All business by the seaside – and no holiday – as Albie Morgan reflects on Charlton Athletic career after Blackpool move

BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Albie Morgan’s decision after being released by Charlton Athletic is to head to the seaside. But when he rocks up in Blackpool next week it’s not for a holiday, it’s strictly business.

The 23-year-old midfielder was announced as the Tangerines’ first signing of the summer transfer window last Friday.

Morgan initially joined Charlton at the age of nine and then rejoined their academy when he was 15. His first season in the senior set-up ended in League One play-off glory against Sunderland in 2019.

Morgan leaves with 146 appearances for the Addicks and started the final 11 matches of the previous campaign under Dean Holden.

George Dobson has now played the most games for Charlton – 96 – which is a reflection of the ever-changing complexion of the squad.
Morgan bears no grudges.

“It’s football – a game of opinions – so if that is the way they wanted to go then I’m not going to sit here and moan about it or get upset about it,” he told the South London Press. “In football there are going to be other options out there, like I’ve explored, and now I’ve signed for Blackpool.

“I’ve seen so many players come and go – it’s normal. People move on – they don’t stay at a club forever, it’s really uncommon if they do.

“Maybe it felt strange when I first got the news, because at that point I realised I wouldn’t be going back to the place I’d been going to all my life. But then you look forward – which is not a bad thing, at all. It’s a new chapter in my career that is going to be exciting.

“The conversation (after being told he was leaving) was brief. Once I found out I knew I couldn’t dwell on the situation. I had to find somewhere else to play and give my 100 per cent.

“I listened to what he (Holden) had to say. He thanked me and said he enjoyed the time we had together. Charlton are going in one direction and I’m going in another.

“I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t keep up to date with Charlton and see how they are getting on. I’ll continue to look out for them but my main focus is Blackpool, I want to be as successful as I can and play as many games as I can in this team.”

When Morgan picks out his highlights, the moment he selects first is his debut against Shrewsbury Town – a 2-1 win at The Valley in August 2018.

“I started the pre-season with the U23s and the first-team boys were going on a trip to Portugal,” he recalled. “I wasn’t included in that until one of the boys wasn’t able to travel because their passport had expired. I was next in line to go. Looking back now, if he had gone then things might’ve been different – I would have stayed with the U23s and it could have all panned out another way.

“I went on the trip, had a good week away and Bow (Lee Bowyer), the gaffer at the time, said he was impressed with how I’d trained. I continued to be involved with them and then came on at half-time against Shrewsbury. Sometimes you need that bit of luck, and I had that initially.”

Morgan featured 16 times in that campaign, 10 of those in League One encounters. He came in for the run-in and started both play-off semi-final matches against Doncaster before not being named in the matchday squad at Wembley.

“The team was relentless at the time,” said Morgan. “We had an unbelievable squad. There are so many players who have gone on to play at a top level and for such big teams.

“We were so confident going into every game, knowing we were going to win, because we had the squad to do so. We finished third. I’m not sure how we didn’t get automatic – because it felt like we were winning most weeks.

“Looking back now, I didn’t realise how big an occasion the play-offs were. It was a whirlwind but you don’t know if that is just the norm when you are young. We turned up to Doncaster away and there were so many fans outside – the amount we took there was unbelievable. It was more or less even numbers inside the stadium.

“We just went bang, bang (scoring twice in the space of a few minutes in the first half through Lyle Taylor and Joe Aribo) and won 2-1. In the second game I came off at half-time and had to watch it go to extra-time and penalties.

“The two semis were such a good thing to be part of.”

Bowyer opted to put Jake Forster-Caskey, not long back from an ACL injury, on the bench ahead of Morgan for the Sunderland showdown. Patrick Bauer’s goal – four minutes into stoppage time – took Charlton up.

“I was confident I would at least be involved, so to get pulled by the manager and told I wasn’t was a contrast between some of the best times I’ve had, in the semis, to the complete opposite, having to watch from the stands,” said Morgan.

“It was hard to take but once you’re watching the game and we got that outcome then the feelings of being hurt and disappointed were taken away – you just want the boys to win. Thankfully they managed to do it, in some way as well.”

Championship consolidation was not to be.

Charlton were unbeaten in their first six league matches – winning four of them – but their form took a dive after a 1-0 victory over Leeds at The Valley in late September.

The shambolic change of ownership to ESI was a pivotal factor along with the campaign being halted by Covid. Star striker Lyle Taylor, out of contract that summer, opted not to play when the fixtures resumed in June. Conor Gallagher, a sensational loan signing from Chelsea, was poached by Swansea at the midway point.

Charlton lost 4-0 at champions Leeds on the final day. But it was Clarke Oduor’s 91st-minute winner – against Brentford – which saw Barnsley claw their way above the South Londoners.

“We came back from lockdown and got some good results at the start,” said Morgan. “But we knew we had some hard fixtures at the end. Leeds had an unbelivable team. We made three subs at half-time to try and change it, I was one who came on. We were getting battered but you could tell we were good from the messages coming from the bench – everyone was saying we were fine, as of now, that we were staying up.

“At that point it was a sigh of relief, because even though we were losing 4-0 that was the most important thing.

“To then find out at the end we were going down was very hard to take.”

Charlton finished seventh in League One the following season, their first under the ownership of Thomas Sandgaard.

Since then it has been mid-table boredom rather than a promotion push.

“There are some good teams at that level so it is always going to be difficult,” said Morgan. “But for a club the size and history of Charlton –  the direction it should be going is up.

“For us to go a couple of seasons without really achieving anything or even getting close to the top six is disappointing when you consider some of the players we’ve had.

“We should’ve been competing at the top end, not floating around the middle of the table.

“Charlton will get back to the Championship at some point, I just don’t know when that will be.”

Morgan picks out the role he played under Holden at the end of last season as his most enjoyable – part of a midfield three with Dobson and Scott Fraser.

“I felt like I got on a good run and picked up some performances that were definitely consistent,” he said.

“My output was getting a bit higher. I found myself looking forward to the next game. Even though there was nothing to play for, I was desperate to be involved in every minute.

“It was where I picked up my best performances, in a block of matches.

“It’s hard because when I was younger I felt I was always the easy option to be taken out of the team. Then it is hard to get that run of games to show what you can do – where you’re in the zone and know you’re going to play.

“You are getting thrown in here and there – that’s more difficult to prepare for because the intensity is different and you’re not maybe up to the speed of the game.

“Every player needs that run to prove and show what they can do. Towards the end of last season I felt I managed to do that with the best run I’ve had as a Charlton player of playing consecutive games.

“I’m definitely proud of my career there. My story is one that many people have done before. They have gone on to play for different teams, like I am now, but the story of coming through from the academy is special.

“I’ll always appreciate my time at Charlton and the opportunities I got. I will never forget the good times I had. It’s a time of my career that I’ll look back on fondly for the rest of my life, definitely.”