No fairytale playing finish for former Charlton Athletic midfielder Darren Pratley

Veteran backing Addicks to stay up in Championship but pained by his omission from League One play-off final showpiece

“Football ain’t fairytales, is it?”

Darren Pratley is talking about his finale to last season - but it also applies to the last match of a football career that spanned 22 seasons as a professional.

While Wembley did have a happy ending for Charlton Athletic’s players, staff and supporters on May 25, the 40-year-old cannot hide his disappointment at how it worked out from his perspective.

Not only did his Leyton Orient side lose 1-0, Macaulay Gillesphey’s first-half free-kick sealing a Championship return for the Addicks, but Pratley also failed to even make Richie Wellens’ match day squad. The former Charlton Athletic midfielder was left suited and booted in the stands.

Pratley featured 43 times in all competitions last season for the O’s, 21 of those League One starts, but his last action came in a 1-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers on April 26.

“I was gutted not to play in the last three matches,” Pratley, who has has made 731 senior appearances, told South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition.

“I’d played a big part during the season to help the club get to the play-offs. I was left out of the first leg against Stockport and for the second leg, being honest with you, I was carrying a little bit of a back injury and it was going towards my chest. They wanted me to be on the bench for that one but because I was struggling they decided not to.

“For the final I didn’t find out that I wasn’t going to be in the squad until I was in the changing room, an hour-and-a-half before kick off.