Inside Charlton's talent factory that keeps producing top Premier League talent

The Addicks have spent half of the last decade in English football's third tier. However, this hasn't stopped the south London club from continuing to produce some of the country's finest talents.

Despite the years of boardroom issues and fan discontent under former owner Roland Duchatelet combined with varying levels of football being played at The Valley, Charlton's illustrious academy has remained a constant throughout.

In fact, utilising the youth academy has always been a key tool for the Addicks to drive towards success on the pitch, something the fan base themselves take a huge degree of pride in.

Since 1989, Charlton fans have been investing into a scheme called Valley Gold. The initiative centres around helping fund the academy and ultimately enabling the Addicks to produce top talent, such as the likes of Burnley's Nick Pope and former Chelsea star Scott Parker.

From the incredible First Division play-off final victory over Sunderland in 1998, to the League One champions team of 2012 and on to the League One play-off promotion winning side of 2019, Charlton's best squads have been full of academy graduates.

So what is the secret behind Charlton continuing to bring talent through the ranks and beyond?

Speaking to talkSPORT.com, the club's academy manager Steve Avory revealed that he believes the club's ethos has been one of the key driving forces behind it all.

Avory, who has been at the academy since the Addick's Premier League days in 2001, said: "I felt [investing in the academy] was a tradition, a culture already if you like, of bringing young players through into the first team, that was what I wanted to do and be involved in.

"So even in those days [in the Premier League] I felt that the board were right behind the youth programme.

"Although we all know there's been difficult years along the way and difficult times, I feel that there's always been that belief in bringing young players through here and it's always been a part of the tradition of the club and something that everybody has wanted to maintain."

He continued: "There's nothing more that the fans take pleasure in really than seeing a young player that's come through the ranks, stepping on to The Valley.

"The fans love that and the players appreciate it. Certainly myself and all the staff, it's a great moment of satisfaction when that happens."

The academy head also attributes a lot of their success in bringing homegrown talent through and beyond to giving opportunities to those in the communities surrounding The Valley.

"One thing I recognised, very early on within my first six months, is we had to improve the recruitment of players into the academy," Avory said.

"I felt at the time I looked at the players across the programme and I thought there was plenty of talent. But I felt it didn't really reflect the demographic of the area.

"I wouldn't say there was a low percentage of black players but I felt there needed to be more. There should've been more considering Charlton's location, you know the Borough of Greenwich, access to south London and east London."

He added: "The reason I say that is because you're no where without getting your recruitment right.

"…We show we have a real enthusiasm for working with those young players because I think that rubs off."

When asked what it is about the players that do make it to the Charlton first team, the Premier League and beyond that in the case of England international Joe Gomez, Avory stated three required key traits.

"One thing that they've all got in common… is that they've got strong mental qualities, very well supported in their [Gomez and Konsa's] case by their family, which is important as well, and they've got this dedication and passion for the game.

"I think also what the lads here recognise is the thought and the effort that's going on here from so many dedicated staff that are supporting them.

"So there's a lot of discipline in our environment, you know we can have fun but there's a lot of discipline and seriousness about what we do here.

"And I think players… they buy into that and we try and nurture those mental qualities as we develop the person alongside what are the reasons they came here in the first place, which is their talent."

The academy's focus on putting the player at the centre of what they do speaks for itself, too.

The former Addicks that have gone on to play at a higher level still maintain contact with the club, including those that were only in the youth set-up in their late teens, such as Leicester's Ademola Lookman and Rangers' Joe Aribo.

Whether it's keeping in touch informally, returning to watch the Addicks or aiding the academy's educational side, the now-top flight stars have kept Charlton close - something Avory is extremely grateful for.

"I've kept those relationships down the years," Avory explained. "Within the last year for example I've had contact with Joe Gomez and Ezri Konsa, and asking players like that to get involved in something we might be doing as part of our education of young players.

"So it might be that we invite them to a parents evening even if it's just by a Zoom call, which Ezri did for us in September of this season.

"And they're always willing to do that I have to say, never had any one of them say that they couldn't commit to that.

"…They don't forget us, the majority of them comment on the fond memories they had here… They don't forget their days here, which I really appreciate."

Looking forward, Charlton's academy are currently in the process of seeking to achieve Category One status, one of the goals Avory hopes the club will secure in the near future.

"There's clearly some investment being put forward to get us to that level which is needed," Avory explained, "So to get us to that Category One status is important because I want our players, who I feel are able, to compete with the best in the country."

He added: "I think by the end of the season [2020/21] we had 28 per cent of the first team squad had come through the academy. I'd love that to be approaching 40 per cent plus."

So whilst clubs such as Brentford have chosen to wind up their academy set-ups, Charlton are looking to not only keep theirs, but to push it further than they ever have before.

Watch this space, football fans.