Brentford, Barnsley moment in 2020 must still haunt Charlton Athletic

The 2024/25 campaign is Charlton Athletic’s fifth consecutive season in the third tier of English football, making their relegation from the Championship on the final day in 2020 even more regrettable.

Charlton Athletic made an excellent start to the 2019/20 Championship campaign, with victories over Blackburn Rovers, Stoke City and Brentford contributing to a six-game unbeaten run at the beginning of the season.

West Ham United midfielder Josh Cullen had returned to the club on loan having played a key role in the Addicks’ promotion the previous season, striker Lyle Taylor hit the ground running with five goals in the first month of the campaign, and youngster Conor Gallagher made an instant impact after his temporary move to The Valley from Chelsea.

A 16-year-old Jude Bellingham scored the winner for Birmingham City at The Valley to condemn Charlton to their first defeat since returning to the second tier, before the Addicks would go on to win just twice in the next 16 games, leaving their promising start as a distant memory, particularly when Brentford failed to avoid defeat against Barnsley on the final day.

Charlton Athletic’s 2019/20 campaign went downhill

A few factors contributed to Charlton’s season ending in relegation, most of which were out of their control.

First, on-loan West Bromwich Albion striker Jonathan Leko was ruled out for the season after suffering an ACL injury during a 2-2 draw against Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road in December, before Gallagher was recalled by Chelsea in January and sent out on loan to divisional rivals Swansea City instead.

The Addicks were then placed under a transfer embargo during the January transfer window amid an attempted takeover of the club, meaning that boss Lee Bowyer could not adequately strengthen his squad ahead of the relegation battle that was to come.

After 37 matches, Charlton dropped into the relegation zone for the first time in the 2019/20 campaign, just before the season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Fortunately, the season resumed, and victory over Hull City immediately lifted the Addicks back out of the bottom three.

However, top-scorer Taylor had decided that he would not play for Charlton following the break because he did not want to risk getting injured, with Bowyer stating that the Montserrat international was in line for a “life-changing move” at the end of the season.

Charlton Athletic were relegated in the final moments of the season

Despite a run of six games without a win, Charlton’s fate was still in their own hands when they travelled to face champions Leeds United at Elland Road on the final day of the season, meaning that the only time they had been in the bottom three across the entire campaign was during the break in the season.

Relegation rivals Barnsley were playing Brentford away from home, with the Bees still hopeful of achieving automatic promotion to the Premier League. Luton Town, Wigan Athletic, and Hull City were the three other clubs below Charlton in the table going into the final matchday.

Wigan and Hull suffered defeats which sent them down, while Luton stayed up under Nathan Jones with a victory over Blackburn.

Charlton were comprehensively beaten 4-0 by Leeds, meaning they needed a Brentford side featuring the likes of Said Benrahma, Ollie Watkins and Bryan Mbuemo to avoid defeat against Barnsley in order to preserve their Championship status. With the scoreline 1-1 at Griffin Park going into injury time, Brentford needed a goal to leapfrog West Brom and secure promotion, while Barnsley needed a goal to ensure survival.

With little to lose, the Bees went in search of a famous goal to seal promotion, before being sucker-punched by a stoppage-time winner from Clarke Oduor, sending them into the play-offs and Charlton back down to League One.

The Addicks were relegated by one point, which may well have been picked up earlier in the season had they not lost Gallagher, been put under a transfer embargo, or had Taylor refuse to play.

As they are now playing yet another season in League One, there is no doubt that their relegation in 2020 will still haunt them, particularly when you consider the relative David versus Goliath story that played out in West London.

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