Charlton manager Dean Holden hopes the excitement generated by Alfie May’s recent capture from Cheltenham Town is a sign of things to come at The Valley.
Gravesend-born May returned to the area last week when he penned a two-year deal following a prolific spell with League One rivals Cheltenham Town last year which saw him bag 22 goals.
The Addicks have also added keeper Harry Isted and defender Lloyd Jones to their ranks ahead of the opening game of the new season against Leyton Orient on August 5.
Holden has already promised one fan who spotted May at the club’s training ground before his official unveiling a pint after the Os game for keeping quiet ahead of the announcement.
And now the boss wants to build on the momentum created by the signing, adding last season’s League Cup exploits and trip to Old Trafford demonstrates the potential of the club.
Holden told charltonafc.com: “Very early in my tenure we had the Man Utd cup game, which obviously everybody was all over.
“It was a brilliant sort of couple of weeks leading up to the game and the event itself.
“If we are being fair looking back, even though I’ve not been at the club that long, there’s not been enough of that in the last couple of years, probably since the semi-final win against Doncaster and the play-off win against Sunderland, which I was at.
“Maybe since then there has not been that buzz around and I certainly felt that.
“Me and Alfie were having all the photos taken when he got here and all the academy parents were here arriving for academy training.
“Alfie said it is a hive of activity for an evening and there was loads of people about.
“One of the fans I’ve got to know shouted over the fence and I thought if he has got the picture here they are going to break it early, so I agreed to buy him a drink after the first game against Leyton Orient if he kept it quiet, which I think he did.
“But the fans should be rightly excited, not just from Alfie May but we’ve obviously made two other really strong additions in Harry and Lloyd.”
