Charlton fans are planning to stage a mock funeral before the Middlesbrough game on Sunday in a protest against unpopular owner Roland Duchatelet.

Frustration with the Belgian tycoon has intensified this season with the Addicks second-bottom of the Championship and seven points from safety.

Several post-match protests have already been organised and the Coalition Against Roland Duchatelet (CARD) are planning to step up their efforts this weekend.

Supporters will stage a ‘funeral march’ before the game, which is live on Sky Sports, and plan to walkout in the 74th minute – the number of goals Charlton have conceded this season.

A CARD spokesman said: “This is not just about the team’s prospects, although they look very grim. It is a measure of the damage being done to Charlton by Duchatelet and Meire [CEO], which is unlikely to end with relegation.

“They are destroying decades of work to build up our club in the name of a soulless experiment conducted by remote control from Belgium. This is not the Charlton Athletic that has been a vital part of so many people’s lives for decades.

“Football and the media are laughing at Duchatelet and Meire, but the joke’s on us. We will not allow them to continue to run our club into the ground.

They added: “We are asking the many disillusioned and angry fans who have been staying away to come back on Sunday and turn the afternoon into the biggest protest Charlton has ever seen, including when the old board took the club to Selhurst Park in 1985.

“In our view, the threat to Charlton’s future this time is just as real, and we will not let it carry on.

“We are also encouraging fans to walk out of the stadium on 74 minutes - the number of goals conceded so far this season - and reassemble in the west stand car park.

“The intention then is to protest outside the ground while the match is still going on, and if the club locks the main gates we plan to assemble either side of them.”

Fans, CARD say, will be able to follow the coffin as it makes its way to the Valley to symbolise what they say is the death of the club under the current ownership.