Charlie Lakin

Charlie Lakin (born 8 May 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ross County of the Scottish Premiership, on loan from Championship club Birmingham City. He spent time on loan at Stevenage of League Two in the 2019–20 season.

Charlie Lakin
Lakin pictured in October 2018
Personal information
Full name Charlie Lakin[1]
Date of birth (1999-05-08) 8 May 1999[2]
Place of birth Solihull, England
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[3]
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
Number 19
Youth career
200?–2008 Walsall
2008–2017 Birmingham City
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017– Birmingham City 10 (0)
2019–2020 → Stevenage (loan) 20 (2)
2020– → Ross County (loan) 11 (2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:49, 7 February 2021 (UTC)

Club career

Birmingham City

Lakin was born in Solihull where he attended Langley School.[4] He joined Birmingham City's Academy from Walsall's under-nine team,[4] and took up a scholarship with the club in July 2015.[5][6] In his first season, he featured regularly for Birmingham's under-18 team.[7] 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."[8] 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.[4] 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.[9]

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.[10] 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.[11] 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.[12] 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."[13] Two weeks later, Lakin signed a new contract to run until 2020, with a further one-year option in the club's favour.[14]

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.[15] His first league start came in a goalless draw away to Sheffield United on 19 September, partnering 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."[16] He was a regular in the matchday squad until the turn of the year,[17] when a thigh injury kept him out of consideration until March 2019, during which time the appearance-based one-year extension to his contract was ratified.[18]

Stevenage

Having made one EFL Cup appearance for Birmingham in 2019–20, Lakin joined EFL League Two club Stevenage on 22 August 2019 on loan for the rest of the season.[19] He went straight into the starting eleven for the league visit to Mansfield Town two days later, and played the whole 90 minutes as the match ended goalless.[20] A thigh injury suffered during his debut kept him out for two months: he returned to action on 26 October in a 1–0 win at home to fellow strugglers Morecambe.[21] He scored his first senior goal on 18 January 2020 to round off a 4–0 win away to Cambridge United.[22][23] He had made 25 appearances in all competitions by the time the League Two season was first suspended and then ended early because of the COVID-19 pandemic.[24][22]

Ross County

Lakin started in the opening fixture of Birmingham's 2020–21 season, a 1–0 defeat at home to fourth-tier Cambridge United in the EFL Cup.[25] With several midfielders ahead of him in new head coach Aitor Karanka's pecking order, he was not included in the squad for any Championship matches, and on 5 October 2020, he joined Scottish Premiership club Ross County on 5 October 2020 on loan for the season.[26] He made his debut as a second-half substitute in the Scottish League Cup away to Montrose, who had been 3–0 down but had just pegged the score back to 3–2. Montrose scored again to take the tie to penalties; Lakin converted Ross County's fifth penalty but Montrose's fifth player missed his, so Ross County took the bonus point.[27]

Career statistics
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Birmingham City 2017–18[28] Championship001000—10
2018–19[15] Championship1000010—110
2019–20[22] Championship000010—10
2020–21[29] Championship000010—10
Total 1001030—140
Stevenage (loan) 2019–20[22] League Two20220—3[lower-alpha 3]0252
Ross County (loan) 2020–21[29] Scottish Premiership1120041—153
Career total 414307130545
  1. Includes FA Cup, Scottish Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup, Scottish League Cup
  3. Appearances in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "EFL: Club retained and released lists published". English Football League. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  2. "Charlie Lakin". Birmingham City F.C. Archived from the original on 8 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  3. "Charlie Lakin: Profile". worldfootball.net. HeimSpiel Medien. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  4. "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.
  5. "Blues sign-up future prospects". Birmingham City F.C. 6 July 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  6. "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.
  7. "Blues Academy end of term report". Birmingham City F.C. 4 May 2016. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  8. "Blues trio offered professional contracts". Birmingham City F.C. 30 January 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  9. "Blues to benefit from Spanish partnership". Birmingham City F.C. 23 October 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  10. 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.
  11. "Fourth substitute in extra-time permitted from first round onwards". The Football Association. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  12. "Report: Blues 1 Huddersfield Town 4 (aet)". Birmingham City F.C. 6 February 2018. Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  13. 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.
  14. "Charlie Lakin rewarded with new deal". Birmingham City F.C. 21 February 2018. Retrieved 21 February 2018.
  15. "Games played by Charlie Lakin in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  16. Dick, Brian (19 September 2018). "Birmingham City player ratings: Michael Morrison stars as Sheffield United frustrate Blues". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  17. "C. Lakin". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  18. "Charlie Lakin pens new Blues deal". Birmingham City F.C. 21 March 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2019.
  19. "Charlie Lakin loaned to Stevenage". Birmingham City F.C. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  20. "League Two: Mansfield 0 Stevenage 0". The Comet. Stevenage. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  21. "Injury blow for Blues loan duo". Birmingham City F.C. 29 August 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
    Mountney, Dan (26 October 2019). "Stevenage 1–0 Morecambe: Captain Cuthbert secures vital win as Boro climb off the bottom of League Two". The Comet. Stevenage. Retrieved 27 October 2019.
  22. "Games played by Charlie Lakin in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  23. "Cambridge 0–4 Stevenage: Boro deal out rare thumping at Abbey Stadium". Sky Sports. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2020.
  24. Roan, Dan; Stone, Simon (15 May 2020). "League Two clubs vote to end season, but League One teams fail to decide". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  25. "Birmingham City 0–1 Cambridge United". BBC Sport. 5 September 2020. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
  26. "Ross County take Charlie Lakin on loan from Birmingham City". BBC Sport. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  27. "Montrose 3–3 Ross County". BBC Sport. 7 October 2020. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  28. "Games played by Charlie Lakin in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  29. "Games played by Charlie Lakin in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 February 2021.
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