Football Season Review

After making the play-offs but failing to win promotion last time around, Charlton did one better this time and managed to return to the second tier. The Addicks did not do so without bumps on the road. They started the season well enough, with summer signing Lyle Taylor maintaining the superb scoring form he was showing for former club Wimbledon and with Karlan Grant enjoying a breakthrough season. However, Charlton were unable to keep hold of the latter, who left midway through the campaign, and it seemed that his departure would cost them a shot at promotion, as they struggled for a few weeks following his departure. Added to that, the Addicks had quite a few injury problems to contend with, but Lee Bowyer got them to start playing a more pragmatic brand of football and they not only consolidated their position in the play-off race but also ended up pushing for direct promotion, but narrowly missed out. They beat Doncaster on penalties in their play-off semi final in order to reach Wembley, where they came from behind and scored a last-gasp winner to beat Sunderland. Bowyer was heavily linked with the managerial position at QPR midway through the second half of the season, but stayed at the club to oversee promotion. He has managed to do so despite a consistent lack of proper investment in transfers and the big question surrounding the Addicks over the summer is if they will have a change of ownership. The fans are not happy with the current owners, but there seems to be a decent chance that change is on the horizon.

Player of the Season: Lyle Taylor