SWINDON Wildcats forward Sam Bullas says his testimonial tonight is more of a thank-you present to the club that have looked after him for 10 years than it is a celebration of his time at in Wiltshire.

Bullas joined the Link Centre club as a teenager back in 2009, and has since gone on to play nearly 500 games for Swindon, scoring 96 goals in the process.

Now aged 28, the Nottingham-born player is very much looking forward to celebrating his time in Wiltshire with ex-Wildcats legends and the rest of his NIHL South One title-winning team from this season.

He said: “I’m tremendously excited. It’s an amazing achievement for myself and it’ll be great to see so many of my close friends from over the years come back.

“It’s a privilege to be able to bring that to the amazing fans of Swindon.”

Not long after announcing his testimonial, the Cats revealed fans’ favourite Bullas would be extending his time at the Link Centre by another three years.

Player-coach Aaron Nell is delighted his team has been able to hold onto a player like Bullas for so long and paid tribute to how hard he has worked to improve himself.

Reflecting on those comments and the fact that he had spent over a third of his life playing for Swindon, Bullas was keen to stress that he sees Saturday’s event as a huge thank-you to the club for giving him a place to call his second home for so long.

He said: “It just makes me feel old now because I’ve been here for so long, but for me, it’s more about the fantastic club and what they’ve done for me.

“It’s also a great way to get a lot of my friends back and let the fans see some of the heroes from over the years as well as the title-winning team from this year one more time.

“For me, this will be more of a thank-you to the club for having me for so long and looking after me.

“Steve Nell, Aaron Nell and Ryan Aldridge have always put the players first.

“It’s a fantastic place to play, the professionalism is second to none and it’s an absolute privilege to play at such a fantastic club for 10 years.

“Hopefully, we can celebrate that by getting some of the legends of the Wildcats back together and putting on a nice spectacle for the fans.”