Jeb Tyrie was the next person charged with the onerous responsibilty of keeping it going, and, after 3 years, he passed it in to the safe hands of the present incumbent, Ewen Hay. Suffice to say, the database format and layout has changed a little over the years, from the Lotus 1-2-3 (anyone remember this?) file I initially used, but the principles have not changed in all that time - the top 12 who get first option of a game on Friday night at the Beach is still selected from the previous 6 months' appearances.
Not everything has stood the test of time so well - R.i.P. the famous Momentum rule! The database now lists 102 separate names - not including the anonymous one-ofs who appeared under AN Other - the total number of appearances listed is 12,277, with 30 names having made over 100 appearances.
The one and only Fred Morrison appears at number 22 in the list with exactly 200 appearances and the Hay brothers have now both crept over the 300 mark at numbers 15 & 16. They look the two most likely to be next to get their names on the 500 Shield, but it's probably going to be 3 years or more before they do so.
Nigel Meany just managed to get over the 400 game mark before retiring and he is one of 3 who look unlikely to ever join the famous 500 club - the others being Gary Grant (467) and Rob Dunnachie (470).
There are now 10 names on the 500 Shield, the most recent of them being John Moir, who has now risen to number 7 on the list with 564 games under his belt - not long to go until he overtakes John McDonald, who remains static on 573. Brian Fitzpatrick is in 10th place, stuck on 507, and just ahead of him is Jack Simpson who edges up ever so slowly with his appearances strictly limited to celebratory and Christmas/New Year matches only.
There are just 5 players who have made it past the 600 mark - I've got 602 and Ian Sharp has now overtaken me with 616 appearances. Malcolm Lodge's move to USA must now make his 3rd place on 657 a little vulnerable to attack from Sharpy over the next year or so.
Likewise, Dave Williamson's insistence on further enriching his already very healthy pension pot by continuing to work in exotic locations like Rio, Paris and Reading (?) has meant that the gap between him and the top slot is now ever widening. Dave is now on 858, but is probably only adding to this total by about 20 games a year now.
Then we come to the King of them all - the irrepressible Andy Gore who has now reached the incredible figure of 902 appearances. The big question is, can we keep him alive long enough to make it to the magic 1,000 mark? It's going to take another couple of years probably, but the old boy is certainly determined to give it a go.
Anyway, we celebrated last night with an outdoor match at DATA, with most of the Friday night regulars making a special effort to take a trip out to Banchory to take part. A match between the "Eastenders" and the "West Wing" had been planned, with the teams being split on roughly geographic criteria - although it looked rather like another Youngsters v Old Boys match. It looked at one stage that there were going to be 17 of us taking part, but, in the end, we had a few unfortunate late cancellations - Andy Robertson had to withdraw and Dave Williamson was a victim of the Icelandic volcano ash and got stuck in Amsterdam, whilst Jeb Tyrie's son, Dylan, had an accident and fell off his bike, so he, too, had to pull out.
It was 18 C and a beautiful evening. There were a few last minute arrivals so I had plenty time to set up the team photo. First time around, the camera was leaning back a bit much, so we got plenty of blue sky:
No - not quite right - try again, and this time, angle the camera down a bit:
Whoops - slight over-adjustment - autoflash had kicked in and the light had bounced off the sand particles in the pitch and created a bit of a white-out. To hell with it, that's enough - time to play some footy.
It ended up as a 7-a-side match and the huge spaces available on the wide pitch at DATA definitely favoured the younger legs of the Eastenders and they soon raced in to a 5-0 lead. The West Wing eventually got going and did manage to score 4 goals, but, in the end, were well beaten 7-4.
Hard work over, now on to the fun part of the evening. The sweaty Eastenders trotted straight off to the Douglas but the rest of us went home to shower first of all. Some folk were, unfortunately, having to drive back home but it didn't seem to get anyone down too much:
Jeb and Dylan had to pull out of the meal late on so I phoned the Derbar to let them know about this - "we'll be round in 30 mins" - "no problem". Of course, when we arrived there, it was chaos - no table set aside for us and little prospect of getting one in the near future. Harsh words were spoken, but we managed to get ourselves a table at Franco's at the last minute, so we retreated.
Another chance for a team photo:
Some sloped off after the meal, but a few of us crossed the road to the Burnett to keep Ewen and Ryan company before the last bus arrived - and to play some daft trivia quizzes - we failed miserably.
Great fun - and here's to the next one.
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