Wycombe Wanderers captain Matt Bloomfield is all set to make his 500th appearance for the club in the Chairboy’s eagerly anticipated clash with Sunderland on Saturday.
The thirty-five-year-old midfielder was signed by then manager Tony Adams in 2003 after making just one appearance for his home town club, Ipswich Town.
Speaking to the Bucks Free Press ahead of Saturday’s sold-out match against the former Premier League giants, Bloomfield insisted there was plenty still left in the tank and was keen to look forward rather than back. He said ‘I genuinely still get that same buzz and that same excitement that I did when I started out.’
‘The lucky thing I have is I have found that special club that keeps that burning desire in my stomach.’
‘I am lucky I have kept fairly fit throughout my career. There have been injuries along the way but the fire still burns, and I want to achieve a lot more yet in my playing career.’
‘Blooms’ as he is affectionately known, said that last years automatic promotion from League Two was the highlight of his career at Adams Park so far but felt League One survival this campaign would arguably be a bigger achievement. He said ‘The budgets in League Two from what we were competing against was tough. We were maybe halfway down the league in terms of that and this league I am sure we are in the bottom couple.’
‘Some of the money being spent in this league is huge, and we are punching above weight.’
“We are proud to do so and survival this year will be as big, if not bigger than promotion last year, and we are on track to do that.’
The Chairboys are currently twelfth in League One but are only six points above the drop zone after a poor run of recent results that has seen them lose their last four. They are without a win since the end of January and have taken only one point in their previous six games.
Bloomfield insisted there was plenty of games left to put things right. “We have had a bit of a sticky spell, but there are still plenty more games to go to get the points to survive in this division.’
Manager Gareth Ainsworth paid tribute to his skipper on the club’s official website. He said ‘The man is just a true Wycombe legend. In today’s game there won’t be many players who play 500 games for a club, let alone Wycombe, so he deserves all the plaudits he gets.’
‘If it is to be his 500th on Saturday then well done Matt Bloomfield. He’s a fantastic person and a real good friend which goes on beyond football.’
Our View
Bloomfield has seen it all at Adams Park, From nearly going out the League in 2014 to last season’s promotion.
Making so many appearances at one club, particularly in the lower leagues, is a rarity and Bloomfield deserves enormous praise for both his loyalty and his consistent level of performance over so many years.
Ainsworth was quite right to him a Wycombe legend in his pre-match press conference.
