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I saw 446 games starting with the first one of the 2010’s, (a 1-0 home reverse to Swindon as we plummeted towards League 2, (Tier 4). The last one was a 3-1 victory over Blyth Spartans in the FA Trophy on 15th December 2019. The last 3 games of 2019, (a loss at Aldershot and then 2 wins over Halifax and Fylde), were sadly missed as I succumbed to some bug or other, and had to listen to the action unfold on Imagine Radio. All I can say is that none of us can know the value of an immune system until it’s not there, and subsequent to my stem cell transplant mine has been far from efficient!!
So 446 games in a 10 year spell which saw us descend from League 1, (Tier 3), through League 2 and the Conference National into 6 seasons of regional football. The last 5 months of the 2010’s saw us in the National League, on what is hopefully a climb back to League status and then “who knows”!!
A descent of that magnitude, and the different type of player recruitment at non league, and particularly regional, level meant that the throughput of players was quite staggering. At league level, and performing reasonable consistently, fans would expect to see no more than 22 or 23 players turn out in a full season. The table below shows just how far we exceeded the ‘normal’.
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| Year | Games Seen | Players Appearing in the year |
| 2010 | 42 | 37 |
| 2011 | 54 | 59 |
| 2012 | 48 | 37 |
| 2013 | 46 | 50 |
| 2014 | 50 | 36 |
| 2015 | 48 | 57 |
| 2016 | 48 | 50 |
| 2017 | 34 | 37 |
| 2018 | 39 | 41 |
| 2019 | 37 | 36 |
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The number of players is quite staggering. I saw 244 different players in 10 years. It’s equivalent to two completely different team each year. And for the vast majority of the time it’s reflective of the failure on the field. We went to games not knowing who would, or indeed might even, be playing. The classic year was 2015, when Neil Young was in charge for the latter half, I saw 57 different players. 36 of those came in Young’s 27 games in charge!! It also shows in the number of appearances. Only 11 players made 70 or more starts, and when the basis of a successful team is stability this tells its own story. At the other end of the scale the transitory players backs this up – 111 players turned out less than 10 times.
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70 OR MORE STARTS (11)
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Scott Duxbury; Ben Hinchliffe; Paul Turnbull; Ian Ormson; & Sam Minihan
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Scott Duxbury | 149 | 15 | 7 |
| Ben Hinchliffe | 130 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Turnbull | 116 | 17 | 9 |
| Ian Ormson | 109 | 3 | 0 |
| Sam Minihan | 92 | 14 | 6 |
| Andy Halls | 91 | 6 | 1 |
| Chris Smalley | 86 | 2 | 2 |
| Stephen O’Halloran | 83 | 13 | 1 |
| Lewis Montrose | 78 | 1 | 1 |
| Jordan Fagbola | 72 | 9 | 3 |
| Mark Lees | 70 | 1 | 0 |
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50 – 69 STARTS (18)
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Matty Warburton; Adam Thomas; Jimmy Ball; Sam Walker & Kristian Dennis
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Michael Clarke | 65 | 2 | 4 |
| Adam Thomas | 63 | 12 | 12 |
| Matt Glennon | 63 | 0 | 0 |
| Dan Cowan | 61 | 8 | 1 |
| Kristian Dennis | 59 | 11 | 26 |
| Matty Warburton | 59 | 9 | 28 |
| Jimmy Ball | 59 | 6 | 12 |
| James Tunnicliffe | 59 | 2 | 3 |
| Danny Hurst | 57 | 0 | 0 |
| Kayode Odejayi | 56 | 22 | 9 |
| Matty Mainwaring | 54 | 8 | 1 |
| Ash Palmer | 54 | 0 | 7 |
| Sean Newton | 53 | 1 | 7 |
| Kyle Jacobs | 52 | 0 | 2 |
| Chris Churchman | 50 | 9 | 6 |
| Sam Walker | 50 | 9 | 10 |
| Danny O’Donnell | 50 | 5 | 3 |
| Jordan Keane | 50 | 4 | 4 |
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25 – 49 STARTS (41)
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Five prolific strikers – between them, in the 2010’s, 97 goals in the games I saw
Danny Lloyd; Scott Spencer; Phil Jevons; Jason Oswell and Danny Hattersley. They all played for little more than a single season, (although Lloyd returned on loan in January 2020)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Tunji Moses | 49 | 11 | 0 |
| Sam Sheridan | 46 | 13 | 3 |
| Adam Griffin | 46 | 6 | 2 |
| Darren Stephenson | 45 | 23 | 11 |
| Jon Nolan | 44 | 21 | 3 |
| Sean O’Hanlon | 44 | 0 | 3 |
| Joe Connor | 43 | 6 | 4 |
| Danny Lloyd | 43 | 1 | 26 |
| Carl Piergianni | 42 | 5 | 4 |
| Phil Jevons | 42 | 1 | 21 |
| Gary Stopforth | 39 | 5 | 3 |
| Mark Lynch | 39 | 2 | 0 |
| Gareth Roberts | 39 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Kenyon | 38 | 4 | 3 |
| George Donnelly | 38 | 2 | 13 |
| John Marsden | 37 | 13 | 14 |
| Mark Ross | 37 | 7 | 1 |
| Danny Hattersley | 37 | 5 | 18 |
| Mansour Assoumani | 37 | 2 | 1 |
| Frank Mulhern | 36 | 18 | 12 |
| Greg Tansey | 36 | 14 | 12 |
| Jamie Stott | 36 | 1 | 3 |
| Danny Whitehead | 35 | 28 | 7 |
