New website on the horizon

Big changes lie in store for the official Charlton website this season after the Addicks agreed to sign up to the Football League interactive (FLi) stable of websites.

Charlton have signed up to the Football League interactive stable of websites

Following lengthy discussions with FLi, Charlton's current website provider, Digital Ink, and a number of other organisations, including potential sponsors and advertisers, the club couldn't ignore the significant source of new income that moving to FLi would generate.

And as part of the decision, the club is planning to devote more resources to its subscription CAFC Player video and audio service, with a number of new features to be launched at the start of the 2010/11 campaign.

Charlton managing director Stephen Kavanagh said: "While we have taken great pride in running an independent website over recent years, we have had to take into account the club's current position and the significant new revenue we can access through FLi.

"We have explored all kinds of options, and we're very grateful to all those who contacted the club offering help and suggestions when we recently publicised the fact that we were in the process of making this decision.

"Now, we're looking forward to working more closely with FLi, the biggest provider of football club websites in the country with eight Premier League and 66 other Football League clubs signed up, and offering an even better CAFC Player service.

"What's more, because FLi distributes revenue to clubs based on the number of subscribers to the Player service and the number of visitors to each club's official website, fans now know that every time they visit www.cafc.co.uk they will be earning the club money."

FLi chairman Ian Ritchie said: "We are delighted Charlton will reap the benefits of the many new services on offer.

"The new suite of products provides numerous opportunities for the club to generate revenue while continuing to offer supporters a first class range of internet services."

The origins of the official website date back to 1995 when the first - and, at the time, only - Addicks website was launched by supporters Glynne Jones and Rick Everitt, with assistance from club photographer Tom Morris.

The supporters' club later took on the financial responsibility of the site and then, a couple of years after its launch, the club agreed to take the site on, with Everitt continuing his involvement as a member of Charlton staff when the club's communications department was launched in 1998.

Current website partners Digital Ink have run the website since early 2004 and despite a lack of investment in the site on the part of the club, the existing official website remains popular with supporters, attracting an average of 25,000 visitors per day.

But the club currently receives little income from advertising and other revenues and, under a previous minor arrangement with FLi for CAFC Player, only gained a small percentage of fans' subscription fees.

Now, after joining FLi, the club will receive the majority of supporters' CAFC Player subscriptions in addition to percentages of advertising and other centrally agreed Football League contracts.

Said Kavanagh: "A lot of the feedback we received when we publicised the issue revealed that fans weren't blown away by what we were offering on CAFC Player.

"The main reason for that was the fact that we provided the service predominantly in response to fans' requests to listen to live commentaries, and we weren't able to devote significant resources to it while the majority of the income was going elsewhere.

"However, that is not the case now, and we're looking at both improving the amount and quality of the content available."

Fans can look forward to an improved CAFC Player subscription service

Live commentaries on Charlton's games will continue to be supplied by the club's radio partner, BBC LONDON 94.9 and, in addition to the usual player and staff interviews, press conferences and match highlights, a host of other features will be unveiled around the start of the season.

The new Charlton website will be launched in around two months, but the club intends to continue to work with Digital Ink on its online Superstore and non-members tickets sections of the website, which aren't catered for by FLi.

The new online Superstore was launched in December 2009 and has proved extremely successful, while the non-members tickets section is also due to be refreshed in the near future.

"Digital Ink have been extremely good to the club over the years," said Kavanagh.

"In recent years, following relegation from the Premiership, no one has been more frustrated than them with the club's inability to invest and update its website, and they have worked closely with us over the past few months on ways for the club to retain its independence.

"We enjoy a great working relationship with them, and we want to continue to work closely together."

Subscriptions for CAFC Player are available from just £34.99 per year, or £3.99 per month - and work out at less than 10p per day.

The club's video website has been bringing fans exclusive behind the scenes video and audio content throughout the close season, including interviews with the likes of Christian Dailly, Mark Kinsella, Johnnie Jackson, Chris Solly and Donough Holohan, as well as match and warm-up footage from the pre-season friendlies against AFC Wimbledon and Welling United.