Former Charlton Athletic defender Richard Rufus is hoping a spell with Soccer Elite FA will be the springboard to a career in management.

The 38 year old hung up his boots in 2004 after an eleven year career with the Addicks after coming through the youth system at The Valley.

Bestowed the honour of being named by the Charlton fans as their greatest ever defender in 2005, Rufus went on to work in charity and as a pundit after retiring from football, but has recently begun coaching with Maidstone based Soccer Elite FA.

After a career that saw him play 326 times for his one and only club, Rufus is embarking on the next stage of his footballing life and next week he will travel with the Soccer Elite squad as they take seventeen teams to play in Barcelona.

Having had such a successful playing career, the former Addicks defender is hoping he will be able to impart his experience on the next generation of footballers coming through the system:

“I’m quite excited to be travelling with Soccer Elite, especially going to Barcelona to see how we compare with them. We’ve got a good young squad that are quite talented and gifted technically, so I’ll be looking forward to coaching them and seeing how it goes and develops from there.”

Rufus will be taking charge of the Under 18’s squad for the three day tournament with up to ninety teams set to travel from as far afield as Japan, Canada and Venzuela to compete for the Barcelona Trophy.

With over 170 footballers travelling from England in a party of almost 400, Rufus is hoping he can inspire the next generation to become professional footballers:

“Hopefully I’ve got something to give back with my knowledge of having played professional football for over ten years, along with my time with England Under 21’s.”

“As long as I can put my knowledge and experience down, hopefully they can is that to become footballers themselves.”

With the landscape of football having changed so dramatically in the past few decades, Rufus told KSN how he beleives youngsters have a much better chance of making it in the game with Academies likes Soccer Elite around:

“When I was growing up the facilities weren’t around as they are now. The facilities that are available now through the likes of Soccer Elite is unbelievable with such great coaching staff.”

“I can see why so many players are developing from Soccer Elite because the standard of coaching, the facilities is second to none.”

“I’ve been to quite a lot of professional academies and it’s right up there.”

With Barcelona the shining light in European football in recent years, kids growing up nowadays want to be the next Lionel Messi and Rufus told KSN how he hopes to coach the next generation to play football in a similar style:

“They have set the blueprint and the template and a lot of people are trying to catch up with what Barcelona are doing.”

“I’m quite confident in the squad that we’ve got that we will put on a good show in the tournament.”

“I remember playing against Arsenal just before the Invincibles and all of their players were 6ft 1 plus, technically good and pacey and over the years you can see a slight trend with players being that bit smaller and technically gifted.”

“I believe there has to be a balance and you still need a hard man to speak of to get stuck in as well as smaller guys that can break up play and split the defence.”

Having begun his coaching career, Rufus hasn’t ruled out emulating current Charlton boss Chris Powell and going into management in the long term:

“That’s my long term goal. I think I’ve got a lot to give. I love all that side of the game, trying to see what makes players tick whilst pitting your wits against other managers.”

“I’ve been working my way towards getting into management, so who knows, maybe I’ll be back at The Valley one day!”

Rufus and the Soccer Elite FA squad head off to Barcelona on Thursday 28th for the three day tournament and KSN will keep you up to date with their progress.