COLCHESTER United skipper Kemi Izzet spoke of his pride after becoming the first ever current player to be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

COLCHESTER United skipper Kemi Izzet spoke of his pride after becoming the first ever current player to be inducted into the club’s Hall of Fame.

The 30-year-old, who has made over 400 appearances for the U’s over a decade at the club, was added to an illustrious list of Colchester legends such as Dick Graham, Reg Stewart and Bobby Hunt in a celebratory dinner last Friday.

“I was very proud and very surprised,” said the midfielder, who was inducted at the same time as Bob Curry. “I thought I was going along to that evening just to represent the club as the current captain and that was an honour on its own. However, to actually be inducted myself was a massive honour.

“It’s something that I will remember for ever. I owe this club a lot and hope to make many more appearances over the next few years.”

Izzet is due a testimonial this summer for his decade’s service to the club, however he admits that finding a suitable opponents is proving difficult.

A potential match against Norwich fell through as the fixture did not fit in the Norfolk club’s schedule, while Izzet opted against making the friendly visit of Watford on July 30 his showpiece event.

He said: “I can’t get a game for love nor money at the moment which is really disappointing. I thought there would be someone out there that would be willing to help.

“There’s been some interest but I just didn’t think Watford was the right game for me. I’ve got a once in a lifetime opportunity to do this and I want it to be the right game.”

Reflecting on the team’s 10th place finish in manager John Ward’s first season in charge, Izzet said: “It’s a big thing that we will have the same manager for two successive seasons now.

“He’s obviously trying to build his squad and his base of players and he’s now got another year to do that.

“We are disappointed the season petered out a bit but there are lots of positives to take from it and hopefully we can progress.

“We know it’s not going to be easy because of the way the club is trying to make a few cuts on expenditures. That’s the chairman’s prerogative and he’ll do what he has to do to keep this club running – he’s fantastic in doing that.

“We’ve done a lot of growing up and a lot of learning this year, so hopefully that will improve us going forward.

“We’ve got a good group of lads here and I think it will only need two or three players to improve us.”