JIM MELROSE
Born 7 October 1958 in Glasgow
Jim Melrose scored the fastest goal in Charlton's history against West Ham at Upton Park in October 1986. The Hammers kicked off and the ball was played to Tony Gale, who gave it straight to Robert Lee. Lee played in Melrose, who tucked the ball past West Ham keeper Phil Parkes. Just nine seconds had elapsed. The eventual 3-1 win meant it was five wins on the trot for the Addicks.
From Charlton Athletic on this Day by Matthew Eastley
Jim Melrose made 8 appearances for Scotland U-21 between 1977-1980 scoring two goals. He made nearly 400 appearances during his 15-year playing career beginning with Partick Thistle, Leicester, Coventry, Celtic, Wolves (on loan) before coming to Charltonwhere he played 48 games between 1985-1987 scoring 19 goals. He is currently Chief Scout at Bolton (according to wikepedia).
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Comments
I'll never forget his hat trick vs Everton too
Great player for us
RIP
I remember Jim for his Everton hattrick more than the fastest goal (although I played the VHS tape to death re-watching that goal). I don't think we got another hattrick until Nelson netted three against Peterborough eight years or so later, so it was very memorable.
I left that Everton game thinking we were unbeatable.
It would be like Rotherham beating Man City in current times.
Nowadays I leave games thinking "thank goodness it wasn't another 3-0 defeat".
Born 10 October 1970 in Salford
Of all the players Alan Curbishley bought while Charlton Manager, few can have repaid the fee as well as the excellent Dean Kiely. The brilliant keeper was snapped up from Bury for 1 million pounds and was consistently outstanding during Charlton's Premiership stay. In the 1-0 over Spurs on 16 September 2000 at the Valley Kiely pulled off three world-class saves - including one from a Les Ferdinand rocket which had to be seen to be believed.
From Charlton Athletic on this Day by Matthew Eastly.
"I'm a footballer, a commodity, a piece of meat, call it what you will, but at Charlton they care about their players and as a player it is rare that you get that feeling at a club"
From A Nostalgic Look at a Century of the Club by Michael Walsh
Kiely went to Portsmouth in 2005 for a couple of seasons before playing out his career at West Brom where he made 87 appearances in the Championship and Premier League. In 2015 he was released by WBA and became goalkeeping coach at Norwich City.
happy birthday mate
Born 13 October 1939 at Johnstone, Scotland (77)
He came to us in 1967 from Grimsby and played 89 games for the Addicks over two seasons before his transfer to Luton - and then back to Grimsby where he became something of a cult hero.
He once commented that throughout his career he never once took a penalty saying that "I couldn't kick the ball far enough"
Interesting to read some of the comments made about Matt Tees in 2010 on CL:
Seth said: Fantastic header of the ball. .. His partnership with Ray Treacy yielded some memorable times, and especially some absolute wonder goals.
Henry: My childhood hero
Thai Malaysia Addick: Not going too far to say he was one of the Charlton greats. .. Could hang in the air like no one else.
Goner heater: His nickname was Lino
If you could point to one event when the return to The Valley campaign really gathered pace, it was the supporter's club AGM held on this day.
"We'll be there" screamed the back page of The Mercury on October 16th, encouraging fans to attend en masse. And attend they did - the Valley Club could cope with 400 people, but there were at least 1,000 on that autumnal evening when the voices of disgruntled fans started to be heard. The supporters' club officials were unhappy that their AGM had been hijacked. The irony, of course, was that the very people whose presence angered the effete supporters' club were precisely those supporters who they should have been representing all along.
From: Charlton Athletic On This Day by Matthew Eastley
Born 31 October 1957 (59) at Bournemouth
When 19-year-old Steve Grritt arrived from AFC Bournemouth on Friday, 1 July 1977, few could have predicted what lay ahead. "Gritty" became a crowd favourite, making more than 400 appearances for the club. He was admired for his 100 per cent commitment to the cause and his willingness to play in whatever position was asked of him, including goalkeeper. A fine servant of Charlton, fans even created an affectionate song about him which essentially said that, even though Gritty lacked something in the tondo rial department, the fans still loved him. In 1991, he became joint manager with Alan Curbishley in the wake of Lennie Lawrence's departure.
From: Charlton Athletic On This Day. By Matthew Eastley
Born at Forest Gate, East London on 8 November 1957 (59)
Llewellyn Charles 'Alan" Curbishley was one of five children to a London docker and his wife. He attended Gainsborough Road Primary School, Trinity College School and West Ham Technical School. At 16, Curbishley joined West Ham as an apprentice, making 87 full appearances for the Hammers before moving on to Birmingham City, Villa, Charlton, Brighton and back to Charlton where he was made joint Manager with Steve Gritt in July 1991.
From: Charlton Athletic On This Day by Matthew Eastley
Born at Ilford on 9 November 1952 (64)
Striker Mike Flanagan scored 120 goals in 378 appearances for the Addicks between 1971-79 and 1984-86. He also played for Spurs, Palace, QPR and Cambridge United.
