At last, it's back to where we once belonged 

So here we are again. Finally.
For most older Charlton fans, the second tier of English football feels very much like home. It is where we have spent the majority of our time as supporters.

That familiarity is underpinned by the make-up of the division. All the other clubs in it have visited The Valley in recent memory, with Southampton outliers without an appearance since 2010/11. Even Wrexham featured there in a less noisy incarnation in the 1970s and 80s, as well as on their way to promotion last term.

It’s chastening for some of us to realise, however, that for any Addicks fan under 20, Championship football has only been glimpsed in the Covid nightmare season of 2019/20. Otherwise it belongs to their primary school years.

Appearances can also be deceptive. Football is in constant flux and it is not only the stands and stadiums that have changed over the years. Money has bent the game out of shape to an even greater extent than it had last time the Addicks competed at this level.

Puffed up parachute payments of £48m for relegated sides don’t just protect the falling. They also help knock newcomers from below off their feet.

What’s more most of the division have a hefty advantage over Charlton in commercial income. Middlesbrough, for example, generated £12m that way in 2023/24, probably three times what the Addicks can expect.

The range of financial performance within the division has been widening and after five years down below, Charlton have some serious catching up to do.

Previous playing benchmarks may therefore not be reliable. Even so, we can say with some  confidence that the club’s current owners have taken care to prepare for the coming storm. A significant chunk of the circa £8m additional central revenue that now comes with Championship status has already been committed to strengthening the squad. That level of commitment was not present in 2012 or 2019, when the club previously won promotion from League One. It should be acknowledged.

Fees have been paid for goalkeeper Thomas Kaminski (from relegated Luton Town), midfielder Joe Rankin-Costello (Blackburn Rovers), defender Reece Burke (Luton), strikers Charlie Kelman (QPR) and Tanto Olaofe (Stockport County), as well as winger Rob Apter (Blackpool). Experienced defender Amari’i Bell (Luton) and midfielder Sonny Carey (Blackpool) were each out of contract at their former clubs. Despite Jones’ public caveats about the reported extent of the Addicks’ spending, it is clearly a much more substantial outlay than in the previous promotion years.

Chris Powell, of course, had rebuilt his squad in 2011 to magnificent effect, storming to 101 third tier points, meaning it was well placed to step up. But by the summer of 2012 the club was in turmoil behind the scenes, unable to pay for even basic supplies, never mind players. Chief executive Steve Kavangah and vice-chairman Peter Varney, who had worked closely with Powell, both left abruptly and in acrimonious dispute with the ownership, while the only transfer fee eventually paid was for winger Lawrie Wilson, from League One Stevenage. One was also agreed with Spurs for goalkeeper Davd Button but deferred for a year, at which point he was sold on to Brentford to avoid paying it.

Otherwise Powell was limited to free transfers in 2012/13. Released by Premier League Stoke City, 33-year-old Ricardo Fuller was a class act when fit, while French defender Dorian Dervite arrived from Villarreal B and went on to play 75 games. By contrast, midfielder Salim Kerkar would last only one season despite arriving from Rangers, and ex-Sunderland man Jordan Cook was a mere footnote. The club made full use of the loan system, but Tottenham Hotspur’s Jonathan Obika was one of the few arrivals by that route to make an impression. 

Remarkably, Powell’s side still finished ninth, just three points off sixth place. Who knows what might have happened had the still beloved manager been able to recruit his original targets? Blame the owners, Tony Jimenez and Michael Slater (supposedly), for the fact that his legacy was then squandered by 2016 by the madman who eventually bailed them out.

Seven years on from Powell’s League One title, Lee Bowyer’s play-off final success also carried momentum into the new season, despite having his squad depleted by the departure of Wembley hero Patrick Bauer, emerging midfield talent Joe Aribo and defender Anfernee Dijlksteel, as well as influential loanee Krystian Bielik.  

Bowyer’s own future was thrown into doubt by a public row with absentee owner Roland Duchatelet over contract negotiations, with the Belgian apparently looking to sell the club but unwilling or unable to seal a deal to do so.

The only transfer fee paid out that summer was to Leyton Orient for Macauley Bonne, which as it transpired was a better financial investment than a playing one, because he moved on a year later to Queens Park Rangers for a hefty mark-up.

Star of the show in the first half of the 2019/20 season was Chelsea loanee and future England international Conor Gallagher, with six goals in 26 games. But he was recalled and redirected to Swansea City in mid-January, with fatal consequences for Charlton’s hopes.

Out-of-contract Bristol Rovers defender Tom Lockyer had been a notable summer addition while West Ham midfielder Josh Cullen also returned on loan for a second season. Chuks Aneke scored on his debut against Stoke City, but would not assume cult status until the following year. Meanwhile, defender Deji Oshilaja’s arrival from AFC Wimbledon came with a touch of financial desperation, as Duchatelet sought to use the extra Championship revenue to mitigate the club’s out-of-control annual operating loss.

Neither former Addicks youth player Erhun Oztumer, who came from Bolton Wanderers, nor Tomer Hamed, from Brighton, would leave much of a mark in the Valley turf, while loanees Jonathan Leko and Sam Field, who might have, both saw their spells cut short by injury.

Relegation on the final day might still have been avoided, but for Covid and a fever-dream spring behind the scenes following the sale of the club to the grifters of East Street Investments. It was hard to blame Bowyer for the failure to survive.

Whether either of these seasons are useful comparisons is hard to say. Boss Nathan Jones has more managerial experience and a more reliable track record than either Powell or Bowyer. His summer signings to date have been sensible rather than spectacular. Costs have been managed by focusing largely on the better players in League One. That is not unreasonable, but it is a calculated risk. It is also probably a necessary one.

Powell still had Yann Kermorgant and Johnnie Jackson, among others, while Bowyer could rely on the free-scoring Lyle Taylor. Until he couldn’t. It’s not yet clear who fills those boots this time.

There are no obvious rabbits in this Championship, although Sheffield Wednesday have been pitched into another crisis which would seem to make them favourites for relegation.

Jones’ squad did not start from Powell’s position of strength and so far it is unclear from a somewhat incoherent pre-season schedule what his preferred line-up might be. There could yet be Premier League loan additions to add more sparkle. Equally the bar for success is now set low, at mere survival.

That does not mean, however, that these are not exciting times in SE7. Far from it. Championship football looked as far away as ever last December. Jones defied the odds to secure it. The second half of last season was exceptional.

So this is a big opportunity for a reset. The fans have responded in similar season-ticket  numbers to 2013, suggesting a resilience the club had no right to expect given what has been inflicted on them in recent years.

This is not the moment to be chaffing about a misstep over the appointment of a chief executive, the club’s continuing failure to articulate a vision for its future or about its still uncertain grip on The Valley.

You do not have to be young, or naive, to be enthused by the prospect of watching Charlton play Championship football once again. This time they must get it right. Patience may well be required, but I am hopeful that they will.

Rick Everitt