THE flourishing relationship between Charlton and the Valley Express Kent Youth League has been praised ahead of the league’s annual meeting.

A year after Charlton agreed to sponsor the Kent Youth League, the league’s chief executive Colin Boswell will express his delight to members at Wednesday’s meeting at Lordswood.

In his report, Mr Boswell describes the sponsorship deal with Charlton Athletic as an "outstanding success".

He adds: "We are the only league in the country to be sponsored by a Premier League club.

"We recently had a letter from Charlton’s chief executive Peter Varney praising the league for the way it conducts itself.

"They are highly satisfied with the progress made and through the sponsorship have recruited more than 600 junior reds to their supporters’ club."

The league’s popularity is underlined by the fact that a record 112 teams start the 2006-07 campaign.