Date / Year of birth: 12th December 1988

Position: Striker

Season of first appearance: 2013/14

Season of last appearance: 2013/14

Also played for: Southend United (1+5,0), Bishop's Stortford, Cambridge United, Welling United, Rushden & Diamonds, Salisbury City, Crawley Town, Grimsby Town, AFC Wimbledon (6+15,1) and Eastbourne Borough

5' 10" tall striker born in Milton Keynes who started his career in Southend's junior ranks and played for their youth team during the 2004/05 campaign. On 14.1.06 Charles made his senior debut as a late substitute in a 4-1 home win over Brentford in League One but it was his only first team action of a season that saw Southend win promotion to the Championship.

Charles joined Conference South club Bishop's Stortford on work experience at the start of 2006/07 and scored on his debut after coming on as a substitute. He made three further appearances without scoring again before going back to Roots Hall.

Charles couldn't break into Southend's senior side after returning to the club and in January 2007 he started a loan spell with Conference outfit Cambridge United. Charles made his debut for them as a substitute in a 3-0 home win over Woking on 27.1.07 and on 17.2.07 he scored after coming on as sub in a 2-2 draw at Morecambe. It was his only goal for United and he went back to Southend in April 2007 having made six appearances, five of them as a substitute.

On 28.4.07 Charles made his only first team appearance of the 2006/07 campaign when he came on as Southend lost 3-1 at home to Luton in the Championship. The Shrimpers were relegated at the end of the season.

Charles again found himself unable to break into Southend's team during the early part of 2007/08 and in November 2007 he was loaned to Conference South club Welling.

He made eight league appearances for the Wings without scoring before going back to Southend in January 2008.

In February 2008 Charles was sent out on loan again, linking up with Conference outfit Rushden & Diamonds. He made his debut in a 1-0 home defeat against York in the FA Trophy on 23.2.08 and scored once from seven further outings (three as sub) before heading back to Southend at the end of March 2008.

Having not featured in the Shrimpers first team at all during 2007/08 Charles was used as a substitute in a 1-0 defeat against visitors Cheltenham in the League Cup on 12.8.08 and on 16.8.08 he finally made his full debut in a 1-1 draw at Millwall in League One. Charles then made two further substitute appearances before joining Salisbury on loan at the end of November 2008.

He made his debut in a 1-1 draw with visitors York in the Conference on 29.11.08 and featured five more times for Salisbury up to the start of January 2009, scoring once. Charles then spent a few weeks back at Southend before starting a second loan stint with Salisbury at the beginning of February 2009. He made a further 14 appearances and scored five times before the end of the 2008/09 campaign.

Shortly after the season finished Charles was released by Southend and towards the end of May 2009 he signed for Conference club Crawley. Charles made his debut for the Sussex outfit in a 4-0 defeat at Mansfield on 8.8.09 and scored his first goal in his next outing - a 3-1 home win over Forest Green on 11.8.09. Charles was a regular in the Crawley side for the rest of 2009/10 and ended the campaign having scored 11 times from 31 Conference appearances (six as sub). The highlight of his season was a 3-2 win at Grays on 28.12.09 when Charles scored all three goals.

In July 2010 he moved on to Grimsby and Charles made his debut for the Mariners in a 2-1 home defeat against Hayes & Yeading in the Conference on 21.8.10. He had injury problems throughout 2010/11 and only managed 12 league appearances for Grimsby (six as sub) during the campaign. Charles scored twice with both goals coming in a 6-1 win at Histon on 3.1.11.

In June 2011 he was signed by League Two newcomers AFC Wimbledon who were managed by Terry Brown at the time and Charles said "I am really looking forward to being involved again, especially in a team that gets the ball down and plays football. I am sure I will score goals in this side." He made his debut for the club as a substitute in a 3-2 defeat at his old club Crawley in the League Cup on 29.7.11 and then scored in his next outing, also from the subs bench, as Wimbledon lost 3-2 at home to Bristol Rovers on 6.8.11 in their first-ever Football League match. Charles featured regularly for the next few months but didn't score again and in January 2012 he was released having made a total of 21 appearances, 15 of them as a substitute.

