Jul 6
2ļøā£1ļøā£ I enjoyed writing my 20 Players and 20 Places series last year, so Iām off again this time to celebrate 21 years of blogging and Iām picking Addicks from my time as a supporter that I would love to join for a beer or any adult beverage of their choice.
Break some bread, chew the cud, ruminate over the old days, the pleasure would be all mine.
Please click for moreI missed yesterday Macaulay Gillesphey nipping in at the far past to meet a new contract head on.
Iām pleased about this, very well deserved. Gillesphey signed a fresh 2-year contract plus a club option of a year.
Please click for moreThe Addicks have tied down Micah Mbick to a new contract. Fresh with a new haircut the 18-year old has put pen to paper on an extension after signing his first pro deal in December 2023.
The new contract runs until the summer of 2028 with club option of an extra year.
Please click for moreYou can ring myā¦. š
This looks a sensible squad building signing. Left sided centre back Amariāi Bell has signed on a 2-year deal after the expiry of his contract at Luton Town.
Please click for moreThe players returned to Sparrows Lane today for post-summer testing, which I suspect is a little different to the old days when players returned having loaded on a few holiday pounds and smelling of stale cigarettes were told to run up and down the East Terrace.
The first friendly is 9 days away.
Please click for moreWhat it says on the tin: the bespoke shirt takes inspiration from the clubās roots. The all-over tonal aquatic blue, white, and grey fish scale pattern pays tribute to legendary local fishmonger Arthur Bryan.
A little different, avoids Millwall blue and takes a nod to our wonderful history.
Please click for moreOr to give him his real nameā¦. Isaac Tanitoluwaloba Aduraoluwatimileyin Olaofe was today added to Nathan Jonesā Championship squad. Imagine getting his name on the back of your short at 50p a letter?
Olaofe has signed a three-year contract with a club option of an additional year.
Please click for more2ļøā£1ļøā£ Recently I passed my 21st year of writing this Blog, which if I stop to think about it, is actually quite crazy. I ran a couple of 20th birthday series to commemorate that landmark, and I plan on doing a couple of different things to acknowledge getting the key š.
To celebrate 21 years I am going to pick 21 current or former Charlton players from the beginning of my time of supporting Charlton in 1975 that Iād love to go for a beer with and talk Charlton.
Please click for moreLuton Townās Thomas Kaminski has become the Addicks second signing of the summer. Noted as fee undisclosed, Kaminski has signed a three-year deal.
The 32-year old Belgian has made close to 500 appearances including 38 in the Premier League and 160 in The Championship.
Please click for moreI reckon we may see a little bit of movement this week on the transfer incomings front.
Thereās a little pre-season activity in some places and playerās contracts do expire on Monday.
Please click for moreWhat did you do yesterday?
Watch Lee Carsleyās brilliant England U21ās retain the Euro Championship? Sing-a-long to the Glastonbury coverage? Watch the empty seats under dark skyās during the ridiculous weather break of the Chelsea match? Or something completely different..
Please click for more2ļøā£1ļøā£ Over the next months I plan on running a couple of different series of posts to celebrate this Blogās recent 21st birthday.
As Chicago Addick came of drinking age, at least in the land of the free, I thought Iād run a series of 21 current or former Charlton players from the beginning of my time of supporting them that Iād love to go for a beer with, someone Iād be delighted to spend a couple of hours listening to Charlton and football anecdotes over a couple of pints or whatever takes their fancy.
Please click for moreI presume they were waiting on the fixture release, and our game against Ipswich is a couple of months in, so the Addicks will take on the Tractor Boys in a pre-season friendly at Colchester Unitedās ground.
The game will be played on Tuesday, July 29th at 7.30pm to round out our pre-season schedule.
Please click for moreA busy day for fixtures.
The 1st Round draw was made for the Carabao Cup this afternoon and we will be at home to Stevenage in a one-off game. The match is due to be played on Tuesday 11th August.
Please click for moreWatford at home 12.30pm opening day. Then we travel to Bristol City the following Saturday followed by Leicester back at The Valley a week later. The last game of August is a trip to Loftus Road.
Millwall at home is early (Sept 13th), we travel to The Den on Saturday, January 24th. Hopefully it will be snowing!
