On Tuesday night at the Macron stadium the Addicks’ fate was sealed, by a mathematically confirmed relegation into Football League One after only grabbing a draw from the only team which are below Charlton this season.
Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD), a protest group purely setup to remove the Belgian Tycoon, Roland Duchatelet, from the South East London side. The group is rallying the fans in SE7 this Saturday after the disheartening news of relegation.
The feelings around the Charlton fans as it stands are ones of: hate, sadness, fear, numbness and pain. It was only four years ago, tomorrow (21/04/2016), that Charlton were crowned champions of the Football League One, finishing the 2011-2012 season at an impressive 101 points.
Confirmed relegation and descent back into Football League One along with Katrien Meire’s (CEO of Charlton Athletic) statement, led to CARD releasing a statement, biting back at the statement from the club, which was nothing short of empty in terms of integrity, especially after recent events and statements by management at the London side.
Part of Meire’s statement, which was released a few minutes after confirmed relegation stated:
“This is not the time for excuses, we apologise for our mistakes and now need to learn from them so that we can put firm foundations in place for the future that ensure the long-term stability of the club.”
CARD hit back, and hard with their statement, which included rallying the fans for Saturday’s game against Brighton:
“She and the owner Roland Duchatelet have made mistake after mistake since they came to the club in January 2014, and despite numerous promises to the contrary, they have never learned from them.
“There will be no collaboration with them, now or in the future. They are the enemy of everything that Charlton has been and will be again. We must remove them, chairman Richard Murray and their other apologists before they destroy the club completely.
“We call on all Charlton supporters to come to SE7 on Saturday to unite behind these protests and help us drive these people out of The Valley now.
Recent rumours and speculation include that Roland Duchatelet is willing to sell the South East London side for £38 million, £20 million more than his buying price of £18 million, despite confirming a relegation since then, and when he purchased the club back in January 2014, the club being in a much more healthier state.
Charlton fans must now make the decision, whether or not they are going to break their boycott on Saturday 23/04/2016 to help drive out the second most hated owner in English football.
