Former Wycombe Wanderers stalwart Charlie Gale died at the age of 78 on Friday evening.

Wycombe ex-players gathering for Saturday’s tenth anniversary party were sorry to hear news of the death of Gale, who was a regular in the side between 1963 and 1971.

A member of the side’s elite 500 Club, he was only pushed down to fourteenth in the Blues’ all-time list of appearance-makers when Matt Bloomfield made his 503rd senior appearance recently.

Encouraged to leave Wokingham by teammate Peter Roystone, Gale ensured the No 6 shirt was his own for nearly a decade and - along with John Fisher and Dave Thomas – made it a formidable half-back line-up.

Brian Lee converted him to left-back when took over as manager, and he was in the side that won the Isthmian League title in 1971 - his final season with the club when he played alongside such great colleagues as Tony Horseman, John Maskell, John Delaney, Keith Searle, Ted Powell, Geoff Anthony and Larry Pritchard.

A powerful player, he made 413 competitive appearances and scored 25 goals. 

Gale was a regular at WWEPA events until Parkinson’s Disease and dementia took a hold. He will be sadly missed and thoughts are with son Clive and family. Funeral details are still to be announced.