Chief executive Charlie Methven on Charlton Athletic departure – and Nathan Jones now showing he is a ‘top, top manager’

EXCLUSIVE
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
richard@slpmedia.co.uk

Outgoing Charlton Athletic chief executive Charlie Methven reckons that people are about to see Nathan Jones show that he is a “top, top manager”.

The Addicks announced on Monday that the 48-year-old, who had been key in Global Football Partners acquiring the League One club off owner Thomas Sandgaard in July 2023, is leaving in May.

Methven, who owns a stake in the Addicks, was appointed to the CEO role in June.

“It was never originally meant to be the case that I was going to become chief executive of Charlton,” the former Sunderland co-owner told the South London Press.

“It had to happen for a reason and a year on, I think we’re all happy that the club is in a good place. Not just at first-team level but at other levels as well, both commercially and in terms of the women’s team, the academy and U21s. People are happy.

“It is the right time for me to move on for a new chapter in my career and particularly in terms of giving the board and ownership time now to select a chief executive who can be in place before the crucial summer.

“There are going to be a whole bunch of announcements that come out in the next few weeks, which is stuff we’ve been working on throughout this season and is positive on the commercial side.

“But, at the same time, the main thing that starts to happen from April onwards is the careful preparation for the summer transfer window, on the one hand, but also the cap X (capital expenditure) projects.

“Rather than leaving in May and everyone looking around saying: ‘Okay, who is in charge?’ then it is right I make this announcement now and give the board and ownership the time to appoint the right replacement, which I’m confident they will do.

“There is already a lot of great leadership in the organisation.

“I’d like to put on record what a huge pleasure it has been working with Nathan Jones.

“He is an exceptional leader. He is a project manager. He is a manager you employ knowing this is going to be a medium-term game. And now that Charlton has got through what is often for project managers a sticky patch, somewhat towards the start of the process, they are now going to see just what a good manager he is.

“The club is going to experience what it is like to have a top, top manager. He has been an excellent colleague to me. I’m very appreciative of that – as I am of my colleagues Jim Rodwell and Ed Warrick, who I brought to the club.

“They also provide great leadership along with the people who run the academy, Tom Pell and the performance department, Will Abbott, along with the commercial and marketing spaces. It is a strong, competitive team of leaders now and I’m really confident the club is going to go from strength to strength.”

Methven is set to run Mount Pleasant, Charlton’s partner academy club in Jamaica, and also an associated sports investment fund based in the United States.

Asked about his shareholding in Charlton, he said: “It is an ongoing conversation with my partners.

“This departure is not conditional on that. That is a separate conversation.

“I expect there probably will be some movement in that regard at some point, but it is not yet absolutely 100 per cent clear what that will be.”

There have been other changes to the club’s structure of late with technical director Andy Scott departing at the end of last month.

Charlton are advertising the position.

Gavin Carter, a lifelong Charlton fan, was appointed non-executive chairman in December and he has been on the board since September 2023.

Methven had threatened legal action against Sandgaard when the US-based Dane broke off a takeover exclusivity agreement.

Eventually negotiations re-opened and a buyout was completed.

Asked how he looked back on his involvement at Charlton, Methven said: “It has been two-and-a-half years of my life since I agreed the original deal with Thomas Sandgaard in November 2022.

“It has been a very intense time from doing the deal, bringing the investment group together, having to re-do the deal and then coming into a club that I think I described at the time as catching a falling knife, in terms of its direction of travel.

“But overall it has been a very positive experience.

“I have made a lot of friends, not just inside the club but also inside the fanbase and locally, because I’ve been living in South-East London for the last year.

“I will reflect on it really as a super positive period.

“It is an absolutely terrific club. The way it embraces all parts of what a football club can embrace – from having a phenomenal academy to an amazing Community Trust, I’ve had a terrific working relationship with Jason Morgan there. It is a very lively fanbase and The Valley is a great stadium. It is just a terrific club.

“Watching the women’s games on Sunday it was a reminder that this is a proper, proper football club. We had a big U17 semi-final against Man U this week. There aren’t many clubs outside the big six that get that far in these types of competitions.

“I’m very proud to have worked to have for Charlton. Content with the state I’ve left it in – it being a better state than two-and-a-half years ago.

“I look forward to watching the run-in, enjoying it and hoping to watch the club get promoted.”