Charlton Athletic are delighted to confirm the appointment of James Brayne as Individual Development Coach.
In the new role, Brayne will be focused on developing players on an individual basis, working with academy players to help prepare them for men’s first-team football and working with first-team players to help them strengthen key areas of their game.
Brayne joins the club from Birmingham City, where he spent more than a decade in the Blues’ academy across two spells, and previously worked within Manchester City’s academy for almost three years.
While in his most recent role as Head of Coaching and Player Development U15-U21, he led the academy coaching programme that saw Birmingham ranked number one in the EFL productivity rankings, based on a three-season assessment between 2018/19 and 2021/22. Jude Bellingham, now of Real Madrid and England, notably graduated through the Blues’ academy during this time.
“I’m really pleased to be at Charlton,” Brayne said. “The football club’s got a fantastic, rich history in developing young players and that’s something that I’ve had success with at Birmingham City, and I want to continue that here.
“My conversations with Andy Scott, Nathan Jones and all of the staff so far have been really positive. Everyone’s been really welcoming and everybody sees the value in the role: trying to help individual players get better, help the team improve and ultimately everybody develop. That’s what I’m here to do and that’s what I’m excited to get my teeth stuck into.”
Technical Director Andy Scott added: “James has worked with some elite players at Birmingham City, who have had a number of players that have come through their academy and into their first-team. They’re well respected for that, so we’re delighted to bring him in and secure his services. He fits in really well with what Nathan is doing with the first-team.
“We’ve got a lot of players that have come from the academy into the men’s first-team and we want to make sure that the individual development programmes that they’re currently undergoing in the academy are carried on and actually cemented so that they can improve in the areas that they need to work on.
“James will be a good link between the academy and the men’s first-team. He’ll work closely with individuals and small groups of players across the U18s, U21s and first-team. His purpose is to make sure that the players are getting the development that they need, rather than just jumping into the first-team and expecting them to be the finished article.”