Billy French, second-year Charlton Athletic Academy Scholar and Captain of the U18’s spoke to Valley Gold for a new feature, Academy Notes after the recent 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest.
“My name is Billy French, I’m a second-year Scholar and Captain of the U18’s. I got captaincy through a squad vote, players & staff, as I believe that I am a good leader who ‘wears his heart of his sleeve’ in every game.”
“It has been a very good start for us U18’s this year having been unbeaten in 6 games, winning four of them and drawing two. In our last game, we beat Nottingham Forest 1-0 with Luca Albon scoring our only goal from the penalty spot.”
“We had many chances in the game and were unlucky to score only one. We had a goal disallowed, hit the post as well as forcing their goalkeeper to work hard. We dominated the game through all thirds of the pitch as we were able to play out and around their pressure with good quality leading to our chances.”
“The other defenders and I put in a solid shift at keeping a clean sheet with some very good 1v1 defending and dominance in the air. Our goalkeeper, Nathan Harvey dominated his goal claiming through balls and crosses to stop their attackers from scoring which helped us to achieve our first clean sheet of the season, with hopefully many more to come.”
“Overall, the whole team worked extremely hard, putting everything they had into the game, like always, and we deserved the 3 points!”
Valley Gold enables supporters to play a pivotal role in the future of Charlton Athletic by helping the club to unearth talented footballers through its youth system. Valley Gold is entirely supporter-funded, with membership costing £120 per year. As a member of Valley Gold, you will also have the opportunity to scoop up to £5,000 in regular cash prizes. To learn more about the scheme or to become a Valley Gold member, please click here.
