SHOLING stalwart Kevin Brewster admits he is “feeling old” after entering the 400-club in last Saturday’s 2-1 victory away to Bournemouth Poppies.

The long-serving right-back joined Marvin McLean and Barry Mason in the Boatmen’s record books after making his 400th appearance for the club at Victoria Park, writes Neil Vincent.

“I feel very old!” he remarked. “I’m 33 now, 34 in July and now I’ve played 400 times for Sholing. When I think back to all the other clubs I’ve played for it makes me wonder just how many games I’ve actually played in my career!”

Brewster doesn’t believe he’s over the hill yet and has his sights set on the next milestone.

“If I can hit 500 I'd be delighted, you never know,” he added.

“I've just got to stay injury-free and obviously make sure I've still got that same level of enjoyment. I’ve just recently got back from a skiing holiday and I feel fighting fit and raring to go.

“I can feel that I need more rest in between games, my job and my soccer schools. The extra time cup game at Newport (on Tuesday) really took a lot out of me, especially after not playing for a while.

“But there's still fire in the belly and fuel in the tank!”

With 52 goals in his 400-plus appearances, the right back is one of the unlikely highest scorers of Sholing sides past and present and reckons his goal-scoring exploits make him better than one of the Premier League’s high-scoring full backs.

“It’s not a competition, I’m better than Leighton Baines!” he joked. The Everton defender has managed 34 goals in the same period, but Brewster, who scored his eighth goal of the campaign from the spot in the Boatmen’s 3 - 2 defeat at Newport is now guaranteed to at least match his highest scoring season of 2008/09.

“But seriously, I just want to keep getting myself about the pitch, taking the free-kicks, corners and penalties and getting a few goals too but it's definitely getting harder now I'm older.

“I think I’m probably the second highest scorer this season behind Dan Mason and I’m meant to be a right back, but I guess I do try to sneak up the pitch a bit!”

With the Boatmen now having three 400-club members, Brewster has nothing but praise for his footballing home.

“It's a lovely, local club,” he added.

“We're all mates, we've all played together for years and we all enjoy our football together. We're a close-knit bunch and I think that's reflected in the fact that so many of us have played so many games.”

Looking back over the years, Brewster can boast the Southampton Senior Cup and Wessex Premier Division as impressive scalps on his résumé but only has one highlight in mind when recalling his best moment.

“The second time I won the FA Vase is the highlight,” he said.

“I didn't play in the first final back in the day (with Winchester City), but the one in 2014 was special. It was like playing with your mates at Wembley. It was a dream come true.”