Second bid for Irons raises issues for Charlton

A second bid has now been made for West Ham football club by Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili who owns Dynamo Tiblisi. This follows the earlier bid by Iranian born businessman Kia Joorabchian, although he has links with the Georgian through the Corinthians club in Brazil.

What's the Charlton relevance? Well, West Ham has been a family owned club. Attempts by international financiers to take it over means that investors are looking beyond the top Premiership clubs for less well established clubs with potential. West Ham has a number of assets such as its stadium and training ground, but so does Charlton. It is perhaps a measure of the gap that has opened up between the two clubs that it is the Irons who are attracting investment interest.

How would Charlton fans feel about a similar takeover at The Valley? That would in part depend on the identity of the bidder. However, such a bid would release funds that would enable the club to buy players of the calibre that could make it a real competitor for Europe. Against that, fans might feel that the character of the club had changed.

What is clear is that the financial basis of Premiership football is going through another period of change. Perhaps the best outcome at Charlton would be for more outside investors to be brought in, as has been happening on a smaller scale, but for control to remain in large part with the existing board.