In a season that hasn't seen a lot of things to celebrate, Ballarat City's match-up at home with the Moreland Zebras will be one to remember win or lose.
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Team captain Joshua Romein will eclipse the 300 game mark for Ballarat City as it hosts the Zebras at Morshead Park.
Born and bred in Ballarat, Romein amassed the huge number of games playing for the Ballarat Red Devils from 2005 to 2016 before the club folded and was replaced as by Ballarat City, which he has played for since 2017.
Speaking to The Courier Romein said he never could have imagined playing 300 games when he returned to Ballarat in 2005.
"I definitely didn't think I'd be playing 300 games," he said.
"I've always aspired to represent Ballarat so to rack up this many games feels like quite an achievement. It's been a lot of years and a lot of hard work so it does mean a lot to me."
Romein first started playing soccer for Ballarat Soccer Club at the age of 11 before joining the Ballarat Academy of Soccer.
After spending time with the academy and representing the region in Melbourne, Joshua and his brother Shaun would travel to Altona East to play reserves before transitioning to South Melbourne and finally returning to play for the Red Devils in Ballarat.
Upon his return to Ballarat, Romein said he felt a desire to help grow the sport in the region rather than travelling away from his home.
"Once I was back in Ballarat I wanted to make an effort to try and stay here and play for my city. I wanted to help develop and grow the game as much as possible."
The 34-year-old said he is thrilled to see how much soccer has grown within Ballarat and believes Ballarat City FC is a perfect example of the sport's growth.
"Apart from being called an old man all the time where the club is going is really exciting.
"The juniors the club is producing now are far beyond the talent of the kids that were coming through in my era at the same age - I think it's on the back of the work done at the Red Devils and Ballarat City that now the pathway is a lot better for young kids looking to play the sport.
"You do get some pleasure from seeing how far the game has come... when I started we were battling for significance and now we're playing at one of the best facilities in Victoria."
Looking into the future, Romein joked about his prospects of continuing his senior playing career before saying he will leave that decision to his club.
"If you spoke to my partner she'd have me retire no worries," he laughed.
"It's a discussion I need to have with the coaching staff at Ballarat City on whether my services are still required and if someone was ready to take over my leadership role."
Ballarat City have been playing perhaps its best soccer of the season over the last five outings and Romein believes his side has the ability to get a good result in his milestone game.
"It'd be ideal to get the result. We've been playing some fantastic football... we've shown we can compete with the best teams in the competition."
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