"I just could not see how Tottenham were overlooking his skill, strength and eye for goal. He had been on 22 pounds a week at Spurs, and he moved to Charlton for the same .. He went on to become a legend, as did Halesy. .. I picked up Colin Powell from Barnet. All three cost 14,000 pounds". - Theo Foley
Saturday, 14 November 1959
Charlton boss Jimmy Trotter said "a brick wall" would not have stopped Aston Villa after the Addicks crashed to a record-breaking 11-1 defeat. Goalkeeper Willis Duff conceded six before dislocating a finger. He was replaced by Don Townsend, who let in three before in turn giving way to Stuart Leary, who was beaten on two more occasions. Five of Villa's goals were scored by centre-forward Gerry Hitchens. After the game Trotter commented: :The team were like a ship in a storm without a captain".
Charlton Athletic on this Day by Matthew Eastley
A truly momentous and happy day for Charlton Athletic. After a miserable, seven-year exile dominated by political wrangling, red tape and several false dawns, we returned to the Valley, a triumph of hope over adversity.
Everything about the day was perfect. There was a carnival atmosphere in and around the ground and an overwhelming sense of relief and justice. From the moment Chairman Roger Alwen symbolically unlocked the main gates at noon to let the first fans in, to the parading of former Valley legends such as Sailor Brown and Derek Hales - and of course Colin Walsh's seventh-minute winner, everything was just how Charlton fans hoped it would be.
24 years on, the occasion the occasion has a dream-like quality. Indeed, for Addicks fans, 5 December 1992 was quite simply proof that, sometimes, dreams really do come true.
6 December 1987 at Hillingdon (29)
Jason was signed pre-season on a three-year deal from Wigan, having helped the Lactics to bounce straight back to the Championship. He made 33 appearances for Wigan last season and scored a couple of goals.
He is a former captain of Portsmouth, Bournemouth, Leeds and Wigan.
Jason Pearce was Bournemouth's Player of the Year in 2010/11. The following season he received a similar honour at Portsmouth.
At Leeds in May 2014 he finished runner-up to Ross McCormack as the Fans Player of the Year.
Born 12 December 1947 at Brighton
Lennie Lawrence came to Charlton - his first permanent appointment - in 1982 and was Manager for nine years between 1982-1991 before moving to Middlesbrough. He spent a brief time at Bradford, then five years at Luton, then Grimsby, Cardiff, Palace (joint caretaker) - then assistant Manager roles at Bolton, Notts Forest and his present club Cardiff City. He is one of a select few Managers to have managed 1,000 games.
Charlton were in dire straits financially in his early years at Charlton and a picture in "A Nostalgic Look at a Century of the Club" by Michael Walsh shows Lennie taking a call to say Charlton had been saved from being wound up in the High Court with 25 minutes to spare before the Football League deadline ran out. A full swear-bottle beside the telephone tells the story. Amid the catastrophic off-fields, Lawrence worked wonders to keep Charlton afloat in the Second Division.
On 3 May 1986 Charlton hit back from 0-2 down to win 3-2 at Carlisle and ensure a return to the top flight after 29 years. 2,000 travelling fans chaired Lennie Lawrence and chairman John Fryer around Brunton Park.
DEREK HALES
Born 15 December 1951 (66) at Lower Halstow, Kent
Killer had two spells at Charlton - 1973 to 1976 and 1978 to 1985: 360 appearances and 168 goals in total.
When Manager Theo Foley completed a loan deal in July 1973 to bring Hales to Charlton from Luton no one could have predicted the impact he would make. He was feisty, rough at the edges and bristling with competitive energy. But most of all he was a superb, predatory striker. He started scoring from the word go and on October 22, Foley paid just 4,000 pounds to make the move permanent, a bargain which takes some beating (Charlton Athletic on this Day by Matthew Eastley).
At times during the 1975/76 season, Derek Hales was virtually unstoppable, scoring 28 league goals. One of his finest performances was against Fulham at the Valley. 11,551 fans score all three goals to clinch a 3-2 victory.
In October 1976 Hales scored one of the finest goals seen at the Valley. The Killer finished off a remarkable piece of wing play by Colin Powell by firing an unstoppable left-foot shot past the Hull keeper as Charlton beat the Tigers 3-1. It was Hales' second goal of yet another hat-trick and won ITV's Goal of the Season award.
In 1984 Hales beat Stuart Leary's scoring record of 163 goals with the first goal in a 2-2 home draw with Huddersfield. Three days earlier, he had scored a hat-trick in the opening day 3-0 win at Cardiff to draw level with the South African.
In July 2005 he was elected Charlton's "cult hero" by fans of all ages in one of ten categories to celebrate Charlton's centenary. He was presented with his Sammy award - named after legend Sam Bartram - at a gala ceremony to mark his achievements.