Dartford captain Tom Bonner announces his retirement after 10 years at the club: Play-off agony, why he had to stop playing and what the future holds

It wasn’t meant to end like this.

After 10 years, spread across some of Dartford’s finest seasons in the club’s history, their inspirational captain Tom Bonner has announced his retirement.

More than six weeks earlier, Bonner was a forlorn figure at his second home, Princes Park. Dartford were beaten in the play-offs. Again. Dartford were knocked out on penalties. Again. Bonner was the captain. Again.

Every year Bonner was driven to get Dartford back to non-league’s top table. He’d dined there in 2012/13 during his first spell at the club.

“When I signed seven years ago back at Dartford, that was all I wanted to do,” explained the 35-year-old. “I had good success at Dartford and I just wanted to get them back to where I believe they “belong.

“In the seven years, minus the Covid year, we’ve lost in the play-offs six times - the last three on penalties. It got to the stage where it was getting harder and harder to take, losing in the play-offs as well. That’s my biggest regret, something I’m going to live with is not getting the club promoted again but it is what it is I’m afraid.”

It’s why Bonner took so long to finally confirm his retirement. Many close to him knew it was more than a possibility.

At least the centre-back goes out on his terms, he deserved that right. It wasn’t a football decision - “I didn’t want to stop playing football” - purely the amount of dedication required to toil away for 10 months, with no guarantee of promotion at the end of it. After all, Bonner knows only too well how close the line is between success and what he’d class as failure.

“It was purely the thought of giving it one more go, lifting the trophy, winning the play-offs,” he reflected. “That’s all I cared about and the thought of doing