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

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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 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.

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 Chris Lock. 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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Name Dates Achievements
England Glynn Snodin 2000 – March 2006 Premier Reserve League South Champions (2003–04, 2004–05)
England Mark Robson (as Development Coach) March 2006 – November 2006
Republic of Ireland Mark Kinsella November 2006 – November 2008 Football Combination Central Runners Up (2007–08)
England Damian Matthew (as Development Coach) November 2008 — January 2011

Recent reserves seasons

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Season by season record (1999–2008)[5]
Season Competition P W D L F A Pts Pos
1999-00 Premier Reserve League Southern 24 15 2 7 57 36 47 2/13
2000-01 Premier Reserve League Southern 24 8 6 10 35 44 30 8/13
2001-02 Premier Reserve League Southern 26 9 7 10 37 41 34 7/14
2002-03 Premier Reserve League Southern 26 10 4 12 40 37 34 7/14
2003–04 Premier Reserve League Southern 28 17 6 5 46 19 57 1/15
2004–05 Premier Reserve League Southern 28 18 7 3 46 21 61 1/15
2005–06 Premier Reserve League Southern 26 14 4 8 38 29 46 4/14
2006–07 Premier Reserve League Southern 18 7 4 7 28 24 25 6/10
2007-08 Football Combination Central 18 12 4 3 39 17 37 2/10
2008-09 Football Combination Central 18 7 2 9 25 25 23 7/10

Under-21s squad

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Current squad

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As of 23 November 2024[6]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
31 GK England ENG Lennon MacLorg
35 MF England ENG Kai Enslin
37 GK England ENG Tommy Reid
38 DF Fiji FIJ Josh Laqeretabua
— DF England ENG Toby Bower
— DF England ENG Keenan Gough
— DF England ENG Oliver Hobden
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF England ENG Mason Hunter
— DF Czech Republic CZE Seydil Toure
— MF England ENG Aaron Henry
— MF England ENG Ryan Huke
— MF England ENG Harvey Kedwell
— MF England ENG Henry Rylah
— FW Republic of Ireland IRL Patrick Casey

Academy history

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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

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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

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Current squad

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As of 23 November 2024[9]

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

No. Pos. Nation Player
32 MF England ENG Alan Mwamba
33 FW England ENG Micah Mbick
— GK England ENG Finley Woodham
— GK England ENG Jude Sadler
— DF England ENG Ethan Brown
— DF England ENG Ethan Cann
— DF England ENG Dionte Davis
— DF England ENG Marley Dawkins
— DF England ENG Tate Elliott
— DF England ENG Joshua Ogunnowo
— DF Nigeria NGA Lanre Olatunji
No. Pos. Nation Player
— DF England ENG Phoenix Valentine
— MF England ENG Jack Belton
— MF England ENG Ibrahim Fullah
— MF England ENG Ellis McMillan
— MF England ENG Jacob Safa
— MF England ENG Manu Wales
— MF England ENG Sam Washington-Amoah
— FW England ENG Shia-Lee Burnham
— FW England ENG Reuben Reid
— FW England ENG Emmanuel Sol-Loza
— FW England ENG Bradley Tagoe

Coaching staff

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Role[10] Name
Academy Director England Steve Avory
Academy Manager England Tom Pell
Head of Coaching (U9-U16) Wales Rhys Williams
Senior Professional Development Lead Coach (U21) England Chris Lock
Senior Professional Development Lead Coach (U18) England Jason Pearce
Lead Youth Development Phase Coach (U15-16) England Kieran Culleton
Youth Development Phase Coach (Under 12-14) England Daniel Gill
Academy Recruitment Manager England Bert Dawkins
Head of Youth Academy Sports Science England Alex Brown
Lead Academy Sports Scientist England William Groom
Academy Physiotherapist England Ashar Magoba
Performance Analyst (Development Squad) England Daniel Mahony
Academy Performance Analyst England Tidjane Balde
Kit Assistant England Sam Perre

Notable players

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National Team Caps

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Other academy graduates

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Honours

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Reserve team/Under-23s

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Competition Achievement Year
Premier Reserve League South Champions 2003-04
Premier Reserve League South Champions 2004-05
Football Combination Central Runners-Up 2007-08
Professional Development League 2 National Champions 2013

Youth

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Competition Achievement Year
FA Youth Cup Finalists 1987
Professional Development League 2 National Champions 2015
Professional Development League 2 National Champions 2016

References

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  1. ^ "Snodin set for Saints switch". Charlton-Athletic.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  2. ^ "New contract for Kinsella". cafc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ "Football Combination Central 2007/2008 Final Table". theFA.com. Archived from the original on 21 June 2008. Retrieved 18 March 2008.
  4. ^ "Gritt relishing cup clash". cafc.co.uk. Retrieved 2 December 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Charlton Athletic F.C. Reserves History". fchd.info. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
  6. ^ "U21s : CAFC". cafc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  7. ^ Charlton Athletic Youth Academy Archived 8 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Charlton Athletic Valley Gold Archived 27 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ "U18s : CAFC". cafc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  10. ^ "Coaching Team". Charlton Athletic FC. 3 April 2021. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
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