Charlton manager Nigel Adkins presented Charles Clayden and Deji Elerewe with their first-team league debut shirts in a bespoke frame to commemorate the duo’s milestones.
Clayden replaced Conor Washington late on against Sheffield Wednesday to enjoy a brief cameo in the season-opener, while Elerewe played the entirety of the second period at Stadium MK after replacing Ryan Inniss during the interval.
Academy Manager Steve Avory led the celebration at the club’s Sparrows Lane training ground, before handing over to Adkins who presented both players with their respective shirts.
“There is nothing more that the fans like than a home product who comes through and plays for the first team,” explained Avory. “It makes us as an academy very proud. We’re proud of our productivity in terms of the number of players that have come through to the first team and that seems to be continuing.
“We want to commemorate that in a different way to what we have done in the past. We’ve always made a big thing of it but we want to mark it in a different way and Ged [Roddy, Technical Director] had this idea. We want to mark this moment with something for the lads to cherish.
“I’m really proud of them,” Avory added. “I must stress this to them - as I do to the lads and they know this - it’s great that you make your first team debut but it’s the beginning of the journey.”