WRITTEN INTERVIEW: latest Iron signing James Gale reflects on signing for the club

The Iron's latest summer addition, James Gale, reflected on signing for the club as well as giving the Scunthorpe supporters a taste of what they can expect from the centre forward in Claret and Blue.

Firstly, when reflecting on putting pen to paper on a deal with the club ahead of the 2026-27 season, Gale replied: "I'm delighted to be here at Scunthorpe. It's been a while trying to get it over the line, but I'm so grateful now that I'm here, I'm ready to get started, and I'm excited."

When asked about how he's found the first two days of pre-season training as United begin preparations for the upcoming campaign, Gale responded by saying: "It's been tough so far. He's definitely putting us through our paces, the gaffer, but the lads are fit. They're getting fit and gonna work hard for the next month, trying to get into a position where we're ready for the games ahead."

With Andy Butler's notorious hard-working pre-season schedule well underway, the 24-year-old referred to the running that he's already been put through in the opening week by saying: "I think it's good for me as part of my game is that I'm a runner, so I had high expectations of myself and my ability to run anyway. But coming in, the standard's good already, all the lads are getting through it all and picking each other up when they can't, and it's a proper squad coming together."

When asked about the conversations that Gale had held with Butler prior to joining the club and what made him keen to join, he responded: "I spoke to the gaffer on the phone before I joined, and we spoke about my role and where he sees me playing. I don't think it's going to be just as simple as me being up front trying to hold it up. I think there'll be a bit more to my game this year in terms of runs and getting in behind.

"I think that it's always good to have a good striker union and strike partnerships that can form. There will be different games where different partnerships will be needed. So, um, I think it's good. And also learning from players as well, like Danny (Whitehall) had a good season last year, it'll be good to learn from him to help improve my game."

Having previously spent time at the level during stints with Boston United, Solihull Moors and Altrincham, Gale gave his thoughts on the Enterprise National League, and how he thinks the Iron could fare this season: "Obviously the team had such a fantastic year last season, so I'm coming into a side with a lot of confidence going into this year. I think the teams that have come down are just going to make the league more and more competitive. The standard of football's getting better and better each year, so I think it'll be a tough season, but I'm just interested to see how we do and how we get on."

Finally, Gale closed the interview by giving an insight into the kind of player he is and what Iron fans can expect to see from him during his time with the club: "I'm aggressive, I like running, and I can come up with a goal when I need to. My main thing is working hard for the team, and I like it when they work hard with me. So I'm excited to see how that works and how we can move going forward.