Former Hatters boss appointed as manager of League One Charlton Athletic

Former Luton Town boss Nathan Jones has been appointed as the new manager of League One side Charlton Athletic.

The 50-year-old, who had two spells in charge of the Hatters, leading them from League Two to League One promotion contenders, before returning to keep the club in the Championship, has signed a long-term contract at the Valley. Jones, who represented Brighton, Yeovil and Southend in his playing days, enjoyed a successful period as the Addicks’ U21s lead coach in the 2012-13 season before becoming Brighton’s assistant head coach.

From there, he took over at the Hatters in January 2016, finishing second in League Two during his second full season in charge, leading Town to a title challenge in the third tier before controversially moving to Stoke City in January 2019. He was sacked after just 10 months by the Potters, coming back to Kenilworth Road in May 2020 during Covid to mastermind the Hatters’ Great Escape once the Championship campaign resumed. Jones then left once more, under far better circumstances, heading to then Premier League side Southampton in November 2022, although had his tenure ended by the Saints three months later due to poor results.

He had been out of work for just under a year, until heading to Charlton this afternoon, as James Rodwell, chairman of the Addicks board, said: “We’re really pleased to appoint Nathan Jones. He is a manager of real pedigree who has a track record of building successful teams over a period of time. We were really impressed with the quality of candidates interested in coming to Charlton. Through our initial research, the in-depth interview process and the references we took, Nathan was the clear stand out.

"He is a great fit for Charlton given his ability to get his teams playing football on the front foot, with a passion and an intensity. He is an excellent coach, who is tactically savvy and an outstanding developer of talent. The ownership group has a long-term focus of bringing success to Charlton Athletic and Nathan will play a key role as we look to take this club to the next level. Initially that will mean improving on our recent form and looking to finish the season as high up the League One table as possible.”

Jones himself added: “I am extremely excited by the challenge in front of me at Charlton. It is a club that I have fond memories of from my time here and I want to play my part in moving the club forward. I have been approached by a number of clubs to get back into management but I have been waiting for the right opportunity. From my conversations with the board and given the long-term nature of the contract, I can see there is a real appetite to build something here which I am really looking forward to being a part of.”