Charles returned to the game in March 2012 when he joined Conference South outfit Eastbourne Borough and he scored once from eight league appearances before the end of 2011/12. Charles made a further nine appearances for Borough at the start of the 2012/13 season, scoring once before being released in October 2012.

Early in November 2012 he linked up with Salisbury - his second spell with them - and Charles scored twice from 21 league outings as the Wiltshire club won promotion from the Conference South via the play-offs.

In July 2013 he joined Margate on trial for the club's pre-season friendlies and on 9.7.13 Charles scored twice in a 5-1 win at Ashford. Joint player-manager Craig Holloway told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "Charlie is a possibility. We are on the lookout for another forward and he did impress us, especially as he hasn't trained with us yet. He hadn't done any training, so it was impressive that he looked sharp." Holloway added "He's small, but he's physical and very strong and he's got pace. He's coming down to training again and we will look to play him again and make a decision after another game." Charles then scored in a 5-2 friendly win at Hythe on 13.7.13 and he was signed shortly afterwards.

He made his competitive debut for Margate in a 2-0 home win over Ramsgate in the 1st Leg of a tie played for the Thanet Challenge Cup on 26.7.13 and Charles then started each of the next four matches. He opened his goalscoring account in the last of them - a 3-1 win over Harrow at Hartsdown Park in the Isthmian League Premier Division on 17.8.13. Charles found the net inside the first minute of the game with a good strike, drilling a first-time effort into the corner of the net from an angle as the ball bounced up but he had to go off shortly before half-time after picking up an ankle injury.

Charles missed Margate's next five matches after also developing a hamstring problem but he was back in the side for a 1-1 draw with visitors Leiston on 7.9.13. On 14.9.13 he scored a second half winner as Margate beat Kingstonian 2-1 in an FA Cup tie at Hartsdown Park and Charles was used in an unfamiliar role during the game, switching between midfield and attack. He told the Isle of Thanet Gazette "It's not a position I am too used to playing but I felt it worked well as I was finding space and getting chances to run at the full-backs as you saw for the first goal. We rotated well and I thought we caused them some problems. As long as I play with a smile on my face and enjoy my football that's the main thing. Put me in a game at any level and I will score goals. I'm not happy sitting on the bench but I know when I get my chance I'll take it."

On 28.9.13 Charles got his third goal of the season from the penalty spot as Margate lost 2-1 to visitors Dulwich in the FA Cup and he also got the winner in his next outing, just getting a faint touch to a towering Phil Walsh header from a corner inside two minutes to secure a 1-0 win at Wealdstone on 6.10.13.

On 19.10.13 Charles scored twice in a 9-4 win at Wroxham in the FA Trophy and he also bagged a brace in a 4-1 home win over Clevedon in the same competition on 2.11.13 but fired a penalty over the bar to miss out on a hat-trick. During the weeks that followed he was hampered by a hamstring injury and after wearing the number ten shirt in a 3-2 win over visitors Wingate & Finchley on 26.11.13 Charles only featured three times as a substitute in Margate's next seven matches. On 21.12.13 he came off the bench to score an equaliser in the last minute to secure a 2-2 draw with Hampton & Richmond at Hartsdown Park and that was shortly after Terry Brown, his former manager at AFC Wimbledon, had taken over as Margate's boss.

On 28.12.13 Charles made his first start for over a month in a 1-0 home win over Enfield Town before dropping back to the subs bench for the next two games. He was back in the starting line-up for a 4-1 win over Cray at Bromley on 4.2.14 and then on 18.2.14 Charles scored his tenth goal of the season with the opener in a 2-1 win over visitors Thamesmead. Although he featured regularly for the next month or so, sometimes as a substitute, Charles struggled for form and after being replaced at half-time of a 0-0 draw at Wingate & Finchley on 1.4.14 he missed Margate's next two matches completely.

He returned to action as a substitute in a 1-1 draw with Lewes at Hartsdown Park on 12.4.14 and Charles then started each of Margate's last four games of the season. On 21.4.14 he scored for the first time in over two months in a 5-0 home win over Cray, holding off a challenge before slotting home, and the strike ended a run of eight starts without a goal. Charles ended the season having managed 11 goals from a total of 42 appearances (ten as sub) but at the end of April 2014 he was released.