A Haslemere Hockey Club player has played his 1,000th game for the club.

Chris Stokes reached the impressive milestone in Haslemere Hobblers’ 4-1 win against Richmond Rouges.

A crowd turned out to support Chris and he was presented with a specially commissioned club shirt and a bottle of whiskey.

Chris played his first game for Haslemere in February 1987 for the then newly formed fourth team in a win against a now defunct team called Southwick.

Chris has been regularly asked how he knows he had played 999 games before the Richmond game.

He kept all the original fixture cards and had links to the various websites where results were posted. Finally, he started to make a note in his work diary.

Chris has played in every Haslemere men’s team over the years, even appearing for the newly formed men’s sixth team last month, purely to ensure he played a home match for his 1,000th appearance.

He has made 327 first team appearances and captained for the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons when Haslemere won the league and the EHA vase.

Chris has also been on 48 hockey tours over the years, organising many of these with the help of some other key club stalwarts.

Chris felt quite emotional when he was presented with his special shirt.

“I was touched by the shirt, the whisky and the number of fellow players and friends who came to cheer,” said Chris.