Charlton 1 Leyton Orient 0

Macaulay Gillesphey’s first half free kick at Wembley Stadium secured Charlton’s return to the Championship.

The defender curled the free kick past Leyton Orient goalkeeper Josh Keeley and into the O’s net in the 31st minute. This strike went on to be enough to separate the Addicks and their London rivals in what was a tightly-contested League One play-off final.

Charlton’s return to the Championship following the club’s five-year absence from the second tier was confirmed following a lengthy 11 minutes of added time in the second half, with the eventual sound of referee Andrew Kitchen’s full-time whistle sending the sold-out Charlton following at Wembley into a frenzy.

Ahead of kick-off, Nathan Jones named an unchanged starting XI from the side which overcame Wycombe Wanderers in the play-off semi-final second leg at The Valley 10 days ago. Luke Berry returned to the Charlton squad and replaced Daniel Kanu on the Addicks' substitutes bench.

Both teams contested an open first 20 minutes in London, with Orient coming closest when Ollie O’Neill was able to get a shot away inside the Charlton penalty area. However, Kayne Ramsay was on hand to block the midfielder’s effort to ensure that Will Mannion wasn’t tested.

11 minutes later, Jones’ side broke the deadlock courtesy of Gillesphey’s fine free kick. Tyrese Campbell was brought down by former Addick Rarmani Edmonds-Green on the edge of the box, and Gillesphey then stepped forward to take the resultant free kick. The defender curled a well-taken strike around the O’s wall and past goalkeeper Josh Keeley, sending the sold-out Charlton section of Wembley into delirium.

The second half of the game started much how the first period ended, with no big chances for either side in the immediate aftermath of Gillesphey’s goal. 

However, Richie Wellens’ men started to apply pressure on the Charlton goal when they had three efforts in quick succession, which were heart-in-mouth moments for the Addicks. The first of these chances came in the 59th minute when Jack Currie’s shot from the edge of the box took a nick off Ramsay and deflected inches wide of Mannion’s goal. From the resultant corner, Jordan Brown then fired a strike over the crossbar from close-range. Orient hit the woodwork in the 62nd minute when Charlie Kelman’s shot deflected off Lloyd Jones and struck the crossbar.

Kicking towards the Addicks faithful in the second half, Nathan Jones’ men responded to these scares by going close in the 70th minute. After being introduced six minutes earlier, substitute Karoy Anderson rolled the ball across the penalty box to Greg Docherty. The Scotsman shot towards goal but was denied by Keeley, who tipped the captain’s deflected effort over the crossbar and behind for a corner.

There was a lengthy break in play in the latter stages of the second half due to an issue with the referee's earpiece, with the game eventually resuming in the 88th minute.

Despite there being 11 minutes of added time to end the game, Jones’ side held firm and saw the match out to secure the club’s place in the Championship ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.

Charlton: Mannion; Ramsay, Jones, Gillesphey; Small (Watson 68), Coventry, Gilbert (Anderson 68), Docherty (c), Edwards; Godden (Aneke 80), Campbell (Mbick 81)

Subs (not used): Maynard-Brewer, A.Mitchell, Berry

Leyton Orient: Keeley; Agyei (Abdulai), Brown (Ball 74), Currie, Donley, Beckles (c) (Happe 82), O’Neill (Williams 82), Galbraith, Kelman, Clare (James 74), Edmonds-Green

Subs (not used): Phillips, Markandy

Referee: Andrew Kitchen

Attendance: 76,193

Report by Jake Dixon