Jaden Charles (born 25 January 2002) is a professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Nuneaton Borough. He is the son of former England international

Gary Charles Gary Andrew Charles (born 13 April 1970) is an English football coach and former professional player. He played as a right-back, notably beginning his career with Nottingham Forest and featured in the inaugural Premier League season under Br ...

. He previously played youth-team football for Derby County, where he won the Professional Development League U18 Division 1 title in 2018–19.

Club career

Youth years

Charles spent ten years at the Academy at Derby County, scoring three goals and providing six assists in 31 games for the under-18 team and featuring once for the under-23 team and playing three times in the UEFA Youth League. Derby won the Professional Development League U18 Division 1 title in the 2018–19 season, with Charles contributing one goal from 13 games. He scored a free-kick against Newcastle United U18 in February 2020 that saw him nominated for the League Football Education's Goal of the Month award. He chose to leave the club in August 2020.

Mansfield Town

On 24 March 2021, he signed with

EFL League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side Mansfield Town on a contract to run until the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Manager Nigel Clough gave Charles his senior debut on 1 May 2021, when he came on as 81st-minute substitute for

Stephen Quinn Stephen Jude Quinn (born 1 April 1986) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Mansfield Town. He has also represented the Republic of Ireland national team. He started his career with League of Ireland club St Patric ...

in a 4–1 victory over Oldham Athletic at Field Mill.

York City (loan)

In August 2021, National League North outfit York City announced Charles on a one-month loan. He made his debut for the club in York's league defeat against Gloucester City the very same day, playing the full 90 minutes. He returned to his parent club on the 16th of September, having played 4 matches for York.

Hereford (loan)

On 15 October 2021, Charles joined National League North club

Hereford F.C. Hereford Football Club is an English association football club from the city of Hereford. They were founded in 2014 as a phoenix club for Hereford United, and inherited their Edgar Street stadium. They are nicknamed 'The Whites' after their pre ...

on a one month loan deal.

Nuneaton Borough

In December 2021,

Southern Football League The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the English fo ...

club Nuneaton Borough F.C. announced the signing of Charles on an initial one-month loan. He made his debut for the club against Royston Town F.C. completing a full 90 minutes. On 5 February 2022 Charles scored his first goal for the club directly from a corner against

Alvechurch F.C. Alvechurch Football Club is a football club based in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Lye Meadow. History The club was established in 1929 as Alvechurch Juniors and played in the Redditch Leagu ...

and shortly after this had his loan spell extended until the end of the 2021/22 season. On 11 June 2022, Charles signed for the club on a permanent basis.

International career

Though born in England, Charles has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-18 level during Andy Reid's management spell in 2019. He made his debut as a 75th-minute substitute for

Louie Watson Louie Shaun Watson (born 7 June 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Luton Town. Club career Derby County Watson made his debut for Derby County as a substitute in a 4–0 win against Birmingham C ...

in a 4–0 friendly defeat to Turkey.

Style of play

Charles is a left-back with pace and good passing ability, whose technical skills make him a dead-ball specialist.

Personal life

He is the son of former England international

Statistics

Honours

Derby County U18 * Professional Development League U18 Division 1: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Jaden 2002 births Living people English footballers Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland youth international footballers Association football fullbacks Derby County F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players