From its controversial beginnings through major trophy triumphs and right up to its bitter end, Keith Boanas was a central figure in the seven-year history of Charlton Athletic’s first iteration of the club’s women’s team.

Boanas was successfully managing men’s semi-professional team Tooting & Mitcham and heading up Charlton’s girls’ Centre of Excellence when, in the summer of 2000, the opportunity arose to take over the Croydon side that had just done the double of FA Women’s Premier League and FA Women’s Cup.

“What triggered Charlton’s move,” says Boanas, “was that Crystal Palace had approached Croydon to take them over. I found out that had happened and felt we were in a better position and could offer more than Palace in terms of women’s football, so we talked to (Croydon chairman) Ken Jarvie.

“He said ‘no,’ but at the club’s AGM that June the majority of players voted in favour of coming across to us and the move went through.”

The move did not go through with ease, however. An angry Jarvie described the process as “farcical” and his club’s press officer Donald Madjwick told the Guardian newspaper: "I've always thought that the players were a wonderful bunch who were loyal to the team. I've obviously been living in a fools' paradise. 

“It's a bit like Manchester United (men’s team) players attending their club's AGM and voting in favour of leaving to become Liverpool.”

But the FA looked closely at the situation and a spokeswoman said. "The matter has been handled properly. We checked to make sure that the club had gone through the proper procedures and there are no problems.

And midfielder Gemma Hunt, who had voted in favour of the takeover, said: "Some of the older players were very sad, but it's in the best interests of us all. We will have access to better facilities, will not have to pay to play and will receive more financial backing.”

One of those ‘older players,’ the club’s then 38-year-old player-manager Debbie Bampton, was so against the move that she quit her position and - along with striker and ex-England colleague Jo Broadhurst - joined Doncaster Belles.

Having led the team to three Premier League titles and two FA Cup triumphs in the previous five seasons, Bampton’s shoes were big ones to fill as captain Gill Wylie took over the player-manager role. 

Like Hunt, Wylie had voted in favour of the switch to Charlton but admitted: "It's been a bit of farce, but we want to affiliate with Charlton for long-term benefit.” 

The Northern Ireland international, however, then retired in November of that first season under the Charlton banner and Boanas took charge.

Boanas explained to the BBC: “I was sorry to see Gill go. She was a terrific servant of the club, but once she'd made up her mind to go, that was that. She'd also had trouble with her knees and at 35 she felt the time was right to move on.”

Taking over the reins was not the easiest of decisions for Boanas to make. “I had to leave my job at Tooting & Mitcham,” he said, “and that was a wrench. Telling the players was traumatic; but when Charlton asked me to take charge of the women’s team it was an opportunity and a challenge that I felt I had to take.

“I knew what a good team Croydon had been  because I’d seen them play. Their goalkeeper was my girlfriend ‘Copey’ (Pauline Cope, who Boanas was to marry in 2010) and she was just one of the top internationals in the team.

“When they came over to Charlton we lost a few of their players, but they were eventually replaced and we made some very good signings.

“I managed to entice Casey Stoney away from Arsenal and I picked up players like Fara Williams, Eniola Aluko and Eartha Pond. When we made those sort of signings, other players were attracted to us because they could see our ambition.”

Boanas and his club were indeed ambitious, but with an increasingly stronger Arsenal and with Fulham becoming a full-time professional outfit the battle for silverware was intensified as the league stepped into the new millennium.

“We were one of the top three,” says Boanas, “but we were considered the underdogs of the three. We had a good management team though, a fine group of players and the set-up was good.

“Charlton treated us as professionally as they possibly could. We trained at the club’s main training ground, we had physiotherapy and medical support, we travelled to matches in luxury coaches and stayed in five star hotels.”

Boanas and his team made best use of that support, reaching four FA Cup finals, three League Cup finals and finishing outside the top three in the league table only once in the seven years of their existence.

Their first trophy was a particular delight for Boanas. The 2003-04 League Cup was won with a 1-0 victory over Fulham in the final, the Addicks having knocked out Arsenal at the semi-final stage.

“I’ve still got the video footage of that final,” reminisces Boanas. “It was a great feeling to beat Arsenal in the semi-final, but then winning our first trophy was very, very special - I can remember going down on my knees at the final whistle, there was so much relief as well as joy that we’d done it.”

