Addicks boost goal prowess with Kelman capture, Ramsay sale fears rubbished and Mishra leaves women's set-up
The latest review of the week - a round-up of Charlton Athletic news
It is the summer of love in SE7. Or maybe, more accurately, that should be the summer of loving what Charlton Athletic are doing in the transfer window.
For the latest review of the week, it means looking at another multi-million pound spend to sign League One’s most prolific striker last season, as well as reaction to Saturday’s 1-1 draw at Cambridge United.
Picture: Kyle Andrews
ALONE RANGER NOW PART OF THE ADDICKS FAMILY
You get the feeling that Charlie Kelman never quite fitted at QPR - but now he gets a fresh start with Charlton Athletic.
The plan is to have more reaction to the 23-year-old striker’s arrival at The Valley at the start of this week on this site.
There is every chance that Kelman gains his first minutes for his new club in Tuesday’s friendly against Ipswich Town, which is taking place at Colchester United’s JobServe Community Stadium. The match is a 7.30pm start.
South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition caught up with Cambridge United boss Neil Harris after Saturday’s friendly and when it was mentioned that Charlton were in for Kelman, it got his seal of approval. That has got to be encouraging, considering Harris is the all-time record goalscorer at another south London club that the Addicks will be locking horns with again this season in the Championship. The fact he is an admirer has to go down as a big, big plus.
Kelman scored 21 League One goals on loan for Leyton Orient last season and 27 in total.
He posted on Instagram: “So blessed and thankful to be here! I appreciate the warm welcome and can’t wait to get started and see you all soon! #cafc ❤️. Trust in Yah with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.”
QPR’s post on X to announce Charlie Kelman’s transfer to Charlton Athletic
CHARLTON’S WINNING PRE-SEASON RUN ENDS - BOSS CLEARS UP KAYNE RAMSAY ABSENCE
The Addicks are still unbeaten in their friendly programme but saw their perfect winning record end after a 1-1 draw at Cambridge United on Saturday.
Miles Leaburn put them ahead just after the half-hour mark, pouncing from close range after Greg Docherty’s shot was spilled by goalkeeper Jake Eastwood.
But, in truth, Cambridge were good value for their leveller. Substitute George Hoddle, a distant relative of former Tottenham midfielder and England boss Glenn, forced a scrappy finish home in the second half.
Picture: Kyle Andrews
There were a few fans fearing that the absence of Kayne Ramsay for the second successive match was due to transfer interest in the defender, but those worries were completely eased by Jones in his post-match chat with South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition.
The Welshman said: “Kayne Ramsay has had a thing with his achilles, so we have given him an injection. He is back training and he will be involved on Tuesday. Kayne Ramsay is going nowhere.”
Jones described himself as “a little bit disappointed” with the performance of his troops.
“We were lacklustre and had no energy,” he said. “We kept the ball well at certain periods but we had no real penetration or final third zest about us, that’s not how my teams play. As a pre-season game [that is] no problem because players got minutes and we got no injuries - those were the positives.
“The fluency wasn’t quite there. We were just a nice team today. It was a good test but we didn’t move the ball quickly enough.”
Charlton had former Aston Villa and Oxford United left-back Joe Bennett (pictured below) on trial along with Dexter Lembikisa, who also featured at Wealdstone, but is still contracted to Wolves.
Picture: Kyle Andrews
“I know Joe and I worked with him at Brighton,” said Jones. “Joe asked could he come in and train - to do stuff. We’re allowing Joe to train and have a little look at him, especially when you need to use 20-odd players in a game, for example.
“It is a mutual agreement between the two of us. I’ve known Joe for years, he is an excellent player who has had a fantastic career.
“We will speak to Wolves (about Lembikisa) and we have to make a decision soon on that one.”
Charlton won 3-0 at National League club Wealdstone on Wednesday with penalties scored by Isaac Olaofe and Dan Kanu in the first half. Sonny Carey added a third. The post-match pod for that one is here.
MAY DOESN’T GET A CHAMPIONSHIP CHANCE
Alfie May is on the move, little more than 12 months after his transfer from Charlton Athletic to Birmingham City.
It was announced on Tuesday that the 32-year-old striker had signed for Huddersfield Town.
So while the Addicks are getting ready for life in the Championship, it will still be League One football for May, who played a big part in the Blues cruising to the title in England’s third tier.
Huddersfield finally get their man. They wanted him in the summer of 2024 after he had scored 27 goals for Charlton Athletic, a return which landed the former Cheltenham Town man the League One Golden Boot. Birmingham’s offer blew them out of the running, no mean feat when the Terriers are known to be big spenders at the level.
Nathan Jones’ decision to sell May for around £800,000 was not met with universal approval at the time, but it worked out well for all parties.
Matty Godden proved their was life after the pint-sized poacher while May, despite not always been a nailed-on starter at Birmingham, netted 17 times in 57 appearances as well as chalking up a Wembley appearance in an EFL Trophy final loss to Peterborough United.
The Midlands outfit have spent £8.7million on Japanese striker Kyoto Furuhashi with Jay Stansfield and Lyndon Dykes other frontline options.
“My job is to work as hard as possible and score goals, and I’ll do everything in my power to repay the faith the club has shown in me,” May told Huddersfield’s official website. “Lee Grant is an exciting manager and the way he wants to play and attack feels like the right fit for me, so I can’t wait to get going.”
South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition has been asked if there was a sell-on clause inserted in May’s move to Birmingham.
While not knowing for sure, it seems a safe bet that there would have been. But when you keep in mind that the percentage is only on the profit made by the Blues, we are talking relatively small change.
JACKO AND LEN GLOVER ENTER THE HALL OF FAME
It was lovely to be asked to attend the 2025 Hall of Fame and Supporter of the Year presentation evening at Charlton Athletic Museum on Thursday night.
