Reece Butler admitted it was a surreal experience to be handed the captaincy at Chatham Town.

The 26-year-old scaffolder, who first pulled on a Chatham shirt at 17, has been named the club’s new skipper ahead of the 2025/26 season.

Butler grew up just a stone’s throw from the ground and still lives close.

Having clocked up over 330 appearances and lived through relegation battles, promotions, and cup wins, Butler’s connection with the Chats runs deeper than most.

Now, as the defender takes over the armband from the influential Jack Evans, Butler is ready to lead the team on the pitch – with one eye on silverware, and the other on a historic club appearance record.

“It's definitely a surreal moment,” he said.

“I’ve been there since I was a boy and I grew up on Palmerston Road, which is literally a stone's throw away from the ground. I used to go and watch Chatham all the time, most weeks.

“I used to play football just outside the ground, where the tennis courts are now, it’s where I grew up. It's a bit mad now, like a full circle moment.

“I was speaking to my missus about it and how amazing it is. I've seen the turnaround of Chatham from when we got relegated to where we are now and I'm a big part of it. It's definitely a proud moment for me.”

Butler played junior football at Hollands & Blair before linking up with Maidstone United. He spent a brief spell at Hastings but admitted “I couldn't do the travelling!”

He’d already spent time at Chatham on dual registration before his Hastings move and it was an easy choice to return. He’s been there ever since.

Chatham then to Chatham now is very different. The club dropped out of the Isthmian League in 2017 and finished in the bottom half of the Southern Counties East Premier Division the next season.

Covid delayed the return journey but Butler was there as they won back-to-back promotions to the Isthmian Premier and then narrowly miss out on a third success the following season.

By Chatham’s standards, the past season has been a disappointment, finishing their Isthmian Premier campaign in ninth place.

Butler said: “I'm going into my tenth season and the changes I’ve seen at the club have been quite unbelievable.

“When I first joined it was a grass pitch and the stadium didn't look how it does now, we had something like 80 fans a week so to go from that to averaging about 1,500 a week is amazing.”

Butler succeeds Evans in taking over as captain after the midfielder opted for a fresh challenge next season.

“He’s led by example the whole time,” said the new skipper of Evans.

“He's been scoring goals and provided a stupid amount of assists, leading us on and captaining us in our most successful period with two promotions. He’s been brilliant.”

Chatham’s aim will be the same as usual next season, aiming for promotion, while Butler’s also got personal ambitions too.

“I'm closing in on 350 appearances,” he said.

“I hit 300 at Canvey at home last year so I think I’m on about 330 or something like that. (We make it 335). I think the record for Chatham is 401, or 402, I've been informed. I'm hunting that down.

“It's not often you see someone in non-league get that many appearances for one club.

“That would be like a personal achievement for me that I've been looking at for the last year or so. It might not mean much to anyone else, but for me it's just like a little goal that I've got.”

On team goals, he said: “I love the ambition of the club. It's so good to play for a club where they are ambitious and they want to go and do things.

“Even though we got promoted two years in a row and we’re now playing the highest we've played at, Kev (Hake, the manager) didn't want to just be stagnating at this level, or to solidify ourselves in the Isthmian Premier. You can tell the ambition's there just to go again and go again. It's definitely good to be part of it.

“This is the highest level I've played and if we get promoted again, then that will be the highest I've played again. You've got to keep up with the demands of the game and the league that you're in.

“Kev always wants to be challenging for the top, no matter what.”

Chatham’s average home crowd for the past season was 1,473 - the second best supported non-league side in Kent.

Butler says the fans have been crucial in driving them on.

Butler said: “I know a lot of the fans by their first name, I know their faces and like a lot of the boys, I speak to the fans after the games.

“It does help that they're on our side week in, week out. Even though we had those bad runs during the season, we had a lot of fans attending home and away, and it doesn't go unnoticed.

“The connection is definitely there between the players, staff and the fans and it's a proper community club as well. I think they repay us with the way they support us.

“They're loud as well, they keep us energised throughout the game - they're superb.”