Please click for moreNot a hint of transfer news, nada but The Valley pitch has had its top soil removed and is having some remedial work to help the artificial fibres knit better with the natural grass, and the new Bluewater shop opens tomorrow. Oh and the 2025/26 Championship fixtures are due to be dropped tomorrow at noon.
However, I know we are all gearing up for the new season, but letās not forget what happened a month ago today.
Please click for moreCharlton added Southend United to the pre-season schedule today. That looks like it will be the final friendly before we kick off The Championship season.
That leaves possibly another game on July 29th or 30th between the trips to Cambridge and Southend, but as it stands our pre-season line up looks neither exciting nor uber challenging.
Please click for moreMy first thoughts this morning? Why an earth have we made Danny Murphy CEO?
After a long search the club has turned to Dane Murphy as its new Chief Executive Officer. Murphy comes with a fine CV, and by the age of 39 has played pro, been a scout, a technical director and a football club CEO.
Please click for moreA Friday night rumour to sleep on.
The 25-year old Lewisham born Stockport County striker has scored 36 goals in 121 games for the promotion rivals and Hattersā fans reckon we are making moves to sign him.
Please click for moreNathan Jones and his squad will return to Slovenia this summer as I opined yesterday.
Nathan Jones has been taking his teams to Slovenia since 2017 and the squad will stay at the same training camp in Kranjska Gora, which is in the northwestern part of the country nestled between mountains and glacial lakes.
Please click for moreOne can find transfer rumours all over the internet. It only takes a keyboard, a social media account and an empty life but I donāt expect many Charlton transfer rumours to make it out in the open this summer.
Even known sleuth Rich Cawley might find it hard to prise information out of the club, and Nathan Jones is notoriously guarded.
Please click for moreThe new shirt is a grower, and importantly the right shade of red. I like the detail, although I think most Addicks will point to the black sleeve cuff but weāve long toyed with black and it does appears on the badge.
Really not a lot you can do with the home shirt apart from making it appealing, which Reebok have and, shocker, it is already in the club shop for sale.
Please click for moreSky Sports are reporting, so a reliable source, that Leyton Orient have turned down a bid from Charlton of Ā£1.3 million for Ethan Gailbraith.
Gailbraith impressed for the Oās in the last two seasonās playing 96 times, scoring 11 goals, with 10 assists.
Please click for moreChicago Addick becomes 21 today, which means it can drink legally in all 50 U.S. states. Cheers šŗ.
21 years ago today I penned my first post from my Chicago apartment after returning from the pub where Zinedine Zidane had just scored twice in injury time to beat England in their opening Euro 2004 Group match.
That was not the last time this Blog wrote of snatching defeat away from victory!
Please click for moreMy first thoughts this morning? Why an earth have we made Danny Murphy CEO?
After a long search the club has turned to Dane Murphy as its new Chief Executive Officer. Murphy comes with a fine CV, and by the age of 39 has played pro, been a scout, a technical director and a football club CEO.
Please click for moreThe steadfast Rich Cawley has linked us with Brighton defender Odel Offiah. The 22-year old of rugby legend Martin, comes with quite the reputation.
Offiah played 44 games last season whilst on loan at Blackpool.
Please click for moreI am sure most of you have found or heard that Rich Cawley has moved into the freelance world and has a subscription page on Substack.
Rich already has over 2,000 subscribers including me, which tells you how well heās regarded as a journalist plus how valuable his insight will be into The Addicksā summer transfer window.
Please click for moreIt has been a busy day at the training ground.
The Addicks announced the signing of a midfield 10 Sonny Carey from Blackpool. The 24-year old will join the club following the expiration of his contract at Blackpool on July 1st.
Please click for moreA real shame, but not surprising to see Thierry Small leave the club today. He and his agent had long held out against signing a new contract and his move to Preston underlines how hard it will be to compete financially with other clubs a level up.
Small signed for Preston North End today on a 4-year deal, and they will pay a ātraining compensation.ā
Please click for moreWell that puts Cardiff City back in their box.
