As our members and the wider Charlton community will be aware, the mission of the Charlton Athletic Supporters’ Trust is to protect, preserve and promote Charlton Athletic for present and future generations. CAST was formally launched on 5 December 2012 - the 20th anniversary of the club’s return to The Valley after the exile years. Many of us still remember those dark times in exile and hoped they were well and truly in the past.
Now, once again, the very existence of Charlton Athletic Football Club is under threat. The EFL investigation into the takeover of the club by ESI poses both long- and short-term risks to the operation of the club, the most obvious of which are potential EFL sanctions, and a lack of funds being injected into the club, leading to relegation at best, and liquidation at worst.
It looks like desperate times at Charlton, with the prospect of the club running out of money anytime soon. Fans have saved the club before and are getting ready to do so again.
CAST is actively working on the constantly changing picture:
- Tahnoon Nimer expressed positive sentiment towards the club on TalkSport radio this morning. He highlighted that the EFL still wants to know the source of any funds. But we need to see action and bills paid.
- In the same TalkSport show, Matt Southall questioned whether Tahnoon Nimer was indeed personally the majority shareholder, citing that it was Panorama Magic, rather than Nimer that was the shareholder. We will be seeking clarity on this point.
- We are urgently engaging with the current owners, through Director Marian Mihail. Yesterday we sent a list of pertinent questions from fans to the club focused on funding and the EFL (see below). We await answers.
- We need the EFL to expedite a solution to this matter. We have again written to the EFL demanding an urgent meeting. Our previous efforts were unceremoniously rebuffed. We will continue to pursue them rigorously. They have a lot to answer. On behalf of fans as stakeholders, we are actively lobbying to contribute to their enquiry.
- We have written to local MP Matthew Pennycook apprising him of the latest developments. Matt Pennycook has expressed a clear understanding of the value of the club to the local community on numerous occasions in the past, and we are confident that he will come to our aid in any way he can.
- Staprix (Roland Duchatelet) stills owns The Valley and Sparrows Lane. We are in contact with Greenwich Council, reminding them of the current complications and the status of The Valley as an Asset of Community Value.
- We have written (for the third time in recent weeks) to Lieven de Turck seeking an urgent update on Duchatelet’s position.
- We are liaising with professionals and stakeholders on contingency planning, ensuring a comprehensive and realistic plan for fan ownership is ready to go should the need or possibility arise in an insolvency scenario.
- We have a long-standing relationship with Ashley Brown, who was instrumental in the Pompey Trust takeover of that club and who is now FSA Head of Supporter Engagement and Governance, and have once again sought his guidance and assistance in relation to developments over the past 24 hours.
Whilst we absolutely recognise there are bigger issues in the world outside, in football terms we are fighting for our club. We have no intention of becoming this year’s Bury! It costs just £5 a year to join the Supporters Trust. We are stronger together. www.castrust.org/join
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