I now have full recording after latest showing.

Studio: "The fall-out continues from Charlton'e decision to drop their ladies' team. Former players are disappointed with the decision, while the England coach fears the image of the sport has been tarnished".

Reporter (Dharmeth Sheth) : "England women are preparing to take on the world in September, but thoughts are still on the demise on one of England's top teams. When Charlton men were relegated, financial cut-backs meant that Charlton's ladies were sacrificed, a decision made all the more frustrating for former players like Casey Stoney, who watched on while the club got big money for their prized asset."

Casey: "£15m they got for Daren Bent and also the parachute payment they get within the first year. Our budget is a drop in the ocean compared to that money, so, yes it's disappointing, but to us as individuals we've had to move on."

Reporter: "Charlton ladies reached the Cup final and reached 3rd in the league last season. England coach Hope Powell says recent events have damaged the image of the game in this country."

Hope: "When a club the stature of Charlton, they disband, it can't do the game any good, but from it we have to find some positives from it, and how we're going to rectify and make things better so it doesn't happen again in the future, so that's what we're going to do be looking at."

Reporter: "One of the options is to make the switch to a summer season, to attract more investors and avoid clashing with the men."

Eni Aluko: "Independent sponsorship would be a good start just so the dependency level is decreasing and independency is increased."

Reporter: " The positive for Eni Aluko and Stoney is they've already been snapped up by Chelsea, and Charlton say a last ditch rescue packagefrom a potential sponsor could yet save the ladies' team."

Any mistakes, typos etc are mine

Just read this. sorry for the delayed reaction, and I'm in shock to a degree. Charlton for me even more so than Everton, have always been the team that have looked to challenge Arsenal at the top even if they received a bit of a spanking from them last season.

Is this definetly confirmed?

SO what happens to their players? Are they just free agents now?

(Apologies if these questions have already been answered in this thread i haven't read it all as of yet.

I believe the ladies are now free agents as you called them,
simply because they were thrown away from the club and left on their own.

Two of their best players - Casey Stoney & Eniola Aluko
have already signed with Chelsea FC (bravo Chelsea for being quick
and taking the opportunity!), I'm sure a few others
will find clubs for themselves as well.

I don't know what happens to the reast of them and the staff.
I guess they are simply unemployed now.

Agent you mentioned staff.

What about Keith Boanas?! He did so much for that club! I wonder if he will carry on his career at another club

So he's in the same boat as the rest.

Some progress announced today on Charlton Ladies website. The Academy has been funded for 3 years through a variety of sponsors which is great BUT no support yet for the first team or whatever is left of it. They say they are still trying but that they are running out of time - the article ends with an appeal for any potential sponsors to phone the club! Doesn't sound hopeful for the Premier League team.

From fgmag.com

Despite months of uncertainty concerning their future existence and with many players now moved on to other clubs, it has been confirmed that Charlton will after all compete in the FA Tescon Women's Premier League this season.

Efforts to acquire the vital sponsorship for the team to continue, finally proved a success and the club has today confirmed that the Addicks' female set-up - incorporating the women's first team, Academy and the Centre of Excellence - are to reopen under the umbrella and management of the Charlton Community Trust.

Charlton have been given special dispensation, along with those clubs whose players are away with England at the World Cup in China, to delay their first league fixture until late September, and training will begin at the end of August.

Trust chief executive Steve Waggott, told cafc.co.uk: "This is the culmination of two months of hard work and negotiation by a number of people, both at the football club and within the trust.

"We concluded negotiations with the GMB union and Centre Circle Management Limited this week to provide the finance necessary to re-establish the women's first team. Our first home match will be at home to Everton on Sunday, September 23rd."

"While this is a tremendous boost to all those involved in the women's game at Charlton, there is an awful lot of hard work now to be done to enable us to field teams at all levels, and we will need the support of an awful lot of people.

"Training will commence next Tuesday, August 28th at 8pm at Sparrows Lane under the watchful eye of community coach and former player Paul Mortimer.


good news, apart from most of the squad have left.

Good news for those who've stayed
but Charlton will now go way down the table
and maybe to the lower league next season
while Chelsea & Everton will be Arsenal's main (only?) rivals.
What was that for?

I'm so pleased that there is a Charlton women's team. I agree Agent, they will drop down the table and it won't make the league any more exciting (no that it's really edge of the seat stuff) but if they hadn't of survived then the league would be pretty crap because there wouldn't be enough teams!

But what the club should have done, was to fight for their women's team from the beginning,
not let the best players go to other clubs, and then proudly announce they're keeping the women's team.
Losers!! (those who let that happen)
Look at Charlton's trophies and history. They are facing now a similar fate as Fulham.
It's all about money. Argh! Why can't I win a lottery and buy the Premier League?!
I'd be a good boss

I agree but the players needed to move on anyway, once the news is in and the team had been dropped it's get out asap because the funding will be hard to find, everything will be on the rocks and it probably won't be a good environment to play in. Most are international players and they need to go on and find a secure club that will make them improve where they don't have in the back of their head all the time that they will be dropped again!
It is sad but time won't stand still and Charlton FC are the one's to blame they shouldn't have dropped them in the first place



Charlton's haul of trophies and their history is phenomenal though it didn't make any difference to Charlton FC, in this day and age and I was the owner of Charlton FC I wouldn't give a monkey's what the womens team had won or what they hadn't won!

It's not as if they are hauling in the money for me or making the club have a better reputation because their NOT!! All you get is the fecking little snippet on the website sayin the score and that is that. Those 3 sentences are sticking two fingers up at the women's team and saying "Yeah, that 2-0 win against Blackburn was aaammaazzzinnngg! Oh, we were jumping around in the office when the news came in."

It's not fair because every person involved in the set-up work SO hard.

Rant over...

Yeah, I too wished I won the lottery or marry someone old and rich. Wait for them to die and take all the money

You're a cruel little... *&^%&$%*


Read my lips: I just called losers those who have let Charlton Athletic Women
to become an unsecure club.
I don't blame the players to go to other clubs!

I'm simply saying it shouldn't have gone this far
so the players felt unsecure and left.
It didn't have to go this far.
Now it's too late.

Now Charlton will probably drop to the lower league
and the people at the top will say at the end of season
that they are folding the women's team (again) cos they did not do well.
It is nobody's but their own fault that this will happen.
They should have thought of securing the women's club earlier
and not let all these things happen.

It's business, right? You've got to be selfish sometimes.
It may be cruel but I would have done the same thing, you've got to keep your business going and the easiest target was the women's set-up.



Okay, I read your post incorrectly.
They are losers and they have just been shown up, big time!



Agreed.
It's a great shame for women's football, until it gets bigger then that's when clubs won't do this anymore.

Great point Justy, people do often forget that football clubs are indeed businesses and although Charlton Women have good stature among the Women's game i very much doubt it is making the club any great deal of money so as you said, it was the easiest thing to target. Be interesting to see who can take over from Charlton in the sense of a team that, along with Everton, who can get even close to Arsenal as as has already been said they are likely to now sink into mediocrity.