Charlton Athletic’s disastrous £400k transfer decision may have got them relegated 10 months ahead of time | OneFootball

The Addicks were forced to regret the sale of Chris Iwelumo in a big way

Each one of the Championship's current 24 clubs have made crucial decisions which have, in turn, created a domino effect that has impacted their future trajectory in either a positive or negative manner.

In the mid 2000s, Charlton Athletic were looking to respond to the setback of suffering relegation from the Premier League under Alan Pardew in 2007, having previously spent a spell of nine unbroken years in the top flight following promotion from the second tier.

Despite, unsurprisingly, losing the services of many high-profile players to clubs higher up the footballing pyramid - most notably Darren Bent, who joined Tottenham Hotspur for £16.5m - the Addicks were able to bring in a plethora of new signings in order to mount a first-time promotion bid alongside the likes of Watford and Sheffield United.

A total of 14 new signings came through the door at the Valley in the summer of 2007 as a result, with the likes of Danny Mills, Chris Powell and Nicky Weaver all bringing a wealth of experience to the South London side.

However, there is no disputing that the best piece of business conducted during this period was the capture of Chris Iwelumo on a free transfer from divisional rivals, Colchester United.

The Scottish forward had developed a reputation as one of the most potent goalscorers in the division at Layer Road, and it was no surprise that the Essex side would struggle massively following his exit, which is exactly what Charlton would find out just one season later.

Chris Iwelumo enjoyed a stunning one-season stint at Charlton Athletic

Iwelumo's best career spell came under Phil Parkinson for the Essex side, with a total of 17 goals initially aiding their promotion from League One into the Championship in the 2005/06 campaign, before the U's were able to consolidate with a remarkable 10th-place finish the following season.

A total of 17 goals in the 2006/07 season for Colchester saw the four-time international end the campaign as the division's fifth-highest scorer, forming a stunning partnership with Jamie Cureton, who scored a league-high of 22 goals.

At the age of 29, Iwelumo was then snapped up by Pardew on a free transfer following Charlton's return to the EFL, and his influence on what looked to be a promotion bid for large parts of the campaign was, once again, extremely major.

The striker netted his first two goals for the club in a 3-2 home win over Sheffield Wednesday in August 2007, before going on to score a further nine times across the season.

Remarkably, nine of these goals were scored in the first half of the campaign as the Addicks asserted themselves firmly in the play-off picture, before their new striker went on a barren run in front of goal, eventually making it into double-figures with a final strike of the campaign in a 2-0 away success at Sheffield United in March 2008.

Unfortunately for Pardew's side, a run of just two wins in the final 11 outings saw their hopes of an immediate top-flight return fade into the abyss, and they have never come close to ending it since.

And, the chain of events that would start a major downward spiral at the Valley would very much start when their prized asset was sold to Wolverhampton Wanderers for just £400,000.

Charlton Athletic and Wolves endured contrasting seasons after Chris Iwelumo deal

With ambitions of ending their own top-flight hiatus, Iwelumo joined the likes of Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Sam Vokes in the striking department, as well as the likes of Richard Stearman and David Jones as incomings, both of whom would become Molineux favourites.

Despite only starting 25 league games, Iwelumo's contribution to the title-winning season of 2008/09 in this part of the West Midlands could not be understated, as he scored on 14 occasions. Ironically, he opened his Wolves account with another brace against Sheffield Wednesday and also scored a hat-trick in a 3-1 away success over Preston North End at Deepdale.

Whilst his new employers returned to the Premier League for the first time in five years after hitting 90 points, Charlton's predicament couldn't have been a greater contrast.

The aforementioned Pardew was dismissed in November 2008 after enduring eight games without victory, whilst his replacement, Parkinson, couldn't stop the rot as the Addicks finished the campaign rooted to the bottom having won just eight games all season.

Iwelumo then went on to feature in the Premier League with the Old Gold and Black before featuring for the likes of Bristol City, Watford and Burnley in the Championship, whilst it took Charlton three seasons to achieve promotion out of League One, leaving them to suffer a major case of transfer regret in this instance.