āCharlton Athletic are delighted to announce that menās first-team Manager Nathan Jones has signed a new five-year contract with the club, committing his future to the Addicks until the summer of 2030.ā (more)
Please click for moreRich Cawley has poured water over the Nathan Jones to Cardiff City yarn. The comments on the X post tell you the depth of feeling towards the most in-the-know Charlton reporter. Hoping Rich gets back to work soon.
Whilst The Bluebirds will need to look elsewhere we can continue to look forward to what will be a busy summer.
Please click for moreA tweet from a Welsh journalist has turned a lot of Charlton fanās heads this weekend. He is speculating that Nathan Jones is a long and expensive shot to be Cardiff Cityās next manager.
The Welsh club who we bypassed on the way to The Championship are looking for their 10th manager in 4 years.
Please click for moreNo surprises in todayās released and retained list by the club.
Farewell to academy graduate Aaron Henry, Championship play-off winners medalistās Chuks Aneke and Tennai Watson plus short-term ākeeper signing Dean Bouzanis.
Please click for moreWhen the samba rhythm starts to playšµ. Still singing.
Iāve been staring at the picture of next seasonās Championship clubs. A little foreboding, a lot exciting. Other than Wrexham, we have played regularly against the others since I started watching Charlton in the mid 70ās. In fact Portsmouth (116 times), Middlesbrough, Blackburn and Derby are all among the teams we have played the most in our history.
Please click for moreVery sad news about the South London Press, which abruptly closed it’s doors yesterday after 160 years covering our corner of the capital.
The South London Press was owned by MSI Media Ltd having acquired the title from administrators back in 2017. Staff were told on Tuesday to stop working, and the paperās sport editor Rich Cawley made first mention of it yesterday on his X page.
Please click for moreYep, still scrolling through videoās.
Plenty of fans filmed Macauley Gillespheyās goal, I donāt understand why people do that, but I am glad they did. Thereās also some absolutely cracking photos out there as well. Charlton Life have a whole archive in waiting here.
Please click for moreIām at Gatwick waiting for my flight, which I might actually miss unless I can stop myself scrolling through videos and photos of yesterday.
A momentous day, a momentous season that due to the contrasting segments of it seemed to last forever.
Please click for moreExhausted, but the best kind of š“āŖļø
I learnt a long time ago that these kind of days do not come along very often, and when they do you have to soak it in, cement it into your memory. Soak it in, Addicks.
Please click for moreIt doesnāt look as if we will be getting more tickets, which is quite unfathomable from Wembley and the EFL in so many ways.
Even considering blocks left empty for segregation and corporate junkies there will still be 10,000 seats sat empty on Sunday.
Please click for moreScott Minto said on social media today that former Charlton physio Jimmy Hendry had passed away. The Scot was popular at The Valley and joined at the time Lennie Lawrence was made manager in 1987.
Jimmy played in Scotland for Queens Park, moved south to study physiotherapy and then worked for Chelsea before moving to The Valley.
Please click for moreMy psychic powers have worked once again.
Amongst the play-off fever, and for a lot of Addicks the anxiety of getting a Wembley ticket, the club announced today that Phil Chapple joins the Addicks as Head of Recruitment.
Please click for moreA resourceful Addick has mapped the journeyās of Charlton fans to Wembley this weekend from their overseas homes.
As of now there are 22 different countries that Addicks are travelling to Wembley from, cumulatively flying almost 190,000 miles!
Please click for moreTalking Point š£ļø
Just as the blood pressure has returned to some kind of normality, thoughts turn to another week of expectation, excitement and nerves.
They were two highly competitive, tight and stressful games against Wycombe, yet on Thursday in a cacophony of noise we perservered and have put ourselves in with a shot of the ultimate goal.
Please click for moreA magical night at The Valley, plenty of sore heads and rasping voices this morning.
A remarkable achievement to get to this point, and The Valley last night was a special place.
Please click for moreI was exhausted by the time I went to bed last night. I felt as I had headed every long ball.
Three more days until the next chapter of this season, rest will be key for all of us.
Please click for moreThat was a battle, pretty gruesome at times, but we were equal to everything that was thrown at us, including the odd elbow and lunging tackle.
A clean sheet and level after the first leg. Back to The Valley we go.
