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Dartford forward Danny Harris reaches 300 games for the club and says he'd like to finish his career there

00:00, 18 February 2016

Danny Harris wants to finish his career at Dartford as he prepares to make his 300th appearance for the club this weekend.

Harris, now in his seventh season with the Darts, is determined to repay the loyalty shown to him since arriving from Bishop’s Stortford in 2009.

The 29-year-old forward, who’s scored 71 goals during that time, can’t see himself playing for another club.

Dartford forward Danny Harris Picture: Steve Crispe
Dartford forward Danny Harris Picture: Steve Crispe

Harris said: "I’d like to finish at Dartford but you don’t know what Tony (Burman) is thinking at the end of this season.

"I’m only 29 so I’ve still got a couple of years in me and this place suits me. It would be difficult to go anywhere else.

"In this profession, people are just after a quick buck but loyalty is massive for me and this club’s been good to me. I want to pay them back and be as loyal as I can."

Harris is part of a five-strong core group which has formed the spine of Dartford’s squad for the best part of a decade.

He, Ryan Hayes, Lee Noble, Elliot Bradbrook and Lee Burns have represented the club more than 1,500 times between them and that record is borne out of a two-way bond.

Harris said: "If you think about the last two seasons, the club could easily have got rid of us because we didn’t do well in the Conference.

"But with us being loyal to them and them being loyal back, you’ve got a great connection and that’s throughout the club. People like (chairmen) Steve Irving and Dave Skinner have been good to us and we’re paying them back in a way."

Work commitments and Dartford’s transitional introduction of young players into the first team mean the quintet’s days of playing together are numbered.

Harris said: "You can feel that happening but at the same time, to say the young lads are ready is difficult. It’s their first season at this level and they’ve done well but they need some experience to guide them at times.

"You’ve got to know how to see games out whereas some of the younger lads haven’t been in this position before.

"It’s not going to be a quick change but you can see the older players becoming a bit too old and the young lads coming through. They’re going to be a bit quicker and a bit sharper.

"There’s still a place for us old guys but you don’t know how many more years you’ve got in the legs."

Read more from Danny Harris in the Dartford Messenger.

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