Charlie Lakin

Charlie Lakin came through Walsall's own youth system before Birmingham City took him into their academy at the age of nine, and it was there that he broke into senior football. His debut arrived in January 2018, in an FA Cup replay against Huddersfield Town in which he became the first Birmingham player used under the fourth-substitute-in-extra-time rule.

Loan spells followed at Stevenage, then Ross County, where his form earned him three individual awards in a single season: Young Player of the Season, the Players' Young Player of the Season, and Goal of the Season. Further loans took him to Doncaster Rovers, AFC Wimbledon and Sutton United, and at Sutton he again stood out, picking up both the Club Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season awards.

Burton Albion made his move permanent in the summer of 2021, and he spent three seasons in Staffordshire before the pull of his boyhood club proved decisive. Lakin returned to Walsall on a free transfer in June 2024, signing a two-year contract and taking the number 8 shirt he had worn at his previous clubs.

He has since moved on again, joining Barnet on a free transfer in June 2026 and continuing to wear the same number. Lakin has not been capped at any level for England, his career built instead on the string of individual honours he collected during his loan years away from Birmingham.