“Bolton Wanderers”, “Charlton Athletic” and “Brentford City” - these are football clubs, now playing in various leagues of the English football structure. Despite the fact that their merits are far from outstanding and they have never been referred to the grandees of British and world football, there are many glorious moments in their history that are worth telling about. The teams included many famous masters who played for other eminent clubs and their teams. “Charlton Athletic”, “Brentford” and “Bolton Wanderers” in football - a force, albeit local.
Charlton Athletic in the 20th Century
Charlton Athletic was founded on June 9, 1905 in London, in one of the metropolitan areas, bearing the same name as the club. Although the team has more than a century of history, it cannot be called old by the standards of English football: the English championship has been played for 17 years by the time the new football club was born. At first, the club did not have its own modern stadium, and a seafood store nearby served as locker rooms. This formed the basis for the nickname of the new team - Haddock, which means “cod” in Russian.
The first 15 years of its existence, “Charlton Athletic” played in amateur leagues. So, the starting season of the new team in “adult” football was the 1921/22 season, which the club spent in the third English division (in its southern subdivision). The next 20 years were the most significant and successful in the history of the London club. With a difference in season, the team took alternately the second and third places in the top English division. These successes occurred in the mid-thirties. After another decade, the team won its only trophy in more than a hundred years. In the 1946/47 season, the team won the FA Cup. This outstanding event was preceded by reaching the final a season earlier.
Unfortunately, in the future the results of the team only worsened. Just nine years after the conquest of the FA Cup, “Charlton” began wandering in the lower divisions of English football. Londoners returned to the elite only 30 years later. The end of the eighties, “Athletic” spent in the top English division, where he got to 14th place. Another season fell on the nineties: in the 1998/1999 season, “Charlton” took 18th place, flying two more rounds before the championship ended.
Charlton Athletic in the 21st Century
It was possible to return in a season. On the second attempt, the Londoners entrenched in the Premier League and spent seven seasons in a row in it. The highest achievement is seventh in the 2003/2004 season, when the club stopped three points from the UEFA Cup zone. Charlton player Paolo Di Canio took second place in the competition of the best league assistants of the season. It is worth mentioning that in 2002, four players of the team took part in the World Cup.
Today, the club plays in League 1 - the third most powerful English division. “Charlton” is in third place, having every chance of an improvement in class. The team holds games at Valley Stadium, which seats a little over 27, 000 spectators. However, management promises to expand it to 40, 000 if Charlton is back in the Premier League.
The Story of Bolton Wanderers
Fans of English football squad is known as the "team-lift." Since the mid-1990s, the club has repeatedly flown out and returned to the Premier League. However, the history of the club begins long before these metamorphoses.
"Bolton Wanderers" comes from the city of the same name, located in the county of Greater Manchester. Founded in 1874, the club stood at the base of the 12 clubs that founded professional football in England - Bolton took part in the very first English championship. However, after 10 years, the team collapsed a lower division and in the next 70 years it went to the big leagues, then came back. The club experienced its longest decline from 1965 to 1988, when the team sank to the very bottom of the English football system - the fourth most powerful division. Since then, a systematic return to the elite began. A year later, the team already played in the third division. A few years later - in the second. The 1995/1996 Wanderers season began in the Premier League, which replaced the top division, but flew straight away. It was finally possible to gain a foothold in the 2001/2002 season. “Bolton” played in high society until the 2011/2012 season inclusive. The highest achievement of the team - 6th place in the 2004/2005 season and access to the UEFA Cup.
The most glorious page in the history of the club is the FA Cup, conquered by Bolton four times. Three victories fell on the glorious twenties, and the last is dated 1958. In the same year, “Bolton” also won the English Super Cup. Twice the team reached the final of the League Cup - in 1995 and 2004. At the moment, this is the last significant achievement in the history of the club. The season 2017/2018, “Bolton” spends in the Championship, trying to escape from relegation to the division below.
Brentford City
Unlike the two teams already mentioned, Brentford has never played in the Premier League in its history. The club is based in London and was formed in 1889. The most glorious period in the history of “Brentford” occurred in the 1930s, when the team won the second English division, and the next year took fifth place in the highest. Until now, this is considered the highest achievement in the history of the club. In the elite, the team spent another 4 seasons and never returned there again. At the moment, “Brentford” is playing in the second most powerful English league, where he has been holding for the fourth season in a row. The team is a strong middle peasant of the Championship: neither promotion, nor relegation threaten it.
The club spends its matches at the Griffin Park stadium, which seats a little more than 12 thousand spectators. The roof of the stadium is used as a large advertising surface, as the stadium is on the way to London Heathrow Airport.
