There was a superb symmetry in Tim Ream becoming only the twenty first man to make three hundred appearances for Fulham Football Club in yesterday’s win over Sheffield United. It was against the Blades eight years ago that he made his debut after a surprise move from Bolton Wanderers. That August fixture finished 3-0 and we all wondered if Kit Symons had cracked by pairing an American with top flight experience alongside Richard Stearman. The Wolves hero never replicated his Molineux magnificence in SW6, but Ream was been a constant – alongside twenty partners at the back – through some grim times, especially when both Slavisa Jokanovic and Scott Parker had appeared to call time on his Fulham career. His enduring excellence, eventually recognised by Gregg Berhalter in time for last year’s World Cup, is one of the English game’s underwritten stories but, as is his way, the St. Louis native shuns the limelight even when recognition is long overdue.

Ream has been written off more times than most in a Fulham shirt but he keeps coming back. He proved Jokanovic wrong when the Serbian suggested he wasn’t the right centre back for the possessed-based side he was trying to build. The method was simple: a conversation with a coach who was determined to go in a different direction led to a summer of hard graft that impressed Jokanovic and he soon became an ever-present in the team that went 23 games unbeaten and won that glorious play-off final at Wembley against favourites Aston Villa, overcoming the adversity of Denis Odoi’s red card.

The articulate defender will freely admit he found the top flight tough in a year when Fulham were woefully underequipped for the challenge and lurched suddenly from Jokanovic’s expansive football to Claudio Ranieri’s catenaccio before turning to Parker with hope virtually extinguished. He wasn’t the only one – and his anger at some of the new signings who failed to put in the hard yards had told everyone we were in serious trouble even before Jokanovic was unceremeniously sacked. Ream was one of those players consigned to the periphery by Parker, whose approach sucked the life out of a side who should have stayed up whilst he was flirting outrageously with Bournemouth.

That the man now linked with the Glasgow Rangers rescue job felt Ream, Cairney and Mitrovic couldn’t do the job in the top flight seems staggering with every passing day but there was no posturing or hystronics from Ream, an erudite and humble man whose hinterland allows him to recognise that he is lucky to be playing professional football. The American, who has never failed Fulham in his eight years of unstinting service, found a first-team return easier than expected once Marco Silva arrived and followed up a fine promotion campaign with the best form of his career aged 35. That Indian summer earned him an impeccably timed international recall and the admiration of the likes of Pep Guardiola.

The passing of time hasn’t been as damaging to Ream as it could have been a more modern centre back because his performances have always been informed by a reading of the game that reminds you of Bobby Moore. High praise, indeed, but given Ream’s endurance it is more than merited. Never having had pace to burn, it is the timing of his challenges, the determination to remain on his feet – remisicent of Aaron Hughes – and his composure in possession that makes him a fine defender in an age when distribution feels more important than tough tackling. But Ream’s determination to make the most of his ability reminds me of the last man to reach the three hundred mark. You’d be hard-pressed to find a man more revered for his service to London’s oldest professional side than Simon Morgan, whose selfless service to the club saw him drop into the bottom tier before being leading the revival under Micky Adams and then lifting trophies once Mohamed Al-Fayed’s millions arrived, but Ream is a worthy successor to ‘Mr. Fulham’.

He’s a leader in his actions rather than being ostentatious and that was enscapulated by how quickly he came to the aid of Chris Basham yesterday. The compassion which saw Ream holding his opponent’s hand after that awful injury shines through in his off-the-field activities, running his own global education organisation, and his advocacy for equality initiatives both in football and wider society. There’s no room for sentiment in sport – as evidenced by the number of times this fine Fulham servant has been pensioned off – but it is wonderful when good people do well. And, the way Tim Ream’s going, he’ll wrack up a lot more than 300 games for the Whites.

Long may he continue to grace the Craven Cottage turf and hear the unmistakable cry of ‘Reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaammmmmm’. For an understated figure in a sport that generates an awful lot of unheralded hype, Fulham’s classy centre half has plenty to be proud of. Thanks for giving us absolutely everything, Tim.