Charlton Athletic: Keeping up with the Joneses
Under The Spotlight: Matt Watts shines a light on Charlton and how they're managing to keep pace with their more widely-admired Championship counterparts
Welcome to Under The Spotlight, a written spin-off of our Under The Lights podcast, helmed by Matt Watts. This column is for shining a big EFL floodlight on the stories that deserve more than just a 30-second clip on Twitter.
One of the themes of this summer’s EFL rhetoric was the excitement surrounding the teams who had been promoted from League One to the Championship.
On the one hand, you had Chris Davies’ Birmingham City: Wagner and Brady’s Blues, title-winners, record-breakers and documentary-makers, who have reportedly spent just shy of £50m on transfer fees over the past couple of seasons.
On the other hand, you had Phil Parkinson’s Wrexham: Rob and Ryan’s Reds, back-to-back-to-back promotion-winners and documentary-makers, who have reportedly spent just shy of £40m on transfer fees over the past couple of seasons.
Hang on, that’s only two. Who are we missing?
Oh yes, Charlton. Nathan Jones’ Charlton. Even with the odd manic soundbite and extravagant celebration from their manager, Charlton are the lesser-mentioned, unobtrusive play-off winners whose owners keep a very low profile and, no, they don’t have their own documentary series.
The three newly-promoted teams currently sit 9th, 11th and 13th in the Championship. Despite the differences in financial outlay, pre-season hype and outside expectations, it’s Charlton who hold a slender advantage over their more revered counterparts. So, with a third of the season gone, how are Nathan’s Addicks not just keeping up with the Joneses but moving slightly ahead of them?
Recruitment
Charlton’s summer recruitment was logical, targeted and a good example of joined-up thinking with regards to squad-building.
Their 11 new signings can be sorted into three categories: those who have played for Nathan Jones at a previous club; those who played in League One last season; and those who’ve made 100+ appearances in the Championship. Three players – Amari’i Bell, Reece Burke and James Bree – fit into two of those categories, and five of the Addicks’ first XI (based on minutes played this season) are summer arrivals.
The signing of Sonny Carey on a free transfer from Blackpool appears to be one of the best bits of business done by a Championship club this summer. The 24-year-old ball-carrying midfielder has benefited from the license to get forward that comes with playing alongside the likes of Conor Coventry and Greg Docherty, and he has five league goals to his name already.
Southampton loanee James Bree, who played under Jones for Saints as well as Luton, has been a revelation in the role of right-sided wing-back, contributing two goals and three assists in less than 850 minutes.
Home form
The Valley has been a fortress for Charlton in 2025. Prior to their promotion, Charlton won ten and drew two of their 12 regular-season home games in League One this calendar year – not including their crucial 1-0 win at home to Wycombe in the second leg of their play-off semi-final.
This season, they’ve taken 14 points from their first seven home games, keeping three clean sheets and conceding only four goals. Zeroes and ones. In fact, Leicester are the only team to beat Charlton in a league game at The Valley in 2025, and that loss can be explained away in three words: Prime Abdul Fatawu. Of the other teams who have been ever-present in the EFL in 2025, only Birmingham can match Charlton’s record of one home league defeat this year.
Defensive solidity
Charlton are a tough nut to crack, especially at home. Only Stoke have conceded fewer goals in the Championship this season and only Coventry have kept more clean sheets. Why are they so hard to break down?
Well, Charlton tend to sit deep and get plenty of bodies between the opponents and their goal. They are organised and defend their box very well. Jones’ side boast the joint-lowest xG per shot faced (0.09) and second-lowest percentage of opposition shots in their box (55.40%). Charlton also rank third for blocks (80) and fifth for clearances (493) in the Championship. The South London club have also made just five errors leading to an opposition shot, a stat that only Blackburn (2) can beat.
In individual terms, Lloyd Jones has made the most interceptions (27) and the most clearances (146) in the second tier in 25/26. The 30-year-old centre-back also ranks third for aerial duels won (105). Although the shape and the personnel around him may change, Jones is the constant.
It’s also worth noting that 10 of Charlton’s 15 league games to date have been level at half-time and they’ve been behind at the break only once. Remarkably, Nathan Jones’ side are yet to concede in the final half an hour of the first half.
Set pieces
Like them or loathe them, set pieces have never been more important (see the first three months of the Premier League season) and they are a crucial part of Charlton’s attack. Half of the Addicks’ Championship goals this season have come from set pieces – 8 of their 16. In a shock to absolutely no one, Coventry (14) can better this tally, but no other team can.
At the other end, Charlton have conceded two goals from set pieces and only Leicester (0) have conceded fewer. With Lloyd Jones and Macaulay Gillesphey in his line-up, Jones has two players very capable of winning first contacts in both boxes.
Tactical tweaks and substitutions
While Charlton’s principles remain the same – high-intensity, direct, counter-attacking football – Jones is willing to change their shape and tweak their tactics, between games and during games, in order to nullify the opponents’ strengths and expose their weaknesses.
Charlton have a number of players who can operate as a right- or left-sided centre back and a right or left full-back/wing-back, so they can seamlessly switch between operating with a back three or a back four. The Welshman’s use of his bench has also been vital to Charlton’s success. Five of the Addicks’ 16 goals this season have been scored by substitutes; most notably, Harvey Knibbs’ winner against Watford, Tanto Olaofe’s winner against Sheffield United and Luke Berry’s equaliser against Hull, all of which came in the 90th minute or later. Olaofe and Knibbs have each started just two league games in 2025/26, but they have made 11 and 12 appearances respectively as substitutes.
The physical prowess of Charlton’s attack allows the ‘finishers’ to come on, raise the intensity even further and potentially exploit tiring defences. Again, just like having the personnel that allows them to switch between a back three and a back four, this is by design and a result of excellent squad-building.
Total buy-in
The final and perhaps most important point. Given his affinity with Charlton and what he has achieved to date, Nathan Jones has buy-in from the owners, the staff, the players and the supporters. He had it at Luton, but he didn’t have it at Stoke and he certainly didn’t have it at Southampton.
There’s no getting away from it: the Welshman is one of the EFL’s more interesting characters. If you look up ‘intensity’ in the dictionary, you will see a picture of Nathan Jones. From the things that he says to the things that he does, Jones will divide opinion. But even his harshest critics can’t deny that when he has every aspect of a football club dancing to his tune, they are successful.
God so many of these stats and hallmarks went out the window against Southampton.