Charlton Athletic F.C. Under-23s and Academy

The Charlton Athletic Academy refers to the teams and players in the youth system of English professional football club Charlton Athletic; they play the majority of their home games at the club's training ground in New Eltham, London.

Charlton Athletic Under 21s
Charlton Athletic crest
Full nameCharlton Athletic Football Club
(Under-21 Development Squad and Academy)
Nickname(s)The Addicks
Founded1905 (reserves)
1998 (academy)
GroundSparrows Lane,
New Eltham, London
LeagueProfessional Development League 2 (South Division)

The Under-21 Development side consists mainly of Charlton's academy players who are aiming to break into the first team squad and in the near future, while senior players occasionally play when returning from injury. The current senior professional development coach for the under-21 squad is Danny Senda. They compete in the Professional Development League, League 2; the club's Under-18 team plays in the same category of the lower age group.

Reserve team history

From 1999 until 2007, Charlton Reserves were members of the FA Premier Reserve League Southern; however, due to the relegation of the first team at the end of the 2006/2007 season from the Premier League to the Football League Championship, they were demoted to the Football Combination Central where they played against other Football League reserve teams and successful Football Conference reserve sides. At the end of the 2008–09 season the first team were again relegated to Football League One and the reserve side was dissolved as a competitive team.

Under Glynn Snodin

In 1999 the team joined the FA Premier Reserve League Southern. Led by reserve-team coach Glynn Snodin had relative success in their first season, finishing 2nd, however in comparison the next three seasons were disappointing as the club finished 8th, 7th & 7th respectively. After this however things picked up, and Charlton became unexpected winners of the league in 2003/2004, and this was then followed by a second success at the Charlton team won the division again in 2004/2005, just a season later. This was followed by another good season, seeing the Addicks finish fourth, however popular reserve-team coach Snodin left to join Southampton as first-team coach.[1] Snodin was replaced by Mark Robson for the remainder; however, this was short-lived as Charlton faced a managerial re-shuffle after the resignation of Alan Curbishley, Mervyn Day and Keith Peacock.

Under Mark Kinsella

With the installation of Iain Dowie as head-coach, Robson was moved to development coach, working with both the Reserve & First Team sides, however after Dowie was fired he was named assistant head-coach, under Les Reed. Mark Kinsella replaced Robson as development coach until this hiring of current club manager Alan Pardew when Kinsella was moved to reserve-team coach.[2] Despite a hectic season the team still managed to finish 6th, however due to the relegation of the first-team the club were demoted to the Football Combination Central where after spending much of the season top of the table were pipped to the post by Southampton Reserves on the last game of the season.[3]

In 2008 Mark Kinsella moved to a more senior role within the first team under Caretaker manager Phil Parkinson while the club sought after a replacement for Alan Pardew, who parted company with the club 22 November 2008. He was replaced by the club's U18 Youth Coach, Damian Matthew, for the interim period.[4] When Parkinson assumed the role of first team manager Matthew was designated Development coach, based on the same role Mark Robson had held previously.

In 2009 the reserve team was disbanded as a competitive side. With the relegation of the first team from the Football League Championship to the Football League One it was decided that the team would no longer play in the Football Combination and instead only played a number of friendly matches throughout the season.

Home ground

Stonebridge Road, November 2007

In the last nine years the reserves had many different stadia. In their first season they played their matches at Welling United's ground, Park View Road, but the stay was short-lived. For the 2000/2001 season the reserve team played their matches at the first-team's ground, The Valley, however when there was a clash in matches the reserve teams would play their games at Park View Road. This system continued until the 2006/2007 season, when the team moved their matches to Gravesend & Northfleet's ground, Stonebridge Road. The reserve team continued to play their games there in the 2007/2008 season, after the change of club name from Gravesend & Northfleet to Ebbsfleet United.