Further League Cup delight and satisfaction arrived two years later, this time beating Arsenal 2-1 in the final after losing to the same opponents in the 2004-05 final. “I had such admiration for Arsenal,” says Boanas, “but anytime you beat them was great - especially in a Cup final!”

Sandwiched between those two League Cup wins was arguably the Addicks’ greatest achievement, lifting the 2004-05 FA Cup with a 1-0 win against Everton in the final at West Ham United’s Upton Park - this after missing out in each of the previous two seasons’ finals, first to Fulham and then to Arsenal.

“That was one helluva day,” recalls Boanas, “particularly for Copey because she’s a West Ham fan and so to play in the final at Upton Park was a dream for her. 

“But to get to the final three years in a row and lose again would have been too much to take, so that was another case of relief mixed with the absolute joy of winning the game’s biggest (domestic) Cup competition.

“And we had a great response from the men’s side of the club - Alan Curbishley (men’s team manager) organised a supply of about 10 cases of champagne for us to celebrate with.”

Celebrations were not in order after what proved Charlton’s last FA Cup final appearance, losing in 4-1 to Arsenal at Nottingham Forest’s City Ground in 2007. That was obviously a disappointment, but worse - much worse - was to follow.

Just a few weeks after the final, the women’s football world was rocked with the shock announcement that Charlton Athletic FC were to disband the entire women’s section of the club - senior teams, Academy and Centre of Excellence.

The men’s team had been relegated from the (then titled) Premiership, but despite the club being set to receive a £11million parachute payment and £16million for the sale of striker Darren Brent, chairman Peter Varney (reported in Fair Game magazine) said: “We have had to implement a significant level of cuts across all areas of the club.

“I must stress though,” he added, “that this does not affect just the women’s section, so there is no question of them being singled out.”

Singled out or not, the decision had a devastating affect on the women’s section. “It was an absolute bombshell,” remembers Boanas. “When I heard it was happening I had to ‘phone round all the players to tell them, and everyone was completely devastated. There were lots of tears shed, and lots of anger.”

The anger amongst the players was summed up by captain and England defender Stoney. "I'm disgusted with the club,” she told the BBC, “the men get relegated and we get punished.

"The club's only trophies in recent years have been won by the women's team - and in the last four seasons we were the only side apart from Arsenal to win major honours.

"Seven weeks ago we played in front of a record crowd at the FA Cup final - that's now our last match and I'm totally gutted for everyone involved on the women's side.” 

"I just hope that what has happened to us doesn't reverberate around the women's game - otherwise it will be in serious trouble.”

Sadly there was trouble already brewing, with Manchester United, Birmingham City, Fulham, Sunderland, Bristol City and Southampton also turning their backs on the women's game.

All six of those clubs, Charlton too, eventually re-instated their women’s sections. But the Addicks golden seven years were over. “It was a horrible time,” says Boanas, “and the powers-that-be at Charlton had a lot to answer for.”

Later in his career Boanas had spells in charge of FAWPL clubs Millwall Lionesses  and Watford, between those appointments spending seven years as Head Coach of Estonia’s national women’s team.

In 2024 he took over as manager of Women’s National League club Chatham, just 20 miles or so from Charlton in south London. 

Looking back at the near quarter of a century between starting each of those two jobs, Boanas says: “Charlton and Estonia were the massive parts of my career.

“When I took the job at Charlton I already had my ‘A’ licence and it was frowned on in some quarters to move into the women’s game if you were highly qualified.

“I got lots of calls from people saying, ‘why are you doing that when you could get a job in the men’s game?’ But as far as I was concerned the coaching principles were the same whether you were working with men or women.

“And I got to work with some of England’s very best footballers - in fact we had 24 senior and youth internationals at the club during those seven years.

“Going out to Estonia gave me so many experiences I would never have had. While I was in charge of their national team I also got to visit practically every country in Europe on UEFA development workshops; I saw different coaching and coach education methods; and I met coaches from so many countries, a lot of them becoming friends     

“So there was a learning process for me as well as managing at international level. I got my Pro licence while I was with Estonia and I know that my work with the national team impacted positively on the women’s game over there. That was important to me, to leave a legacy.”

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: Images from Gavin Ellis/TGSPHOTO and Simon Mooney for The FA Official Photo Library.