CHRIS POWELL has made a surprise decision to rejoin Charlton Athletic - a year after leaving for West Ham.

The 36-year-old left-back and England international signed a one-year deal with a view to joining the club's coaching staff on his retirement.

He originally joined Charlton from Derby for £825,000 in July, 1998 and made 200 league appearances, establishing himself as one of the club's most popular players.

A lack of first team opportunities saw him leave last season for Upton Park where he helped the Hammers to promotion back to the Premier League.

Though West Ham recently paid Charlton £2 million for Powell's former team-mate and fellow left-back Paul Konchesky, manager Alan Pardew was keen to retain him.

But Powell's agent, Tony Finnigan blamed slow contract talks on the reason behind Powell's move back to The Valley.

He said: "West Ham had a number of weeks to tie Chris down but they didn't and have now lost the benefit of a highly experienced player."