Horsham boss Dominic Di Paola has been heaping praise on club ‘legend' and ‘model pro' Gary Charman after the defender made his 600th appearance against Merstham.
Dominic Di Paola hailed Horsham's second-highest appearance holder in an interview with the West Sussex Gazette on Wednesday with the defender only needing 14 more appearances to break Mark Stepney's legendary record after Saturday's 1-0 reverse at Merstham's Moatside.
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Gary Charman's staggering 600th Horsham appearance couldn't be marked with a win as we were beaten by a resilient @MersthamFC1892.
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The Hornets host Bishop's Stortford on Saturday and Di Paola told the paper's website westsussextoday.co.uk: “He's been brilliant since he's come back to the club.
“He was out for almost a year when he re-signed for us and we were thinking about getting him back around this time.
“It's a credit to him that he's managed to get a few extra appearances before that. He's a model pro in my eyes. He's not given me an ounce of problems.
“His commitment's great. He's a good example to some of our other players for what you need to do well have a career and win things.
“He's been a great servant to Horsham over the years in various different spells. Hopefully he sees his career out with us. Nothing would give me more pleasure.”
He added: “It'd be great to see him finish up at Horsham because he's a legend.”
Charman resigned for the promotion-chasing Hornets from Isthmian League Premier Division rivals Bognor Regis Town in September 2019, marking a return to the club he made his debut with more than 20 years ago in November 1998.
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