Directors buy shares

It is always said to be a sign that a business is going well when the directors buy additional shares and five Charlton directors spent £92,000 on Friday on building up their stake in the club. Richard Murray made the biggest purchase, over 55,000. Deputy chairman Bob Whitehand bought 16,600; Derek Chappell, 16,400; David Sumners, 8,100; and Gideon Franklin, 6,100.

Richard Murray currently owns nearly a quarter of the club (although additional shares are, I recall, held by family trusts and other family members) and a great job he has done. Bob Whitehand and Derek Chappell each have holdings of just over ten per cent, with David Sumners holding just over five per cent and Gideon Franklin just over three per cent.

This blog is putting its money where its mouth is by sponsoring the match ball for the game against Orient. Negative comments continue to made about Charlton's prospects with Radio 5 selecting it as the most likely upset. Charlton fans keep going on about our 'record', but we have actually beaten the two League 2 teams we have faced in the Cup in recent years (Rochdale and Exeter). In Exeter's case, even their secret weapon of Miss Exeter (meant to depicting some kind of goddess) made no difference.