Charlton Athletic has confirmed that Paul Elliott will become the club’s new owner and chairman, replacing Tahnoon Nimer and Matthew Southall, following a consortium takeover of East Street Investments (ESI).
ESI purchased the EFL Championship side from Roland Duchatelet in January, however, documented boardroom in-fighting between Nimer and Southall over the proposed investment created a tumultuous atmosphere around the club.
Following the consortium’s takeover of ESI both Nimer and Southall will not be involved with the football club any further.
Elliott stated: “On behalf of the consortium I am delighted to have been given this opportunity to take ownership of Charlton Athletic. I recognise this club means so much to its fans and I will take the responsibility very seriously.
“I will be looking to ensure the stability of the club moving forward so we can look to put behind us the recent boardroom events and concentrate on building a unified boardroom and a unified football club.
“I know that this club has passionate fans and we will need every bit of that passion, together with determination and hard work of everyone at the club as we restart this season. Our immediate focus will be on getting behind the team and the manager and giving ourselves the best opportunity of staying in the Championship.”
Charlton has been in contact with the EFL to officially begin the process of finalising the change of control, which includes taking the organisation’s owners’ and directors’ test.
Departing owner Nimer issued the following statement: “I have made the difficult decision, having received advice and listening to fans’ wishes, to hand the club over to a consortium that will have sufficient time and be in a position to take the club forward and I would like to reassure you all that I have, at all times, sought to do all that is right for our club and its fans.
“I have made the decision to ensure the club is in the best position to move forward and re-establish itself into football’s elite.”
The championship side currently sits 22nd in the table, two points off safety, and are set to face Hull City when England’s second-tier resumes its campaign on 20 June.
