Following the offer of a new one year deal to Yann Kermorgant, Bradley Pritchard signed a two year extension to his contract at The Valley on Tuesday morning.

The 26-year-old was signed from non-league Hayes & Yeading last summer and went on to make 26 appearances in all competitions for the Addicks. He scored his first goal for the club in the 4-0 FA Cup win at Halifax in November.

The shirt Pritchard wore that day now hangs proudly on my wall.

“I’m really pleased that Bradley’s agreed to extend his contract, he was – and he knows it – a bit of a punt, shall we say. But, he showed enough to me the season before last (2010/11), in the weeks that he was here on trial, that he was worthy of having a season at professional level.

“He made the breakthrough quicker that anyone could have expected. We saw the attributes in him and felt that even at his late age he was worth giving a chance to.

“When we announced his signing last summer, people were saying ‘who is this?’ and talking about the history of non-League players at our club and so on, but he was so excited at joining us and it just continued his growth and development as a player,” Chris Powell told the club’s website.

Pritchard himself was naturally ecstatic at the faith Powell has hown in him and had this to say:

“I’m excited to be given another opportunity to be part of this squad.

“The gaffer has shown faith in me and I really want to repay his belief.

“More than anything, this is just the start of another year of hard work and proving myself and I can’t wait for the season to start.”

With just over two weeks to go before the players report back to Sparrows Lane for fitness assesssments, prior to the slog of pre-season training, new arrivals are expected soon.

Pre-season training begins in earnest on Monday 9 July with the tests being done at the end of the previous week.