Roland Duchatelet claims cost of running a Championship club is limiting buyers for Charlton Athletic
BY RICHARD CAWLEY
Charlton owner Roland Duchatelet has questioned the financial power of some of the parties interested in buying the newly-promoted Championship club.
The Belgian has been looking to sell up for two years but has been unable to complete the process.
And Duchatelet provided his own take on the situation yesterday on the club’s official website.
He wrote: “I have been trying to sell the club for nearly two years now. Many English football clubs are for sale and many of those have been for a long time. The main reason is that nearly all Championship club owners face huge yearly losses. It is unclear how long this can continue, with clubs losing tens of millions of pounds each year. It has become unaffordable for nearly anyone to own a football club in the Championship meaning it is not easy to find a suitable buyer.
“Following the [League One play-off final] win, I was filled with hope as one of the parties interested in buying the club wanted to move forward quickly to complete the purchase of the club. They want to solve the issue of the ex-directors loans first, which I can understand but may take time. In this respect I would like to thank Richard Murray, Sir Maurice Hatter, David White and David Hughes for their cooperation during this process.
“The delay is frustrating, because the fact Charlton are now back in the Championship should increase our chances of being sold and now, with the summer transfer window opening, is the right time to acquire a club.
“I want to bring the yearly losses to a more reasonable level. Operating on a small budget will limit our chances of promotion to the Premier League, which are already obstructed by the large, unsustainable, overspending by some other clubs in the division. Does it mean we have no chance? No.
“Does it mean we will be relegated? Not at all. We have good players, good staff and the fans seem to be united behind the team again.
“Nevertheless, it is unlikely we will win as many games as we did in League One, where we had one of the largest wage budgets and we will need everyone behind the team as you were this season.
“Once again there have been some brilliant players to come through our academy this season and we will continue to bring players through next year. Our staff have already begun preparations for additions to our squad for next season and we have some good players at the club already as we look to build on last season.”
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This bloke is so deluded it’s unreal. Bowyer has done an incredible job and sadly this probably reinforces in Dutchatelets head that you don’t have to spend to compete. He has zero knowledge or interest in results (he himself said it is 2% of his business interests). The reason we have not been sold is his totally unrealistic pricing of the club which he will clearly have upped due to promotion. I predict relegation unless by some miracle he sells. That’s IF Bowyer signs – which after the way he has been treated is debatable.
Ditto, hopefully Roland gets banned from ever owning a football club. He has absolutely no interest in the clubs, their history or fans. He buries his head, blames anyone and everyone and takes no personal responsibility himself. He’s an absolute melt!!
The sooner he wakes up, puts a sensible asking price on the table and moves on, the sooner CAFC can hopefully have an owner /owners who invest in the club and allow it to progress.
Very true, R Murray should go with him