Rekeil Pyke

Last updated

Rekeil Pyke
Personal information
Full name Rekeil Leshaun Pyke [1]
Date of birth (1997-09-01) 1 September 1997 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth Leeds, England [3]
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) [4] [5]
Position(s) Forward, winger, wing back
Team information
Current team
Grimsby Town
Number 15
Youth career
0000–2009 Rothwell Juniors
2009–2016 Huddersfield Town
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2016–2020 Huddersfield Town 1 (0)
2016Wrexham (loan) 3 (0)
2017Colchester United (loan) 12 (0)
2017–2018Port Vale (loan) 7 (0)
2018–2019Wrexham (loan) 23 (5)
2019Rochdale (loan) 6 (0)
2019–2020Rochdale (loan) 13 (1)
2020–2023 Shrewsbury Town 65 (3)
2022Scunthorpe United (loan) 10 (0)
2023– Grimsby Town 29 (4)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 08:20, 7 October 2024 (UTC)

Rekeil Leshaun Pyke (born 1 September 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward, winger and wing back for EFL League Two club Grimsby Town.

Contents

A product of the Academy at Huddersfield Town, he was loaned out to Wrexham in November 2016, Colchester United in January 2017, and Port Vale in July 2017. He returned to Wrexham on loan for the first half of the 2018–19 season before moving on loan to Rochdale for the campaign's second half. He returned on loan to Rochdale for the first half of the 2019–20 season before Huddersfield released him in July 2020. He signed with Shrewsbury Town the following month and was loaned to Scunthorpe United in January 2022. He signed with Grimsby Town in June 2023.

Career

Huddersfield Town

Born in Leeds, [6] Pyke is a product of the Huddersfield Town Academy. [7] He first joined the club at under-12 level from local junior side Rothwell Juniors. [8] He signed his first professional contract in February 2015, having already represented the under-21 team at the age of 17. [9] He joined National League side Wrexham on a month long loan in November 2016. [10] He made his debut on 29 November in Wrexham's 1–0 defeat at Lincoln City. [11] "Dragons" manager Dean Keates said Pyke "did okay... the physicality was all new to him, a new environment, but there is still a lot more to come from him". [12] After three appearances at the Racecourse Ground, Pyke returned to Huddersfield at the end of his loan spell on 28 December. [8] On 30 January 2017, Pyke joined League Two club Colchester United on loan until the end of the 2016–17 season. [13] He came on as a second-half substitute for Owen Garvan to make his professional debut on 15 February during Colchester's 3–2 defeat to Crawley Town at the Colchester Community Stadium. [14] He made his first start in a 2–0 home victory over Mansfield Town on 14 March, after which "U's" manager John McGreal said he was "delighted" with Pyke, describing him as a "beast of a kid". [15] He failed to score in four league starts and eight substitute appearances for Colchester. [16]

On 11 July 2017, Pyke joined League Two side Port Vale on loan for the entire 2017–18 season. [17] Manager Michael Brown warned fans not to burden the teenager with too much expectation after Pyke scored four goals in his first two pre-season friendly matches. [18] However, he struggled to even appear on the first-team bench, and speaking in October, new manager Neil Aspin blamed league rules that prevented him from naming more than five loanees in a matchday squad. [19] He then picked up a hamstring injury in a reserve team game and returned to the Kirklees Stadium for treatment. [20] He was recalled to Huddersfield permanently on 2 January 2018. [21]

On 10 July 2018, he returned to Wrexham on a season-long loan for the 2018–19 season. [22] He signed a new contract at Huddersfield to keep tied to the club until summer 2020. [23] He scored five goals in 27 appearances during his loan spell at Wrexham, being absent from Graham Barrow's first-team only during six weeks at Christmas when he was in recovery from a hamstring injury. On 26 January, he was named in the National League team of the day for his man of the match performance in a 1–0 win over Maidenhead United. [24] However, he was recalled to Huddersfield four days later; Welsh newspaper The Leader reported that "Pyke's departure is a big blow in Wrexham's push for a top-seven finish". [25]

