Charlton Athletic F.C. Academy

Charlton Athletic Academy

Charlton Athletic crest
Full name	Charlton Athletic Football Club Youth Academy
Nickname(s)	The Young Addicks
Founded	1998
Ground	Sparrows Lane, New Eltham
Chairman	Roland
Manager	Steve Avory
Home colours Away colours

Charlton Athletic Football Club Youth Academy are the youth team of Charlton Athletic. Their Under-18 team play in the U18 Professional Development League 2 - South, however the academy takes boys from the ages of 9 upwards.

The U21 team also has strong connotations with the Charlton Reserves squad, where senior members of the team may make appearances. The academy is run by the club's Academy Director Steve Avory.

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 & 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. There are many players playing in the top 2 tiers of English football who began their footballing career at the Charlton Youth Academy, including Arsenal's Carl Jenkinson, Bournemouth's Harry Arter, Huddersfield's Tareiq Holmes-Dennis & Kasey Palmer, Norwich's Michael Turner, Newcastle's Robert Elliot & Jonjo Shelvey, QPR's Jordan Cousins, Reading's Callum Harriott, West Ham's Darren Randolph and Liverpool's Joe Gomez as well as 7 current Charlton first team players Ademola Lookman, Dillon Phillips, Ezri Konsa, Karlan Ahearne-Grant, Chris Solly, Morgan Fox, Harry Lennon,.^[1]

In June 2010 Steve Gritt's contract at the club was terminated due to financial restraints. The role of Academy manager was abolished following Gritt's redundancy, and control of the youth set up has been handed over to development coach Damien Matthew & assistant academy manager Steve Avory.^[2]

Since 1998 38 Players have made it through the Academy to taste first team Football with Charlton.

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

No. Position Player GK Darren Randolph GK Rob Elliot GK Dillon Phillips DF Jonathan Fortune DF Osei Sankofa DF Nathan Ashton DF Grant Basey DF Chris Solly DF Yado Mambo DF Carl Jenkinson DF Harry Lennon DF Morgan Fox DF Joe Gomez DF Tareiq Holmes-Dennis DF Ezri Konsa MF Jamal Campbell-Ryce MF Jordan Cousins MF Lloyd Sam MF Harry Arter

No. Position Player MF Diego Poyet MF Jonjo Shelvey MF Scott Wagstaff MF Lawrie Wilson MF Josh Wright MF Rashid Yussuff MF Alex Stavrinou MF Callum Harriott MF Regan Charles-Cook MF Oliver Muldoon FW Ade Azeez FW Charlie MacDonald FW Joe Pigott FW Tamer Tuna FW Karlan Ahearne-Grant FW Mikhail Kennedy FW Ademola Lookman FW Brandon Hanlan FW Josh Umerah

National Team Caps

NB: Bold players are playing for Charlton Athletic F.C.

Notable Academy graduates

NB: Bold players are playing for Charlton Athletic F.C.

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.^[3]

Honours

Coaching staff

Role[4]	Name
Head of Academy	Steve Avory
Senior professional development Coach (U18-U21)	Jason Euell
Professional Development Phase Lead Coach (U17-U18)	Sergei Baltacha
U18 Coach	Simon Clark
Professional Development Phase Coach (U16-U18)	Antonio Falanga
Youth Development Phase Lead Coach (U12-U16)	Adam Lawrence
Foundation Development Phase Lead Coach (U5-U11)	Rhys Williams
Academy Head of Sports Science	Jared Roberts-Smith
Academy Sports Scientist	Ben Talbot
Academy Physiotherapist	Adam Coe
Assistant Academy Physiotherapist	Joe Ranson
Academy Goalkeeping Coach	Lee Smelt
U21 Performance Analyst	James Parker
U18 Performance Analyst	Jonny Dixon
Academy Kit Manager	Nathan Lugg
Academy Kit Manager	Ben Kirk

Players

As of 01 Jul 2016.^[5]

Under 23 Development squad

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

No. Position Player 13 GK Dillon Phillips 24 MF Regan Charles-Cook 27 GK Dimitar Mitov 28 FW Brandon Hanlan 31 FW Josh Umerah 32 MF Joe Aribo 33 DF Aaron Barnes 34 MF Anfernee Djiksteel 35 MF George Lapslie

No. Position Player — DF Elan Assiana — DF Daniel Bowry — DF Archie Edwards — MF Matt Carter — MF Dennis Kabiro Asera — MF Chris Millar — FW Mikhail Kennedy — FW Louis-Michel Yamfam

2016–17 Academy squad

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

No. Position Player GK Aiden Prall GK Ashley Maynard-Brewer GK Ed Harvey DF Mustapha Bangura-Williams DF Romarno Simpson DF Kenneth Yao DF Dan Birch DF Sam Nwosu DF Harry Pollard DF Jordan Zemura

No. Position Player MF Taylor Maloney MF Ben Dempsey MF Alfie Doughty MF Albie Morgan MF Brendan Sarpong-Wiredu MF Hong Wan FW Terrique Anderson FW Sulumain Bah FW Luke Carey FW Alex Willis

Footnotes

External links

• Charlton Athletic Official Website
• Charlton Athletic Youth Academy Webpage
• Charlton Athletic Valley Gold Webpage
• Charlton Academy Squad Profiles