Charlie Terence Setford (born 11 May 2004) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays for Jong Ajax as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he represents England at youth level.

Career

Setford was scouted by

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the ...

at age 7, and he has been part of the club ever since. He featured regularly at every level of the club's youth system. He signed a three-year contract with Ajax in June 2020. On 2 April 2021, aged 16, Setford made the bench for Jong Ajax in a league match for the first time. He made the bench on three more occasions before the end of the season. Setford made his first appearance and start for Jong Ajax during the 2021–22 season in a league match on 20 August 2021 against FC Den Bosch. Aged only 17, this made him the youngest goalkeeper ever to play for Ajax. Jong Ajax won 3–2 and Setford made an important one-on-one save. Setford made a second start against

MVV Maatschappelijke Voetbal Vereniging Maastricht (), commonly known as MVV Maastricht (, ) or simply as MVV, is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Maastricht. Founded on 2 April 1902, MVV Maastricht currently compete in the Eer ...

on 27 September, saving a penalty in a 3–1 win. Setford also made the bench for the senior Ajax team for the league match against PEC Zwolle on 11 September 2021, and from then on has made regular appearances on the bench for the seniors, including in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

match against

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul, Turkey, located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and Şişli, on the west by Kağıthane and Şişli, on the south by Beyoğlu, and ...

on 28 September 2021.

International career

Setford was born in the Netherlands to an English father and Dutch mother, and is eligible to play for both England and the Netherlands at international level. He has played for both nations at youth level, playing a combined four appearances for Netherlands U15 and Netherlands U16 before 2020, as well as making five appearances for the England U16 team. However, Setford later announced that he had decided to commit to playing for England over the Netherlands at international level, explaining: "It was my own choice, and my family as well. My heart lays at England. At England, they've got more trust in me than they would at Holland, for my feeling. So that's one of the biggest reasons why I chose for England." On 27 August 2021, Setford received his first call up to the England U18s. He made his first appearance on 3 September 2021, starting a 1–1 draw against Wales U18. On 18 March 2022, he received his first call up the England U20 squad. Setford is considered one of the most exciting England prospects of his generation.

Personal life

Charlie has a younger brother,

Tommy Setford Tommy Setford (born 13 March 2006) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Arsenal. He is the brother of Ajax goalkeeper Charlie Setford. Early life Setford was born in 2006 in Haarlem, to an English professional golfer an ...

, who is also a goalkeeper and currently plays for

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

's academy as well as the England U17s. Charlie and Tommy's father is English pro

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

er Chris Setford, who has been living in the Netherlands due to his career. Setford's favourite team other than Ajax is

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

, as his English father is from Alton near the city. Setford says he and his family only speak English at home.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual * Ajax Talent of the Future (Abdelhak Nouri Trophy): 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Setford, Charlie 2004 births Living people Footballers from Haarlem English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers English people of Dutch descent Dutch people of English descent Men's association football goalkeepers Jong Ajax players AFC Ajax players Eerste Divisie players