Swan Song

Loyal away Addicks will be going to Swansea tomorrow while others will head to the Valley to watch the fixture and then the crucial women's match.

One of my granddaughters recently discovered her inner Welsh woman and moved to Swansea (Abertawe) where she can buy a three bed with garden, workshop and parking for a low six figure sum.

She won't be going to the match tomorrow as like almost all my family she has no interest in football (performing arts are her thing).

Discounting myself and my three year old great-granddaughter no one in what is now a large immediate family supports Charlton which is perhaps a blessing after a century of suffering.  My wife is interested in football provided it is played in the Premier League, La Liga, the Champions League or the World Cup. She follows Manchester City.   I have one son-in-law who is a season ticket holder at Southampton.

Currently 11th, Swansea have won ten, drawn six and lost six at home.  Should the Addicks win, they could overtake Portsmouth and Stoke depending on their results.   Given that both Blackburn and West Brom could win, a defeat could see them 21st.  A draw would not necessarily save them from this fate

But Nathan Jones could give his instructions in Cymraeg for all that it matters, the focus now has to be on strengthening for next season.  As his latest interview with Richard Cawley makes clear, he recogbises the need to sign better quality players this summer.  Hopefully, the money will be available.

Swansea could move into the top 10 with a win at home:.

• Swansea have only lost one of their past 10 league games against Charlton (W6 D3), going down 2-0 on MD1 of the 2008-09 season.

• Charlton have lost four of their past five league visits to Swansea (D1); all four of those defeats have been by a one-goal margin.

• Swansea have only won their final league game in one of the past five seasons (D1 L3), beating West Bromwich Albion 3-2 in 2022-23.

• Charlton have lost their final game in each of their past three Championship seasons by an aggregate score of 0-10.

• Charlton Athletic have only scored 43 Championship goals this season – the last time they ended a season with fewer than 50 league goals scored was in 2015-16 (40).

On an old WILTY last night, reference was made to a pub in Swansea and it was suggested that it might be a gastro pub.  Cardiff boy Rob Brydon quipped, 'No, not in Swansea.'

Cyril the Swan may be on duty tomorrow, one of the few mascots to get a yellow card.

Swansea are eager to return to the Premier League and have some interesting investors, notably Snoop Dogg who attended the match against Preston.  Their manager noted that it was unusual to smell weed in the tunnel: https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2026/02/snoop-dog-turns-up-in-abertawe-thats.html

Ferry across the Tay?

Unconfirmed reports from Scottish media (the Daily Record and Dundee Courier) are reporting Charlton interest in 25-year old Dundee United full back Will Ferry: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Ferry

According to some reports, Phil Chapple has been north of the border to see him play.  Blackburn are also rumoured to be interested.

Ferry was born in England, but has appeared for the Republic of Ireland.

Former Addicks keeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer is now at Dundee United (currently injured).

Missing fact about Gemma Arterton

There was an interesting profile of Gemma Arterton in The Times yesterday.   She has just started a new drama series with ITV which has got good initial reviews.

However, it missed the most important fact about her: she is a Charlton supporter.   Her father is a keen Addick and took her to The Valley when she was young.   She was born in Gravesend.

On YouTube you can see her being presented with a Charlton shirt on television.  I doubt whether she gets to The Valley these days though.   She has two children, but it is not known whether they are Addicks.

Can anyone explain the brief reference to Charlton by 'comedian' Paul Merton on Have I Got News For You? on Friday.  I watched it again last night and still couldn't understand the context, although it was evidently some kind of insult.

Merton is the son of a tube driver and is a keen Spurs fan.  He may be laughing on the other side of his face at The Valley next season.   I still remember our 1-0 victory at the old White Hart Lane with Spurs fan Chris Powell scoring the winning goal.

Are you heading for the Italian lakes this summer,  Then take a look at the successful strategy of the Como side: https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2026/04/comos-unique-strategy-offers-new.html

Charlton is not in a fashionable part of London so we can't replicate their strategy, but could we make more of the River Thames which is known globally?

Richard Cawley has a fascinating interview with Ashley Maynard-Brewer.  His career has been plagued by injuries: he has broken his nose three times and now he has dislocated his shoulder with Dundee United playing against Rangers.

I have stayed in his home town of Joondalup near Perth WA and I can understand that his first winter living in Welling must have been a shock.  He also talks about the pressures of playing for a 'big' club like Charlton and he needed help from a sports psychologist.

Hiring strategy

Fans are already coming up with lists of players they would like to retain or be found a lower league club.  Even if we can't agree on the names, there is broad agreement that some of the players are not up to Championship standard.

One fan writing on social media put forward the argument in nuanced terms that perhaps some of the players have potential that is yet to be fully developed.  The trouble is that leads us back to the old 'Jones is a waste of space' argument and I can't see the owners letting him go.

