Charlton Athletic and their fans will be dreaming that they can be the sixth team to achieve double promotions to the Premier League, as this incredibly difficult feat was last achieved by Ipswich Town in 2023.
There is no doubt to some fans of a certain era; they believe Charlton should be part of the Premier League, as they remember clubs travelling to south London to face the Addicks.
Nathan Jones has brought new life to the club after they struggled in recent seasons as they played eight of the last nine in League One.
While there will not be many expecting a promotion charge this season from Charlton, they will be happy with consolidating their place in the Championship, but Jones is an ambitious manager and would love to join that illustrious list.
The Addicks have not featured in the top flight of English football for 18 years, so EFL Analysis has had a look at the journey since then to see how far the club has fallen and why the future could and should be bright for Charlton.
Charlton Athletic lost their top-flight status in 2007
It has now been 18 years since Charlton Athletic were in the top flight of English football. The club were relegated in the 2006/07 campaign.
The Addicks finished in 19th place in the Premier League that season, with 34 points from 38 games. Frustratingly, they were just four points away from safety.
Iain Dowie Announced As New Charlton Manager
Photo by Phil Cole/Getty Images
Their relegation brought to an end their seven-year stay in the Premier League, as the club were struggling for stability as they had three managers across the season.
Ian Dowie came in to replace Alan Curbishley, who had been in charge of the club for 10 years, but the Northern Irish manager would struggle and would be gone in November, being replaced by Les Reed.
Reed also struggled at the club and would not last the rest of the season, as he was replaced by Alan Pardew in December, and he would be unable to turn things around, seeing the club relegated.
Darren Bent for Charlton Athletic against Blackburn Rovers in the Premier League
Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
The start of the season, where the club lost six of their opening seven league games, was detrimental to the campaign, giving them an uphill battle to maintain their Premier League status right from the off.
While their squad was not full of star players, there was enough quality that the side should have remained in the league with exciting talents in Darren Bent, Alex Song and Scott Carson, while also having seasoned campaigners in Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Darren Ambrose.
It was a dismal campaign, in truth. Charlton would only manage eight wins across the campaign, the same amount of wins as Fulham, who finished 16th; however, the fact they lost 20 matches cost them their status.
Jimmy Floyd Hasslebaink of Charlton Athletic against Chelsea in Premier League action
Photo by Paul Mcfegan/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty Images
Fans will have been disappointed as their former manager Curbishley took the helm of West Ham in December while they got Pardew.
While Pardew did a fine job at the club, unable to save the Addicks ultimately, the results of their former boss at the Hammers saw him save West Ham on the final day with a famous victory over Manchester United, as he guided them to seven wins in their final nine matches.
Charlton comfortably finished mid-table the season prior, but in 2007 the club were relegated ahead of their match in Gameweek 37 after a loss to Blackburn Rovers the week before, bringing the curtain down on a disappointing campaign.
Excitement around Nathan Jones’ Charlton Athletic
This period under Curbishley was one of the best for Charlton Athletic, and the club may be thinking about what could have been by looking at the recent success of London rivals Crystal Palace.
However, with their promotion back to the Championship under Jones, there is a new belief that they can start to build towards a new future.
Jones was crucial to building Luton Town towards their unlikely promotion to the Premier League, and there may be a hope that his approach can help the Addicks do the same.
The club are not traditional giants of English football, with their only trophy being the 1947 FA Cup, but their period in the Premier League across the 2000s demonstrated they could compete, with The Valley becoming a stadium many football fans associate with the Barclays era of the English top flight.
While fans will be realistic about their chances of promotion this season, who is to say that fans shouldn’t dream about a return to the Premier League?