Born on May 16th, 1994, Charles James "Charlie" Adams grew up in the greater London area. At the age of 16, he signed a two-year scholarship with Brentford's Centre of Excellence youth academy and featured in their youth team the next two years included a deep run in the FA Youth Cup in the 2010-11 season. Aging out of the academy, he signed a one-year development squad contract with Brentford for the 2012-2013 season and appeared in 22 of the developmental squads matches as well as a single first team match against Carlisle United in the Football League One (third division).