‘What happened at the end’ – Lyle Taylor opens up on Charlton Athletic exit

Lyle Taylor holds no ill will towards the way his Charlton Athletic spell ended.

The Greenwich-born striker joined on a free agent from AFC Wimbledon in June 2018 and picked up 50 goal contributions in 67 games.

Taylor scored 11 goals in 22 Championship outings as the Addicks looked to avoid relegation following their League One play-off win the season before.

But the former Millwall youngster, who was out of contract at the end of the 2019-20 season and did not want to jeopardise a future move, decided against extending his contract with the South Londoners as the campaign resumed following the hiatus due to Covid.

He missed the final nine games of the season as Bowyer’s side were relegated back to League One by one point.

Taylor joined Nottingham Forest as a free agent in the following summer.

“My time at Charlton was really good fun and successful,” Taylor told Sky Bet.

“What happened at the end, happened at the end. I don’t hold any ill will towards the football club.

“The League One promotion season is still one of my favourite seasons in the memory of my career. It’s a football club that for what I managed to experience and do there, I enjoyed my time there.”

Taylor was signed following a successful spell with South London rivals AFC Wimbledon, which saw him leave as a free agent after scoring 55 goals in 150 games.

He said: “If anything, at the time of my signing, fans were pretty underwhelmed, and I can say that without any thought of hesitation. 

“Before things started, fans would have probably thought: ‘Is that all?’

“Charlton are a big football club, so I can’t imagine signing the AFC Wimbledon striker at 28 was their view of going for it and having a real go at the league. 

“But Lee Bowyer made it clear to me that I was his number one target and his number nine. That was what he wanted. 

“He had a 10-game spell towards the back end of a season where he took control of the team and I played for Wimbledon against Charlton and that was probably enough for him to think, ‘Yeh, I like him. Let’s sit down and have a conversation with him and see how it goes.’

Taylor played a pivotal role in Charlton’s promotion from League One in the 2018-19 season, registering 32 goal contributions in 41 games as the Addicks beat Sunderland at Wembley.

“The team we had were probably the best team in that league and that’s not being disrespectful to those who went up automatically,” he added.

“In terms of the team we had, at any given time, we could have won. 

“We lost Joe Aribo and Josh Cullen that year to injury for small periods that derailed us, and we lost Karlan Grant in January. Then, we went and did it the really difficult way, which was going through the play-offs.”

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