Chris Lock

Crystal Palace have become the first club to offer an aftercare programme for released players that don't have a future in football. The three-year aftercare package will support released academy players in making a way of life, outside of football. This is an incredible step...

Our U18s will host Hull City at The Valley in the PDL play-off semi-final 🏆 🗓️ Saturday, May 9th ⏰ KO 3pm BST 📍The Valley 🎟️ £3 adults, £1 concessions and free for all season-ticket holders and Valley Gold members #cafc | @ValleyGold

Our U21s are back in action this evening against Nottingham Forest 👊 Read our preview 👉 bit.ly/41Tr6hM #cafc | @ValleyGold

"I'm so grateful for the award! There's a lot of special names on there so it's great to be on that list!" 🙌 Hear from our 2025/26 @ValleyGold Young Player of the Year 👑 #cafc | @CharltonAcademy

It’s matchday for our U21s! ⚽️ 🆚 Nottingham Forest U21s 📍Holywell Stadium 🏆 PDL round of 16 play-offs ⏰ KO 7pm BST Best of luck, lads! 💪 #cafc | @ValleyGold

Your 2025/26 @ValleyGold Young Player of the Year ✨ #cafc | @CharltonAcademy

CHARLTON ARE STAYING UP 📈 #CAFC #BBCFootball

JOB DONE! 🔐 #cafc

Our U18s performed a lap of honour at The Valley last night with their Professional Development League South title 👏 #cafc | @ValleyGold

Our U18s were officially crowned Professional Development League South champions at Sparrows Lane this afternoon! 🏆 #cafc | @ValleyGold

Congratulations, @danielkanu_! 👏 #cafc | @CharltonAcademy | @ValleyGold

CHAMPIONS! 🏆 Congratulations to our U18s who have sealed the PDL2-South title following a 3-0 victory over Fleetwood Town 👏 #cafc | @ValleyGold

Dennis Bergkamp, one of the most technically gifted players the game has ever produced, and someone who spent years developing young players at Ajax said "The only team that needs to win trophies is the first team. The youth teams don’t need to win, they just need to make their players better." Read all five points, then ask yourself where does the balance actually sit in your coaching right now? 👇 1️⃣ Bergkamp isn't anti-winning, nobody who played at the level he did and worked within the Ajax system could be. What he's doing is being precise about purpose, the first team's job is to win. That's clear, and nobody disputes it and the youth team's job is to produce players capable of doing that, winning technically, tactically, physically, and mentally, ready for the demands of the level above them. When those two purposes stay in their right place, everything works. The problems start when the result on a youth team's matchday becomes the only measure of whether the coaching is good, the player's success or level of potential. 2️⃣ It's also worth understanding that this doesn't mean youth football should be consequence-free. Competition matters, learning to win and lose with the right attitude also matters. The pressure of a tight game, the experience of coming from behind, the discipline of performing when it's difficult, these are all part of what development looks like. Bergkamp isn't saying to remove the competition. He's saying don't let the trophy become the point, there's a significant difference between using competitive situations to develop players and restructuring everything around winning them. 3️⃣ The balance also shifts as players get older, at the foundational phase, development has to be the overwhelming priority. The research, the governing body guidelines, and the experience of coaches at every level all point in the same direction. Children at this age need fun, participation, technical development, and the freedom to make mistakes. By the time players reach the youth development phase and beyond, the relationship between development and results becomes more nuanced. Winning starts to matter more as players approach the pathway to senior football. The skill is knowing where you are on that journey and adjusting accordingly. 4️⃣ What Bergkamp's quote really challenges is the coaching ego that attaches itself to results regardless of age group. The under 9 coach who plays their strongest players all game because losing feels like a personal failure. The under 11 coach who abandons the development philosophy the moment a cup run becomes possible. The academy coach who selects for the fixture rather than the individual because the result matters for their reputation. None of these decisions are always wrong, context always matters but when they become habits rather than considered choices, that's where development gets quietly sacrificed for something that benefits the adult more than the child. 5️⃣ Ajax built one of the most admired development systems in world football not by ignoring results but by being absolutely clear about what youth football was for. Players developed within a consistent philosophy, a coherent style, and an environment where making them better was the daily measure of success. Some of those players won things along the way but that was a by-product of good development, not the purpose of it. The question Bergkamp's quote leaves every youth coach with isn't whether winning matters, it does. It's whether the decisions you make on a Tuesday evening in training and on a Saturday morning in a game are genuinely driven by what makes the player better, or whether something else has quietly crept in?

Oporto Sports client and #CAFC U21 head coach @Chris_Lock1983 has given an exclusive in-depth interview to @SkySports’ website feature writer, @ghostgoal, covering his coaching journey and his life outside of football. Alongside his role at Charlton, Chris is also an assistant coach at The @FA, working with @England U17s, U18s and U20s. He also established his own grassroots football club in London, @CDFCinfo, and has spent 19 years working as a firefighter for @LondonFire, all of which he covers in the conversation with Adam. To read the interview in full, please click here ⬇️ skysports.com/football/news/… For any enquiries for Chris Lock, please email dean@oportosports.com

Thank you to @SkySports reporter @ghostgoal for the feature Chris Lock interview: Former firefighter turned Charlton coach is now working with England's best young talents skysports.com/football/news/…

"My goal is to keep on scoring, and that is what I am here for!" 💬 Kaheim Dixon reflects on his brace in today’s 5–2 victory over Peterborough United's U21s... #cafc | @ValleyGold

Dixon (2), Mwamba, Trialist and Amissah all on the scoresheet ⚽️ Watch back all the key moments from the U21s' 5-2 victory over Peterborough United 🎥 #cafc

Daniel Kanu has opened the scoring for Sierra Leone in their FIFA Series clash with Azerbaijan - his first goal on the international stage 🇸🇱 Congratulations, Dan! 👏 #cafc

Josh Laqeretabua netted his first goal in senior football for @BathCity_FC on Saturday 💪 Some strike, Josh! 🎯 #cafc

Three points on the board for the young Addicks 👊 #cafc | @ValleyGold