#10 Charlie AUSTIN

https://southamptonfc.com/first-team/charlie-austin

Former clubs: 

Kintbury Rangers, Hungerford Town, Poole Town, Swindon Town, Burnley, QPR.

Early days

Charlie Austin was born in the Berkshire town of Hungerford on July 5, 1989. As a schoolboy, he was on the books of Reading, but was released by the Royals at the age of 15.

He would go on to play for Kintbury Rangers and hometown club Hungerford Town, before his family moved to Dorset and he linked up with Poole Town in 2008.

There, he would shoot, quite literally, to prominence in the Wessex League, scoring an incredible 64 goals in 57 appearances.

While playing in the non-league, Austin supplemented his football by working for his dad’s company, Austin Brickworks.

Returning home in the early hours of the morning after an away game for Poole, Austin would often be faced with just a handful of hours of sleep before getting up and going off to lay bricks.

Turning professional

Austin’s time on the semi-professional scene would come to an end in 2009, after word spread of his goal-scoring prowess. He impressed on trial at Bournemouth, but, with the club under a transfer embargo at the time, the Cherries were not able to sign him.

League 1 side Swindon were also interested, though, and, after a strong showing during a week’s trial, manager Danny Wilson was convinced enough to buy Austin in 2009.

Swindon debut

Austin’s first professional appearance came as a late substitute in a Johnstone’s Paint Trophy match away to Exeter in October 2009, with his league debut arriving later that same month, as a 72nd minute substitute in a 1-0 defeat at Norwich.

Austin’s first goal would come on November 21, 2009, as he bagged the winner in a 1-0 victory away to Carlisle. That would prove to be the beginning of an incredible run that saw him net 13 goals in 15 matches.

He would end his first professional campaign having scored 20 goals, although there was to be disappointment at the end of it, as the Robins lost 1-0 to Swindon in the League 1 play-off final, at Wembley.

Joining Burnley and partnering Jay Rodriguez

Austin would prove the very next season that his form was no flash in the pan, scoring 15 goals in his opening 21 games of 2010/11. That prompted Championship club Burnley to sign him on a three-and-a-half-year contract towards the end of the January 2011 transfer window.

Injury meant that he did not feature as much as he would have liked in his first months with the Clarets, but he would prove to be an integral part of their side in the 2011/12 campaign.

Austin finished his first full season at the second-tier club with 17 goals, including a hat-trick in a 5-1 victory away to Portsmouth, in March 2012. That campaign saw Austin form a fearsome partnership with Jay Rodriguez, who he is now teammates with again, with the pair scoring 38 goals between them.

The 2012/13 term would prove to be even more incredible for Austin, as he banged in 28 goals himself. That included an incredible run of 20 strikes in his first 17 matches of the season

Moving to QPR

The summer of 2013 saw QPR make a move for Austin, with the striker joining the club, who were in the Championship at the time.

It would prove to be a memorable debut season for the forward, as he scored 20 times, helping the London side secure a spot in the play-offs, and they went on to earn promotion to the Premier League, with a 1-0 win over Derby in the final, at Wembley.

Premier League debut and England recognition

Austin made his top-flight debut on August 16, 2014, in a 1-0 home defeat to Hull, but his second Premier League game brought happier memories, as he scored the winner in a 1-0 victory over Sunderland, at Loftus Road.

Austin would net a stunning solo goal in a 2-1 defeat at St Mary’s, in September – the fifth time in seven appearances he scored against Saints – with his effort arguably the best of the 18 goals he fired during the campaign, with his record including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win over West Brom in December.

The five goals he scored that month earned him the Premier League player of the month award. His form would also earn him a first England call-up, in May 2015, although he would not get onto the pitch in either a friendly with the Republic of Ireland or a Euro 2016 qualifier against Slovenia.

Unfortunately, despite his fantastic personal record, there was heartbreak at the end of the campaign, as QPR were relegated back to the Championship.

Joining Southampton

Austin remained with QPR during the first half of the 2015/16 season, scoring a further ten goals for the club, before Saints beat off stiff competition to capture his signature in the January 2016 transfer window.

The striker made a dream debut for his new club, scoring just eight minutes after coming off the bench to earn Saints a dramatic victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford.

Austin's start to his Saints career was hampered by injury, but ahead of the 2016/17 season the striker was handed the number ten shirt at St Mary's.