Saints Centurions

It is not uncommon for players to make a century of appearances for one club; less so 200, 300 and, certainly not 900 as the England Amateur International  Phil Wood did for St Albans City. Phil’s record is one that, we can say with a fair amount of certainty, will never be broken.

At the premature close of the 2020-21 season, 148 players had passed the landmark of featuring in 100 games for the club.

The first City Centurion was Leslie Hosier. A fine cricketer, Les played in City’s first competitive game on 19^th September 1908 and reached three figures on 30^th November 1912. In the pre-War days City played far fewer games each season than from the 1960s onwards. As a consequence, Les was with the club as a player for six years yet featured in the relatively modest total of 144 games. This however, was out of a total of 182 played by St Albans City.

A team mate of Hosier’s from December 1910 was another St Albans born player, George Meagher. George played for the City either side of the war, including during our highly successful three seasons in the Athenian League when we lifted the championship on two occasions. On 10^th March 1923 he became the first player make 200 appearances for the Saints.

Fifteen players have passed the 300 landmark. The first was Harold Figg on 22^nd March 1930, some ten years after he made his debut having just been demobbed from the army. Harold, who later served the club on the Team Selection committee, only just beat his close friend, Wilfred Minter, to the 300 total by one week.

Since then, all the records from 400 games to 900 have been set by Phil Wood .

200 - 900 Appearances

Phil Wood 900 apps 30 gls 1962-63 - 1984-85	Steve Clark 488 apps 322 gls 1991-92 - 1999-00	Dave Lawrence 480 apps 20 gls 1663-64 - 1980-81	Martin Gurney 413 apps 82 gls 1984-85 - 1995-96	John Butterfield 374 apps 176 gls 1964-65 - 1980-81	Harold Figg 370 apps 56 gls 1919-20 - 1932-33	Fred Collings 367 apps 38 gls 1947-48 - 1958-59
Wilfred Minter 362 apps 356 gls 1920-21 - 1936-37	Ian Whitehead 361 apps 49 gls 1974-75 - 1981-82	Paul Mayles 355 apps 118 gls 1975-76 - 1984-85	Peter Risley 329 apps 9 gls 1992-93 - 2000-01	Kevin Mudd 326 apps 34 gls 1989-90 - 1998-99	Paul Bastock 315 apps 0 gls 2004-05 - 2013-14	Simon Martin 305 apps 90 gls 1995-96 - 2012-13
Mark Pearson 301 apps 0 gls 1980-81 - 1989-90	Les Burgess 294 apps 40 gls 1968-69 - 1972-73	Herbie Smith 282 apps 73 gls 1959-60 - 1966-67	Dave Neville 281 apps 57 gls 1967-68 - 1972-73	Ben Martin 277 apps 23 gls 2004-05 - 2014-15	Dave Bromley 271 apps 3 gls 1962-63 - 1967-68	Ron McCormack 255 Apps 3 gls 1952-53 - 1960-61
Steve Oliver 253 apps 37 gls 1983-84 - 1989-90	Zane Banton 252 apps 55 gls 2016-17 - Present	Andy Polston 252 apps 2 gls 1994-95 - 1998-99	Tom Bender 250 apps 13 gls 2015-16 - 2021-22	Bobby Childs 248 apps 109 gls 1967-68 - 1971-72	Lee Clarke 246 apps 93 gls 2003-04 - 2014-15	Bill Ratty  240 apps 56 gls 1968-69 - 1971-72
Chris Seeby 235 apps 10 gls 2002-03 - 2012-13	Rob Smale 219 apps 73 gls 1983-84 - 1989-90	John Watt 214 apps 46 gls 1982-83 - 1986-87	Terry Benning 213 apps 8 gls 1983-84 - 1986-87	Richard Evans 213 apps 5 gls 1996-97 - 2002-03	Allan Cockram 209 apps 73 gls 1986-87 - 1995-96	Gareth Howells 209 apps 0 gls 1994-95 - 1997-98
Dave Leonard 207 apps 14 gls 1978-79 - 1983-84	George Meagher 203 apps 24 gls 1910-11 - 1922-23	Rob Haworth 200 apps 56 gls 1996-97 - 2011-12