Reserve team managers

NameDatesAchievements
Glynn Snodin2000 – March 2006Premier Reserve League South Champions (2003–04, 2004–05)
Mark Robson (as Development Coach)March 2006 – November 2006
Mark KinsellaNovember 2006 – November 2008Football Combination Central Runners Up (2007–08)
Damian Matthew (as Development Coach)November 2008 — January 2011

Recent reserves seasons

Season by season record (1999–2008)[5]
SeasonCompetitionPWDLFAPtsPos
1999-00Premier Reserve League Southern2415275736472/13
2000-01Premier Reserve League Southern2486103544308/13
2001-02Premier Reserve League Southern2697103741347/14
2002-03Premier Reserve League Southern26104124037347/14
2003–04Premier Reserve League Southern2817654619571/15
2004–05Premier Reserve League Southern2818734621611/15
2005–06Premier Reserve League Southern2614483829464/14
2006–07Premier Reserve League Southern187472824256/10
2007-08Football Combination Central1812433917372/10
2008-09Football Combination Central187292525237/10

Under-21s squad

Current squad

As of 31 May 2024[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
MF  ENGRyan Huke
MF  ENGHarvey Kedwell

Academy history

The Charlton Athletic Youth Academy was a development of Charlton's commitment to develop young players, a scheme which started in the early-mid-1990s when there was an explosion of young talent under joint managers Steve Gritt. Notable players such as Scott Minto, Kim Grant, Anthony Barness, Lee Bowyer, Richard Rufus, Linvoy Primus, Shaun Newton, Jermain Defoe, Jlloyd Samuel, Jamie Stuart, Kevin Lisbie, Paul Konchesky and Scott Parker all came through the ranks.

This was followed by the creation of the Youth Academy in 1998, aiming to find the best local, and worldwide talent to bring to Charlton at a young age. Numerous players have gone on to play in the top two tiers of English football, having begun their footballing career at the Charlton Youth Academy, including Carl Jenkinson, Harry Arter, Tareiq Holmes-Dennis, Kasey Palmer, Michael Turner, Robert Elliot, Jonjo Shelvey, Jordan Cousins, Callum Harriott, Darren Randolph, Joe Gomez, Ademola Lookman, Morgan Fox, Dillon Phillips, Ezri Konsa, Karlan Ahearne-Grant, Chris Solly and Harry Lennon.[7]

The Under-18 team play in the U18 Professional Development League 2 however the academy takes boys from the ages of nine upwards.

Valley Gold

The Valley Gold scheme was previously set up to aid Charlton's return to The Valley. When a supporter signs up to the scheme, they now have the opportunity to win up to £15,000 at half-time on home match days, as well as getting £15 off the price of their season ticket and the opportunity to have first priority to away games or high demand home matches.

Since Charlton's return to the Valley in December 1992 the scheme has since used to give financial support to the Charlton Youth Academy, to help nurture Charlton stars of the future.[8]

Under 18s squad

Current squad

As of 31 May 2024[9]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos. NationPlayer
MF  ENGKai Enslin
MF  ENGIbrahim Fullah
MF  ENGAlan Mwamba
MF  ENGHenry Rylah
MF  ENGJacob Safa
MF  ENGManu Wales
FW  IRLPatrick Casey
FW  ENGMicah Mbick

Coaching staff

Role[10]Name
Academy Director Steve Avory
Academy Manager Tom Pell
Head of Coaching (U9-U23) Adam Lawrence
Academy’s Head of Coaching (U9-U23) Rhys Williams
Senior Professional Development Lead Coach (U18) Hamza Serrar
Technical Development Coach (U14-U18) Sergei Baltacha
Lead Youth Development Phase Coach (U12-16) David Chatwin
Youth Development Phase Coach (Under 12-16) Vince Lee
Academy Recruitment Manager Miguel de Souza
Senior Academy Scout Bert Dawkins
Academy Scout Danny Wakefield
Head of Youth Academy Sports Science and Medicine Joe Ranson
Lead Academy Sports Scientist Kemal Ismail
Academy Physiotherapist Richard Evans
Performance Analyst (Development Squad) James Parker
Academy Performance Analyst Jonny Dixon
Kit Assistant Joe Sheehan

Notable players

National Team Caps

Other academy graduates

Honours

Reserve team/Under-23s

CompetitionAchievementYear
Premier Reserve League SouthChampions2003-04
Premier Reserve League SouthChampions2004-05
Football Combination CentralRunners-Up2007-08
Professional Development League 2National Champions2013

Youth

CompetitionAchievementYear
FA Youth CupFinalists1987
Professional Development League 2National Champions2015
Professional Development League 2National Champions2016

References

External links