‘I’m sure we’d have finished in the top four or five if he hadn’t joined Chelsea in January. Him leaving damaged the team, but we couldn’t stand in his way’: Alan Curbishley reflects on failed Champions League dream after selling key player

LONDON - APRIL 16: Charlton Athletic manager Alan Curbishley looks on during the Barclays Premiership match between Charlton Athletic and Bolton Wanderers at The Valley on April 16, 2005 in London, England. (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images).

Alan Curbishley spent 15 years at Charlton between 1991 and 2006 and came agonisingly close to qualifying for Europe, but for the sale of one of his key players to Chelsea.

After getting Charlton into the Premier League in 1998, Curbishley managed to retain the faith of the club when they suffered relegation back to the second tier after just one season. The former manager retained the faith of the club's board to immediately bounce straight back up in 2000, where they remained for six seasons under Curbishley.

During that period Charlton became a strong mid-table side, with a European challenge even coming in 2003/04. Scott Parker proved the driving force from midfield for Curbishley's side as they climbed to fourth in the table after 21 matches, but his January departure to Chelsea saw the Addicks tail off in the second half of the season.

Alan Curbishley laments losing Scott Parker at Charlton

Parker left Charlton in the Champions League places (Image credit: Getty Images)

"The closest we came to Europe was in 2003/04," Curbishley tells FourFourTwo. "I’m sure we would have finished in the top four or five if Scott Parker hadn’t joined Chelsea in January.

"We came seventh, three points from European qualification. That side was good enough. Scott leaving damaged the team, but we couldn’t stand in his way.

Curbishley spent 15 successful seasons at Charlton (Image credit: Getty)

"We got £12 million, but so late in the window that I couldn’t spend it – I bought Jerome Thomas from Arsenal, but that was about it."

Former Charlton forward Jason Euell agreed, highlighting the difference Parker made to the side. Indeed, after Parker left Charlton could muster just 16 points from their final 17 games of the Premier League campaign, with Liverpool, Newcastle and Aston Villa all overtaking them. In the end they finished just seven points behind Liverpool in fourth, with the promise of Champions League football.

But while Curbishley couldn't fight for European football again in his final two seasons at the club, prior to his departure in the summer of 2006, he ensured the club didn't have to worry about relegation from the top flight.

In the season after he did leave, Charlton were relegated, with the Addicks having failed to return to the Premier League in the intervening two decades.