Jaden Charles (born 25 January 2002) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for Rushall Olympic. He is the son of former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international

Gary Charles Gary Andrew Charles (born 13 April 1970) is an English football coach and former professional player. He played as a right-back, notably beginning his career with Nottingham Forest and featured in the inaugural Premier League season under Brian ...

. He previously played youth-team football for

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

, where he won the

Professional Development League The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

U18 Division 1 title in 2018–19.

Club career

Youth years

Charles spent ten years at the

Academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

, scoring three goals and providing six assists in 31 games for the under-18 team and featuring once for the under-23 team and playing three times in the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

. Derby won the

U18 Division 1 title in the 2018–19 season, with Charles contributing one goal from 13 games. He scored a free-kick against Newcastle United U18 in February 2020 that saw him nominated for the League Football Education's Goal of the Month award. He chose to leave the club in August 2020.

Mansfield Town

On 24 March 2021, he signed with

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

side

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on a contract to run until the end of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season. Manager

Nigel Clough Nigel Howard Clough (born 19 March 1966) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Mansfield Town. Playing predominantly as a forward, but later in his career used as a midfielder, Clough was capped by ...

gave Charles his senior debut on 1 May 2021, when he came on as 81st-minute substitute for

Stephen Quinn Stephen Jude Quinn (born 1 April 1986) is an Irish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town. He has also represented the Republic of Ireland national football team, Repu ...

in a 4–1 victory over

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

Field Mill Field Mill, currently known as One Call Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a Football pitch, football ground in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, and the home of Mansfield Town F.C., Mansfield Town Football Club. It is the oldest ground in ...

York City (loan)

In August 2021,

National League North The National League North, officially known as Vanarama National League North for sponsorship reasons, is a professional Association football league in England. National League North is the second division of the National League (English footb ...

outfit

York City York City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of York, North Yorkshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system, as of the 2024–25 seas ...

announced Charles on a one-month loan. He made his debut for the club in York's league defeat against Gloucester City the very same day, playing the full 90 minutes. He returned to his parent club on the 16th of September, having played 4 matches for York.

Hereford (loan)

On 15 October 2021, Charles joined

club

Hereford F.C. Hereford Football Club is an English association football club from the city of Hereford. They were founded in 2014 as a phoenix club for Hereford United, and inherited their Edgar Street stadium. They are nicknamed 'The Whites' after their ...

on a one-month loan deal.

Nuneaton Borough

In December 2021,

Southern Football League The Southern League is a football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from East Anglia, the South and Midlands of England, and South Wales. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven a ...

club

Nuneaton Borough F.C. Nuneaton Town Football Club is an English association football, football club that was based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. It withdrew from Southern Football League, Southern League Premier Division Central on 18 January 2024 due to financial probl ...

announced the signing of Charles on an initial one-month loan. He made his debut for the club against

Royston Town F.C. Royston Town Football Club (also known as The Crows) are an English football club based in Royston, Hertfordshire, England, and have played their home games at Garden Walk since 1932. Founded in 1875, it is the third oldest club in Hertfordsh ...

completing a full 90 minutes. On 5 February 2022 Charles scored his first goal for the club directly from a corner against

Alvechurch F.C. Alvechurch Football Club is a football club based in Alvechurch, Worcestershire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Lye Meadow. History The club was established in 1929 as Alvechurch Juniors and played in the Redditch Leagu ...

and shortly after this had his loan spell extended until the end of the 2021/22 season. On 11 June 2022, Charles signed for the club on a permanent basis.

Rushall Olympic

In January 2024, following Nuneaton's withdrawal from the league, Charles joined National League North club Rushall Olympic.

International career

Though born in England, Charles has represented the Republic of Ireland at under-18 level during

Andy Reid Andrew Walter Reid (born March 19, 1958) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). Reid was previously the head coach of the Philadelphi ...

's management spell in 2019. He made his debut as a 75th-minute substitute for Louie Watson in a 4–0 friendly defeat to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Style of play

Charles is a

with pace and good passing ability, whose technical skills make him a dead-ball specialist.

Personal life

He is the son of former

international

Statistics

Honours

Derby County U18 *

U18 Division 1: 2018–19

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Charles, Jaden 2002 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) English men's footballers Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football fullbacks Derby County F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players York City F.C. players Hereford F.C. players Nuneaton Town F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Southern Football League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Irish sportsmen