Charlton Athletic’s chairman has dampened speculation about the future of the club after a newspaper reported that it was up for sale.
Gavin Carter spoke out after The Guardian reported on Monday that potential investors had been sent a sales document calling the Addicks “the last remaining football club upside opportunity in London”.
The club has endured a turbulent history since the men’s side were relegated from the Premier League in 2007, but have enjoyed a calmer and more successful spell under the stewardship of Global Football Partners (GFP), which took over in 2023. The men were promoted to the Championship last year, while the women’s side will start this season in the top-tier WSL.
But it has been well-known that GFP have been looking for more investment, with reports at the end of last year that the owners were looking to sell a stake in the club, which in March announced losses of £16.7 million.
Carter told the South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition podcast that it “must have been a slow news day” and the owners still had a five-year plan for the club’s future.
“The Guardian story almost sensationalises things a little bit by using the word ‘sale’,” he said. “This is us looking at investment options for the football club. We have been doing that for the last 12 months or so. I would say there is probably increasing interest given the success we had last year, both on the men’s and women’s side.”
Carter said it was “no different than what every other Championship and Premier League football club is looking to do – to attract additional investment, particularly from a position of strength when things are going well and you are on plan”.
Asked by reporter Richard Cawley if an outright sale was a possibility, he said the owners had a duty to look at all offers. “The ownership group really enjoy owning and progressing Charlton Athletic but every asset has ultimately a price, so I wouldn’t rule that out.
“If there is someone out there that was willing to capitalise the football club to a point where they wanted control of the football club then GFP, I’m sure, would assess that. They have a fiduciary responsibility to do that.”
GFP’s members have kept a low profile since buying the club from the Danish-American businessman Thomas Sandgaard, who has since been charged with fraud relating to his business in the United States.
They are led by Gabriel Brener, the chief executive of a Los Angeles-based private investment firm and a former owner of the US soccer side Houston Dynamo, and his family, and Joshua Friedman, an American hedge fund owner, and his family.
But while both the men’s team and the women’s team have celebrated promotions, both the Championship and WSL come with heavy price tags, necessitating more investment. Carter told the podcast that “competing in the WSL is going to cost us many more millions than it did competing in WSL2”.
Charlton’s men kick off their season on Saturday with an EFL Cup match away at Cheltenham Town, before the first Championship match on August 15 at home to Derby County. The women make their WSL debut on September 6 at home to Liverpool.
The full interview with Gavin Carter is on the South London Sport: Charlton Athletic Edition podcast.
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