Powell guided The Addicks to the League One title and then finished 9th in their first season back in the second tier (2012-13). Their league position has fluctuated over the last couple of seasons and they suffered relegation to League One last season, as they did in 2008-09.
Athletic are a side who once finished as high as 7th in the Premier League and spent seven successive seasons in the top flight between 2000 and 2007. Names such as Paolo Di Canio, Scott Parker and Dennis Rommedahl featured for the club during years of success under Alan Curbishley, but the club will now be looking to re-build under their recently appointed manager, Russell Slade, with the task of getting back into the Championship as soon as they possibly can.
RUSSELL SLADEAT THE HELM:
Appointed as manager of Charlton Athletic at the beginning of the week, Russell Slade arrives at The Valley with a wealth of experience.
The 55 year old spent the best part of two seasons in charge at Cardiff City before leaving at the end of the 2015-16 season. He has signed a three year deal at Charlton Athletic and was successful at this level earlier in his career, most recently with Leyton Orient.
Slade took charge at Orient in April 2010 and transformed the club from being relegation candidates to being promotion candidates with a tight budget. He guided the club to the 2013-14 play-off final after looking like they might be promoted automatically for large parts of the season. After being 2-0 up at Wembley Stadium against Rotherham United, his side were eventually beaten on penalties.
After beginning his managerial career with caretaker roles at Notts County,Sheffield United, he moved into his first full job in management at Scarborough in November 2001. He was with the club for two and a half years before a move to Grimsby Town. He spent two years at Blundell Park before taking over at Yeovil Town; he has since had spells in charge at Brighton & Hove Albion, Leyton Orient and Cardiff City.
DANGER MEN:
22 year old winger Callum Harriott could be key for Charlton Athletic next season as they look for an immediate return to The Championship. He featured prominently for the club in the second half of the 2015-16 season, after spending the first half of the season on loan at Colchester United. In 44 appearances, he scored 10 goals - 3 of which were scored playing for his current employers. A player with bags of pace, he scored one in Colchester's 2-0 victory against Bradford City in September.
The club's breakthrough player last season was 17 year old Ademola Lookman (pictured above), a player who looks to have a bright future in the game. Born in 1998, the youngster managed 24 appearances for The Addicks during the 2015-16 and scored 5 goals to match.
French midfielder Alou Diarra is at the other end of the spectrum to his teammate, at 34 years of age, he brings bags of experience into the Charlton side and was a regular throughout last season. A tough tackling midfielder, he picked up 10 yellow cards last season and he's a player who has played for some very reputable clubs. The 6 feet 2 inches tall former West Ham United man began his career with Bayern Munich and Liverpool, going on to feature for the likes of Lyon, Bordeaux and Marseille.
HEAD TO HEAD:
In 22 meetings between the two sides, it is City that have the upper hand with 11 wins. Charlton have won 7 of the contests with 4 resulting in a draw.
The first meeting between the two teams came back in September 1929 at Valley Parade, and it was one that resulted in a 2-2 draw. The most recent encounters came in City's Premier League days, the two teams haven't come head to head ever since.
In November 2000, Charlton gained a 2-0 win at The Valley and the game was, in effect, won inside the opening sixteen minutes. Jonatan Johansson scored inside the opening four minutes before Graham Stuart scored just after a quarter of an hour in. City got their revenge though with a win by the same scoreline at Valley Parade in April 2001.
With the game heading for a goalless draw, Gunnar Halle was brought down inside the penalty area, allowing Robbie Blake to tuck away a spot kick. With ten minutes remaining, the win was confirmed when Benito Carbone scored a delicate chip from all of 20 yards out.
THEIR OWN PATCH:
The Valley
An impressive stadium, The Valley has a capacity of over 27,000 and has some similarities with Valley Parade. The away end is significantly smaller than the rest of the ground; there are two main stands in terms of size which are joined by a corner section and then there is a stand adjacent to the away end which is a bit smaller in capacity to the two main stands. Sound familiar?
The stadium was re-developed in the mid-90s and the stadium has changed a lot since then, with the ground having more of a modern feel to it. One strange feature the ground has, is the fact there are no floodlight pylons, with a row of lights running across the top of the stands. The away end is the Jimmy Seed (South) stand and can house up to 3,000 away supporters; the stand is raised slightly above pitch level meaning the view of the game is quite good.
The record attendance at The Valley is 75,031 and this was recorded in a February 1938 FA Cup 5th round fixture against Aston Villa. Since the stadium became full seated, Charlton have had the capacity attendance
(27,111) against Chelsea (September 2005 and February 2007), Tottenham Hotspur (October 2005), Liverpool (December 2006), West Ham United (February 2007) and Sheffield United (April 2007).
27,111Capacity:
SE7 8BLPostcode:
FANCY A FLUTTER?
Russell Slade's men are back at 5/1 to earn an immediate return to The Championship and to go one better and win the league title, Sky Bet have backed The Addicks at 12/1.
www.skybet.com