On 30 January 2019, he moved up two divisions from Wrexham to join struggling League One side Rochdale on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. [26] He made three starts and three substitute appearances for the "Dale" by the end of the 2018–19 campaign. On 3 July, he rejoined Rochdale on loan for the whole of the 2019–20 season, with manager Brian Barry-Murphy feeling that his "unique... skills and qualities... [added] a different dimension to our attacking play". [27] Having scored three goals in 20 appearances at Spotland, he was recalled by new Huddersfield manager Danny Cowley on 5 January. [28] Cowley said that with Pyke's contract due to expire in the summer he wanted to assess the player at Huddersfield. [29] He made his Huddersfield debut as a late substitute in a 3–2 defeat at Fulham on 1 February. [30] However, this was to prove his only appearance for the "Terriers" before he was released on 24 July 2020. [31]

Shrewsbury Town

On 3 August 2020, Pyke joined League One side Shrewsbury Town, signing a three-year deal and reuniting with boss Sam Ricketts who Pyke had played under at Wrexham. [32] [33] He scored on his "Shrews" debut, a 4–3 defeat at Middlesbrough in the EFL Cup. [34] However, later in September Pyke was ruled out for four months due to a thigh injury after being forced off in a 2–1 defeat to Northampton Town at the New Meadow. [35] Ricketts commented that Pyke and injured strike partner Leon Clarke were both a big miss for the team. [36] By the time he returned to fitness Steve Cotterill had replaced Ricketts as manager, and assistant boss Aaron Wilbraham said that Pyke would have to work hard to win back his place in the starting eleven. [37] He ended the 2020–21 campaign with 14 appearances to his name, without scoring any further goals. [38]

On 31 January 2022, Pyke joined League Two bottom side Scunthorpe United on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season. [39] He had previously worked with manager Keith Hill at Rochdale. [40] He started six games and made four substitute appearances as the "Iron" were relegated out of the English Football League. [41]

Speaking in August 2022, Shrewsbury manager Steve Cotterill said that the Scunthorpe loan was "a waste of time" and was the player's choice rather than Cotterill's decision. [42] Three months later, Cotterill praised Pyke for adapting to the wing-back role as Julien Dacosta and Elliott Bennett were sidelined with injury. [43] Pyke ended the 2022–23 season with three goals in 19 starts and 23 substitute appearances, [44] departing the club upon the expiration of his contract. [45]

Grimsby Town

On 26 June 2023, Pyke signed a two-year deal with Grimsby Town, with manager Paul Hurst confirming that he was signed to play at centre-forward. [46] The Grimsby Telegraph reported in September that he "he has struggled to get up to speed both with his match fitness and fitting into Paul Hurst's system". [47] He scored eight goals in 34 games in the 2023–24 season. [48]

Style of play

Port Vale assistant manager Chris Morgan said that Pyke was "quick and powerful" and had good finishing skills. [49] Pyke is primarily a striker but during his three years at Shrewsbury Town he was predominantly converted to play as a winger and a wing back. [50]

Career statistics

As of match played 8 October 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeague FA Cup League Cup OtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Huddersfield Town 2016–17 [16] Championship 0000000000
2017–18 [51] Premier League 0000000000
2018–19 [52] Premier League0000000000
2019–20 [53] Championship1000000010
Total1000000010
Wrexham (loan) 2016–17 [16] National League 30000030
Colchester United (loan) 2016–17 [16] League Two 120000000120
Port Vale (loan) 2017–18 [51] League Two7000101 [lower-alpha 1] 090
Wrexham (loan) 2018–19 [54] National League235301 [lower-alpha 2] 0275
Rochdale (loan) 2018–19 [52] League One 6000000060
2019–20 [53] League One13140211 [lower-alpha 1] 1203
Total191402111263
Shrewsbury Town 2020–21 [38] League One120101100141
2021–22 [41] League One16010202 [lower-alpha 1] 1211
2022–23 [44] League One373302000423
Total653505121775
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2021–22 [41] League Two100000000100
Grimsby Town 2023–24 [48] League Two27432103 [lower-alpha 1] 2348
2024–25 [55] League Two2000001 [lower-alpha 1] 030
Total294321042378
Career total16913152929420221
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearance in the EFL Trophy
  2. Appearance in the FA Trophy

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