Hello there,
Respectively, let me re-phrase what he meant.
Emmerdale said:
Before you left, did you have any characters before?
Basically, he meant that; if you have already had any account before leaving, then you will have to press on: "CREATE"
Then, as you get switched to this page:
Press on "Create existing character"
And type in your previous account information, along with the correct previous character name. As I believe, you didn't only have a forum account, but also an IG character.
Cheers,
Jackson.