Charlton Athletic saw what was to come with future England star - He lit up the Valley in brief spell | OneFootball

Charlton Athletic supporters had an all to brief glimpse of future England star Conor Gallagher when he spent half a season on loan at The Valley.

Charlton Athletic supporters had an all-too-brief glimpse of the future when future England international Conor Gallagher spent half a season on loan at their club.

The future England star lit up The Valley for the first half of the 2019-20 season, but his parent club recalled him halfway through the season to send him out on loan elsewhere, meaning that Charlton fans never got to see just how far he might have been able to take their club.

They did, however, see a clear sign of what was to come, with Gallagher going on to enjoy a glittering career after kick-starting it all at Charlton.

Conor Gallagher arrived at Charlton Athletic already a World and European champion

Conor Gallagher was a product of the Chelsea academy. He joined the club at the age of six, and signed professional forms for them in 2018.

By the summer of 2019, he was already a world and European champion. In 2017, he was part of the England Under-17 team that won the Under-17s World Cup, and in May 2019 he picked up the first medal of his career when he was an unused substitute in the Europa League final.

After signing a new, three-year contract at Stamford Bridge in July 2019, he was loaned out to Championship club Charlton Athletic.

Chelsea's Conor Gallagher recall from Charlton Athletic hit the club hard

Arriving at The Valley in the summer of 2019 would have been a baptism of fire for any young player. Charlton supporters had been protesting against owner Roland Duchatelet for several years, and the atmosphere around the club was tetchy, to say the least. Ten days after his arrival at the club, an official statement was released condemning the resumption of protests against the owner.

But Gallagher was immediately identifiable as an enormous talent, and his performances throughout the first half of that season elevated an otherwise humdrum team. He scored three goals in his first five games in the senior professional game, including the winning goal in a match against Brentford on the August Bank Holiday weekend.

An agreement to sell the club was reached that November, but despite the new ownership and Gallagher's involvement, the team continued to struggle on the pitch. In the middle of January, Chelsea terminated the loan and sent him out to Swansea City instead, with the Addicks in 19th place in the table.

This decision seemed to have ramifications for Charlton Athletic. The team's form slumped in the league, and they were relegated at the end of the season by a single point. All the worse, the club's new owners didn't seem to be any better than the previous ones, and there would be further protests at The Valley over the coming years before they were sold on again to the SE7 Partners group in 2023.

For half a season, Charlton fans caught a glimpse of the future. It was all too brief, and they were relegated in his absence, but his brilliance was one of the few bright spots in an otherwise dark period in the history of the club.

The Addicks have only just returned to the Championship following that 2019-20 relegation, and there were times over those five years when it was feared that they might not survive at all. Atlético Madrid paid £34 million for Gallagher in August 2024. It was all a very long way from Charlton Athletic and their ultimately failed battle against relegation, just four years earlier.

Charlton Athletic had glimpse into the future with Conor Gallagher

Gallagher has enjoyed resounding success ever since that brief loan stay with Charlton.

He helped Swansea to a play-off finish at the end of the 2019/20 season and then spent two years on loan in the Premier League with West Bromwich Albion and Crystal Palace - making a considerable eight-goal impression at the latter - before finally getting his big break for Chelsea.

The 22-cap England international, who made five appearances for the Three Lions at last summer's European Championships, turned out on 95 occasions across all competitions at Chelsea in just two seasons. He scored ten goals in that time, establishing himself as a mainstay at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea cashed in last summer by selling him to Atlético Madrid, and Gallagher made 50 appearances during his debut campaign under iconic boss Diego Simeone.

Charlton, then, may look at what followed with Gallagher and wish they had been able to see him at the club for a bit longer - it could have made all the difference in their battle against relegation, that's for sure - but if nothing else, the Addicks can reflect with a silver lining sense of pride knowing they helped to get him to where he is today.