League One promotion race attracts attention in New York

The Athletic (New York Times) makes rhe League One promotion race its lead story this morning.

Here are some excerpts: 'Only time will tell on that score, but there can be little doubt that it’s advantage Wycombe Wanderers in the race to clinch the runners-up spot behind already promoted Birmingham City after Mike Dodds’ side were given a helping hand from the most unlikely of sources.

In 10 years as a professional and more than 275 senior appearances, Taylor Moore had found the net just twice. But, by heading in Matt Butcher’s first-half corner to net his first goal since New Year’s Day, 2019, the Bristol Rovers defender knocked Wrexham off course in their quest to reach the Championship.

Matty James rescued a point for Phil Parkinson’s men, who nevertheless surrendered second spot courtesy of Wycombe’s 2-0 victory at Bolton Wanderers. One point separates Wrexham and Wycombe, and Wycombe’s goal difference is superior by five.

Adding to a fascinating promotion mix are Charlton Athletic who, despite being five points adrift with just nine still up for grabs, still retain their own hopes given they are still to play both Wycombe and Wrexham.

“We’re still in a great position,” insisted Parkinson. “There are three games to go and, hopefully, some more twists along the way. You can’t discount anyone. Charlton face Wycombe (on Monday) and they can’t both win."

On paper, Wycombe’s looks the tougher with home games against Charlton and Stockport, plus a visit to play-offs hopefuls Leyton Orient. Equally, though, Charlton having those six-pointers at Adams Park and then The Racecourse means Nathan Jones’ side cannot be discounted.'

The financial challenge of the Championship

Charlton fans are understandably focused on the various permutations of results that could see us promoted to the Championship.   The financial challenges we will face there are brushed aside.

We should remember that:

• Charlton loses over a quarter of a million pounds a week
• Commercial revenue is increasingly important in the Championship, but Charlton is not strong in that area
• The club does not own its stadium or training ground
• Our owners do not have the resources of a billionaire as in the case of Kazakh owned Wycombe Wanderers.

Of course, promotion might attract new and wealthier investors, that is the best hope.

However, any analysis of Championship finances is sobering: https://footballeconomyv2.blogspot.com/2025/04/championship-finances-are-little-less.html

Charlton's concerning finances

A little behind schedule, Charlton have submitted their2023/24 accounts.   Once they have been uploaded at Companies House, I will undertake more analysis.   In the meantime, I am using the summary of football finance guru Kieran Maguire.   They make worrying reading.

Revenue was £8.8m down 10%. Wages £12.1m up 18%. Wages £138 for every £100 revenue, a very high figure more typical of the Championship.  Operating loss £14.6m up 48% (£280k a week).   Severance pay (to manager?) £746k.  Exec pay £1.9m up 80% (but remember, salmon coloured chinos don’t pay for themselves, quips Maguire).  Player purchases £1.9m.   Player sales were £1.3m.

Maguire states that total Charlton losses over the years are £71.5m.

Maguire has also revealed: 'Charlton’s auditors are unable to say whether or not the 23/24 accounts are accurate following a cyber attack against the club which meant that the auditors could not obtain supporting evidence.'

The dark days after Curbs left

A story in The Athletic reminds us of a time in our history we would rather forget.

'Les Reed remains the answer to a quiz question. Unfortunately for Charlton, he was not the answer to their prayers.   [He was a decent man with some real football knowledge, but one of his depth in the role].

“In discussing our strategy going forward, it became clear that the continuous speculation surrounding my position was counter-productive to our plans and Charlton’s future,” said Reed, sending an email to a journalist from the Daily Mail after his sacking days before Christmas in 2006 after just seven games and 41 days in charge — still a Premier League record.

“We agreed mutually that it was in the best interests of the club for me to stand down and this I have done in order that this great club can move on. My position had become untenable in circumstances not of my making and beyond my control. I have not run away from this challenge, I have done what is right for Charlton.“

Reed might not have run away but Charlton sent him packing less than six weeks after he replaced Iain Dowie, who himself had lasted just six months.

And you would hope that some of the circumstances that led to the decision were at least partly within his control — one win and just four points from seven league games, perhaps, or the League Cup defeat to League Two Wycombe Wanderers.

So it wasn't rocket science with Dowie and you didn't get off the runway with Reed?   Expect more turbulence with me

Reed was replaced by Alan Pardew.'   Hmm.