One big known unknown is how much money the owners are prepared to 'invest' in players.   An unknown unknown is whether they can succeed in finding an additional investor.  It would seem that with events in the Middle East, and some investments turning out to be more troublesome than anticipated (Chelsea) US private equity investors are holding back.

Thinking about strategy, I would take a look at Leicester City who are going to have a fire sale.  Oxford United may be rubbish, but they have one or two decent players who might want to stay in the Championship with a club that has a proper stadium.

Then there are fringe Premier League players who get scarcely a look in at a top club.  I was struck by how many players Southampton have who were originally with Manchester City.  These players are likely to be hungry to make a name for themselves.

Then there are players who have outperformed in League One.   For example, Kyrell Lisbie who has done well at Peterborough.

Finally, we must be prepared to take a risk on a few relatively unknown foreign players.

Charlton score two to survive

Charlton secured Championship survival thanks to stunning strikes from Charlie Kelman and Jayden Fevrier as they beat Hull City at The Valley.

Kelman curled a sumptuous effort into the top corner to give the Addicks the lead before John Egan headed Hull level in the seventh minute of first-half added time.

The Tigers were much improved after the break, spurred on by the introduction of Mohamed Belloumi off the bench, but the hosts retook the lead when Fevrier darted past two challenges to fire beyond Ivor Pandur into the bottom corner.

After scoring 27 goals in a ruthless loan spell at Leyton Orient last season, Kelman has not always found life easy since moving to The Valley.  Seven goals in 35 appearances going into this game represented a moderate return, but today he showed Addicks fans what he is made of.

Picking up Conor Coady's pass wide on the left, the 24-year-old cut inside Semi Ajayi and Lewie Coyle to bend a sumptuous strike into the top corner.  A goal-of-the-season contender for sure.

Nathan Jones will have been disappointed they went in level, having been so dominant at times in the opening 45 minutes.  And despite a much better performance from Hull in the second half, Fevrier's 68th-minute goal was the one settle the game. And it was equally as impressive.

Had the 23-year-old finished off his effort right at the end then Charlton's goal of the season reel this season could well have had three entries from the same game.

It has been a long, hard season for the Addicks but they can finally plan for a second Championship campaign, with total certainty.

Hull boss looks forward to three points

Hull City boss Serget Jakorovic is looking forward to ending Hull's winless run of six matches with three points off 'struggling' Charlton tomorrow.

The Croatian charm merchant was sent off at the King Power on Tuesday for 'sarcastic clapping', but it looks as if he will be in the Valley dugout tomorrow.

Hull City, only outside the final play-off spot on goal difference, can leapfrog rivals Wrexham into sixth place, with the Red Dragons set to play title winners Coventry City on Sunday.

• Charlton are unbeaten in their last six home league meetings with Hull City (D3 L3) since a 1-2 reverse in November 1985.

• Hull have won three of their last four away league games against London clubs (L1), as many as their previous 16 in the capital beforehand (W3 D7 L6).

• Charlton have won their final home league game in seven of the last nine seasons (D2) since a 0-3 defeat to Burnley in 2015-16.

• Hull haven't won their final away league game in any of the last 18 seasons (D6 L12) since a 1-0 victory at Cardiff in 2006-07.

• Hull have earned 35 away points in the Championship this season; a win here will make this the most points they have ever earned on the road in a second tier campaign (38, assuming 3 pts/win all-time), a record they set in 2023-24 (37).

Try calming down

Charlton fans are busy slagging off each other on social media on the usual topics: views of Jones and whether we will be relegated.   It might be a good idea in these circumstances just to calm down get behind the team.

Of course we constantly told it's all about opinions whereas the world I live is one where evidence counts for more.

I have tried to keep clear of the Peter Mandelson affair.  After all, unlike top Super Hoops fan and Charlton critic Lord Young of Acton, I was not named in the Epstein files.*

Unfortunately, trying to keep my head down has not worked and I have been contacted by the integrity and ethics branch of the Cabinet Office.   They certainly won't want opinions from me next week.

We do have a lot more evidence these days about football finances and how they affect performance, but the fact that Charlton has one of the lowest playing budgets in the Championship rarely features in the discussion.

BTW, I'm not saying I like Michael Gove but he was an effective minister in the sense that he managed to get two departments to change policy direction and that is not easy.   So why as editor of the Spectator is he encouraging his columnists to have a go at Charlton?

If he is thinking of adding subscribers, I am told that getting any magazines into a prison is not easy so not much luck with Spanners.  And if he is thinking of the Nigels, they are too busy pretending to be ultras to be seen reading a magazine.

*It should be pointed out that the noble Lord has explained that he was inadvertently included in Epstein's contacts book because of a tenuous acquaintance with G Maxwell.   He has denied visiting 'Paedo Island' (his terminology), travelling on the so-called Lolita Express aircraft or visiting Epstein in one of his homes or at a correctional facility.