Ex-Sunderland figure Charlie Methven set for surprise Jamaica move after recent Charlton Athletic exit
The former Sunderland figure looks set to move onto another venture aboard after his recent exit from Charlton Athletic
Ex-Sunderland figure Charlie Methven is reportedly set to make a shock move to Jamaica after leaving his role at Charlton Athletic earlier this month.
The former Sunderland co-owner had been Charlton’s chief executive officer for some time after leaving Sunderland. However, it was announced earlier this month that Methven had departed the League One club, who are managed by Nathan Jones.
Methven took a minority stake in Sunderland alongside his Madrox partners Stewart Donald and Juan Sartori in 2018 after the consortium bought the club from Ellis Short after the club’s double relegation from the Premier League to League One.
Methven’s antics on Wearside have become immortalised in the Netflix documentary Sunderland ‘Til I Die, and the businessman was also forced to apologise to supporters while at Sunderland after suggesting that people in the south had a better understanding of business after supporters questioned a £9million loan made to Madrox by the group FPP.
Methven also sparked fury by criticising fans after the League One play-off final loss to Charlton Athletic. In June 2023, the Addicks announced that SE7 Partners, comprising Methven and Edward Warrick, had agreed to a takeover of Charlton, and the deal was ratified by the EFL shortly after.
However, Methven is now reportedly set to run Mount Pleasant, Charlton’s partner academy club in Jamaica, and also an associated sports investment fund based in the United States after his departure from his role at the Valle earlier this month.
“It was never originally meant to be the case that I was going to become chief executive of Charlton,” the former Sunderland co-owner told the South London Press after his departure. “It had to happen for a reason and a year on, I think we’re all happy that the club is in a good place. Not just at first-team level but at other levels as well, both commercially and in terms of the women’s team, the academy and U21s. People are happy.
“It is the right time for me to move on for a new chapter in my career and particularly in terms of giving the board and ownership time now to select a chief executive who can be in place before the crucial summer. There are going to be a whole bunch of announcements that come out in the next few weeks, which is stuff we’ve been working on throughout this season and is positive on the commercial side.
“But, at the same time, the main thing that starts to happen from April onwards is the careful preparation for the summer transfer window, on the one hand, but also the cap X (capital expenditure) projects.
“Rather than leaving in May and everyone looking around saying: ‘Okay, who is in charge?’ then it is right I make this announcement now and give the board and ownership the time to appoint the right replacement, which I’m confident they will do.
“There is already a lot of great leadership in the organisation. I’d like to put on record what a huge pleasure it has been working with Nathan Jones. He is an exceptional leader. He is a project manager. He is a manager you employ knowing this is going to be a medium-term game.
“And now that Charlton has got through what is often for project managers a sticky patch, somewhat towards the start of the process, they are now going to see just what a good manager he is. The club is going to experience what it is like to have a top, top manager. He has been an excellent colleague to me. I’m very appreciative of that – as I am of my colleagues Jim Rodwell and Ed Warrick, who I brought to the club.
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“They also provide great leadership along with the people who run the academy, Tom Pell and the performance department, Will Abbott, along with the commercial and marketing spaces. It is a strong, competitive team of leaders now and I’m really confident the club is going to go from strength to strength.”
Asked about his shareholding in Charlton, he said: “It is an ongoing conversation with my partners. This departure is not conditional on that. That is a separate conversation. I expect there probably will be some movement in that regard at some point, but it is not yet absolutely 100 per cent clear what that will be.”