On that link, it it works, immediately it starts, the very first group of boys, my father is on the left, front row, seated crossed legged. In fact, I was the spitting image of him at the same age.
Never forget how special this football club is. @CAFCofficial I'll take those words in good faith and in the spirit they were intended - something I cannot say for a long time now regarding anything official from the Club. Happy Eleventy Third Birthday Charlton Athletic! What a proud time for you Inky, and for every fan with such historic links with our wonderful old Club. I don't think any of my relatives have ever played for CAFC or worked at the Valley, but one side of my family have always lived close to the stadium and we have been Charlton fans for generations. Here's to the next 113 years and all the times that will come with them, the bad and the good and perhaps the very best...
I think the club is much older than that, as my father played for them, they were a Charlton boys club, real amateurs, so perhaps that date relates to when they turned professional.
According to Colin Cameron, Charlton Athletic Football Club was formed on 9th June 1905 in East Street (later named Eastmoor Street). The group of young men and boys who formed the Club on that day may well have been meeting up to play football for a while before that date, just not officially as CAFC. The Club turned professional in the summer of 1920, after being reformed in January 1918 as the Great War entered its final year. Home & Away with Charlton Athletic
My father was born 19 November 1890, married my mother June 1916 aged 25.. So he must have been at least 15 in that picture, but does look younger. My sister was born in 1918 and I was born in 1926. There complete family history.
Yes, we're comparative newbies. But you had the advantage of being started by some enterprising Scots. We had to wait for the English to start our club. That's how we learned the virtue of patience, which is coming in very handy at this precise point in time.