| Elliot Osborne | 35 | 14 | 4 |
| Tom Elliott | 35 | 9 | 8 |
| Jamie Milligan | 35 | 2 | 3 |
| Iain Howard | 34 | 9 | 10 |
| Danny Morton | 33 | 1 | 0 |
| David Poole | 32 | 10 | 2 |
| Euan Holden | 32 | 4 | 1 |
| Richie Baker | 32 | 1 | 8 |
| Harry Winter | 31 | 2 | 1 |
| Danny Swailes | 31 | 0 | 0 |
| Scott Spencer | 29 | 16 | 14 |
| Paul Connolly | 29 | 0 | 1 |
| Keiran Charnock | 27 | 1 | 1 |
| Jason Oswell | 27 | 1 | 17 |
| Rhys Turner | 26 | 7 | 7 |
| Karl Ledsham | 26 | 3 | 2 |
| Danny Gregson | 26 | 0 | 1 |
| Nyal Bell | 25 | 24 | 14 |
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15 – 24 STARTS (30)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Danny M Rowe | 24 | 27 | 1 |
| Nicky Platt | 24 | 5 | 1 |
| Bobby Lofthouse | 23 | 24 | 2 |
| Jake Kirby | 23 | 13 | 5 |
| Sean McConville | 23 | 2 | 6 |
| Owain fon Williams | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| James Vincent | 22 | 11 | 0 |
| Chris Sharp | 21 | 18 | 6 |
| Craig Hobson | 21 | 9 | 7 |
| Jordan Rose | 20 | 6 | 2 |
| Jack Ryan | 20 | 6 | 9 |
| Robbie Williams | 20 | 3 | 1 |
| Josh Amis | 19 | 15 | 4 |
| Richard O’Donnell | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny L Rowe | 18 | 13 | 11 |
| Glenn Rule | 18 | 8 | 2 |
| Glenn Belezika | 18 | 3 | 0 |
| Anthony Elding | 18 | 3 | 3 |
| Nick Chadwick | 18 | 2 | 7 |
| David Perkins | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Joe Garvin | 17 | 15 | 1 |
| Courtney Meppen-Walter | 17 | 12 | 3 |
| Adriano Moke | 17 | 12 | 0 |
| Danny Glover | 17 | 2 | 4 |
| Richie Partridge | 17 | 2 | 1 |
| Aaron Brown | 17 | 0 | 1 |
| Jabo Ibehre | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| Connor Jennings | 16 | 0 | 8 |
| Michael Paton | 16 | 0 | 4 |
| Mat Sadler | 16 | 0 | 0 |
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10 – 14 STARTS (33)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Matthew Todd | 14 | 6 | 0 |
| Chris Blackburn | 14 | 3 | 0 |
| Connor Hampson | 14 | 3 | 1 |
| Jon Routledge | 14 | 2 | 0 |
| Mark Cullen | 14 | 1 | 4 |
| James Wallace | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| Ryan McCann | 13 | 8 | 0 |
| Max Cartwright | 13 | 3 | 1 |
| Richard Brodie | 13 | 1 | 4 |
| Joe Edwards | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Alan Goodall | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| Paul Huntington | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| John Miles | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| Lewis King | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnny Mullins | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Micah Evans | 11 | 11 | 2 |
| Sefton Gonzales | 11 | 9 | 0 |
| Jake Simpson | 11 | 8 | 0 |
| Antonio German | 11 | 6 | 3 |
| Festus Arthur | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| Abdulai Baggie | 11 | 4 | 1 |
| Danny Gossett | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| Adam Cowen | 11 | 1 | 0 |
| Wes Fletcher | 11 | 1 | 1 |
| Jordan Thorniley | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Connor Dimaio | 10 | 17 | 2 |
| Tom Collins | 10 | 11 | 1 |
| Ryan Ellison | 10 | 7 | 1 |
| Lee Stevenson | 10 | 3 | 3 |
| Jemal Johnson | 10 | 2 | 1 |
| Nabil Bounab | 10 | 1 | 0 |
| Anthony Pulis | 10 | 1 | 1 |
| Dale Tonge | 10 | 1 | 0 |
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5 – 9 STARTS (43)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Charlie Russell | 9 | 12 | 0 |
| Jamie Menagh | 9 | 6 | 0 |
| Matt Paterson | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| Dean Henderson | 9 | 0 | 0 |
| Greg Wilkinson | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| Nathan Woolfe | 8 | 19 | 1 |
| Kaine Felix | 8 | 12 | 3 |
| Aman Verma | 8 | 2 | 0 |
| Lee Bullock | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Aaron Cole | 7 | 11 | 0 |
| Obi Anoruo | 7 | 5 | 5 |
| Wade Joyce | 7 | 5 | 1 |
| Calum Dyson | 7 | 1 | 3 |
| Lewis Baines | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Ishmel Demontagnac | 7 | 0 | 3 |
| Jonny Margetts | 7 | 0 | 4 |
| Andy Owens | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Fisher | 6 | 23 | 1 |
| Danny Pilkington | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Rhys Oates | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| Martin Gritton | 6 | 5 | 0 |
| Adnan Cirak | 6 | 4 | 2 |
| Barry Conlon | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Ryan Fraughan | 6 | 4 | 0 |
| Tom Walker | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Brandon Wilson | 6 | 2 | 1 |
| Tom Field | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Tom Aldred | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Andreas Arestidou | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Delial Brewster | 6 | 0 | 2 |
| Devante Rodney | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Liam Dickinson | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| Kallum Mantack | 5 | 8 | 2 |
| Jon Macken | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Ben Jackson | 5 | 5 | 1 |
| Mark Battersby | 5 | 4 | 1 |
