Details of how many appearances a player made in a season only started being recorded in 1987/88 season, but half the players on this list made their debuts before then.

For seasons prior to 1987 I have managed to add some details from Westmorland Gazette reports, but even then it may be for only half the games played, and in a number of seasons teams selected were not shown, so only those mentioned in a report were listed. So whilst David Bell’s figure will be an underestimate, as one of the regular place kickers he will have got regular mentions, whilst Ian Downham’s figure is likely to be a much bigger under estimate.

So why, despite there being far less accurate records to work from, are there so many players from the 1980s ?

Looking back over the last five full seasons, we have played an average of 27 games, but in the ten seasons prior to 1987 the average was 36. So if someone played in all games then, they would get the same number of appearances in three seasons as a current player would get in four.

It is also possible that pre-Leagues, (which started in 1987/88 – although in a much smaller way than today) there were fewer players from away from the area (both across Cumbria and the World) who take a First XV place, but often don’t stay long. When we arrive at appearances by position, in some of the positions the lower numbers in the top ten are fairly small, showing the turnover in fringe players. Since 2000, there are 16 players who picked up a Badge for making at least 20 appearances, in what was to be their only season at the club, but I have yet to find anyone who did this between 1950 and 1999.

The notes below the table also show their loyalty to the club, as a number appear to have returned to the pitch in “emergencies” well after they stepped done from regular appearances, whilst other names have been part of coaching teams.

David Bell holds many records in the club, so more about his achievements in weeks to come, and I will skip on to name two.

Probably the best known and most highly regarded player of the last twenty years, but you may have spotted it was Richard Harryman whose photo was in last week’s montage of those who have made the most appearances in their position in the last 20 years, rather than Billy. Billy started a few seasons before Richard, and made almost twice as many appearances prior to 2000 than Richard. Richard would have been even closer to Billy’s total, if he had not had a season away at Wakefield in 2002/03.

There is little doubt Billy could have fitted into teams at a higher level, although playing in a team towards the top of the third tier of English rugby in the early 2000s was a fairly high level itself.

I mentioned last week that some players probably hung on a little longer than was best for them, but despite his occasional retirements Billy kept delivering top class performances and probably the biggest problem two seasons ago was you often got the feeling when he came on, that some of those around him through “we alright now Billy’s on” (sure many of us on the touchline were guilty of it) and took their foot off the gas, and even he couldn’t do it all on his own

Two memories of Billy in action both come from 2013, so twenty years after his debut, and almost inevitable come not from his main role, but when he found himself in a bit of space. Against Penrith at Mint Bridge, at the start of an unsuccessful fightback from a too big deficit, he set off on a run from somewhere close to halfway, and somehow power through to score. Later the same year, in the game at Carlisle which finally broke the long losing streak away from home, again he set off on a powerful run from inside his own half. I was convinced he was going to score and nothing would stop him, but a brave Carlisle player did. Liam Hayton profited and went on to score instead.

Liam sits in mid table, although if I had full records a few older players would probably leapfrog him. For a long time he was always close to Duncan Green’s total, and it often seemed if one picked up an injury the other would do the same. He seems to have been in the team forever, but despite making his debut in 1999 he did not become a regular until 2004/05, then made over twenty appearances in twelve of the next thirteen seasons. Whilst he became the key second row, at the start of his career he was a back row man.

The name on the list which surprised me was Paul Dodds. I had assume when I started watching that he was a fairly young player, but he had made his debut ten years earlier, and made over 250 appearances in the 1990s. He holds an odd record, that as far as I can see he is the only player to have been selected in every position behind the pack between 2000 and 2005/6. He started at scrum half against Darlington Mowden Park in December 2003, a week later he would have had David Bell as his half back partner.

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Next week looking at something we have fairly good records on for the last seventy years – points scorers.

Despite this four of the top ten made their debuts after 2000, whilst two others have been regulars in teams of the 2000s

It may appear slightly later than normal as I am hoping to busy on Saturday, when I normally put things together.
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