100 - 199 Appearances

Lee Chappell 199 apps 9 gls 2013-14 - 2016-17	Tony Lock 197 apps 16 gls 1974-75 - 1984-85	Phil Pierce 194 apps 43 gls 1919-20 - 1929-30	Percy Bird 194 apps 22 gls 1920-21 - 1926-27	Roger Grant 193 apps 9 gls 1970-71 - 1975-76	Gordon Wilkinson 193 apps 0 gls 1946-47 - 1951-52	Matt Hughes 191 apps 15 gls 1964-65 - 1974-75
Fred Hellicar 191 apps 7 gls 1922-23 - 1928-29	Bob Dowie 190 apps 9 gls 1984-85 - 1992-93	Paul White 186 apps 12 gls 1968-69 - 1972-73	Barry Payne 184 apps 11 gls 1956-57 - 1963-64	Erskine Smart 184 apps 1 gl 1990-91 - 1996-97	Wally Buckingham 182 apps 51 gls 1924-25 - 1929-30	Shaun Brett 181 apps 23 gls 1992-93 - 1995-96
Herbert Smith 181 apps 0 gls 1908-09 - 1920-21	David Noble 179 apps 9 gls 2016-17 - 2021-22	Bill Broomfield 176 apps 76 gls 1967-68 - 1971-72	Fred Holland 176 apps 19 gls 1921-22 - 1929-30	Wally Gatward 175 apps 0 gls 1930-31 - 1934-35	Charlie Bunce 174 apps 148 gls 1931-32 - 1935-36	Barry Blackman 174 apps 28 gls 1994-95 - 1997-98
Mick O'Shea 174 apps 12 gls 1985-86 - 1989-90	Jon Daly 171 apps 28 gls 1995-96 - 1997-98	Bill Fowler 170 apps 0 gls 1965-66 - 1968-69	Alan McDonnell 169 apps 54 gls 1961-62 - 1967-68	Martin Duffield 169 apps 47 gls 1991-92 - 1995-96	Ryan Moran 167 apps 12 gls 1999-00 - 2011-12	Sam Merson 166 apps 48 gls 2016-17 - 2019-20
John Oxley 165 apps 28 gls 1968-1969 - 1972-73	Barry King 162 apps 7 gls 1957-58 - 1962-63	Dave Sayers 160 apps 83 gls 1945-46 - 1952-53	Nick O'Donoghue 160 apps 74 gls 1973-74 - 1980-81	George Cooper 157 apps 24 gls 1978-79 - 1985-86	Alf Law 156 apps 2 gls 1953-54 - 1957-58	George Martindale 154 apps 6 gls 1934-35 - 1938-39
James Comley 153 apps 14 gls 2011-12 - 2015-16	Herbert Runchman 152 apps 3 gls 1922-23 - 1933-34	Alan Ayling 151 apps 13 gls 1974-75 - 1977-78	Scott Cousins 151 apps 3 gls 2004-05 - 2008-09	Alan Paradise 150 apps 5 gls 1985-86 - 1989-90	Brian Nisbet 148 apps 59 gls 1960-61 - 1965-66	Dennis Gibbs 148 apps 1 gl 1966-67 - 1970-71
Percy Higgins 147 apps 46 gls 1931-32 - 1935-36	Clive Greenwood 144 apps 49 gls 1956-57 - 1961-62	Leslie Hosier 144 apps 48 gls 1908-09 - 1913-14	Alan Tompkins 142 apps 67 gls 1952-53 - 1958-59	Paul Hakim 142 apps 45 gls 2005-06 - 2009-10	Ranbir Marwa 142 apps 17 gls 2004-05 - 2007-18	John Colfer 142 apps 7 gls 1989-90 - 1994-95
Redvers Buller Miller 141 apps 41 gls 1921-22 - 1925-26	Dean Snedker 141 apps 0 gls 2017-18 - 2019-20	Paul Turner 139 apps 15 gls 1997-98 - 1999-00	Gary Wraight 138 apps 15 gls 2000-01 - 2004-05	Gary Keen 136 apps 35 gls 1983-84 - 1987-88	Eric Skipp 135 apps 22 gls 1952-53 - 1955-56	Andy Cox 135 apps 16 gls 1988-89 - 1990-91
James Fisher 135 apps 5 gls 2007-08 - 2010-11	Matt Hann 134 apps 22 gls 2004-05 - 2007-08	Corey Campbell 134 apps 9 gls 2000-01 - 2003-04	Bert Crownshaw 134 apps 2 gls 1934-35 - 1938-39	Bob Murphy 133 apps 8 gls 1963-64 - 1977-78	Arthur Skitt 128 apps 11 gls 1931-32 - 1937-38	Ryan Frater 127 apps 0 gls 2007-08 - 2010-11
Ben Herd 125 apps 1 gl 2016-17 - 2018-19	Jimmy King 124 apps 8 gls 1991-92 - 1993-94	Gary Westwood 124 apps 0 gls 1992-93 - 1993-94	George Gray 123 apps 49 gls 1929-30 - 1936-37	James Kaloczi 123 apps 13 gls 2012-13 - Present	Leslie Clark 123 apps 11 gls 1930-31 - 1934-35	Matthew Howard 123 apps 2 gls 1989-90 - 1995-96
Zane Banton 122 apps 31 gls 2016-17 - Present	Steve Scott 122 apps 13 gls 1991-92 - 1995-96	Dave Hogwood 119 apps 3 gls 1971-72 - 1973-74

And the rest... to be added