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Bradley Dack speaks on decision to drop down to League Two for return to Gillingham

Bradley Dack speaks in his first interview on the decision to drop down to League Two for a return to Gillingham, ready and raring to go.

Dack, 30, was released by Championship outfit Sunderland at the end of the 2023–24 season after making 17 appearances, and has now headed back to League Two Gillingham.

Dack endured a five year spell at the Kent club between 2012 and 2017, making 185 appearances and scoring 38 goals.

Now he says upon linking up with the Gills again that it feels like home.

CLUB STATEMENT:

The club can officially confirm the permanent signing of midfielder Bradley Dack.

The 30-year-old, who returns for a second spell at MEMS Priestfield Stadium, was a free agent having been released by Sunderland at the end of last season.

Dack completed a two-year scholarship programme at ME7 in the summer of 2012 and went on to make 185 first-team appearances, scoring 38 goals before completing a move to Blackburn Rovers in June 2017. He was part of the Gills squad that won the League 2 title in 2012-13, and then helped Blackburn to achieve automatic promotion to the Championship in 2018. He was voted “Player of the Year” at both clubs during his respective spells.

He spent six years at Ewood Park before being reunited with former Rovers Tony Mowbray at the Stadium of Light in July last year. He played 17 times, scoring in a 5-0 win over Southampton in September of 2023.

He has been assigned squad number 23.

On rejoining the club, Dack said: “I can’t wait to get going to be honest. It’s nice to be back, I feel like my body is in the right place. I just need to get match fit, I want to score goals and affect Football matches.”

Manager Mark Bonner added: “He is a player with real pedigree and is really well known to supporters here. There is a romance about the signing which is nice, but the reason for doing it is because he can help us win Football matches.

“When he is fit and available he gives one hell of an option. Hopefully he can help us achieve what we all want to do.”

INTERVIEW WITH DACK (in full on club website):

Dack: Yeah. I can’t wait to get going, to be honest. Obviously, yeah, there’s been a few rumours over the past few weeks. Lots of moving parts, but, yeah, we we got there in the end and, yeah, I’m buzzing feedback and just wanna help this club get promoted. That’s what I’m here for, and that’s what I wanna do.

Interviewer: Once you knew Gillingham were interested, was there really any other option that appealed to you significantly more?

Dack: Of course, it was, there’s a lot of nostalgia around the football club, obviously, growing up here and being there from a young age and then obviously moving on. It’s not about a couple of bad injuries throughout my career, which probably hampered it a little bit. So this is when they obviously, when I knew there was interest, it was something I definitely wanted to listen to. Obviously, there was a few other clubs in in higher leagues that we spoke to, but, yeah, I think we we kinda got there in the end where we needed to be, and, yeah, it’s nice to be back.

Interviewer: I’m sure every fan’s gonna ask you the same question. Is Dackey ready? Is he fit? Is he match fit? So your answer would be, I wish I was.

Dack: But, yeah, I’m listen, I haven’t, obviously, I haven’t trained for since the last training session of last season, which was the beginning of May. So I’ve done my work in the summer, my off season plan, but, yeah, not not ready to go into to full fixtures yet. Probably gonna need 2 or 3 weeks of of real training to to build my fitness up to get to a level where I can compete, you know, on a match day. Listen, that’s something to look forward to, and, you know, I’m sure I’ll be fit and firing soon.

Interviewer: In terms of injuries, because you you’ve had a couple of very serious injuries. Are are you hopeful the worst of that is is behind you now? How do you feel when you said?

Dack: Yeah. I feel really good. Listen, the the last obviously, I had 2 knee injuries, and the last one was in was in 2021. So it’s been I’ve had 2, full seasons, 2 and a half seasons back. Last year, it didn’t go as well as as I wanted it to go. Picked up a little hamstring strain around Christmas, and I was out for kind of 10 weeks, which was difficult. But, yeah, other than that, touch wood, I’ve been pretty healthy, been available for a lot of games. Just wasn’t being picked. So, yeah, I feel like my body’s in the right place. I just need to get it much fit football fit and ready to attack the league.

Interviewer: So when you are, fighting fit, obviously, the goal is to try and, I suppose, get on the scoresheet as much as possible, play as much as possible, and help the team get to where they wanna be.

Dack: Absolutely. Yeah. I’ve… listen, I’m coming here to try and make the team more positive, try and affect football matches. And that for me is scoring and creating goals, but it’s not about me. It’s about the team and and wanting the team to get promoted. And that was kind of one of the big reasons I come here because I know that this club shouldn’t really be in this league. And I obviously speaking to the manager and the staff and the chairman, it’s something that they wanna get off very quickly, and I’ve kind of bought into that. And, yeah, that’s the goal for this season.

Interviewer: You might have heard that rule from the Rainham End and of course, the other stands for quite a while. How much you looking forward to experiencing that?

Dack: Yeah, I can’t wait. I’m sure it will be a great day. The first game back. Yes, it’s something. Obviously, I’ve experienced before, but I’m gonna experience it again. And, yeah, I’m really looking forward to it.

Interviewer: The fans took you when you were here before. Of course, you came through the the academy programme. You’ve moved on since then. Is it bit bit sentiment or emotional coming back for a second time?

Dack: 100%. Yeah. When I when I first come here for a meeting with the manager and and the staff, it was a bit strange. Obviously, I’ve been here for 7 or 8 years. A lot of things are different. A lot of things are the same. But, yeah, it’s, it’s, yeah, it’s nostalgic. It’s nice. It’s a nice feeling. It feels like home. It’s it’s comfortable for me. So, yeah, I just wanna give my best, and try and affect affect football matches.

Fans reacted as Bradley Dack speaks in his first interview on the decision to drop down to League Two for a return to Gillingham…

@IrelandRoversFC: Love it. Best of luck Gillingham and Dacky for the season. 🔵⚪️

@gamstjones12: Good luck Dacky

@ChrisBRFC91: All the best Dacky 💙 smash it and get your career back on track, a Rovers hero 🔵⚪️ good luck for the season lads 👏🏻

@Michael96982638: Please please please stay fit

@Zahabriel: Safely say I had a tear in my eye, sorry dust in my eye! 👀👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

@HillingAdam: Good luck dacky. You were destined for greatness at rovers and it’s such a shame with what happened to you with the injuries. Sure you’ll tear it up back at the gills

@Champ_GFC74: High Risk but even Higher reward IF he can stay relatively fit. Clearly levels above league 2 standard if we can get him anywhere near his best. 🤞🙏 #Gills

@MattFentonImps: Incredible signing for Gillingham. Bradley Dack is a Championship quality player! Gillingham have really strong attacking options; I can see them getting promoted this season. #Gills

@OwenLDBR: The best player I’ve ever seen play for this great club, what a day, welcome back sweet Prince #Gills

@sammapp: Honestly cannot believe we’ve pulled this off. There’s just such an aura of positivity around this club that makes me so happy for the future. Let’s win the league!

@Lambert_1875: All the best Dacky. Always get a good reception when you come back to Ewood

@PieCarlton: Signing Dack doesn’t overly change @TheGillsFC chances of promotion. Will be a challenge getting him on the pitch and will he hold up to League 2 players taking it turns to smash through him? If anything, it just increases the expectation on the Gillingham manager and squad.

@MattGregory3AM: I was not prepared for Blond Bradley, but I hope this works out well for him. A romantic move for a player who deserved so much more from his career.

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