AFC Totton
AS ALREADY ANNOUNCED ON THE PLAYER’S X account, Charlie Kennedy will leave AFC Totton this summer.
Prior to his arrival at the Snows Stadium, Charlie was originally a youth player at Barnet, who loaned him to Hayes & Yeading, before spells with Basingstoke Town, Gosport Borough and Salisbury, captaining both The Dragons and The Whites either side of his time at Privett Park where he partnered Mike Carter in midfield.
A strong, aggressive and uncompromising competitor, Charlie was signed for The Stags during Manager Jimmy Ball’s first close-season with the club and, as an integral part of the spine of the team that went on to claim a league and cup treble in 2022/23, he quickly built a formidable central defensive partnership with Luke Hallett that saw Totton not only finish the campaign as the Southern League Division One South’s meanest defence, but also as its Champions.
Following the subsequent arrivals of Sam Magri and Joe Oastler, together with the long-term injury to Mike Carter that put the skipper out of action for the better part of 18 months, Charlie’s versatility and unwavering commitment to the AFC Totton cause enabled the manager to often deploy him in midfield, as well as at right-back on occasions, as he continued to play his part in the team that claimed back-to-back Runners-Up spots in the Southern League Premier Division South, and secured promotion to Step 2 football for the first time in the club’s entire 139-year history via the Play-Offs in May 2025.
After making his official AFC Totton debut at home to Bishops Cleeve on the opening day of the 2022/23 season, and scoring his first goal for the club at Hamworthy United just three days later, Charlie went on to make a total of 145 appearances in all competitions, including 129 starts, across three trophy-laden seasons, contributing six goals.
A real leader both on the pitch and in the dressing room, Charlie captained the team on several occasions and was awarded the Manager’s Player of the Year in 2023/24 (pictured above), to add to his Southern League Division One South winner’s medal, the Southern League Division One Champion of Champions medal, two Southampton Senior Cup winner’s medals, a Hampshire Senior Cup Runners-Up gong and those two Southern League Premier Division South Runners-Up medals acquired over the last two campaigns.
Boss Jimmy Ball commented:
“Charlie has been an excellent servant over the course of his three seasons at the Snows Stadium. Since day one, he has set a shining example of the sort of professionalism and competitiveness that has enabled us to make giant strides in such a short space of time, and he will be sadly missed by everyone at the club.
He was one of the first and still one of the best signings that I have made in my time at AFC Totton. He’s a fierce competitor and a real winner, and I’d like to thank him for all his considerable efforts and everything that he has achieved – and enabled us to achieve, as a football club – during his time as a Stag.”
Throughout his time at AFC Totton, Charlie Kennedy has been sponsored by Keith & Helen Quaintance, to whom both the player and the club would like to extend their appreciation and thanks.
By Ben Rochey-Adams
Images courtesy of Dave Haines Photography (top), Tom McKenzie (middle) and Ian Middlebrook (bottom).
