Gillingham’s newly signed striker has scored goals in the Premier League and on the international stage.
Sam Vokes, 35, has been reunited with his former Wycombe Wanderers manager Gareth Ainsworth at Gillingham, signing on after becoming a free agent this summer. He’s agreed a one-year deal.
More: Ainsworth to face old club in Trophy tie
Vokes brings bags of experience with him after winning promotion to the Premier League with Wolves and twice at Burnley and scoring international goals for Wales, including at Euro 2016.
He’s played top-flight football for both Wolves and Burnley following those promotions and Stoke City once paid a reported £7m for him. Vokes spent two and a half seasons with the Potters before joining Ainsworth at Wycombe in 2021.
Vokes has spent the last four years with Wycombe, plying his trade in League 1.
On joining, he said: “”It’s great, it’s exciting and I’m looking forward to pre-season getting under way.
“I spoke to the manager a few times over the summer, we know each other well.
“Being right and ready to go on that first game is what it’s all about now.”
A knee injury limited him to just a handful of appearances last season, having scored twice in the opening month of the season, and after returning to the side, a broken arm kept him out of the club’s play-off campaign.
For some years now, the Gills have been short of leaders and experience, but Ainsworth’s latest addition brings plenty of that, added to a squad that contains the likes of Jonny Williams – Vokes’ former international team-mate – Bradley Dack and Glenn Morris.
Gillingham’s last success in League 2 was built on a team full of experienced campaigners, including late addition Deon Burton, who was also 35 at the time of his signing and played a key role in the title-winning side.
Vokes started his career at Bournemouth, and his first senior goal came for them against the Gills in December 2006 at Priestfield in a 1-1 draw. Fans will be hoping he can now bookend his career with some more of that at ME7.
He took his goals into double figures during his second season with Bournemouth as they avoided relegation from League 1.
Wolverhampton Wanderers signed him in 2008 and his goals helped them win the Championship title and promotion to the Premier League.
He moved to Leeds on loan in League 1 and played international football for Wales – eligible through his Welsh grandfather – ending the season with his Premier League debut back with Wolves in a 1-0 home loss to Manchester United.
Most of his 48 league appearances for Wolves came off the bench and he also had loan spells at Bristol City, Sheffield United, Norwich City, Burnley and Brighton.
He made a move to Burnley on a permanent basis in July 2012 and the following year hit 21 goals as they finished runners-up in the Championship to win promotion to the top-flight.
Burnley were relegated in 2015 but returned straight back to the Premier League after winning the Championship title a year later.
For Wales, he featured for them in the 2016 European Championships, scoring in the quarter-final win over Belgium and making an appearance off the bench in the semi-final against a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal.
He played regularly for Burnley over a three-year spell in the Premier League, scoring 10 goals in the 16/17 season, including in a win over Liverpool.
A double against Chelsea led Burnley to a 3-2 win at Stamford Bridge at the start of the 17/18 season and he also hit the winner at Southampton.
He scored against Aberdeen in the Europa League at the start of the following season, bagged a winner at Cardiff and scored for Wales against Spain in an international friendly.
In two and a half seasons at Stoke he played 78 league games but netted just eight times and moved to Wycombe ahead of the 2021/22 season under Ainsworth.
He played over 150 games for Wycombe before being released this summer. He scored twice in nine appearances last season, netting against Wrexham and Birmingham City.
In a message to Wycombe fans after his exit, he said: “I’m disappointed not to have been able to chip in a bit more on the pitch this year.
“I picked up an injury in the first half of the season and then broke my arm a few weeks ago against Stockport, which is frustrating when I know I still have more to offer on the pitch.
“However, the injuries have allowed me to help the club in another capacity from the dug-out, with Sam Grace as interim and now Mike Dodds. That’s been an honour and a huge and important learning curve.”
The Gills will be playing against Vokes’ former club Wycombe in this season’s Vertu Trophy after being paired with them in the group stage.
