Education
Charlton, having finished fourth in the First Division, were facing Sunderland in the play-off final at Wembley.
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Richard Rufus
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Born in nearby Lewisham, Rufus progressed through the youth system at The Valley, making his debut for the club as a teenager in 1994 at the age of 19. He was later called up to represent the England U21 team His most memorable moment for Charlton came at the end of the 1997-1998 season.
With five minutes of normal time remaining, Charlton were losing 2–3 before Rufus scored his first ever senior goal from a corner, forcing the game into extra-time.
Despite being sent off in his first Premier League game against Newcastle United, Rufus developed into a key player in Charlton"s ultimately unsuccessful bid to avoid relegation. Back in the Premier League, Charlton were far more successful and remained in top flight with ease.
Rufus was tipped several times to become an England player, but Sven-Göran Eriksson never chose him. Starting in 2001, Rufus began to suffer a series of injury setbacks.
He missed half of the 2001-2002 season and the end of the 2002-2003 season.
He underwent a series of knee operations in 2003 and at one stage looked to have returned to first time reckoning, having appeared on the bench for a League Cup game against Luton Town. He was, however, forced to have another operation done by Richard Steadman. The operation was unsuccessful, and he was forced to retire from football in 2004 at the age of 29.
His final competitive appearance for the club came against Liverpool on 21 April 2003.
In his decade in Charlton"s first team, he was regarded as one of the team"s most important players. This was recognised by three player of the year awards and in 2005 he was voted by fans as Charlton"s greatest ever defender.
In May 2013, Rufus was inducted into the Charlton Athletic Hall of Fame, reflecting the reverence held by the club"s supporters for this one-club manitoba In December 2013, Rufus was declared bankrupt after a £6million failed investment, which cost his church £5m.
In November 2015 Rufus was branded a fraudster by a specialist civil court judge following an £8 million loss to investors.
He pocketed more than £3 million to fund his lifestyle. The Insolvency Service described the case as "one of the worst" ever. Rufus was given a 15-year bankruptcy restriction order.
At the end of November, he left his roles with Charlton Athletic in the club"s academy and the Community Trust following the fraud investigation.
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Rufus had operated a £16m Ponzi scheme involving over 100 investors including members of his family and congregation members of churches he had attended.
