Charlton and Ademola Lookman

Turn the corner in the corridor leading to the sports hall at St Thomas the Apostle School and Sixth Form College (STAC) and, almost hidden away out of sight, you might miss the framed, match-worn Charlton Athletic shirt.   The display also includes a photo of a young Ademola Lookman.

The reigning African footballer of the year is, without question, the most successful player to emerge from STAC, a state-funded all-boys Catholic school in Southwark, south-east London. Yet Lookman’s is just one of several jerseys displayed on that wall, illustrating the sporting achievements of so many former pupils.

He achieved excellent academic results at STAC, with four A*s and five As in his GCSEs, before being picked up late, at 17, by Charlton. He rose rapidly through their academy to the first team and made 49 appearances before a Premier League move to Everton at age 19. A further 48 appearances on Merseyside led to a 2019 transfer to Germany’s RB Leipzig and subsequent Premier League loans with Fulham and Leicester City, until he settled on a permanent deal with Atalanta in August 2022.

“Ademola was academically driven because there was not even a thought back then about him taking up a scholarship let alone a professional contract,” PE supremo Reynolds commented.