Charlton Athletic return to the Championship next season.placeholder image
Charlton Athletic return to the Championship next season. | Getty Images
Millwall and Charlton Athletic feature in your Wednesday morning Championship round-up.
Nathan Jones led the Addicks to victory in the play-off final over London rivals Leyton Orient and the club returns to the second tier for the first time since 2020. Charlton Athletic are expected to invest in new first team players to consolidate their place in the division next term but there also appear to be changes coming to the stadium.
The Greenwich Wire carries reports that Charlton Athletic have plans to install ‘giant solar panels’ on two stands at The Valley. Plans have been lodged with Greenwich Council just a week after the club signed a deal to have a new floodlight system installed.
Charlton Athletic to install The Valley solar panels
The two arrays of solar panels are set to run the length of the West Stand and the Alan Curbishley Stand. Both of those stands were built in the 1990s when the club returned to The Valley. The stadium has been home to the Addicks since 1919 with two periods of absence between 1923-1924 and 1985-1992.
The solar panels are expected to generate up to 651 kilowatts a day, which is said to make then 160 times more powerful than a typical home installation. The club would use as much of the power as they can and anything not needed would be sent to the National Grid.
Jones has been outspoken about his ambition to move the club forwards during his tenure at the London outfit. After the play-off final win, he said: “Absolutely. I didn’t drop to League One to become a League One manager, I dropped to League One to manage Charlton and I believe with a fair wind, God’s will and a hell of a lot of work we can start to build something.
“We’ve had a really meteoric rise from 19th in League One to getting promoted but first and foremost we had to finish 4th in the league. That took an extra 31 points from what we had last year, 10 wins and a draw, that’s a big shift in terms of everything with clean sheets and the structure we built. We’ve earned the right now to be a Championship football club. Now the work starts tenfold because we go into an unforgiving environment. We land on a different planet and we have to be competitive.”
Millwall agree Chelsea transfer deal
Meanwhile, The Express reports that Millwall have agreed a deal in principle with Chelsea over the transfer of Zak Sturge. That move was said to be in advanced stages last week and is now thought to just be waiting on paperwork and the completion of a medical.
The 21-year-old spent the back end of last season on loan at The Den from Chelsea, making five appearances and starting the final three fixtures of the campaign as the Lions hunted a play-off spot. Sturge would be out of contract and available on a free transfer next summer but Millwall are keen to add the player to their squad now.
Sturge was praised by Millwall head coach Neil when making his debut. Neil told Southwark News: "He did well. There were just a couple of times, obviously he’s really eager, he sort of pops that ball and runs beyond it before we secured it. So a couple of little bits to improve on.
"I thought he was competitive in the air. I thought you could see he’s athletic, handles the ball well. There’s nothing better when you’re a young lad that’s come in, got on the pitch and your team wins 1-0 right at the death so he’ll be delighted with that."
Sturge has never made an appearance for Chelsea and is a former England under-18 international. He spent the first half of the 2023/24 season on loan at Peterborough United before being recalled by Chelsea in the January having made just five appearances.
In other news, QPR and Preston North End dealt transfer boost as Charlton Athletic target 'desperate' for move.
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