Former Charlton forward Mathias Svenson says he cannot wait to return to SE7 on Saturday to watch the Addicks' clash with Huddersfield Town (KO 12.30pm GMT).
Svensson will be joined at The Valley by fellow Nordics Hermann Hreidarsson, Jonatan Johansson, Claus Jensen and Martin Pringle, with the quintet set to be presented to the crowd at 12.20pm.
"It’s going to be great not only to see the Nordics, but also all the other players coming over and all the English boys," Svensson said. "It’s going to be amazing, I’m really looking forward to it!
"I’ve seen Martin Pringle who lives in Sweden as well, and I have a lot of good friends from Charlton, and one of my best friends is, JJ [Jonatan Johansson]. I’ve just realised yesterday I haven’t seen J.J in 15 years, so when he meets me he’ll probably say I haven’t seen you in 15 kilos!
The former Sweden international was full of praise for the Charlton faithful and explained why The Valley is, and always has been, the place to be.
"During the four years that I was at Charlton, we got promoted and we were in the Premier League, which was sold out every week. It was a great atmosphere. I keep on saying to all the people here in Sweden that I meet, when we’re talking about going to England to watch football, I’m always saying you should go to a place like The Valley and Charlton because they have so much love and passion for the football.
"It’s great now that you can watch the games live in Sweden. I’m watching a few of the games - I don’t watch all of them, because I have a family of five kids so it takes a bit of time!
"It's been great the last four, five months, it's been a big turnaround. The guys that have come in are creating something great again."
Reflecting on his fondest memories with the Addicks, Svensson said: "I made my Premier League debut - after I broke my arm in pre-season - and I came on against Middlesborough. It was my first appearance in the Premier League, and I managed to score the goal that made us win the game 1-0!
"It’s obviously a great memory when we got promoted to the Premier League in 2000. It took a bit of time and I had a tough first six months at Charlton, but then first year in the Premier League we managed to do quite well. So I have a lot of good memories, but I also have a lot of good friends that it’ll be great to come back and see."
Former players can register for the club's Ex-Players' Association by using this form.
(Article by Sam Randall)
