'Big question' raised on Charlton Athletic owners as 'trust' claim made | OneFootball

The Addicks have been on an upward trend under their current owners

After nearly a decade of tumultuous ownership runs, Charlton Athletic finally look to be a stable organisation, looking to establish itself once more as a Championship side.

The Addicks will begin 2026/27 in the second tier following a successful return to the Championship last season, where their sole goal of survival was achieved.

This will be the first time in over a decade since Charlton have played successive seasons in the second tier, with League One football becoming the norm under the guidance of Roland Duchatelet, East Street Investments and Thomas Sandgaard.

That's all in the past now, though, as, since the Global Football Partners group (GFP) completed its purchase of the club in July 2023, the Addicks have been on the rise.

GFP did oversee Charlton's lowest league finish in nearly a century in their first year in charge, but hiring Nathan Jones towards the tail end of that 2023/24 campaign proved to be a masterstroke, as backing him has led to the club's Championship return.

Charlton Athletic fan pundit praises the commitment of the Global Football Partners ownership group

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Evidently, that 16th-placed finish in League One during GFP's first year at the Valley was due to a slight hangover of previous mismanagement.

Charlton recorded losses of £13.927 million in the year before the ownership group bought the club, and a lot of work needed to be done to create a more sustainable model, which came at a cost to their performances on the field.

Now, with good appointments being made both in the board, managerial and player sense, the Addicks look almost a different club to the one before GFP took over, and FLW's Charlton fan pundit, Chris Woodward, couldn't have been happier with them.

"I am strongly in the camp that our owners are the right people to take us forward," he said.

"Before they came in, it looked like we were spiralling downwards, heading on track for League Two football. But since then, they've turned us around into a Championship club, have made numerous good appointments on and off the field and have invested in the team, facilities and staff as well.

"They also bought the club knowing that they were likely going to lose close to £15 million in League One before they even touched anything, which showed their commitment after 10 years of dreadful ownership left us in a really poor and vulnerable position."

Now, though, the question is whether GFP can take Charlton to the next level, while maintaining their principles to build the club in a sustainable manner.

To do that, the Addicks will need investors. Reports last December outlined that they were looking for new partners, but nothing has yet come from those rumours. Regardless, Woodward believes that the ownership group are doing brilliantly, and feels that they can bring the club forward, too.

"A big question remains whether we can bring in more investors to increase the budget, as it's been repeated that we're trying to build sustainably," he continued.

"But the owners are doing a great job at Charlton, and I trust them to do so further."

Investment will be vital for Charlton Athletic to remain a Championship club

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More and more wealthy investors are joining Championship sides, and Charlton must keep up with that trend to maintain their place in the second tier for the near future.

Nathan Jones was well-backed this past season, with decent fees being spent on the likes of Charlie Kelman, Harvey Knibbs and others in the summer, and a further seven players being added in January to bolster the squad and ensure survival.

Questions will be asked this summer about whether the Addicks boss can receive that level of backing once more, ahead of their second season back in the Championship, without extra investment coming in from outside parties.

Arguably, it needs to be there. Charlton were still flirting with relegation towards the end of the season, and there'll be an expectation that some of those who survived with them will be investing to make sure they don't repeat a relegation battle next year.

That, plus the arrival of Cardiff City and Bolton Wanderers back to the second tier, two big, well-backed clubs, will make it more difficult to remain in the division next season.

In Nathan Jones, Charlton have a manager more than capable of overseeing another survival campaign, but all eyes will be on how many resources the Welshman is given to engineer one.