NATHAN Jones said he always wanted to return to Charlton Athletic after he “fell in love with the club” more than a decade ago.
Since he joined in February 2024, Jones has taken the Addicks from nineteenth in League One into the play-offs.
Charlton secured fourth place with their 3-1 win against Burton Albion in front of an attendance of 20,971 at The Valley on Saturday.
Charlton fell behind in the thirteenth minute when former Millwall attacker Mason Bennett scored a penalty after Fabio Tavares had been brought down by goalkeeper Ashley Maynard-Brewer.
Matty Godden equalised in the 24th minute and then added his 21st league goal of the season ten minutes later.
Alex Mitchell headed in Conor Coventry’s in-swinging corner in the 51st minute and it was almost a dream debut for Ibrahim Fullah only for the right post to deny him from Karoy Anderson’s cutback.
Jones joined Charlton for the first time as their under-21 professional development coach and spent the 2012-13 season at The Valley.
Jones went on to manage Luton Town twice either side of a spell at Stoke City. He was a surprise appointment at Premier League Southampton in November 2022 but only lasted fourteen games, winning five and losing nine, before being sacked in February 2023.
Jones quipped about his departure from the Saints as he addressed the crowd at The Valley ahead of the play-off semi-final against Wycombe Wanderers.
“I came here in 2012 to get better,” Jones said. I fell in love with the area, fell in love with the club, fell in love with the people.
“And I always wanted to come back. I knew in my heart I wanted to come back. Then I was given an opportunity to come back. I’d like to say I didn’t think twice, but I did. I’d just come from a place where they basically didn’t want me.”
That prompted “awws” from the fans, to which Jones responded: “I wouldn’t worry, it was a decent financial move!”
Jones added: “Then I spoke to people at the club and thought, ‘yeah, we can build something’.
“Now, we haven’t changed anything yet, but what we’ve done is we always want to lay foundations…we want to build something, build something special. It’s a wonderful club. We’ve started to lay foundations.
“It’s been a tough year, we’ve had some spells when we’ve come under the cosh a bit. But what I said was you’re going to have a group that you can be proud of, a group that works hard, a group that loves playing for Charlton – a group that every single day wants to get better.
“The group has been outstanding this year and we’re at a point now where we can achieve something.
“I want to thank the people that brought me here, the staff, they work tirelessly, the players for being truly, truly outstanding.
“I’d also like to thank my family who have to suffer and go through stuff for me to do the job that I do. They have to sacrifice so that I can be this version of myself.
“Finally, I’d like to thank you lot [the fans] – you’ve been outstanding.”