Jensen: Charlton was the best part of my career

Claus Jensen recalls his years at Charlton as the best time of his career.   He praises Curbs and recalls that goal at Arsenal on the 'Black Sabbath', voted by Charlton fans as the best goal ever: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/claus-jensen-charlton-athletic-was-the-best-part-of-my-career-the-memories-are-very-strong/

Fans move away from 'the core area'

He's been silent for a long time but now former fanzine editor Rick Everitt has emerged from his wardrobe to celebrate recent achievements at The Valley and declare that there are some grounds for optimism: https://www.votvonline.com/home/the-2024-25-blogs/4-4-25-jones-silences-critics-to-lead-charlton-revival/

The latest CAST survey also shows greater optimism and positivity among fans: https://www.castrust.org/2025/04/optimism-is-growing/ 

The survey did show a gradual scattering of the fan base away from the 'core area', although 12 per xcent still live in the Royal Borough of Greenwich and 62 per cent live in South London or Kent.

My guess would be that in the 1950s two-thirds lived in the boroughs of Greenwich, Woolwich and Bexley or in immediately adjacent areas such as Lewisham and Dartford.

BTW, I read in a national newspaper this week that Eltham may soon be called 'Blackheath borders!'

From Curbs to Karel Fraeye

The latest Four Four Two has a 'best and worst at Charlton' feature written by 'lifelong Addick Paddy Pamment'.   (Who he?  Ed)

He does, reasonably enough, seem to be a bit fixated on the Curbs Premier League era.   Personally I  would have found room for some players from the 1950s and also given Lennie Lawrence an honourable mention.   But you can draw up your own lists.

Jensen excited at Valley return

Claus Jensen will be at The Valley on Saturday and still follows the club.  He has great memories of this time at Charlton where he played 126 games: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/i-still-follow-the-club-ex-charlton-midfielder-claus-jensen-excited-by-valley-return-on-saturday/

He could certainly score from distance.   What was your favourite Jensen goal?   It may seem an odd choice, but I remember a belter at Leeds where we lost 5-2 but he momentarily silenced the home crowd.

Streets in SE7 quiet as Methven departs

Charlie Methven has stood down as Charlton's CEO, saying that the club is now on an upward trajectory and he can pack up his tent: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cn4yjp7v9pxo

Reports from SE7 suggest that the streets around The Valley remain calm with no sign of fans rending shirts or returning their season tickets.

Normally in such circumstances one would use the words the cinema newsreels applied to the departure of Neville Chamberlain as prime minister in 1940, 'Thanks for all you tried to do.'   But I was never quite clear what Methven did, although he could talk the talk.

More here: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/charlie-methven-leaving-role-as-charlton-athletic-chief-executive-officer/

The club is advertising the position.

Charlton and the success of Ademola Lookman

Turn the corner in the corridor leading to the sports hall at St Thomas the Apostle School and Sixth Form College (STAC) and, almost hidden away out of sight, you might miss the framed, match-worn Charlton Athletic shirt.   The display also includes a photo of a young Ademola Lookman.

The reigning African footballer of the year is, without question, the most successful player to emerge from STAC, a state-funded all-boys Catholic school in Southwark, south-east London. Yet Lookman’s is just one of several jerseys displayed on that wall, illustrating the sporting achievements of so many former pupils.

He achieved excellent academic results at STAC, with four A*s and five As in his GCSEs, before being picked up late, at 17, by Charlton. He rose rapidly through their academy to the first team and made 49 appearances before a Premier League move to Everton at age 19. A further 48 appearances on Merseyside led to a 2019 transfer to Germany’s RB Leipzig and subsequent Premier League loans with Fulham and Leicester City, until he settled on a permanent deal with Atalanta in August 2022.

“Ademola was academically driven because there was not even a thought back then about him taking up a scholarship let alone a professional contract,” PE supremo Reynolds commented.

Curbs: I didn't get fair shot at England job

A recent edition of Four Four Two has a double page spread interview with Alan Curbishley.

He states: 'After that first promotion to the Premier League, we made a joint decision that of whatever money we took from that season, a third would go on the squad, a third on the stadium and a third would be back-up money if we got relegated.  You see teams relegated from the Premier League having a mass exodus because they can't afford the players' contracts.   That plan meant we didn't have to sell anyone.  We could invest in the squad and we came back up as champions.'

'All of the players we brought to the club had a point to prove.  We never bought the ready-made Premier League player until later.   It ended up working to our detriment a little bit because once we got to that 40 point safety mark, we tailed off from some really good positions.'

'The closest we came to Europe was in 2003/4.  I'm sure we would have finished in the top four or five if Scott Parker hadn't joined Chelsea in January.  We got £12 million, but so late in the window I couldn't spend it.'

Curbs says he didn't get the interviews the other boys did for the England job in 2006, they were interviewed in a private house, he was interviewed in the FA offices because of a timing clash with a FA Cup replay.

