Charlie Lakin

Charlie Lakin
Lean young man with short fair hair wearing sports kit
Lakin pictured in October 2018
Personal information
Date of birth (1999-05-08) 8 May 1999[1]
Place of birth Solihull, England
Playing position Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Birmingham City
Number 31
Youth career
200?–2008 Walsall
2008–2017 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017– Birmingham City 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 09:10, 3 October 2018 (UTC)

Charlie Lakin (born 8 May 1999) is a footballer who plays as a midfielder for Birmingham City. He made his senior debut in the 2017–18 FA Cup in February 2018.

Club career

Lakin was born in Solihull where he attended Langley School.[2] He joined Birmingham City's Academy from Walsall's under-nine team,[2] and took up a scholarship with the club in July 2015.[3][4] In his first season, he featured regularly for Birmingham's under-18 team.[5] Speaking in January 2017, Academy manager Kristjaan Speakman described Lakin as "a left-sided midfielder [who] has played in a more central position for the Under-18s over the course of this season. He has real box-to-box energy. He can be creative with the ball but also really robust defensively."[6] He finished the season with two goals from 13 appearances in the under-23 team, and signed his first professional contract, of one year, at the end of the 2016–17 season.[2] Lakin was a regular in the under-23s in the 2017–18 season, and was one of two players selected to train with UE Cornellà's first team in October 2017 as part of a proposed relationship between Birmingham City and the Spanish Segunda División B (third-tier) club.[7]

His involvement with Birmingham's first team increased, and on 27 January 2018, he was given a squad number and included among the substitutes for the FA Cup fourth-round visit to Premier League club Huddersfield Town.[8] He remained unused as Birmingham drew the match, but made his senior debut in the replay ten days later. Use of a fourth substitute during extra time of an FA Cup tie, trialled in the later rounds of the 2016–17 edition, was permitted from the first round in 2017–18.[9] Lakin became the first Birmingham player to be used under that arrangement when he replaced Jason Lowe after 101 minutes with his team already 3–1 down; the match finished as a 4–1 defeat.[10] According to the Birmingham Mail, on his first involvement in the match, "he gathered possession on the edge of his own area, surged through his half and threaded a superb pass to Jota which set Blues away on the counter", showing the "sort of technical ability which has made him such a big hit in his first full season at Under 23 level."[11] Two weeks later, Lakin signed a new contract to run until 2020, with a further one-year option in the club's favour.[12]

Lakin made his next appearance in the defeat to Reading in the 2018–19 EFL Cup, and his Football League debut in the next match, replacing Gary Gardner towards the end of a goalless draw at home to Swansea City.[13] His first league start came in a goalless draw away to Sheffield United on 19 September, partnering Gary Gardner in central midfield; the Birmingham Mail marked him 7.5 out of 10, and said he "gave his first pass away – but that was virtually his last mistake. He was as good without the ball as with it and looks to have given [the manager] another option in the middle."[14]

Career statistics

As of match played 2 October 2018
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 2017–18[15] Championship001000—10
2018–19[13] Championship500010—60
Career total 501010—70


References

  1. ↑ "Charlie Lakin". Birmingham City F.C. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 "Lakin making his Bluenose family proud". Birmingham City F.C. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018. I've got really good fitness. I'm energetic all over the pitch, work hard for the team, tackling, passing and try and get goals with every opportunity I have.
  3. ↑ "Blues sign-up future prospects". Birmingham City F.C. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  4. ↑ "List of Players Registered as Scholars in Accordance with Rule C.3 Between 01/07/2015 and 31/07/2015" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 50. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  5. ↑ "Blues Academy end of term report". Birmingham City F.C. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  6. ↑ "Blues trio offered professional contracts". Birmingham City F.C. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  7. ↑ "Blues to benefit from Spanish partnership". Birmingham City F.C. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Ireland, Shane (27 January 2018). "Who are Charlie Lakin and Steve Seddon? A quick guide to the Birmingham City kids on the bench at Huddersfield". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "Fourth substitute in extra-time permitted from first round onwards". The Football Association. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  10. ↑ "Report: Blues 1 Huddersfield Town 4 (aet)". Birmingham City F.C. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  11. ↑ Dick, Brian (7 February 2018). "Birmingham City 1 Huddersfield Town 4: Manchester United are off the agenda but David Stockdale, Che Adams and Charlie Lakin are on it". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  12. ↑ "Charlie Lakin rewarded with new deal". Birmingham City F.C. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  13. 1 2 "Games played by Charlie Lakin in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  14. ↑ Dick, Brian (19 September 2018). "Birmingham City player ratings: Michael Morrison stars as Sheffield United frustrate Blues". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  15. ↑ "Games played by Charlie Lakin in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
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