Fantastic news for all Charlton supporters this morning as they awoke to find the breaking story that Roland Duchatelet has finally managed to complete a sale of Charlton Athletic Football Club. The fine details have yet to be seen but it looks very much like he has gone, lock, stock and barrel. It will be great to get confirmation that he has no further interest in the club, the Valley or Sparrow's Lane.
That in itself would be cause for celebration but the new owners from Abu Dhabi look to be serious investors. They have bought the club in the name of East Street Investments which points to the origins of the club and the statement they have released on the Official Site (it could still be down given massive traffic levels) has been very carefully worded and is pretty much perfect. It talks about their ownership as custodians and of the importance of the supporters. It says Lee Bowyer will be retained and that they plan to invest. We really couldn't ask for any more at this stage.
The statement is from Matt Southall, the new Chairman and it looks like the new owner is connected to, if not part of one of the ruling families in Abu Dhabi, and may well be the brother of the owner at Manchester City. If this proves to be the case, the whole deal could be huge for the history of Charlton Athletic but we shouldn't dwell too much on that for now, merely celebrating to riddance of Duchatelet is enough for now.
I am off to the ground to pay for my first tickets since the end of the 2015-16 season and half-seasons will follow.
