Jamie Whisken: 500 Appearances
Jamie Whisken made his history yesterday as he became the first player to make 500 appearances for Poole Town.
The captain led his side out in a 1-1 draw against Hungerford in a game that marked his 500th for the club.
The 36-year-old started began playing football at a young age with Littledown Juniors and Redhill Rangers in the Bournemouth Youth Leagues.
Whisken grew up playing with the likes of Adam Lallana at youth level, and the two remain good friends to this day.
In 2004, Whisken received a two-year apprenticeship with AFC Bournemouth.
He went on to make one League Cup appearance for the Cherries as he came on as a late substitute against Wigan Athletic in 2005.
After being released by AFC Bournemouth, Whisken joined Farnborough Town in the Conference South and made 38 appearances before the club went into administration.
The experienced defender went on to play for the likes of Basingstoke, Sutton United and Bognor Regis before signing for AFC Totton at the start of the 2009/10 campaign.
Whisken made 188 appearances and played a huge part in the Stags’ promotion to the Southern Premier Division as well as their two Hants senor Cup successes in 2010 and 2011.
He joined Poole Town in 2013 and made his debut in a 2-1 win over St Albans at Tatnam Ground and was made captain during his first season with the club.
During his time with the club, he has seen the true highs and lows of non-league football such as achieving promotion to the National League South in the 2015/16 season and then finishing 5th place the following season.
Twelve years after he made his debut for Poole, he has now made 500 appearances for the club and a remarkable 799 career appearances.
Whisken said: “It’s a fantastic achievement and something I’m really proud of.”
He added: “When I first joined the club, it wasn’t even something in the back of my mind, but twelve years later and here we are on 500 appearances.
“When I was with AFC Bournemouth, that’s going back 18 or 19 years ago, so signing for Poole mid-way through my career, I never believed I would reach 500 appearances.”
Regarding his personal favourite memory of his time at the club, Whisken said: “It would be promotion and lifting the Southern League trophy has to be a personal favourite memory.”
Looking ahead to the future he said: “I’m still playing week in week out, my body still feels good, and I’d love to have some silverware to finish on for sure, I believe in the direction the club is going in and I don’t feel ready to hang up my boots just yet.”