Club legend hangs up boots after 618 appearances

It is the end of an era for non-league club Wimborne Town FC as their all-time record appearance holder hangs up his boots.

Scott "Arnie" Arnold played in his 618th and final match for the Dorset side as they succumbed to a 3-0 defeat to county rivals Weymouth on Tuesday night.

Ahead of the Dorset Senior Cup fixture at the Wyatt Stadium, the centre-back told the BBC it felt "surreal" to be finishing and that it would take time to accept it was "the end of the journey".

But the full-time carpenter said he would still come down to watch the team as a fan, joking that "it's nice to be on the other side of it".

Arriving at the club as a striker when he was 18, Arnold eventually established himself as a key part of their defence.

"As the body's aged on me I've gone further and further back," he said.

Now, after 20 years, he has decided the time had come to retire.

"It's been coming for a couple of years, you just know when the time's right," he said.

He said he had noticed he was struggling to keep up with some of his younger teammates in training.

"Your head's saying you can do it but your body's not allowing you and it does really play on your mind," he said.

Arnold admitted it had been a "burden" at times juggling his work alongside his football.

He laughed as he said: "Some days you're working on a roof, you're trying to get to the top of it and you've got a dead leg from someone whose done you the night before.

"It's really tough but that's what you take with the non-league scene."

Reminiscing about his playing days, he said lifting the trophy after the club secured promotion to the Southern League Premier Division South on the final game of last season was one of his highlights.

"I'm leaving the club in a much better position than it was in when I came to it - and it's only getting bigger and bigger."

You can follow BBC Dorset on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.