Charles Terence Priestley Vernam (born 8 October 1996) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a winger for side

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. A product of the

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

and

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

youth academies, he turned professional with the latter and spent time on loan with ÍBV,

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Coventry, West Midlands. The club plays in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club is nicknamed The Sky Blues after the sky blue colou ...

and

. He returned to Grimsby on a permanent basis in 2018 and also saw a brief spell on loan to

Chorley Chorley is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Chorley in Lancashire, England, north of Wigan, south west of Blackburn, north west of Bolton, south of Preston and north west of Manchester. The town's wealth ca ...

whilst with the Mariners. In 2020 he signed for

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

before joining

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander. The club was founded in 1903 and ...

only six-month later.

Early life

Vernam was born in

Lincoln Lincoln most commonly refers to: * Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the 16th president of the United States * Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England * Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S. * Lincoln (na ...

Playing career

Derby County

Vernam was attached to

as a youth player. In 2012 he was given a six-day trial by Italian giants

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

, however this did not result in a contract offer and Vernam returned to Scunthorpe before joining the

academy later that year. In August 2013, he appeared for the first team against

in the pre-season

Bass Charity Vase The Bass Charity Vase is a friendly association football tournament founded in 1889 in Burton upon Trent to raise funds for medical and hospital charities. The trophy was donated by Lord Burton and Hamar Bass the great-grandsons of William Bass ...

. He signed his first professional contract with Derby in 2015. He was loaned out to ÍBV in Iceland's

Úrvalsdeild The Besta deild karla () is a professional association football league in Iceland and the highest level of the Icelandic football league system. The competition was founded in 1912 as the Icelandic Championship. Because of the harsh winters in I ...

between April and July 2016, scoring on his senior debut when appearing as a substitute in a 4–0 win against ÍA. He made a total of eleven appearances for ÍBV, without scoring again. Vernam was promoted to Derby's first team squad for the 2016–17 season while also continuing to play for their under-23 team, for whom he made three appearances in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

. During December 2016, he signed a new contract with the club, running until 2019. He made his competitive first team debut for Derby as a substitute in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

win against

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

in January 2017. Later that month, he was loaned to

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

for the rest of the season. Vernam was cup-tied for Coventry's win in the

2017 EFL Trophy Final The 2017 EFL Trophy final was an association football match that was played on 2 April 2017 at Wembley Stadium, London. It was played between EFL League One, League One teams Coventry City F.C., Coventry City and Oxford United F.C., Oxford United ...

Grimsby Town

Vernam went on loan again in January 2018, joining

in League Two for the rest of the season. The move reunited him with manager

Russell Slade Russell Mark Slade (born 10 October 1960) is an English former professional football manager and coach. Having had an extended career at reserve team level, Slade entered professional sports coaching with Notts County in 1993. He briefly took ...

, who had also signed him for Coventry. After impressing the new manager

Michael Jolley Michael Jolley (born 30 March 1977) is an English professional football manager who was most recently in charge of Segunda Federación side Vélez CF. Jolley is a Cambridge University graduate with an MA in economics and also has a postgraduat ...

in the closing season, Vernam joined Grimsby Town permanently on a two-year contract on 24 July 2018. He scored the first goal on 37-minutes in the FA Cup second round, a left-footed shot following a corner, in a 2–0 victory at

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

club Chesterfield. After struggling to get into the Grimsby starting lineup, he joined National League club

on a one-month loan in November 2019. Vernam's goal against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

on 11 February 2020 was voted as the

EFL League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Betting & Gaming, Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English ...

goal of the season. He had picked the ball up from the edge of his own area before going on to beat three defenders before hit a strike low beyond the keeper from the edge of the area.

Burton Albion

On 20 July 2020, Vernam joined League One club Burton Albion on a two-year contract. On 31 January 2021 he was erroneously linked with

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

as mentioned on the

Bolton News ''The Bolton News'' – formerly the ''Bolton Evening News'' – is a daily newspaper and news website covering the towns of Bolton and Bury in north-western England. Published each morning from Monday to Saturday and online every day, it is pa ...

website.

Bradford City

On 1 February 2021, Vernam joined

on an 18-month deal. He was one of seven players offered a new contract by Bradford City at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Lincoln City

On 17 June 2022, Vernam agreed to join hometown club Lincoln City having rejected the contract offer to stay at Bradford. He would make his debut on 13 August, coming off the bench against

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

. His first Imps goal came in the

against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

on 20 September 2022.

Return to Grimsby Town

On 20 June 2023, it was confirmed that Vernam had rejoined Grimsby Town for a third time, signing a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. Vernam's goal against

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

on 17 August 2024 earnt him the

Goal of the Month award for August.

Playing style

Vernam plays as a winger.

Career statistics

References

External links

* at the Grimsby Town F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vernam, Charles 1996 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Derby County F.C. players Íþróttabandalag Vestmannaeyja players Coventry City F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Chorley F.C. players Burton Albion F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players English Football League players Úrvalsdeild karla (football) players National League (English football) players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Iceland Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Footballers from Lincoln, England 21st-century English sportsmen