When Charlton Athletic paid Crewe Alexandra £2 million for Luke Varney in 2007, there were high expectations that the former non-league player would be a success – but two clubs in a row failed to extract the most out of the lively attacker.
The Addicks faced difficulties during the summer of 2007.
Alan Curbishley, the club’s long-serving manager, had left a year earlier, and the Addicks had gone through Iain Dowie and Les Reed as managers before signing Alan Pardew on Christmas Eve 2006, when the team was 19th in the Premier League.
However, Pardew was unable to turn the team’s fortunes around, and they were demoted to the same place they were in before his arrival.
With a rebuild underway, Pardew determined that two new strikers were required for life in the second division. Chris Iwelumo joined Charlton on a free transfer from Colchester United after scoring 18 goals in the Championship the previous season, and the club was lured to a young striker who had been drawing interest from Premier League clubs throughout the 2006-07 season.
As soon as it was over, the Addicks pounced, signing Varney from Crewe Alexandra for £2 million after a successful season in League One.
Luke Varney had earned Premier League interest before signing to Charlton Athletic, and big things were expected
Luke Varney began his playing career at Quorn FC, a local non-league club, before moving to Crewe in 2003.
Varney had a memorable 2006-07 season, scoring 25 goals in all competitions for the Railwaymen and finishing as League One Team of the Season. A move to a bigger club had been rumored for much of the season, with Premier League team Portsmouth linked a few months in, but toward the end of the season, Charlton were willing to pay a price that Crewe could accept.
The attacker scored his first Addicks goal in September in his third game against Leicester City, the team he adored as a child, but the south London club’s desire for a speedy return to the Premier League never got going.
With little consistency on the pitch, they finished the season in 11th position in the Championship table, six points behind the play-offs and 15 behind one of the two automatic promotion spots. Varney finished the season with only eight goals in 39 appearances, which would have been a disappointing total, but he wouldn’t be with the club for much longer.
Derby County took a risk on Luke Varney and were stung severely
Charlton’s situation had deteriorated significantly by the autumn of 2008. Varney remained a regular starter for them, but he scored only two goals in his first 16 league appearances of the season. Alan Pardew departed the club by mutual consent following a 5-2 home defeat to Sheffield United on November 22.
Varney followed five days later, traveling to a Championship opponent in Derby County, back when loan transactions between transfer windows were permitted.
He scored on his home debut for them against Crystal Palace, and in January 2009, his move to Pride Park was made permanent for just over £1 million, with the Rams expecting to sign the Crewe version of Varney.
However, injuries, illness, and a lack of form had a significant impact on Varney – the aforementioned goal against Palace was his only one for Derby that season, and in March, he was loaned to Sheffield Wednesday for a month before returning to Pride Park for the final few games of the season.
Unwanted at Derby by Nigel Clough, Varney returned to Hillsborough on loan at the start of the next season, but while his own play improved, Wednesday’s did not, and they were relegated to League One on the penultimate day of the season. Despite this, the striker managed to secure a move to the Premier League with newcomers Blackpool in 2010-11.
The Seasiders had just been promoted to the Premier League, and Varney signed for them on a season-long loan with the option of a permanent contract, but Blackpool were relegated at the end of the season, and Varney moved on to Portsmouth instead, with Derby at least recouping 75% of the fee they paid by bringing in a £750,000 fee for his services – so it wasn’t all bad.
Varney’s League career lasted another decade, with stops at Leeds United, Ipswich Town, Blackburn Rovers, and Cheltenham Town before his final EFL game in January 2021, a five-minute cameo for Burton Albion against Gillingham.
However, despite scoring 93 League goals, he never won promotion, a League title, a cup, or the play-offs with any team. Indeed, his 25 goals in all competitions for Crewe in 2005-06 were one of just two times in his career that he reached double figures, the other coming 13 years later for Cheltenham Town.
Bad timing may have been the key in Luke Varney’s case. Charlton joined a club that was set to begin on a long era of mismanagement. The same could be said of Derby, and he was arriving at a team that had recently suffered a record-breaking relegation. Neither has played Premier League football since being relegated shortly before Varney joined their clubs.
Charlton, however, outperformed the other guy. Luke Varney made 57 league appearances for them, but only 12 for Derby. It wasn’t much of a return for the millions spent on him by the two clubs, but the Rams were hurt far more on the field.
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