‘Is it April Fools’ Day?’ – Alan Curbishley ‘makes surprise return’ to English football

Alan Curbishley has made a return to football to take up a brand-new role at Charlton Athletic – but is all exactly as it seems?

Curbishley, who was Charlton manager for 15 years from 1991 through to 2006, has been named their ‘Head of Artificial Intelligence’.

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The club announced the appointment in a statement on Thursday morning, welcoming back a legend 20 years after his exit.

But some fans have been questioning whether the announcement is real or not, with some asking: “Is it April Fool’s Day?”.

And to back those thoughts up, alongside their reveal, Charlton also posted a comedic video including Curbishley regarding his ‘new role’, during which he says: “I don’t fully understand what it is yet”.

It appears that Curbishley’s new position may well be part of a campaign or social media push for fixture release day on Thursday, as the club also posted a video after it was revealed they would be playing West Ham away first, with him predicting it correctly.

In their statement, The Addicks wrote: “Curbishley returns to SE7 in a pioneering role that places the club at the forefront of football’s rapidly evolving technological ecosystem, innovation matrix and synergistic data-enabled future landscape.

“The appointment follows an extensive global recruitment process, during which the club’s AI systems analysed over 47 billion data points, 12,000 leadership profiles and one particularly positive Tripadvisor review before unanimously concluding that Alan Curbishley was, statistically, Alan Curbishley.”

Charlton also explained some further details on what their legendary ex-manager is apparently focusing on in his new role.

He is said to be ‘overseeing their AI strategy, including machine learning, predictive analytics, neural networks, and algorithmic optimisation’.

On top of that, the 68-year-old is apparently going to ‘use the AI to look at predictive modelling of Blackwall Tunnel traffic patterns to optimise journeys to away games’.

Curbishley will also be ‘leading some new innovations, according to the statement, such as AI-generated post-match interviews, predictive matchday pie consumption models and a system that can forecast whether a refereeing decision will anger fans.’

Those unique job details further lean towards this being a ploy from Charlton to create some buzz on social media.

“Everyone at Charlton Athletic would like to welcome Alan back to The Valley and wish him every success in his new role as Head of AI, Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Innovation and, according to the latest organisational chart, ‘Various Computer Things’,” their statement concluded.

“Further updates on the club’s digital transformation roadmap, strategic intelligence framework and football-adjacent technological ecosystem will follow in due course.”

Curbishley’s career

Curbishley is ‘returning’ to the club that has a stand named after him, with Charlton’s East Stand honouring their ex-boss.

His recognition came following his 729 total games in charge of the Addicks, across his 15 years as manager.

He helped the club grow throughout that long period, playing in the old First Division and then the Premier League.

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In 2006, he ended his long connection with Charlton to join West Ham, where he took charge for two years.

Curbishley was in the dugout for 71 games as Hammers boss, winning 28, drawing 14 and losing 29 of his matches.

Since leaving the club in 2008, he has not held another managerial role and has spent time away from football.

His only other role since then has been as a technical director and a coach at Fulham, but he didn’t spend long in the positions.

The coaching role came alongside Kit Symons in 2015, and having then spent 11 years away, he’s back in the sport.