MARK Jermyn has admitted he is “gutted” at the way he left Dorchester Town but paid a glowing tribute to the club with which he achieved legendary status.

The 33-year-old is now looking forward to life as a Poole Town player after nearly 14 years at the Ave-nue and a record number of appearances for the Magpies.

Speaking to Echosport for the first time since his move to Tatnam was revealed on Wednesday night, Jermyn thanked those at Dorchester who had made his time there so memorable, while he praised Poole for making him feel more “valued”.

However, he also expressed his disappointment with the circumstances surrounding his departure from the Magpies, who he joined as a teenager in 2000.

“I had some great times at Dorchester and I’ll never be able to put into words how much the club gave me as a person and a player,” he said.

“The club is there for the supporters at the end of the day and I’m only a player but I hope that for the time I was there they enjoyed what I did.

“We had a couple of promotions while I was there and got into the Conference South, and fought so much to stay in that league.

“To have the FA Cup run and nearly get into the play-offs the season before last was a great achievement.

“We did some great things and I can’t stress enough how good the supporters are.

“I made some great friends, played with great players and never thought I was going to leave.

“The sad thing about it is that I never had a chance to say goodbye to as many supporters as I wanted to.

“I’m gutted at the way it has ended but for me Poole is the next step in my career.

“I started at Poole Town as a youth player so it has gone full circle for me.”

Jermyn turned down Dorchester’s offer of a new contract to pen a one-year deal with the Dolphins.

“I had a good conversation with Tommy Killick at Poole about the direction they want to go and from that I felt they valued me more than Dorchester did.

“Now I’ve left I’m really happy with where I’ve landed and I’m really grateful to Poole Town.”

When asked if he would consider returning to the Avenue to manage the team one day, he added: “It's definitely something I would never rule out.”

*The Magpies have confirmed two more pre-season friendlies, away to Bridport on July 22 (7.45pm) and at home against Yeovil Town on August 4 (7.30pm).