An unbelievable day in the life of striker Charlie Wyke!
Striker Charlie Wyke had a day he will never forget on Saturday as he experienced the fantastic high of bagging his first ever career league hat-trick to help the team climb to top spot in League Two, only to then get to his family home to find his house had been burgled, his dad’s van had been stolen and his Twitter account had been hacked!“The Twitter thing was unbelievable!” he said. “We’re guessing that it’s a company from Russia who offer really dodgy services – I can’t go into that any further, I don’t think – and there was nothing I could do at the time to get it back.
“They’d completely stolen my identity so I got in touch with our media department at the club and they started to work with Twitter on my behalf to get it back. Fortunately we’ve been able to do that, but it was then a real shock when within minutes the same people had tried to hack me again.
“It’s really opened my eyes to the kind of stuff that goes on because you do hear about it, but you never think it will happen to you. Obviously the lads are absolutely loving it. To say I’m dreading training on Tuesday is an understatement.
“My Twitter feed was turned into the type of account which is going to give them loads of material. They’ve decided it’s a ‘let’s make Charlie Wyke’s life hell’ opportunity. They haven’t stopped going on and on and on about it. When they hear the full story it’s going to get even worse. Why me?!”
And the full story, as he put it, only really started to unfold when the Wyke family got home on Saturday evening.
“My Mam [Denise], Dad [Ged], Grandma and both Granddads come to every home match and they were all obviously buzzing about what had happened with me getting the goals and us being top of the table,” he explained. “So, when Mam pulled in and parked it didn’t even cross her mind that she’d just put her car where Dad’s van should have been.
“They all went in the house and they just carried on as normal. Dad then went outside to see if the shed was open, because he couldn’t find the keys, and there was a smashed bottle of whisky beside the back door.
“He thought that was a bit weird, so he had a look around and that’s when he shouted everybody else to tell them that something was definitely wrong. They’d all been getting on with different things, like getting changed and showered and stuff, so none of them had taken any notice of anything at all in terms of things being out of place.
“My Mam came downstairs and found that all of the keys for everything had gone. She went outside to look at the shed with my Dad and that was when it sank in that the car was where the van should be. They rushed back inside and she quickly sussed that her handbag, bank cards and keys had been taken.
“That was when they phoned the police. When I got home they were already there and there were rooms in the house they weren’t allowing us to go in. Eventually they left but they contacted us a bit later on to say they’d be back round again on Sunday with an update.”
Early risers, the Wyke family got up on Sunday morning to carry on business in as normal a manner as possible, bearing in mind they were all still very unnerved by Saturday’s events, and that was when things started to get slightly weird.
“I’d just sat down to have a bash at Call of Duty when my Dad came back from a morning walk,” Charlie said. “He’d been round the block, just on the off chance, and he had a handful of wet PlayStation games. As soon as I saw them I knew they were ours. That’s when we realised the burglars had been into the front room as well. I’m going to be honest, that isn’t a nice feeling.
“Dad went back out, in a different direction, and about five minutes away from our house he found more of the games and a pile of receipts. The police were really good, they’ve been in touch throughout, and they’ve kept us updated every step of the way, so we were able to let them know about that right away.”
Monday morning brought more news, some of it good, as more discoveries were made, both by neighbours and the authorities.
“One of our neighbours has been in touch to say they’ve found the handbag,” he told us. “It had stuff in it to identify it as my Mam’s so that’s really good news. Unfortunately the police have also called to say they’ve found the van, which is great, but that there is some damage.
“It’s been crashed into a wall, close to where we live, and the forensics people now have to do whatever they do to it, but at least we know where it is.”
Typical of Charlie, and of his family, they’ve insisted on looking at the funny side of what has been a traumatic experience.
“We won’t be letting Mam or Dad forget that they didn’t even notice when they pulled in and parked where the van should have been,” Charlie commented. “And as for my brother Matty, he isn’t getting away with it either. We think it happened around 3pm ... and he was actually upstairs in his room!
“I’ve already told him I reckon he got massively scared and shouted down to tell them to take whatever they wanted. Then, when my parents phoned my granddad, he decided he’d be able to help them sort things out.
“He jumped on his bike and cycled round to our house as fast as he could. Unfortunately he skidded on the slippery surface and slammed in to a bush! He didn’t hurt himself but I’m still laughing about it now.
“So, all in all, I scored a hat-trick for the first time in the league ever, got to the top of a league table for the first time ever, and I had my family there to see it all. Then we get home to find our van stolen and the house burgled.
“Is this all typical Charlie Wyke stuff or what!”