In terms of other high profile jobs, Curbs said that he was in a position at Charlton where he was in charge of the whole football club.  He didn't think he was ready for a bigger club, he needed more experience.  He had one year left on his contract and has just been interviewed for the England job.  He wanted his contract to run out - but we all know what happened.

Lennie Lawrence recalls his time at Charlton

Lennie Lawrence has stepped back as Hartlepool United coach and taken the No.2 role: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce3lgy17q0ko

However, before this became known Four Four Two published a two page tribute to the Charlton legend in their March issue.   The survival of the club owes much to him.

Lawrence notes that Hartepool asked him to do the job for a month, just like Charlton did 40 years ago. 

The 77-year old says that  'Man management remains the most important thing and there are aspects of it that are the same as they were 30 years ago.   Others are different (he cites social media)and you need to embrace that.'

Lawrence says that he was not particularly abrasive or confrontational back in the day and 'these approaches now wouldn't hold you in good stead.   To use a modern buzzword, you have to show empathy towards players as well as being demanding and having standards - you've got to understand them and help them.'

'Sometimes it's not what you say but how you say it - that's the key, there has to be mutual respect.  The first thing I said to the players when I took Charlton over 40 years ago was "I promise I'll be honest with you and I'll try to be fair - I can't always be fair, but I'll try to be honest -that's the starting point.'

Nothing to see here

Those with an inside track at the club insist there was nothing much more to the club's relationship with Iran than the signature of Karim Bagheri who made his sole appearance as a substitute when we were losing to Ipswich on a rainy afternoon.  I was there and I can recall him making one directionless header.

One narrative is that by signing him the club was simply trying to appeal to rich Iranians living in London who might come up with some sponsorship.

But then I was given an informal briefing in Westminster around this time which suggested a more complex interpretation which involved using Charlton as an instrument of British diplomacy..

Then I noticed that records from government departments from 20 years ago were appearing in the press.

I decided to set up a meeting with 'Pete' who is an expert on the National Archives.  He said that there was now a 20 year rule, but his impression was that documents were being released somewhat selectively.

We also discussed what might have been behind the briefing that I was given, but we agreed that there were a number of alternative possible interpretations.

However, a quick search of the National Archives online using 'Charlton Athletic' revealed that back in 1966 the Foreign Office was considering sending Football League clubs to Iran.   This was, of course, under the Shah's regime rather than that of the Ayatollahs.  

'Pete' is a regular at the National Archives and he has agreed to undertake a preliminary search to see what he can find.

It may well all turn out to be a mirage and I may have played the role of 'useful idiot', but it is at least worth further investigation.

I'm no nepo baby says Miles

The Guardian has published an in depth feature interview with Miles and Tracey Leaburn.  Tracey, whom we remember for standing up to the clowns who want to take over the club, is a star in her own right.  She cooks jerk chicken dinners for the younger players: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jan/09/charlton-miles-leaburn-carl-tracey-interview

Leaburn has been named League One Player of the Month: https://londonnewsonline.co.uk/sport/charlton-striker-miles-leaburn-wins-league-one-player-of-the-month-award/

Charlton author joins Sam Bartram

David Lodge, who came from south-east London and wrote atmospherically about Charlton in the 1950s in one of his novels has gone to join Sam Bartram: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cx2nzgp5yp0o

Charlton were a leading first division side then, if a somewhat quixotic one. David Lodge recalls in one of his novels, 'they were always an interesting team to watch, fickle and unpredictable, but capable of heartwarming flashes of brilliance. More than once he and his friends left the Valley a few minutes before the end of the game, dispirited by their team's poor performance, only to hear, as they passed through the quiet, car-lined streets, a huge explosive roar filling the air behind them, indicating that Charlton had scored a last-minute goal and snatched a point.'

Charlton taxi out, but not cleared for take off

This afternoon's game at Crawley has been called off after an exhibition of dilly dallying by the referee,  achieving new heights of haplessness for a referee at this level.

After an initial pitch inspection at 1.15, Crawley mobilised their two ground staff with brooms while someone else got to work with a roller that looked like it was borrowed from someone's garden.

A further pitch inspection was time for 2.15 pm, but still no decision was forthcoming.  Apparently the referee was concerned about the fact that it was still raining.   Both teams came out to warm up, probably damaging the pitch further.

Meanwhile Jonathan Grade, arriving at the ground, had someone go into the back of his car, presumably an off duty air traffic controller looking for the ground.

The sell out crowd has made a fruitless journey.   Leamington v. Hereford is on and being televised live.

I suppose if the game had gone ahead it might have been abandoned.   As it is, Charlton's players get a respite from their busy schedule, but they may also lose valuable momentum.   An unchanged team would have played.

With most other games apparently on, the Addicks are likely to fall down the table.