Jack Payne is eyeing a fourth career promotion after putting pen-to-paper on a two-year deal with the Addicks.
Payne has earned promotion from all three EFL divisions with Southend United, Huddersfield Town and Blackburn Rovers respectively. The 27-year-old made 28 appearances for Huddersfield Town in 2016/17 as the Yorkshire side reached the Premier League for the first time in its history.
The attacking midfielder reunites with Manager Ben Garner, who he starred under at Swindon Town last term, scoring 13 goals and registering six assists.
Watch CharltonTV’s sit-down interview with Payne above, or read on for the full transcript…
Jack, welcome to The Valley. How does it feel to be a Charlton player?
"It feels amazing, obviously looking at the surroundings… I'm just really pleased to get it over the line and be here officially as a Charlton player."
You're another one who we know the Manager knows a lot about, obviously playing under him for Swindon last season. How much was that a factor in bringing you here?
"Definitely. Obviously it's massive that I've played under the gaffer before and got on really well with him. I played some of my best football under him and I'm just looking to recreate that here. He spoke so highly of the club and it was a massive factor, as well as many other reasons, in me wanting to be here."
You're back in League One as well and you've done well at this level before. How much of an incentive is it for you to play at this level again and hopefully be part of a promotion-chasing side?
"100 per cent. I want to play as high as possible for as long as I can, so to be back in League One where I've spent the majority of my career is amazing. This is a club that's obviously pushing for promotion and aiming to be higher, and I want to be a part of that. I'm looking to do that with the club."
You've played here a few times. For fans that maybe don't remember you playing against us, what can they look forward to seeing from you? What are your key attributes? What will you bring to the team?
"I've played here a few times with some really good atmospheres. I can't wait to be in the Charlton colours for that, but in terms of what the fans can expect from me I like to attack. I'm a midfielder but I'm a goalscoring midfielder. I like to get a lot of goals and assists and try to be creative, but obviously on the other side of the game I work as hard as I can for the team and try to win the ball back up high. I like to press which the gaffer is obviously big on - pressing from the front - and being on the front foot and attacking so I'm hoping that I can excite some of the fans."
There's a few lads who you know here already obviously because of the Swindon connection, but a few others as well from growing up locally and playing against the likes of Alex Gilbey and people like that. How much does that help you that there's people here that you can sort of fit in seamlessly with?
"Definitely. Obviously I know a few of the lads from Swindon that I've played with and, like you say, I've played against a lot of the lads here for a number of years. It will all be familiar with me. I played with Gilbs when I was younger, nearly 20 years ago, so that's a nice story and I get on really well with him. It should make it a lot easier to settle in but I'm also really excited to meet the lads that I don't know and build relationships with them as well."
You were telling me that this is a bit of a full circle - you spent a bit of time at the training ground with Charlton when you were seven years old over a couple of years. Tell us a little bit about that…
"I spent a couple of years here between the ages of seven and nine. I was never officially on the books but I used to come here, so I spent a lot of time at Sparrows Lane. My mum and dad used to take me so for them it's a funny story that I'm here 20 years later officially as a first-team player. It's amazing really that I'm sitting here now."
We're a couple of weeks away from the first game of the season up at Accrington. We've got two friendlies actually this weekend, one against Swansea here at The Valley. Where are you at as far as being involved, obviously you've not been with a club this summer but you've been keeping yourself match fit to be ready for the season?
"Obviously it's been frustrating not being with a club and there's not long until the season starts now, but I've been doing as much as I can on my own and keeping as fit as possible. Like we said before the gaffer knows me well and he knows what I can do so I'm looking forward to getting straight involved in training this week and hopefully I can be involved on the weekend. Obviously after that I can't wait for the season to start."