Liverpool Charnock began his career with
Liverpool and made his debut under
Graeme Souness in November 1992 in a
Cup Winners' Cup game against
Apollon Limassol. Charnock was just 17 and 9 months old, making him the youngest player ever to play for the club in European competition, breaking a record previously set by
Jamie Redknapp one year earlier. Despite this promising start, Charnock did not break into the first-team at
Anfield; instead, he spent much of his time in the
reserves and his only other appearance for the Reds was in a
League Cup tie against
Chesterfield that season. With the advent of squad numbers in the
Premier League from the
1993–94 season onwards, Charnock was issued with the number 18 shirt – next worn by
Michael Owen, who went on to be one of the club's most highly regarded players ever. He joined
Blackpool on
loan towards the end of the
1995–96 season, and made four
substitute appearances for
Sam Allardyce's "Tangerines".
Crewe Alexandra In December 1996, he left Liverpool on a
free transfer to sign for
Crewe Alexandra, following a successful loan spell. He made 36 appearances in
1996–97, scoring his first senior goal on 20 December in a 3–0 win over
Notts County at
Gresty Road. He also featured in the
play-off final, as Alex beat
Brentford 1–0 at
Wembley to win
promotion out of the
Second Division; he was replaced by
Chris Lightfoot on 65 minutes. He made 35 appearances in
1997–98, as Crewe finished in the top half of the
First Division. He played 50 games in
1998–99, as the "Railwaymen" again retained their second-tier status. He played 21 times at the start of the
1999–2000 campaign but did not feature past November. He made nine league appearances towards the end of the
2000–01 season and featured 26 times in
2001–02, but was released in April 2002, after
manager Dario Gradi informed him he did not feature in his first-team plans.
Later career He moved on to nearby
Port Vale in August 2002. He featured 24 times for
Brian Horton's "Valiants" in
2002–03, before he was released from
Vale Park in May 2003. He joined
Bury in August 2003, but played just three
Third Division games for
Andy Preece's "Shakers" in
2003–04 in a brief stay at
Gigg Lane. In September 2003 he moved to Northern Ireland to play for
Linfield. His new club won the
IFA Premiership title in
2003–04 and finished second in
2004–05. In October 2005 he joined
Ballymena United on a short-term
contract, which was extended after some good performances. He suffered with injury at both Irish clubs, missing a whole year of action, and he returned to England in summer 2006, joining
Fleetwood Town of the
Northern Premier League Premier Division. A year later, Charnock signed for
Conference North team
Leigh RMI. He played just 12 games, as Leigh finished bottom of the league in
2007–08, and were thus
relegated. He signed for
Mossley in July 2008. He made just five appearances for the Northern Premier League club in
2008–09 before injuries curtailed his career completely. ==Coaching career==