Charlie Wilkinson had come through north-east football to Yorkshire – for an unsuccessful trial with Third North Bradford, before he made it into Division I, for three games with Leeds, followed by a more fulfilling experience with Sheffield United, for whom he played at left-back in the 1936 FA Cup Final which was lost to Arsenal.

Signing for Second Division Southampton in the summer of 1938, he went straight into the first-team. But a knee injury in only his second appearance necessitated a cartilage removal and, by the time he had recovered, the club had acquired Tom Emanuel as a replacement and Charlie would get only one more game. He joined Third South Bournemouth, as player-coach, just prior to the suspension, in September 1939, of “official” football. In 1939-40, he guested a few times for the Saints and then joined up.