Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from June, 2012

Welcome to the Championship (3/6): Charlton Athletic

In this, the third of a series of six posts introducing you to the Championship’s newest members, The Exiled Robin visits South London and checks out last year's runaway League One Champions, Charlton Athletic. Find other posts in the series here: Welcome to the Championship (1/6): Blackburn Rovers Welcome to the Championship (2/6): Sheffield Wednesday About……Charlton Athletic Nickname: ‘The Addicks’               Manager: Chris Powell Play at: The Valley, 129 miles from Ashton Gate Capacity: 27,111; Last Season Avg Attendance: 17,429 Interesting Facts:   In the late 1940’s The Valley was the largest football league ground in England >>> For financial reasons Charlton were forced to share Selhurst Park with Crystal Palace for nearly a decade before a restructure of finances led to an emotional return in late 1992 >>> in 1998 the Addicks participated in what remains probably the best-ever play-off final, winning promotion to the Pre

Welcome to the Championship (2/6): Sheffield Wednesday

The second in a series of six posts to be released over the next couple of weeks, introducing you to the Championship’s newest members, reflects on Sheffield Wednesday's return to the (relative) big time. Find other posts in the series here: Welcome to the Championship (1/6): Blackburn Rovers About……Sheffield Wednesday Nickname: ‘The Owls’     Manager: Dave Jones Play at: Hillsborough, 186 miles from Ashton Gate Capacity: 39,732; Last Season Avg Attendance: 21,336 Interesting Facts:   Former Goalkeeper Kevin Pressman holds the record for the fastest ever British league sending-off, just 13 seconds into a match with Wolves in 2000 >>> Future City boss Danny Wilson’s tenure as manager caused four MP’s, including future Home Secretary David Blunkett, to publicly call for his sacking >>> Wednesday finished third in the last season before the creation of the Premier League >>> They reached both FA Cup and League Cup finals in 1993, coincidenta

Welcome to the Championship (1/6): Blackburn Rovers

To coincide with the release of the fixtures today, The Exiled Robin begins a series of posts introducing the six new members of the Championship.   With three relegated clubs from the M6 corridor joining three ambitious promoted clubs, including recent Premier League residents Charlton and Sheffield Wednesday, mean an already tight and difficult league just got a whole lot tougher. Here is the first in a series of six posts to be released over the next couple of weeks, introducing you to the Championship’s new clubs, hopefully informing you along the way.  We kick off with troubled Lancastrians Blackburn Rovers, a club with a proud history but with well-publicised issues surrounding the ownership and management of the club.  Will all of this distract from on-the-pitch events and prevent Rovers from having an attempt at going straight back up? About……Blackburn Rovers Nickname: ‘Rovers’          Manager: Steve Kean Play at: Ewood Park, 198 miles from Ashton Gate Capacity: