Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones lands Southampton and Huddersfield Town dig in pumped-up presser

Charlton Athletic manager Nathan Jones appeared to land digs at Southampton and Huddersfield Town in a pumped up post match press conference following his side's 1-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers in the League One play-off semi final.

The Addicks will now fight for a place in the Championship against London rivals Leyton Orient at Wembley Stadium later this month. Jones previously achieved promotion from League Two with Luton Town in 2018 and was named Championship Manager of the Season in 2022.

Charlton Athletic have been on a rampant run of form in 2025, bouncing back from a performance dip over the festive period. Jones will look to take his side back into the Championship, where the club hasn't played football since 2020.

Charlton Athletic feels emotion of play-off semi final win

The victory against Wycombe Wanderers was secured in dramatic fashion thanks to a late Matty Godden goal, the only one scored over two legs. Jones was jubilant at full time and when asked about his celebrations after the match, he said: "I'm a very religious man, I trust in the Lord, the Lord has seen me through difficult times, really, really difficult times.

"You know, I had times when I was at a Premier League club where people thought I didn't deserve to be there, regardless of how much I had earned the right and gone through three divisions and coached at the highest level and it didn't make a difference. All those things you remember, because they're all your CV, they're all your body of work, they're all the memories and the experiences that you have. So it's a bit of emotion to come out. But I wanted to thank my God publicly because he's been very good to me."

Jones spent just three months in charge of Southampton between November 2022 and February 2024 in the Premier League. The Welshman became the shortest serving non-caretaker manager in the club’s history when dismissed.

Charlton Athletic fans were also feeling emotional at full time, having waited on tenterhooks for so long for the side to find a breakthrough despite dominating all game. Supporters invaded the pitch at The Valley but were given a pardon by Jones, who shared his experience of a pitch invasion before.

Nathan Jones recalls Huddersfield Town pitch invasion

The manager said: "As long as it didn't overspill to be anything disrespectful, because I've been on the end of that, I lost at Huddersfield in the in the play-off semi-final at Luton and the fans were really disrespectful, the Huddersfield fans were really disrespectful.

"Coming in people's faces with their phones trying to wind you up. I had a woman talk to me. I mean, she should have been embarrassed by herself. So as long as the fans didn't cross any line, it's just euphoria. It happens.

"There's a lot taken out of sport. I get punished every single week any time I show an emotion. So I think to take the emotion out of sport and euphoria in that, you know, it kind of kills it. So as long as our fans were respectful and didn't cross any line, then let him enjoy the night."

In other news, Charlton Athletic Player Ratings: Build 10/10 a statue and 'dominant' 9 in jubilant Wycombe Wanderers win.