There are always three inductees and the latest additions were former Addicks captain Johnnie Jackson, Len Glover and the late Alfred ‘Scotty’ Kingsley.
Glover, 81, was in particularly fine form at the event with some decent one-liners and he also reminisced with former team-mate Keith Peacock, who was in attendance along with current Charlton boss Nathan Jones.
Kingsley was described by historian Colin Cameron as “one of the most significant and central figures in the club’s history” with his sale to Fulham in 1922 saving the Addicks from financial ruin.
Johnnie Jackson with Len Glover after receiving their Hall Of Fame awards and (below) the presentation ceremony at Charlton Athletic Museum
Pictures: Olly Groome
Museum trustee Ian Wallis talked about Kingsley making the adjustment from park football to playing in the Football League for the south London club. The player did not want to leave but reluctantly did so once the gravity of Charlton’s situation was explained to him.
Glover scored 24 goals in 196 matches for Charlton in the 1960s and came through their youth ranks. He was sold to Leicester City - sparking much outrage and demonstrations from fans - before being tempted out to Tampa Bay Rowdies in the MLS.
Wallis added that a match report from their match against New York Cosmos - who featured superstars Pele and Franz Beckenbauer in their ranks - gave Glover man of the match. The fact that Glover did not gain England recognition was, according to Wallis, due to Sir Alf Ramsey “not playing with wingers”.
Jackson notched 55 goals in 279 matches for Charlton, many of those scoring moments tending to be just when his side needed them the most. He skippered the 2011-12 League One title-winning side and had a brief spell as manager, being sacked by owner Thomas Sandgaard just days after the 2021-22 season ended.
Sandgaard was at the end-of-season dinner but opted to wait until he had flown out of the UK to tell Jackson that his employment was terminated - doing the deed on a phone call instead of in person.
Jackson said that the promotion when he was Lee Bowyer’s number two in the 2018-2019 season trumped the achievement of captaining Chris Powell’s team to top spot in 2012. I do wonder if there is a bit of recency bias there.
Jackson was back at Wembley as a winner in May, bossing AFC Wimbledon to League Two play-off final glory against Walsall.
20K CROWD LOOKS LIKELY FOR FIRST CHAMPIONSHIP HOME MATCH
Who is excited about Charlton’s Championship opener against Watford?
Well, quite a lot of people.
The Addicks announced on Tuesday that the fixture will have their largest attendance for their first home game of the season in “at least 16 years”.
They added that ticket sales were nearly treble the amount they were at the same stage of the process for the curtain-raiser against Leyton Orient at the start of the previous campaign. That fixture had an attendance of 15,126.
Charlton’s biggest crowd last season was 25,722 for the play-off semi-final first leg against Wycombe Wanderers. They had three other attendances more than 20k - Wrexham (24,692), Burton Albion (20,971) and Northampton Town (20,198). It shows with those last two matches, not against fashionable clubs but at the business end of the football calendar, that opposition alone will not dictate impressive numbers.
Charlton’s last Championship home opener was a 3-1 win over Stoke City on August 10, 2019 with an attendance of 17,848.
There was a gate of 19,469 for the 2-0 victory against QPR in SE7 in August 2015, that second tier season ended in relegation despite the Addicks winning four of their opening six matches, including a 4-1 EFL Cup success at Peterborough.
Other home Championship matches had the following figures:
2014-15 Wigan Athletic 2-1 win 15,334
2013-14 Middlesbrough 0-1 loss 14,882
2012-13 Leicester City 2-1 win 16,658
2008-09 Swansea City 2-0 win 21,675
2007-08 Scunthorpe United 1-1 draw 23,151
KENNEY MAKES WSL2 MOVE
Charlton Athletic Women have confirmed the departure of assistant manager Riteesh Mishra, ending a 10-year association.
He had a lengthy spell in charge of the Addicks, including winning a promotion to the newly-formed Championship in 2018.
Mishra initially joined the Addicks in 2014 as the U16s coach. He took on the reserve team role before stepping up to first-team boss in 2016.
Mishra (pictured below) stayed on the coaching staff after Charlton appointed Karen Hills as their manager in March 2021.
Picture: Keith Gillard
He said: “It’s hard to put into words what this club has meant to me. I’ve had the privilege of working across boys’, girls’ and women’s programmes, and I’ve been so lucky to share the journey with some incredible people.
”I’m really proud of the work we’ve done together and to have consistently performed beyond the odds."
Charlton have signed Gillian Kenney, who had been plying her trade Stateside for South Shore Select.
The midfielder, 22, said: “I’m really looking forward to being in a new environment and having the opportunity to play here. I'm over the moon.
“My goals are to make an impact as a brand new player, develop a good relationship with the team, and overall just try to do my best."
Kenney was raised in Hanover, Massachusetts.
Other additions this week include goalkeeper Anna Pederson from Rugby Borough and midfielder Lucky Fitzgerald from London City Lionesses.
SAM’S THE MAN FOR MARINERS
Centre-back Sam Lavelle has signed for League Two club Grimsby Town after being released by Carlisle United at the end of last season.
The 28-year-old had two seasons with Charlton Athletic in League One, between 2021 and 2023, and made 41 appearances.
Lavelle has landed a deal with Grimsby until the summer of 2027.
Mariners boss Dave Artell said: "Sam is an experienced defender who will provide strong competition for the lads.
"He's been promoted out of this division before with Morecambe and has played in the league above, so we are really pleased he's chosen to join us.
"We welcome him to the club and can't wait to start working with him.”
Interesting attendances there. Also with the Lavelle bit at the end feels like we had him ages ago and that we've finally put the League One chapter behind us.
Interesting article as always Rich , keep up the good work 👏