Please click for moreEarly last summer I match-made Luke Berry and Dan Potts together with Nathan Jones, and this year Iām going to plump for a future commingling of Nathan Jones and Phil Chapple.
Chapple has a very good reputation in the game as a scout and from his previous jobs in player recruitment, and he has just left Luton Town following their relegation.
Please click for moreItās been a long week, especially since Iāve been flying around a bit, literally, but the expectation and nerves continue to build. The game isnāt even tomorrow, is it.
I hope everyone got a ticket for the 2nd leg that wanted one. There was the expected grumbles around ticket sales and allocations but the club apparently sold 19,000 tickets in two days. That is incredible and no wonder the ticket office was creaking under the volume of buyers.
Please click for moreA busy day on the clubās ticket page, which brought systematic moans, groans and stresses. I heard from a few mates about the problem Albury had as well.
Iām actually surprised the club has decided to sell tickets on a Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday and it appears they had very few staff covering phones.
Please click for more4th place finish then. We might not have won anything to this point, but applause š all round to Nathan Jones, his staff, the players and all of those Addicks that have backed them home and away all season long.
Together the journey will continue.
Please click for moreBurton got their point tonight to assure their safety and their 8th consecutive L1 campaign, which will give them the longest tenure now that Shrewsbury have dropped.
Gary Bowyer has done a very good job there since he took over before Christmas.
Please click for moreThe good folk on Charlton Life with their ear close to the ground have hinted that next seasonās Charlton kits will be made by Reebok.
Iām not sure whether there will be other English clubs choosing Reebok but this marks the old English trainer makerās re-entry back into the manufacturing and supplying of football kits.
Please click for moreTalking Point š£ļø
Addicks have had better Saturdays. Yesterday was a turgid day all round which I donāt need to remind you.
Yet, in times like these I remind myself of what Curbs would say. Donāt get too high on the highs and too low on the lows.
Please click for moreI have been reading that Charlton TV will not be allowed to televise the play-offās.
Sky Sports holds exclusive domestic rights for the EFL, including the play-offs, under a five-year deal that started this season running to 2028/29. In addition to that the EFL signed an international rights deal with a variety of overseas TV companies, most youāve never heard off, to have exclusive access to show games.
Please click for moreThat was thoroughly disappointing.
Two early quick fire goals stunned us and Wrexham simply out-Charltonād us throughout and were deserved winners. Fair play to them and Parky.
Please click for more1,284 Addicks are descending on the north-east of Wales this weekend, many staying over the border in the pretty city of Chester.
Iāve never been the Racecourse Ground, but have just noticed itās on Mold Road. I had an old girlfriend that lived just outside of Mold (photo), and probably not surprisingly she never introduced me to the qualities of Wrexham, but we did spend a lot of time in Chester.
Please click for moreIt wasnāt a surprise was it that Chuksā ban was not overturned. It rarely happens that a referee admits to a mistake, and it never happens to us.
This despite obvious video evidence that the coming together between him and the Wycombe player was neither violent conduct nor an elbow in the face.
Please click for moreThis team.
Talk about giving us something to get behind. That was a virtuoso performance producing a magnificent result this afternoon.
Please click for moreTalking Point š£ļø
Only those that had partaken in a few too many shandies after the Crawley Town home game in early December wouldāve predicted a play-off place being achieved in the middle of April with three games still to play.
It is an incredulous turnaround and massive credit to Nathan Jones and the players for giving us a feeling that I think most of us had thought was gone, and that is something to believe in.
Please click for moreI didnāt really enjoy that. Northampton gave us a real run for their money, and never backed off, but we found a way to win, and win we did.
A play-off place is now secured with three games remaining and we move into 4th.
Please click for moreWell, that was exactly what it said on the tin. Very scrappy game on a bobbly pitch with the ball spending most of the time in the air.
It was an ugly game but we stood tall, stayed organized, scored at a good time and scrapped ourselves to an important three points.
Please click for moreCharlton Athleticās 2023/24 finances were published today and football economics expert Kieran Maguire was quick to make an assessment. Read down Kieranās tweets here for Charlton commentary.
Maguire also cautioned that āCharltonās 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.ā
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