Academy manager Steve Avory spoke to Valley Gold about the current state of the Charlton academy and future aspirations not just for the young Addicks’ sides but also their impact on the first team.
Avory, who has been with the club for 21 years, is delighted with the direction the academy is headed. He said: “The current state is very healthy. We finished last season with 28% of the first-team squad that came through the academy.
“I’m hoping we can maintain those standards again this season where we get a good number of players that come through to the first team. But hopefully stay there as well.
He added: “I think one of the key factors in our success has been the longevity of staff. A lot of staff have been here for five or ten years and we retain them to maintain the standards and develop a culture.”
The under-17 side have progressed to the semi-finals of the U17 Premier League Cup where they’ll aim to cap off their impressive run with some silverware.
Meanwhile, Charlton’s under-18s are also celebrating immense success in their league being 17 points clear of everyone with only eight matches left.
Recent official statistics from the Premier League have ranked the Charlton Academy 8th among the 92 Premier League and EFL clubs as far as producing professional footballers goes over the last six years.
The month of February alone has seen two debuts of academy graduates. Daniel Kanu got his first minutes at Wigan Athletic while Tyreece Campbell made his maiden appearance at The Valley against Oxford United.
“They’ve got a great deal of potential.”, Avory said about their future. “The fact that they’ve made their senior debuts at 17, 18, 19 in the Football League is quite an achievement. But I still think there’s a lot of work for them to do.
“They’re still in what I would call a transition journey between under-23 football and first team football.”
After more than two decades with the Addicks and more than a decade of heading the academy, the former schoolteacher is still driven by his passion for coaching.
Avory explained: “I came in to develop players through coaching and that is the special kick that I still get out of it each and every day.
“I like to think the way I operate is hands-on. I’ve never been the type of person that sits behind a desk all day. I didn’t do that when I came in and I don’t do that now.
The academy boss always makes sure he watches most games home and away as well as observing training of the under-18 and under-23 side.
“I’m always out on the grass at least a couple of days a week.”
The Charlton Academy is currently applying to attain Category A status which would serve as another major boost for the club involving additional funding from the Premier League.
“There has to be an increased investment to get to that next level and the owner has backed us there. That’s already showing some signs because we’ve got new facilities here at the training ground.”, the boss elaborated.
As far as first-team success in the future is concerned, Avory hopes the academy can fill an elevated role to help Charlton get back to winning ways consistently.
“We’ve contributed greatly over the years and this club has a very proud tradition of producing players for the first team. We’re very much part of the football and business model that the owner has in mind.
“My vision is to have players come through, make their debut, and then to go on from there to play 30, 40, probably more first-team games where they are contributing to first-team performance.”
Steve Avory also didn’t fail to express his appreciation for Valley Gold and its members’ contribution to the system:
“I’m forever grateful to Valley Gold and the supporters who are members. It’s a supporters’ organisation that does so much for the academy and enables the academy to do that little bit extra from outside of our budget.
“I’m forever grateful for all that Valley Gold does for us and the great belief the organisation has.”