Charlton fans were vociferous in their opposition (slideshow – below) of the direction taken by former owner Roland Duchatelet when he was in charge of the Addicks. Protest after protest was staged at the way he was ripping the heart out of the London club. Now The Atheltic’s Jack Pitt-Brooke says that political in-fighting could be a situation that damages the club more than Duchatelet and his acolytes did.
It was dark times back then for the Addicks and the fan furore was such that they banded together as the Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) in an attempt to drive him away from the club. That wish was achieved just over two months ago with East Street Investments (ESI) acquiring Charlton from Duchatelet in January and Syrian businessman, Tahnoon Nimer, becoming the club’s de facto owner due to his role as majority shareholder at ESI.
Chairman and chief executive, Matt Southall, was to remain in charge of “day-to-day running” of the club. That is something that still stands today, albeit very tenuously after events of recent days.
Majority shareholder Nimer made accusations against Southall, these were rebutted by the latter’s legal team.
“Mr Matt Southall is not right to be chairman, his priority is his lifestyle.”
“He misuses the club for his lifestyle.”
“It’s impossible to have any trust in Mr Southall. He’s cost us a lot of money.”#CAFC majority shareholder Tahnoon Nimer slams chairman Matt Southall. pic.twitter.com/HS9M9VdE75
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) March 12, 2020
Nimer then resigned and this was accepted by the club who released a short statement. The club issued a further statement that seemed to support Southall to the hilt.
A messy series of interwoven events got messier with The Athletic reporting the arrival of police to The Valley on Thursday to prevent a breach of the peace offence taking place – something that was captured by Louis Mendez (below) who covers the Addicks for BBC London Sport and South London Press.
A really crazy night. Important to make it clear that I don’t believe anyone has been arrested. #cafc pic.twitter.com/LaqZrhEelt
— Louis Mendez (@LouisMend) March 12, 2020
The Athletic commented on the issue saying:
“Earlier, Nimer’s legal team had arrived at Charlton’s ground to try and end Southall’s reign, The Athletic understands. The club’s safety officer Mick Everett was instructed to enter the boardroom to serve Southall with papers for his removal from the ground. Southall told Everett in response that he was sacked.”
Southall eventually left Charlton’s Valley ground (Twitter video – below) and left with no comment to anyone waiting or expecting one.
It’s been quite an evening at The Valley. Matt Southall gave no comment as he left. His current status is unclear. #cafc pic.twitter.com/BpCBiQgZNZ
— Louis Mendez (@LouisMend) March 12, 2020
Whilst the club may be taking Southall’s side, as seems so with the statements issued on their website, that doesn’t mean that there’s universal approval from fans. Indeed, CARD has, as evidenced below, reformed to take on Southall on what they view as his indiscretions against the club.
CARD warns Southall with Valley protest plan next Tuesday #cafc
“Southall is not welcome” at QPR game, says spokesperson. pic.twitter.com/88xuztL5UC— CARD (@CharltonCARD) March 12, 2020
As it looks, there’s plenty for fans to chew over here and the ramifications will no doubt stretch on. With football closed down until April 3rd/4th, Addicks fans will be hoping that this particular saga is over and sorted before their 2019/20 campaign kicks back into life.
