CARD ANNOUNCEMENT: Unity Protest in Sint-Truiden on Saturday, March 4th - transport provided

Charlton fans angry with club boss Roland Duchatelet have announced plans for a major new protest against his ownership in his home town of Sint-Truiden on Saturday, March 4.

The demonstration will be the largest yet staged by Addicks supporters in Belgium and is being jointly sponsored by an alliance of Charlton pressure groups.

The Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD), the Belgium 20 group and the recently formed Women Against the Regime (WAR) are working together to persuade the maximum number of Charlton supporters to travel and get their voices heard directly by Duchatelet, who has not attended a game at The Valley since 2014.

The Addicks' independent protest fund, which has already raised more than £50,000 to fund protests against Duchatelet's Charlton regime, has pledged financial backing to help keep down the cost of the trip to supporters.

And transport is being organised to Belgium to help as many Charlton fans as possible take part.

A CARD spokesperson said: "The next stage of our campaign will be squarely focused on Duchatelet in Belgium. It's clear that previous protests in his home town have got to him and that stepping up action there has to be a key part of persuading him to sell the club as a matter of urgency.

"The protest will be lawful and responsible, but we have every intention of embarrassing Duchatelet in his own country and we hope as many Charlton fans of all ages as are able will take part.

"We have chosen this date for many reasons, one of which is that we know Charlton’s away allocation at Northampton Town that day is very likely to sell out regardless. There can therefore be no sensible claim that the protest is affecting the level of support for the team.

"We are also mindful that Charlton fans want to see manager Karl Robinson given every chance to steer the team towards the League One play-offs if that remains a possibility, and there can be no serious suggestion that protests taking place in Belgium affect that negatively.

"Further details of the protest's planned itinerary will be disclosed in due course.”

Charlton fans have made several previous high-profile 600-mile round trips to Belgium, most recently in mid-November when the Belgium 20 came across Duchatelet as he was eating lunch. Embarrassingly for the owner, this enabled fans to refute previous claims by club officials that he watched every Charlton match on a live video stream, as the team was playing Swindon Town at exactly the same time.

Days later a CARD contingent in a London taxi emblazoned with anti-regime messages visited locations in Belgium targeting Duchatelet's sporting, business and political interests.

The protests received widespread press and television coverage in England, Belgium and internationally, and even prompted Duchatelet to break his self-imposed media silence, when he was forced by journalists to defend his actions.

Fans interested in taking part in the March 4 protest can contact charlton.card@yahoo.co.uk