Walsall youngster Charlie Wragg reflects on 'character-building' non-league loans

It was his first goals in Walsall colours and crowned a proud evening for the academy, which saw no fewer than six homegrown products take to the pitch. 

Mat Sadler confirmed afterwards that Wragg is set to head out on loan again this season and the youngster feels the experiences he gained at Bromsgrove Sporting, Alvechurch and Halesowen have helped him progress as both a player and a character. 

'It helped me a lot playing against men'

"When I first went to Bromsgrove, I started off better than I thought I would," Wragg reflected. 

"I adapted to it and you learn things being around that level of football. It helped me a lot playing against men and I don't think I would've been able to to do that by staying with the under-18s. 

"It was a very good experience, especially in terms of helping build my character and the lads in the changing room helped bring that out of me." 

Wragg scored three times for Bromsgrove but found minutes harder to come by once he made his loan switch to Alvechurch in the autumn. 

The 18-year-old finished the season battling for promotion with Halesowen and even scored in an eventual 3-2 defeat against AFC Telford United in the Southern Premier Central play-off semi-finals. 

In total, Wragg scored seven goals in 43 matches at Step 3 level for three different clubs and feels he will reap the benefits for being exposed to a variety of experiences last season. 

'The standards were a lot higher at Halesowen'

"When I left Bromsgrove, they were down by the bottom of the table, so you see what the changing room is like when you're fighting at the bottom," he continued. 

"Then when I went to Alvechurch, they were in midtable. So it was very different when I went to Halesowen and they were battling at the top. 

"You can just tell the difference from the changing rooms. There was still a good atmosphere at Alvechurch and Bromsgrove, but that Halesowen dressing room was buzzing and the standards were a lot higher." 

Wragg found himself deputising for Halesowen's leading marksman Kieren Donnelly, who finished the 2024-25 campaign with 23 league goals. 

Halesowen boss Russ Penn praised Wragg for bringing Donnelly's performances on another level and Wragg is eager to learn from every striker he works with. 

On that, the youngster also spoke about the influence of the Saddlers' current strike force and how the different options across attack will help him add in certain areas of his game. 

'I can base my game off the different options here'

"It wasn't easy to get in when you've got the top scorer there. But working with Kieren, I can learn things from him and I felt like we pushed each other," he added. 

"In training now, I ask questions to Josh Gordon, Jamille Matt and all of them because I just want to learn as much as possible.

"They're all different so I can base my game off the different options here."