Clive Mendonca will go down in Charlton Athletic history for scoring a hat-trick in the 1998 First Division play-off final against Sunderland, but he has revealed he nearly joined the opposition the season beforehand.
Prior to the final, Charlton beat Ipswich Town 1-0 in both legs of the semi-final. Mendonca, Charlton's prolific striker who had scored 25 goals in the league that season, was unavailable for the second match, though, the Englishman limited to an agonising watching brief from the bench against the Tractor Boys.
