Alfie May has expressed his delight after sealing a return to his home-town club Doncaster Rovers, joining the League One side on a season-long loan from Huddersfield Town.
Return to familiar territory
The 32-year-old striker, who began his professional career at Doncaster, returns to the club where he made his mark before moving on to Cheltenham, Charlton, and Birmingham City. May was part of Birmingham's record-breaking 2025 League One title-winning side, scoring 17 goals in 57 appearances.
After a disappointing spell at Huddersfield, where he struggled both on and off the pitch, May is eager to rediscover his form. Speaking to the Doncaster Rovers website, he said: "The excitement of when I found out there was interest it was a no-brainer speaking with a gaffer [Grant McCann] who's had me before."
A homecoming with meaning
May, who has scored 94-96 League One goals in his career, is targeting the 100-goal milestone. "As a striker, you set yourself targets, I think I'm on 94/96 League One goals, so if I can hit the 100 mark, which I want to do anyway, but if I can hit the 100 mark early doors for this club where I first signed a professional deal, I'd be over the moon," he said.
He added: "I want to be top goal scorer. I thrive off goals, that's sort of the way that I am. I want to achieve things, even being that sort of older, experienced player I've still got things to learn and I want to keep going."
Personal growth and leadership
Reflecting on his time away from Doncaster, May believes he has matured both as a person and a player. "I think I've grown up and matured as a person and as a footballer, I do everything now to do it for my kids, they give me a big drive of achieving things," he said.
He also highlighted his leadership qualities: "I think, a thing that I've probably got now is leadership, I feel like I'm a big leader on and off the pitch. I'm very supportive of my team and having that togetherness that you need to be successful."
Looking ahead
May acknowledged his difficult recent season but is determined to move forward. "I didn't have a great year last year and I had lots of things probably going on in the background and listen, I've got to park that aside now and like I say, I want to hit the ground running," he said.
He also reassured Doncaster fans of his commitment: "I just hope that they see the Alfie May that won the Golden Boot, that's scored that many goals over the last five or six years, and what they'll get from me, they probably know this already, they'll always get a hardworking player. I play for the badge, I don't play for the name on the back. You achieve personal things [but] the badge on the front is the most important thing."
