It’s been a long time since Matt Bloomfield signed his first contract with Wycombe Wanderers, in fact, it’s over 12 years.

A one-year contract extension, which he signed on Monday, ensures he will reach 13 in the Wycombe blue he first donned as reserved 19-year-old after arriving at Adams park from Ipswich in 2003.

A lot has changed in the decade plus since he made the swap not least, Bloomfield says, the Wanderers number 10’s role at the club.

“My role has changed unrecognisably. When I first joined I was 19-years-old and I came into a changing room of men I’d never met before in my life and I didn’t know any of them by name,” Bloomfield explained.

“I didn’t have a clue about what was out there in the big wide world of football, because I’d come through the Ipswich youth system and lived at home.”

Fast forward to 2016 and there is little the 32-year-old doesn’t know about the perils and pitfalls of life as a professional.

Now the club captain is looked upon as a font of knowledge by Wycombe’s hoard of younger players. It is fair to say he relishes the position.

Bloomfield explains: “From joining the club to now I have taken on a leadership role, trying to guide players and give them advice.

“They always come to me for chats about their game and little bits and pieces. It is great for them to turn to someone like myself who they can lean on for help.

“I have loved doing that and in this squad there are some great lads, so it is something I enjoy and I thrive on the responsibility of trying to lead the team.”

With both Bloomfield and Wanderers keen to continue their relationship, a new deal at the club was always likely to materialise.

Regardless, he was pleased to put pen to paper so soon after Wycombe’s season had come to a close, and will now turn his focus to his continued rehabilitation from a broken arm.

Bloomfield’s latest contract will take him beyond his 33rd birthday and the question of retirement inevitably rears its head as he reaches the latter stages of his career.

It is a subject, however, which Bloomfield has no interest in. He is instead looking forward to an extended tour of duty with Wycombe which he hopes will see him end his career at the club.

“As long as I am performing to the right level, and the club is happy with what I am doing, I don’t see why I would ever want to leave,” Bloomfield explained.

“I certainly don’t have any desire to move elsewhere, or to play my football anywhere else. My hunger and desire is to prove myself at Wycombe year after year.

“That, and providing for my family, is my sole focus in football and that is what I want to continue to do here.”