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Addicks chief executive prepares to hand over keys
PETER Varney is looking forward to finally putting his feet up when he steps down as Charlton's chief executive at the end of next month.
Mr Varney has overseen some of the most successful periods in the club's history since taking up the position in 1997, but now he is preparing to hand over the reins to Steve Waggott.
Two promotions, a first division title, eight years in the Premiership, two relegations and a transformation of The Valley have all taken place during Mr Varney's reign, which means he will have plenty of memories to take with him into retirement.
He said: "Eleven years is a long time and I've done a lot of things here.
"When you are doing stuff like building stands, the hours are quite long and the demands on people running football clubs now are quite intense.
"It is almost like a seven day a week job. I just got to the point where now seemed a good time to go and I wanted to take a break from it all.
"It is very amicable as shown by the fact I'm serving a six-month notice before handing it all over.
"From the football club's point of view there comes a time where it is good to get someone in who has got fresh eyes on what is going on.
"There is a lot going on in the south east with the Thames Gateway and Charlton have got to take advantage of all the things which are happening, so it probably works out best for both sides."
However, Mr Varney is the first to admit he will miss the job when he finally steps down after handing in his notice in January.
He said: "Of course I will. It is very rare where you get the chance to work in something you have a passion for. I speak to a lot of my friends and they are like God I've got work this week'.
"It isn't like that because there always seems to be something going on in football with it being quite fast moving and energetic.
"I don't quite know how I'm going to go from where I was to suddenly not doing anything because I usually get restless after about 10 days on holiday."
He added: "There are no immediate plans. I laugh when I get letters from fans telling me they know what I'm going to be doing.
"I'm determined I am going to finish this off professionally and then take a break, but who knows what is in the future.
"It is dangerous to start saying I'm going to do this or that because you've got to have your health first."
And Mr Varney's advice for his successor is to stick to your guns and ignore all outside pressures.
He explained: "The biggest thing in this job is to be absolutely clear on what you want to achieve and focus yourself on it.
"There are a lot of people with a lot of opinions around football clubs and you've got to go for your targets and not just be put off by short-term reactions."
To read the first of our two part interview with Mr Varney click here
3:00pm Tuesday 6th May 2008
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