After penning a two-year deal with the club, we spoke to Charlie Wyke about his return to Brunton Park
The striker said: “I'm absolutely buzzing to be here. It's been a long summer trying to stay fit and I'm glad I'm finally back and I'm ready to go.”
Wyke has featured for Bradford, Sunderland, Wigan and Rotherham since leaving Brunton Park in 2017.
“Obviously some good clubs in there, I've had some good times and as everyone knows, I've had some hard times over the last few years, but all those clubs you just mentioned, I've had really good times, scored a lot of goals and played at some big stadiums. Wembley, a few times and a few promotions.
"It's been a good stint since the last time I've been here, but now I'm looking forward to coming here and hopefully getting promoted.”
Charlie also reflected on a particularly fruitful season with Sunderland, after netting 31 goals in 54 appearances during the 2020/21 campaign.
“That was probably the highlight of my career that season, to score that many goals for a club that size was obviously unbelievable, and we won the Papa John's that time as well, so a really good season for me.”
We also asked Charlie about his time at Wigan, particularly the incident that saw him collapse during a training session, he said: "Obviously to start the season, we were doing well, we had a really good squad at Wigan and went on to get a promotion.
"I think it was about 15 games in, I ended up collapsing and having a cardiac arrest, which obviously meant I had a year out of football. I didn't really think I was going to get back playing, but the amount of hard work and sacrifice I put in over the last two years to get back to this point, I'm really proud of it and like I say, I came here last season and it's good to see all the fans here and I got a really nice applause and that's one of the reasons I wanted to come back, because I know how good this club is.
“The whole six weeks of when it happened in hospital, it was a blur, obviously it wasn't a great period of my life, it was frustrating, it really got me down, it was hard for my family, but like I say, I've worked really hard to get back to the place that I'm in now and I feel like I'm in a good place and I'm as fit as ever.”
When asked if he now does anything differently as a result, he said: “Well, I'm trying to calm down a little bit, but I feel like I'm back to myself, obviously I've got a defibrillator in so I need to use extra protection in games and stuff for it, but apart from that I feel good.”
“I had a bit of a tough spell at Rotherham - we all did, it was a tough six months, it wasn't great for the club, but it's a great club and I think it'll be moving forward now. For me now it's just getting back, enjoying football and scoring goals again, and like I say, hopefully get promoted.”
Charlie then said: "I wanted to be close to home as well, obviously I've got a family now, I've got two kids and this is the perfect move for me I think. I've been here before, I've scored goals here, I really enjoyed it and I think me and the fans have got a good relationship."
As we sat with Charlie, with building work going on all around us, we asked if he was excited by the developments:
“Yeah, I think that was one of the big reasons. Obviously you've got new owners and there's a lot of work going on in the changing rooms and off the pitch, so I think it's a club that's moving in the right direction.”
Then, on the training facility plans, he added: "I think it's important to have your own facilities, somewhere where all the lads can be together and bond, and I think that's what makes a successful team on the pitch, if you've got a good training ground and good facilities and everything.”
Our newest recruit knows Luke Armstrong, Dylan McGeouch and Ethan Robson from previous clubs.
“It's always nice to join a club and know a few people. When I joined Rotherham, I didn't really know anyone so it's quite hard to fit in, but when you know a few lads it's a lot easier to fit in and be a part of the group straight away.”
Speaking on this season's targets, he had this to say: “Promotion is the aim, that's why I've come here. I've looked at the squad and I think we've got a squad capable of going up, so obviously it's down to us on the pitch, we've got to work hard, and every day on the training pitch we've just got to put everything in, and come the end of the season hopefully we're in League One.”
