All four football leagues and below?

[Brin]

CT, this one's rather interesting - Charlton Athletic.

Not quite out of the league but, did have to reapply to join.

Charlton Athletic F.C. were formed on 9 June 1905 by a group of 15- to 17-year-olds in East Street, Charlton, which is now known as Eastmoor Street and no longer residential. Charlton spent most of the years before the First World War playing in youth leagues. They became a senior side in 1913 the same year that nearby Woolwich Arsenal relocated to North London. After the war, they joined the Kent League for one season (1919–20) before becoming professional, appointing Walter Rayner as the first full-time manager. They were accepted by the Southern League and played just a single season (1920–21) before being voted into the Football League.

Charlton finished second bottom in the Football League in 1926 and were forced to apply for re-election which was successful. Three years later the Addicks won the Division Three championship in 1929 and they remained at the Division Two level for four years. The Addicks gained successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division between 1934 and 1936, becoming the first club to ever do so. Charlton finally secured promotion to the First Division by beating local rivals West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground.


The "wilderness" years (1984–1995)
In 1984 financial matters came to a head and the club went into administration, to be reformed as Charlton Athletic. (1984) Ltd. Although the club's finances were still far from secure. They were forced to leave the Valley just after the start of the 1985–86 season, after its safety was criticised by Football League officials in the wake of the Bradford City stadium fire. The club began to groundshare with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and this arrangement looked to be for the long-term, as Charlton did not have enough funds to revamp the Valley to meet safety requirements.

Quiet a colourful background don't you think? A real yo-yo club.

[CTMilller]

Grimsby Town apparently played in the top flight when Frog was a boy, and they've been out of the league recently, so they must qualify.

Another good find - thanks, Peri. League Champions in 1901 (so well within Frog’s early years!)

[CTMilller]

Just had s bit of a google and surprisingly Watford had to apply for re-election several times in the 50’s.

That was one of the clubs I looked at Loyal. They did come close to non-league obscurity in the fifties. They really were a low end club in those days. I remember seeing us play them in the FA cup in about 1960 and they were very small time compared to what they became even a couple of years later.

[CTMilller]

The Saracens rugby club when they were first founded actually had a local rival team called The Crusaders.

Later the two teams amalgamated to form the current club. So Saracens 1 Crusaders 0

😀

[CTMilller]

The Saracens rugby club when they were first founded actually had a local rival team called The Crusaders.

Later the two teams amalgamated to form the current club. So Saracens 1 Crusaders 0

Don't forget Sheffield Zulus fc.

New one to me that, jocksgloves. Had a quick look at their record and very interesting. Apparently formed in the 1880s to raise funds for the wives and children of soldiers killed in the recently fought Zulu Wars. Fascinating bit of Victorian social history!

[CTMilller]

CT, this one's rather interesting - Charlton Athletic.

Not quite out of the league but, did have to reapply to join.

Charlton Athletic F.C. were formed on 9 June 1905 by a group of 15- to 17-year-olds in East Street, Charlton, which is now known as Eastmoor Street and no longer residential. Charlton spent most of the years before the First World War playing in youth leagues. They became a senior side in 1913 the same year that nearby Woolwich Arsenal relocated to North London. After the war, they joined the Kent League for one season (1919–20) before becoming professional, appointing Walter Rayner as the first full-time manager. They were accepted by the Southern League and played just a single season (1920–21) before being voted into the Football League.

Charlton finished second bottom in the Football League in 1926 and were forced to apply for re-election which was successful. Three years later the Addicks won the Division Three championship in 1929 and they remained at the Division Two level for four years. The Addicks gained successive promotions from the Third Division to the First Division between 1934 and 1936, becoming the first club to ever do so. Charlton finally secured promotion to the First Division by beating local rivals West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground.


The "wilderness" years (1984–1995)
In 1984 financial matters came to a head and the club went into administration, to be reformed as Charlton Athletic. (1984) Ltd. Although the club's finances were still far from secure. They were forced to leave the Valley just after the start of the 1985–86 season, after its safety was criticised by Football League officials in the wake of the Bradford City stadium fire. The club began to groundshare with Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park and this arrangement looked to be for the long-term, as Charlton did not have enough funds to revamp the Valley to meet safety requirements.

Quiet a colourful background don't you think? A real yo-yo club.

Thanks, Brin. Lots of ups and downs for the Addicks over the years. Looks like they nearly fell at the first hurdle when they entered the Football League then they had a bad time of it again recently.

There was a time in the fifties and sixties when I thought of them very much as a regular Second Division Club like us - though a lot bigger. They were regular visitors to Millmoor. I think they were there for even longer than us. They had a massive stadium at the Valley with the highest capacity in the country at that time - regularly pulling in crowds of 70,000 plus. They also won the FA Cup in, I think, 1946

[sota]

Tremendous thread CT. I can't really add to it, but very interesting and some great responses.

[CTMilller]

Tremendous thread CT. I can't really add to it, but very interesting and some great responses.

Cheers, Sota. I've really enjoyed it myself. Lots of good contributions as you say. I'd started struggling to think of any club other than Luton who'd been in all four Football League Divisions and had been relegated out of the Football League. I was fairly sure about Notts County and Leyton Orient since they're recent/current National League members but had to Google to confirm. Carlisle and Bradford Park Avenue were lucky guesses that turned out right. Then Perigord Miller came up with Oxford and Grimsby.

So, a total of seven clubs at the last count.

[mikemiller]

Another near miss... QPR. Finished bottom of Division 3 South a couple of times (re-elected) and came out of the Southern League when it was the main "feeder" league to the Football League. Never actually played in Division 4 though.

[CTMilller]

Another near miss... QPR. Finished bottom of Division 3 South a couple of times (re-elected) and came out of the Southern League when it was the main "feeder" league to the Football League. Never actually played in Division 4 though.

The leagues might have looked a bit different if automatic relegation out of the bottom division had been instituted from the fifties rather than the eighties. Clubs like QPR and Watford may have gone the way of Darlington languishing in non-league for years and years (though, I suppose the relegation/promotion system also allows a merit based system for returning to the league structure. Look at Barrow. They've been absent from the Football League for decades and now have a good chance of returning...)