IT’S the end of an era for Little Oakley stalwart Trevor Lewis.

The long-serving striker is playing his final game for the club tonight – bringing the curtain down on an illustrious non-league career that has also included three spells with Harwich and Parkeston.

The 35-year-old is making his swansong in the Oakley A team’s Essex and Suffolk Border League first division contest at home to Tiptree Park (kick-off 7.45pm).

He admits being sad to be hanging up his boots but says the time is definitely right.

“As a player, you just know when it’s time to stop and I’ve reached that point now,” said Lewis.

“I can still use my experience and offer advice, but sometimes it feels like games are passing me by.

“I’m not able to have the impact I used to have but, overall, I’ve had some brilliant times here and loved every minute.

“Oakley are a great club – not just the football side of things but in terms of the people behind the scenes.

“Everything about the place is brilliant.

"It’s run well by good people.

“It’s a real community club and everyone has worked so hard down the years to help the club grow.

“I feel sad to be finishing.

“It’s the end of an era because it’s been such a big part of my life – the football and the club itself.

“But I’ll still be up here watching and I’ll still be involved.”

Lewis started playing men’s football in 1998, when he was 15, for Clacton Town (now FC Clacton).

He joined Harwich in the summer of 1999 and spent three years at the Royal Oak before joining Oakley.

Since then he has had two further stints with the Shrimpers, both for a season at a time, but otherwise he has been a regular fixture at the Memorial Ground. He and Lewis Wood are the only two players to represent the Acorns at both junior and senior level in Essex finals.

“It’s a big decision but it’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while,” he added.

“The main person I spoke to was my dad, because he’s the one who’s been with me since I’ve been playing football.

“He was my coach at youth level at Frinton and Walton.

“He’s watched me play hundreds of times and whenever he’s been there, it’s always made me strive to do better.

“When I first started here there wasn’t even a youth set-up. Now we’ve got more than 20 teams.

“The club have taken a massive step by installing floodlights, improving their ground and getting promoted to the Thurlow Nunn League.

“It’s great for the club but also for local football in general and I’d love to stay involved, because the club have given me so much.

“It’s only fair I try and give something back.

“There’s so much talent coming through, not just here but across the area, and it bodes well for local football.”

Lewis, who lives 200 yards from the club’s Memorial Ground, currently runs the club’s under-nines and referees matches from under-seven level through to under-11s.

He says the highlights of his career include winning the Border League title in 2003/04, reaching the final of the Essex Premier Cup, winning the Border League Knockout Cup with Oakley in 2014/15 and representing Essex at county level while playing for Frinton in 1998.