AFC Fylde bring in former Newcastle United youngster for a club record fee

The 24-year-old has joined the Coasters from League Two club Rochdale after agreeing a two-year contract at Mill Farm.

He made his debut in Saturday’s FA Cup draw at Kidderminster Harriers, replacing Danny Philliskirk off the bench.

Charman began his career at Newcastle United, signing at the age of 15 before securing a two-year scholarship when he was 16.

After initially being informed that he would be released at the end of his scholarship, Newcastle had a change of heart and Charman signed his first professional contract in 2017.

He made his competitive debut for Newcastle in the 2017-18 season, featuring twice for their U21 team in the EFL Trophy before sealing a loan move to Accrington Stanley the following year.

However, injuries meant he only featured four times before returning to Newcastle in the second half of the campaign.

Three more EFL Trophy appearances followed in the 2019/20 season, at the end of which he was released.

After joining Darlington in the summer of 2020, he scored six times in their truncated 2020/21 season before netting 12 goals in 16 matches at the start of the following campaign.

That earned him a move to Rochdale in January 2022, putting pen to paper on a two-and-a-half-year deal.

He scored twice in 18 games last season but only appeared once for Dale in 2022/23.

Fylde chairman, David Haythornthwaite, told the club website: “Luke has been on our radar for some time, so we are absolutely delighted to get this deal over the line.

“We thought we had his signature back in January when we exercised an option in his contract with Darlington but lost out at the last minute to Rochdale, which was obviously a better option for Luke at that time.

“Unfortunately for Luke, things haven’t panned out as he might have expected, so when the opportunity came again, we had no hesitation.

“In this regard, I’d like to put on record our thanks to Rochdale for their professionalism in making this happen.

“I’m sure Luke will soon pick up where he left off in the NLN and will quickly become a fans’ favourite.

“He isn’t the final piece in the jigsaw this season but (is) certainly a massive one.”