Alessandro Lucarelli broke the record for most Parma league appearances, and wrote an emotional letter to the fans.
The 40-year-old joined the Ducali in 2008, and remained with the club in Serie D after they were declared bankrupt in 2015.
The Crociati have now managed to climb up to Serie B, and the veteran centre-back made his 311th league appearance against Frosinone on Sunday, surpassing the record Ermes Polli set in the 50s and 60s.
“I arrived on tiptoe in 2008,” Lucarelli wrote on his Facebook page.
Alessandro Lucarelli broke the record for most Parma league appearances, and wrote an emotional letter to the fans.
The 40-year-old joined the Ducali in 2008, and remained with the club in Serie D after they were declared bankrupt in 2015.
The Crociati have now managed to climb up to Serie B, and the veteran centre-back made his 311th league appearance against Frosinone on Sunday, surpassing the record Ermes Polli set in the 50s and 60s.
“I arrived on tiptoe in 2008,” Lucarelli wrote on his Facebook page.
“For many I must have seen like the ‘recommended brother’ [compared to striker Cristiano Lucarelli] but over the years I earned your respect, to finally become your point of reference today.
“Over these 10 years we’ve had to experience more suffering than joys, but the latter was what made us become one: I became yours, and you became part of me.
“In these 311 games I’ve made a lot of mistakes, I’ve got more than a few conceded goals on my conscience, but one thing is for certain: there has never been one game where I didn’t give everything of myself and where I didn’t wear the Crociati shirt as if you were all on the pitch beside me.
“Today I want to thank you, from my heart, for allowing me the chance to become a part of your history.
“It’s a pleasure for me that in the future when someone asks you: ‘who was Alessandro Lucarelli?’ you can reply: ‘one of us’.”