‘I knew fans wouldn’t let Charlton Athletic die’ – Conor Washington on why he didn’t hesitate to sign

Doubts over Charlton Athletic’s long-term future never made Conor Washington question joining the club in August 2020, with the striker always confident fan power would ensure the club survived.

The Addicks had to get special dispensation from the EFL to sign Washington and Alex Gilbey from Hearts and Milton Keynes respectively.

Washington took the plunge despite the club being under a transfer embargo and fears that the club would go under if a takeover deal was not agreed.

US-based Danish businessman Thomas Sandgaard acquired the League One club at the end of the following month, but not before Paul Elliott went to court to try and block the sale after claiming he had an agreement in place.

East Street Investments had bought the club for £1 off Roland Duchatelet in January 2020 but never obtained EFL approval for their ‘takeover’. A lack of funds saw Charlton fail to adequately strengthen in the transfer window and they were relegated from the Championship in July 2020 after a heavy loss at Leeds on the final day.

“I don’t know if it was just rose-tinted glasses,” responds Washington, when asked why the fragile situation at Charlton – and their fight not to go out of business – did not put him off.

“You were seeing all the social media stuff and it just felt like the fans would never let it go under, no matter what happened, even if they were almost going to bankroll it themselves.

“It was just too good an opportunity to turn down and ultimately they have got a man in charge now who wants to take the club forward.

“It always felt like the way the fans had been treated, and the way the club had been treated, they were never going to let someone in who was going to treat it like it was in the last few years.”

Washington will ply his trade in the Championship with Rotherham United next season. Charlton announced last month that the 30-year-old, a free agent at the end of June, would not be offered new terms.

“I’ve only been out of contract once in my career,” said Washington. “It’s always a bit of a strange period. I came out publicly and said: ‘I’m happy here and I’m settled’. My son goes to school in September and that was why it was important to get settled down as quickly as possible.

“The longer it went on without a solid offer the more it was a case of getting to the end of the season and I’ll just have to deal with it.

“It would have been great to have had my future sorted around January or February and made plans around that, but that wasn’t the case.

“I’m lucky enough that my wife is very supportive of me and we move around as a unit. We’ll continue to do that until I finish. It’s a big adjustment for her and the little man, I just get to play the football really.

“There was just a general disappointment around the situation. I think it could’ve been handled better.

“But, at the same time, everyone has moved on. Jacko’s got himself a great job, which I wish him all the best with, and Charlton have got a new manager and are looking in the right direction. I’ve signed for a great football club playing in the Championship. So it’s something I’d like to not dwell on too much.

“I genuinely wish Charlton all the best. I’ve met some great people there.

“It feels like I’ve been there a hell of a lot longer than I had. I’ve became really close with some of the lads and I’ll be keeping an eye on their results. If they get promoted, which is the aim, I’d be celebrating.

“It’s such a hard league now. It’s almost like a mini Championship with the amount of teams who have money and that is dripping down from the Premier League. It raises the level of every single division.

“It’s a tough league to get out of. A lot of teams are in there and probably thinking the same as Charlton ‘we’re a big team at this level and have been stuck here for ‘x’ amount of years, how do we get out?’”

MAIN PICTURE: PAUL EDWARDS