| Connor Hancock | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| Johan Hammar | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Garratt | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Jamie Hand | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| Stephen Husband | 5 | 0 | 2 |
| Ian McLoughlin | 5 | 0 | 0 |
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2 – 4 STARTS (31)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Bohan Dixon | 4 | 9 | 2 |
| Paul Marshall | 4 | 7 | 1 |
| Ian Craney | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Harry Brazel | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| Jamie Proctor | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Mo Cham | 4 | 2 | 1 |
| Joe Leesley | 4 | 1 | 0 |
| Christian Dibble | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Mark Halstead | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Raynes | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| Lamin Colley | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Kyle Brownhill | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Max Hazeldine | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Josh Askew | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Ryan Doble | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| Matthew Grieve | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Michael Rose | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Javan Vidal | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Cameron Darkwah | 2 | 20 | 2 |
| Ben McKenna | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| Andy Robinson | 2 | 6 | 0 |
| Jordan Downing | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Yannick Salem | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Danny Schofield | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Adam Etches | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Kevin Holsgrove | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| James Hooper | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Marcus Poscha | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Ryan Jones | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Lloyd Rigby | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Josh Robinson | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Tom Whitty | 2 | 0 | 0 |
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THEY MADE BUT A SINGLE START (15)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| George West | 1 | 12 | 1 |
| Simon Hackney | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Adam Hammill | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Szymon Czubik | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Ross Killock | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Jordan Peach | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Conor Smith | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Sam Barnes | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Paris Bateman | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Wes Benjamin | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Hall | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Matty Hamilton | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Alex Jackson | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Kieran O’Hara | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Charlie Wardle | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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SUBSTITUTE APPEARANCES ONLY (22)
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| Games | Sub | Goals | |
| Brandon Windsor | 0 | 10 | 0 |
| Craig Carney | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Elliott Chamberlain | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Sam Grimshaw | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| Jordan Lazenbury | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Alex Meaney | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Sanchez Payne | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Tom Eckersley | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Sajjad Elhassen | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| C Scott | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Joe Bunney | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Ben Chu Say | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Yusuf Coban | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Alex Curran | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kaithen Farnworth | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jason Gilchrist | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Michael Hampson | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Bernhard Hirmer | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Will Holt | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Jack Hopkins | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Joe Noblett | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Keigan Parker | 0 | 1 | 0 |
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