Former Blues skipper Luke Chambers hit the 800-career appearance milestone for his current club Colchester on Tuesday evening and admits he never imagined that he would go on to play so many games when he made his senior debut aged 17 with Northampton.

Chambers joined the Blues on a free transfer in the summer of 2012 following a five-and-a-half-year spell with Nottingham Forest.

The 36-year-old was the club’s skipper for most of his time at the club before being among those to depart last summer. He made 396 appearances of his 800 appearances for the Blues.

“I'm still feeling very fit and strong,” Chambers told the Colchester Gazette following Tuesday’s 2-0 defeat at Forest Green Rovers. “I'm enjoying playing, so it's another milestone.

“You start to look at records and how many people have played more than that. I think there are only five or six players in the Football League who have played more, so it's something I can be very proud of.

“When you first start, you're just like 'can I get to 25 games, 50 games, 100 games’ - it's never on the radar.

“When I take a bit of reflection and look back on the games that I've played, 800 is just something I couldn't have even imagined when I started as a 17-year-old at Northampton Town.

“I've had some success in my career and I'd like to think that I'm passing that experience onto my team-mates, especially a lot of the younger boys here.

“They seem to bounce off me quite a lot and it's a privilege to be playing with some of the young boys who are beginning their career when it seems like yesterday, I was starting mine.”

Photo: Matchday Images

Bloots added 09:50 - Jan 13 Legend
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Bobsthename added 09:54 - Jan 13 You may of had some success in football but i can't think of any accept being our captain and taking us down into the lower depths of league football and to think some said you could still doa job in league one you have even proved them wrong in my eyes good riddance.
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BlueandTruesince82 added 09:58 - Jan 13 I do wonder had we let him go back to Forrest all those years ago of that might have re set the dressing room somewhat but a great achievement none the less (the games, not captaining HMS Titanic Ipswich)
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foshizzle added 10:01 - Jan 13 Bobsthename what a crock of nonsense. Chambo was a bright light in what was otherwise a generally miserable time to be a town fan, play off push aside. His passion, clear pride in the shirt and of course the fist pumps made us actual fans appreciate him. Always a top professional and always welcome back at our club
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SouperJim added 10:01 - Jan 13 Classless comment Bobsthename
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Bobsthename added 10:06 - Jan 13 Not all Town fans wear blinkers you know everyone's entitled to their opinions just because mine and many others doesn't suit yours.
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itfcjoe added 10:13 - Jan 13 Great achievement and fully deserved for a top player and guy
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Europablue added 10:29 - Jan 13 Chambers was perhaps unfortunate to be at Town at a time in our history where we weren't set up to be successful. If he were a few years younger he would be a great asset to our team.
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NthQldITFC added 10:34 - Jan 13 Congratulations to Luke, very impressive milestone, great servant to several clubs.
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Gforce added 10:40 - Jan 13 Always gave 100% ,but definitely not a legend, as some seem to think.
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johnwarksshorts added 10:40 - Jan 13 Brilliant achievement Chambo.
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itfcserbia added 10:43 - Jan 13 Congrats Chambo! Everyone who doesn't understand this can just try to imagine playing 40 games a season each season for 20 years.
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naa added 10:43 - Jan 13 Bobsthename : personally, I felt that Chambers became the boo boys favourite to pick on. On the forum or news threads hwere you could always find someone managing to pin every goal conceded on him in some capacity. He just became an easy target. I'm sure a neutral would have had a different opinion. Also worth remembering that he played a lot of games out of position at fullback and did a half decent job considering. Was he amazing? No. Was he a decent centre back? Yes. Was he a good captain? Yes. Did he care about the club? Yes.

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Saxonblue74 added 10:48 - Jan 13 I think quite the opposite to "blinkered" Bobsthemame. Many can see beyond what he did on the pitch. A true professional and a real ambassador for both his club and his sport as a whole. I'd love to see him back at PR in the future once he's hung up his boots.
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Monkey_Blue added 10:59 - Jan 13 Personally have nothing but good to say about the guy and Bobsthename…. I won't say what I think of your opinion.
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ArnieM added 11:02 - Jan 13 Well done Chambo . You're a proper professional. Congratulations on your achievement mate 👍
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Cadiar added 11:04 - Jan 13 A reasonable signing when he came but for me he was never a player in the Ipswich mould. He was a typical MM player & in the end I thought he was very much part of the furniture which epitomised our decline. PC did the right thing & got rid of the old brigade who offered very little in us going forward. I'm also pleased he didn't join our coaching staff.
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SouperJim added 11:20 - Jan 13 Bobsthename perfectly entitled to your opinion, I don't massively rate Chambers as a player either, but putting "good riddance" to a model pro who captained our club with commitment and passion for nearly 400 games, is classless.
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grinch added 11:31 - Jan 13 You cannot deny this Is a great achievement for any player you don't play 800 games at the level he has played unless you really have something about you always a gentleman when ever you meet him and speak to him well done Mr Chambers
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Chrisd added 11:31 - Jan 13 Whether you are a big fan or not of Chambers to play that amount of professional games is incredible. There's many, amongst this forum, that would love to say they've played one at that level.
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Churchman added 11:33 - Jan 13 A great achievement. Keep playing as long as you want to and can. You are a long time retired.
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TimmyH added 11:48 - Jan 13 Well done Luke that is a milestone...
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Timefliesbyintheblue added 11:56 - Jan 13 50% of his games played for ITFC he was out of position. He was also part of a defence that had a very good record - our inability to score was our largest issue. 800 appearances suggests that managers still appreciate what he has to offer. Was he our best ever centre half - of course not - was he more than adequate, a good captain, and an excellent ambassador for ITFC - yes.

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bobble added 11:59 - Jan 13 not our greatest captain but a once captain,,,,
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Billericay12 added 12:02 - Jan 13 A good pro. Always wanted to play even through injuries (unlike some). Not only looked after himself but also helped the young academy lads some of which even lived at his home. Deserves some credit even though he was not part of a successful era in the club's history.
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