Typical, isn't it ? You wait years for a chief executive and then three come along.

First, in April 2022, there was Brian Jokat - although technically he was Chief Operating Officer reporting to Chief Executive Thomas Sandgaard. We were told that he "has a wealth of experience and contacts, and is a really important addition to the club. He will lead on all our business activity as we look to increase our commercial revenue." Brian was gone by June and Sandgaard took the reins again.

Then, just before Christmas, former Sunderland Chief Executive Jim Rodwell arrived, apparently as part of the new management team at the behest of the putative new owners. His job title was also C.O.O. and Sandgaard commented: "The appointment of Jim Rodwell gives us senior leadership, on the ground at The Valley. He has excellent experience and I have been very impressed with what I have seen already." Rodwell left his post last week when the deal fell through.

This week the club welcomes former West Ham and Portsmouth Chief Executive Peter Storrie, albeit on a consultancy basis. Sandgaard said “Peter has been working in football for many years and has a lot of valuable experience. He’ll provide senior leadership at The Valley and will manage the running of the business. It is important for me to have someone as experienced and knowledgeable as Peter fill this role to plan for the medium to long term and as we position for potential new investments.”

Storrie was at West Ham from 1990-98 and was in the post of Director of Football when he was sacked in 1998 as part of a restructure. After brief spells at Southend and Notts County he became Chief Executive at Portsmouth in 2002 and remained in post when the club's ownership moved from Milan Manderic to Sacha Gaydamak.

He was arrested on 28 November 2007 — along with Harry Redknapp, Mandaric, agent William McKay and former Portsmouth player Amdy Faye— over allegations of corruption but he and Manderic were subsequently cleared of tax avoidance charges relating to the transfer of Faye and of  Eyal Berkovic. In March 2010 he stepped down from the role of Chief Executive a couple of weeks after Portsmouth entered administration, although he stayed on as consultant until the club exited administration.

In February 2015 he was appointed as Executive Vice-Chairman of Australian club Central Coast Mariners and he has also worked in Italy and Colombia.

CAST has long argued for the appointment of an experienced professional to run the business side of the club. Indeed, it is a central part of The Addicks Charter:

"The club is run from The Valley by a competent and experienced CEO with a board of directors which follows legal and best practice governance principles"

We hope very much that Storrie will be able to provide much needed stability and momentum behind the scenes but we have to say that he does not exactly arrive with a ringing endorsement from our friends at Fratton Park who raise questions about his performance and salary as Portsmouth slid into administration in 2010.

We hope that he will have the best interests of Charlton Athletic at heart during his stay as Chief Executive in SE7.

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