They haven't played anyone yet. When Millwall got to the Final in 2004 they made it to Wembley without facing a single Premiership team. Credit to them for getting to Wembley though from the 2nd tier. In our best FA Cup run as a 3rd Division team in 1923 Charlton reached the QF's after knocking out 1st Division sides Manchester City, Preston NE and West Brom. When Charlton won it in 1947 we knocked out 1st Division Blackburn Rovers and Preston NE, as well as Newcastle United and Burnley, who were both promoted from the 2nd Division that same season. And to get to the 1946 Final Charlton had to play two-leg matches in every round (except the semi-Final), as the Wartime Leagues were still in operation and the FA Cup format was given more games to fill gaps in the league schedule. So we won nine matches to reach the Final, knocking out 1st Division teams Wolves, Preston NE and Bolton Wanderers. All with no substitutes and no £millions from the Top flight just for making up the numbers there.
I totally disagree. Our welfare as a club comes well before parochial rivalries, albeit long standing ones. We must get out of this piss pot league ASAP.
I can see both points of view. Sadly though, promotion this season won't save us. Plymouth, Derby and Luton are all better funded and better run than CAFC, and they cannot hack it in the 2nd tier. If Charlton go up in May, we will be crucified in that division. As well as sold to some hedge fund or worse before Christmas. So I'd have to side with Elfs. Staying down isn't so dreadful in my view. Maybe in 12 months we will be a bit stronger if NJ is actually worth anything as a gaffer. But if Palace win the FA Cup we'll never hear the bloody end of it.
Palace are currently 20 times our size in terms of turnover & squad value - it’s irrelevant I’m afraid.
It's hardly even a rivalry any more. Bromley are closer to being rivals, only one division away. That's the horrible truth. When they run out before the match they are introduced as The Pride of South London, which was painful when I used to take my friend as his carer. Not only painful but humiliating because they could say it with some justification.
I couldn’t disagree with this view more vigorously. Of course we need to get promoted as soon as possible. It doesn’t follow that we would struggle in the Championship. We seem to play better against the good teams.
We'll eventually get out of it, the filth may have to wait another 20 years for a better chance of winning it.
The s***bags have consistently appointed decent managers to do a job for them. The clogging aside who was quickly despatched.
I hope you're right. But I have no hope left for the Club's future. After the joy of Wembley in 2019 Bowyer was not backed CAFC was sold to crooks for £1 We lost the Valley & all other assets We were relegated again straight off. I see no reasons to believe that NJ will be backed, that CAFC won't be flipped (sold again) and that we won't be relegated again. We can't lose anything more simply because we have nothing left. Charlton are much further adrift from being a viable 2nd tier team now, than we were in 2019. And we couldn't hack it then. I'd rather see Jones build on this season after likely defeat in the Play-off semis or even at Wembley. See him bounce back stronger in 2025-26 and go up automatic - like Chris Powell did - then consolidate in the Championship, again like CP did. Or I would prefer to see that, if I had any faith in Jones.
Agree with all minus the bit about going up next season as potentially being stronger. We need promotion and hope we'd be strong enough to stay up and progress from there.
