As Wycombe Wanderers host Plymouth Argyle on Good Friday, the club and its supporters will pay tribute to one of the club's greatest ever servants.
Matt Bloomfield, who played over 500 first-team games for the Chairboys, will have the match against the Pilgrims dedicated to him following his retirement from the game in February.
Following his move from Ipswich Town in 2003, he featured in 558 Wanderers games, scored 40 goals and was given the nickname of 'Mr Wycombe', due to his commitment to the club.
He became club captain and donned the armband for over a decade, and has been involved in many community projects across the town.
Special game = special burger.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) April 13, 2022
Matt Bloomfield and HellfireBBQ have combined to create a commemorative burger in Mr Wycombe's honour.
Make sure you're there this Friday to try one out!#WYCvPLY
His last game for the club came in August 2021 away at Exeter City, before he was forced off with a head-related injury that would eventually call time on his career.
Throughout the near-on two decades, ‘Mr Wycombe’ has lived every high and low of the football club.
Four promotions, four relegations, teetering on the edge of financial brink to captaining his team in the Championship for the first-ever time.
We'll be honouring #Chairboys legend Matt Bloomfield at Adams Park this Friday.
— Wycombe Wanderers (@wwfcofficial) April 11, 2022
Help us pack the stadium to give him the ovation he deserves!#WYCvPLY
There is no Wycombe Wanderers in the Championship without Bloomfield.
You only have to ask his former teammate, turned manager, what the midfielder means to the club.
Gareth Ainsworth said: “He has represented this football club in the best possible way in everything he does.
“He is 100 per cent Wycombe Wanderers.
READ MORE: Wycombe Wanderers captain Matt Bloomfield announces retirement
“He eclipses everything that anyone has ever done at this club.”
On the pitch, Bloomfield was a resilient and hardworking player who left everything out there.
After games, it was common to see the No.10 running full-lengths of the pitch until the floodlights went out.
Matt Bloomfield's final goal for Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park - vs Bristol Rovers on his 36th birthday, 8th February 2020.
— Chairboys on the Net - Paul Lewis (@GasmanCOTN) February 2, 2022
🙌pic.twitter.com/rHORhfpRd5
Beyond playing, he strived to make football more inclusive and safer.
In 2011, he became the first footballer to sign the FootballvHomophobia Charter for Action which was launched to unite fans and sportspeople to tackle homophobia and transphobia in sport.
He also wants to assist the Professional Footballers’ Association in dealing with head injuries.
An ambition of his is to raise funds for former players living with dementia.
Although football was taken away from him, Blooms acknowledges all that it has given him.
Matt Bloomfield Career Celebration on Friday - Wycombe v Plymouth
— Chairboys on the Net - Paul Lewis (@GasmanCOTN) April 12, 2022
Here's his first goal for the #chairboys back in March 2004pic.twitter.com/VgldLMP1sd
Speaking to Wycombe Wanderers after his retirement in February, he said: “I lived out my other boyhood dream to captain a team to victory at Wembley Stadium.
READ MORE: ‘It scares me’: Matt Bloomfield opens up on freak concussion that ends his career
“I couldn’t have dreamt that the team I captained there would be the team that has become my club.”
“I know that I can retire content knowing that I definitely gave it everything I had.”
Matt Bloomfield has been a Wycombe Wanderers player for six months longer than Milton Keynes have existed. #Chairboys
— Tom Hancock 🇺🇦 (@Tom_Hancock_) January 29, 2022
The veteran midfielder remains a part of the furniture at Wycombe as he spends his days clipping up and analysing moments from the previous matches.
His No.10 shirt and shorts have been replaced by a tracksuit and ear-piece, but there is no doubt that he bleeds the same light and dark blue as he did 19 years ago.
Matt Bloomfield, Mr Wycombe.
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