[5] Just like his brothers, Charles began his football career in his hometown club, Le Havre AC, where the great majority of his teammates were English, such as the Woods, Frank Masons, Richards, and William Taylor.

[5] In April 1897, the Wilkes brothers appeared in the HAC eleven that played the inaugural edition of Coupe Manier, which required clubs to field only three foreigners, so HAC had to use the French players of their second team, but thanks to the efforts of the Wilkes brothers, they managed to reach the final, which ended in a 3–4 loss to Club Français after extra-time.

[5] In October 1906, a French newspaper states that "Wilkes, long considered the pillar of HAC, has just moved to Le Havre Sports, where he is still the star".

[5] In March and April 1904, Wilkes played two matches at the Parc des Princes for an unofficial French national team, namely against Southampton (0–11) and Corinthian (4–11).

[2][3] His international career was intermittent: two matches in 1905, only one in 1906, and a last one in 1908, for which he was called up to replace Maurice Vandendriessche, who had recently turned 21 and had chosen to become Belgian.

[1][2][3][4] Outside of football, Wilkes was the clerk of the family port logistics company, and in January 1915, two furious dockers attempted to murder the Wilkes brothers (Edgar and Charles) for unspecified reasons, with Edgar being hit by a revolver bullet in the groin, while a second bullet grazed Charles on the forehead, above the eye.