Thanks to the continued support of Valley Gold, Chris Lock had the opportunity to take his U21s side for a mid-season break to the Netherlands to take on Sparta Rotterdam in a friendly at their state-of-the-art training facilities.
Josh Laqeretabua, Ibrahim Fullah and Patrick Casey all netted in the fixture, which finished 3-3 on the day, providing the young Addicks with a unique European experience.
Reflecting on the trip, Lock said: "We wanted to give the boys a bit of European experience, which is something we, as an academy and myself, wanted to bring as a part of our games programme in this new season.
"I met the Technical Director of Sparta Rotterdam at an event last year. I’ve kept in touch with him, and I just gave him a phone call and said, ‘I’d like to bring my U21s over. Could we do it?’ He was really excited to do it! Coincidentally, Charlton Athletic is his English club, so that’s how we got talking at the event that we were at. He jumped at the chance of having us over, so that’s how it came about."
Touching on the game itself, he added: "You wouldn’t have thought it was a kind of friendly fixture, it felt like a competitive game. It had the feel of a cup game, both teams wanted to win, so it felt more like England versus Holland rather than Charlton versus Sparta Rotterdam, but our boys took a lot from it.
"They played against a level of player that was of a high standard. Whilst we play our games over here against boys that are equally as talented, we play against the same players quite often, so it was nice for them to experience a different culture and a different type of player. It was brilliant."
Without the support of Valley Gold, the trip would not have taken place and Lock was quick to emphasise the importance of the organisation.
"As a club and as an academy, it’s been well documented how much we rely upon the support of the Valley Gold, which in turn is supported by the fans," he explained. "It all happened because Valley Gold were able to support us in getting over there. They were able to support us in putting us in a hotel, and ensuring that the boys had the best preparation they could for the trip.
"Literally without Valley Gold, we wouldn’t have gone, and that’s the be all and end all of it. Without them, nothing would have happened. I'm so massively thankful for everything that they do and continue to do for us, and as long as we keep that going, the more fans that sign up for it the better!"
Charlton fans can support the academy by signing up to the Valley Gold scheme. Valley Gold enables fans to support the club’s academy in unearthing the talents of tomorrow, as well as giving them the chance to win cash prizes.
Click here for more information on how you can become a Valley Gold member.
