and - this week - Danish CF Ronnie Schwartz from FC Midtjylland ......... also, be warned, they've got Paul Smyth on loan, plus Liverpool's Liam Miller

Currently they're 6th with 32 points from 19 games (2 points ahead of us, and we've three games in hand; actually, if we were to win all our GIH we'd be top by one points from Lincoln - but don't tell anyone) ....... at home they're W4 D2 L2 GF14 GA10, and away it's W5 D3 L3 GF15 GA12, giving them P19 W9 D5 L5 GF29 GA22 ....... they're between Posh and Ipswich on GD (+10 plays +7 plays +4) but they've played a game more ........... incidentally, only Sunderland have lost fewer games than us (3 to our 4), and our +6 GD is one of only 12 .... and the form teams are currently Oxford and the Poinyt-Nosed Furry Things, each with 13 points from their last 5 games; Burton are Chief Numpties (five defeats on the bounce), with Swindon and the Wombles having just one point each from their last five ...............

We've only played the Addicks twice in the League (in 2018/19), drawing 1-1 at Fortress Wham (goal by Clicker), and losing 1-0 at theirs to a 93rd-minute penalty scored by Karlan Laughton Ahearne-Grant (now of The Baggies) ........... their leading scorers are Chuks Aneke with 7 and Conor Washington with 6 ......... and they're out of the FA Cup in Round One (1-0 at home to Plymouth), the Milk Cup in Round Two (3-0 away to the Hammers), and they didn't manage to get out of their group in the Troffy ...........

Deadline for entries is, as always, scheduled kick-off time, which this week, to keep us on our toes, is 7.45pm on Friday 8th January .............. and Gary's Come Home ............ and we're On The Tele, Live ............... and all's well with the World ......... if you ignore Covid, Brexit and the American Legacy that Trump has created ........... The Yanks managed to assassinate Kennedy in '63............. Just a thought ............

Good luck to everyone! ............ Take the Jab! ............ Stay safe and keep well! ........... And thanks for playing!

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