Charlie Austin

Charles Austin (born 5 July 1989) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Southampton.

Released from his contract by Reading as a youth, Austin played non-league football up to May 2009, when he was signed by Swindon Town after a prolific season for Poole Town. After scoring 58 goals in 113 matches in the Football League Championship for Burnley and Queens Park Rangers, Austin made his debut in the Premier League during the 2014–15 season, scoring 18 goals for relegated QPR and receiving a call-up for the England national team. He returned to the Premier League in January 2016 when he signed for Southampton, scoring on his debut.

Non-league

Born in Hungerford, Berkshire, Austin trained with Reading's youth teams as a youngster but was released for being too small when he was 15. He subsequently played for local team Kintbury Rangers and his hometown side Hungerford Town. Austin departed Hungerford in 2008 and was briefly on the books of Thatcham Town but ultimately left without making any appearances for the club.

Moving with his family to Bournemouth, he then switched to nearby semi-professional Wessex League Premier Division team Poole Town while also working as a bricklayer. In the season of 2008–09, Austin scored 46 goals in 46 appearances for Poole in all competitions.

Austin spent the pre-season of the 2009–10 season on trial with League Two club Bournemouth. Although Bournemouth's manager, Eddie Howe, was keen to sign the striker on a permanent deal, Bournemouth were unable to make a move for the striker due to a transfer embargo imposed on the club by the Football League. Austin continued to play for Poole Town, scoring 18 goals in 11 games at the beginning of the season.

Swindon Town

Austin was offered a trial at Swindon Town in September 2009 after Swindon Town's then chief scout Ken Ryder "stumbled across Charlie playing for Poole Town ... and he scored four goals ... and then the following week he scored three or four". Austin was then, after being watched for three games by the Swindon Town scouting team, asked to go on a week-long trial at Swindon Town. Austin impressed in his first reserve game against Swansea and scored a hat trick, immediately after he was signed by Danny Wilson for an undisclosed fee and given a contract until the end of the season. He made his debut appearance for Swindon Town on 6 October in a 1–1 draw with Exeter in the 2009–10 Football League Trophy, replacing Ben Hutchinson as a substitute in the 88th minute. Austin made his Football League debut coming on in the 70th minute in the league match away at Norwich City on 24 October 2009 and on 21 November 2009, he scored his first professional goal in only the third minute of his full debut away at Carlisle United. He scored again on his full home debut three days later against Huddersfield Town, hitting the match-winner in the 59th minute for a 2–1 victory.

After forming a successful strike partnership with Billy Paynter and scoring 10 goals in 11 starts, Austin was rewarded with an extended two-and-a-half-year contract with the club in February 2010. On 14 May 2010, Austin scored the first goal as Swindon took a narrow 2–1 advantage in the first leg of the League One play-off semi-final against Charlton Athletic. In the second leg at Charlton, Swindon progressed to the final at Wembley after a penalty shoot-out in which Austin scored. Swindon lost the final 1–0 against Millwall; Austin found himself through on goal with an opportunity to equalise in the 72nd minute but shot wide after the ball bobbled on the Wembley turf as he struck the ball. At the end of his first season as a professional, Austin had scored 20 goals in 32 starts.

Despite suffering a dislocated shoulder in September, Austin scored another 17 goals in 27 games at the start of the 2010–11 season. His form prompted several Championship clubs to make offers for him during the January transfer window – all of which were rejected by Swindon. Disappointed at Swindon's reluctance to sell, Austin subsequently stated he was eager to play at a higher level and handed in a transfer request. Swindon accepted a bid from Ipswich Town just over a week later but they failed to agree personal terms with Austin and Burnley subsequently stepped in with an undisclosed fee which was also accepted.

Burnley

On 28 January 2011, Austin signed for Burnley on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He made his Burnley debut on 1 February in a 1–0 loss away to Doncaster Rovers. In his first full season with Burnley, Austin scored 16 goals in the Championship and finished the campaign as the club's top goalscorer in the league.

On 23 October 2012, Austin scored two goals in a 3–4 win over Bristol City, and subsequently equalled Ray Pointer's club record of scoring in eight consecutive appearances, which was achieved back during the 1958–59 season.

Two weeks later, on 6 November 2012, Austin broke another Burnley record as he became the quickest-ever player to reach 20 goals in a season after scoring in a 1–0 win over Leeds United — his 17th appearance of the season. The record was previously held by Bert Freeman, who scored 20 goals in his first 19 matches for the club during the 1911–12 season. He also became only the second-ever Burnley player to score 20 goals before the end of November after Andy Lochhead, who reached 20 goals in 25 games on 26 November 1966. Austin managed to get his goal tally up to 23 goals by the end of the calendar year.

On 8 July 2013, a fee was agreed between Burnley and Premier League club Hull City for Austin. However, on 9 July 2013, Austin failed his medical and Hull pulled out of the deal.

Queens Park Rangers

Austin (left) playing for Queens Park Rangers in 2015

Austin moved to Queens Park Rangers, on a three-year deal on 1 August 2013, for an undisclosed fee. He scored his first goal for QPR in a League Cup tie against Exeter City on 6 August 2013. On 14 September 2013, Austin scored his first league goal for QPR in a 1–0 win over Birmingham City at Loftus Road. On 28 September 2013, he scored a penalty in a 2–0 win at home to Middlesbrough. On 5 October 2013, he scored two goals including a penalty in a 2–0 win at home to Barnsley which increased his goal tally in the home and away season to 6. He scored his 100th professional goal and his 18th of the season in a 3–2 win over Barnsley. His 20th goal of the 2013–14 season sent QPR to Wembley as his team beat Wigan Athletic 2–1 on 12 May 2014.

On 6 December 2014, Austin scored against former club Burnley in a 2–0 win, but was later sent off for a second booking. Two weeks later, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick in a 3–2 win over West Bromwich Albion, bringing his league tally for the season up to 11. With five goals in five games in December 2014, he was awarded the Premier League Player of the Month award, becoming only the second QPR player to do so. By scoring a league hat-trick for QPR, Austin became the first Rangers player in more than ten years to achieve the feat, last performed by Jamie Cureton on 28 September 2004. On 24 May, Austin scored QPR's goal in a 5–1 final day defeat to Leicester City to finish the season as the fourth top goal scorer in the Premier League, with 18 goals.

Southampton

On 16 January 2016, Austin returned to the Premier League, joining Southampton on a four-and-a-half-year deal for a reported fee of £4 million. He made his debut for the club a week later against Manchester United, coming on as a second-half substitute for Sadio Mané, and scored a late winner, turning in a free-kick from James Ward-Prowse.

He scored his first two goals of the 2016–17 season on 15 September in a 3–0 Europa League win over Sparta Prague and went on to score four goals in a week, with goals against Swansea City in the Premier League and Crystal Palace in the EFL Cup. In Southampton's next Premier League fixture, at West Ham, manager Claude Puel inserted Austin in the starting lineup over Shane Long, and Austin provided the first goal as well as an assist in the 3–0 victory.

On 21 May 2015, Austin was called up for the first time to the England national football team for a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Slovenia. He and Leicester City forward Jamie Vardy were called up due to several other forwards being involved in the European Under-21 Championship, but Austin did not feature in either match.

Austin and his long-term partner Bianca Parker have a daughter, born in August 2012.

Austin was found guilty of assault in 2013 after he punched a man who had accused him of taking drugs in a Swindon nightclub toilet cubicle. He was fined £1,800 and ordered to pay £1,320 in costs.

Club

• Football League Championship play-offs: 2013–14

• EFL Cup runners-up: 2016–17

Individual

• Premier League Player of the Month: December 2014