It’s the same old story with Charlton, get new owners, rejoice their arrival, they make bad decisions, we hate them, repeat. However, those days could be over soon as ex Charlton chief executive Peter Varney is interested in acquiring the club with British investor Andrew Barclay.
Can you get 31/31 on this Charlton player of the year quiz? I bet you can’t, but feel free to prove me wrong!
Varney’s background is a successful one at Charlton overseeing two promotions to the top flight from 1997-2008 and also served as executive vice-chairman from 2010-2012.
Andrew Barclay is the money behind this he founded online estate agent Yopa in 2014 and in that time it has become the second-largest estate agent in the county, however, he sold his share in 2018.
He has also invested in a number of technology companies and real estate, however, it has been assured by Varney that Barclay’s interest is in the sporting side fo things and not real estate with this particular project.
His grandfather Sir David Barclay is a twin brother with Sir Fredrick Barclay and together they are worth £7billion, however, Andrew is a man who does things away from his family.
Peter Varney spoke to Voice Of The Valley and here is what he had to say
“I have got to know Andrew well in recent months and I am confident he offers stability and the best future for Charlton.
“He recognises the need to get the legacy issues, including the ex-directors’ loans, off the table and sees owning The Valley and working with the fans as keys to success. His interest is sporting, not property-based, and he has the financial clout to solve the club’s problems.
”Andrew is keen to do a deal. However, we need to be able to negotiate with the current ESI majority shareholder, Tahnoon Nimer, through his lawyer, and from there with Roland Duchatelet or his representative, which so far we have been unable to do.”
It’s good that Barclay wants to sort the legacy issues, the sooner the ex-directors are paid off the better, it is always going to affect any deal that gets done with Charlton in the future and it’s been sitting there long enough.
Peter Varney was at the helm at Charlton in a truly golden era and to see those days come back would be an absolute dream, seeing as we are currently fearing for the club’s future in the dire times due to ESI’s failure to produce funds.
The good times could be coming back with Varney let’s hope everything turns out okay behind the scenes and they can start pumping money into the club.
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