Charlton Athletic FA Cup runners-up kit, Wembley 1946
(My grand dad was at the game, no doubt well lubricated on free Guinness since he worked for them)
FA Cup winners kit, Wembley 1947
(The year Charlton won the Cup and my grand dad was probably missing for weeks. Also the year the triumphant Charlton manager Jimmy Seed dropped the Cup whilst taking it around to show people in his car boot and had it patched up at a local Charlton garage - apparently you can still see the weld marks - what a bunch of scallywags!)
Charlton Athletic 1997- 2000 home shirt. I have a cheap Asian replica of this from 1998 which is amazingly strong and still in very good nick after wearing it a lot. The shirt worn the season Charlton won promotion to the Premier League for the first time in what is widely considered the best play-off final of all time 4-4 v Sunderland May 25 1998: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Football_League_First_Division_play-off_Final (My grandfather was toasting them from the grave for this one).
Highlights: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHFkFqVcFGo
"The Undertakers' Shirt" or "The Black Shirt of Doom" v Arsenal 4/11/01:
Worn in the legendary 4-2 away win against one of the best Arsenal sides of all time (Bergkamp, Henry, Pires, Vieira etc.) who completed the domestic double, winning the Premier League by a seven-point margin, were unbeaten away from home and managed the unique feat of scoring in every league game. They lost only three times in the division and this was the biggest home defeat in Wenger's reign.
Arsenal used to be Charlton's neighbours in south east London in the 1900's until they hit financial problems and moved to north London in 1913. Named after Woolwich Arsenal munitions factory which is next to Charlton. Charlton were the local scallywags team formed by some 15-17 year-old boys in 1905 who rose to become the biggest side in south east London after Arsenal did a runner in 1913. The history adds bite to any Charlton - Arsenal London derby.
Never as big a club as Arsenal until the 1930's when Charlton first gained promotion to Div. One in 1936 and the Valley became the biggest capacity ground in England (crowds of up to 70,000). Secured promotion to the First Division by beating local rivals West Ham in front of 41,254 fans at the Valley, with their valiant centre-half John Oakes playing on despite concussion and a broken nose.
In 1937, Charlton finished runners up in the First Division, in 1938 finished fourth and 1939 finished third. They were the most consistent team in the top flight of English football over the three seasons immediately before the Second World War. This continued during the war years and they won the "war" cup and appeared in finals. So from 1936 to 1956 Charlton were a club of similar stature to the big guns like Arsenal , appearing in the first two post-war Cup Finals and winning it in 1947.
Highlights of the classic 4-2 win Highbury 2001 (love how the arrogant Sky commentators start off crowing over Arsenal when they score early but soon have to eat crow!!!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysza-wsuzfc
