A notable Fylde RFC record was made on 24th February at Huddersfield and it almost passed us by. Reliable and complete 1st XV match records began in the 1977/78 season. In the intervening 47 years there have been far too many superb players who’ve graced the distinctive claret, white and yellow hoops to list here.
However, one of the principal statistics worth highlighting are the players who have scored the most points in their careers at the Woodlands. There are five players who occupy the pantheon of points scorers since 1977/78.
In reverse order, 5th place is Chris Johnson who joined the Club from Huddersfield in 2012/13 and left at the end of the 2015/16. A master goal kicker and fly-half, Chris made 111 appearances and scored 998 points – an average of 9 points per game.
In 4th place is Oli Brennand, a quite different record of 1145 points in 271 appearances – and all from tries! There were 229 of them, an amazing strike record at an average of 4.2 points per game.
In 3rd, is another fine fly-half and goal kicker, Steve Burnage, who joined from Orrell in 1987/8 and in four seasons up to 1990/91 accumulated 1302 points in 136 appearances, an average of 9.6 points per match.
In 2nd place, and record holder for many years up to two weeks ago, is Steve Gough, now part of the Club’s coaching staff. In 14 seasons from 1985/6 to 1997/8 and a final campaign as player/coach in 2001/2, Steve ran up 1432 points in 320 games at an average of 4.5 per game. During this long career at the Woodlands, ‘Goughie’ shared goal kicking duties with a number of other kickers such as Mike Jackson and Ian Barclay.
But the new record holder is yet another fly-half more familiar to current spectators, Greg Smith, who joined the Club from amateur rugby league in 2016/7 and in seven seasons to date has scored 1461 points in 183 matches at an average of 8 points per game. And, of course, he’s still playing 1st XV rugby and kicking goals consistently. A perfect five out of five successful goal kicks which won the match against Sheffield on Saturday emphasises this productivity.
No doubt in time, another player will challenge this record but, quoting Freddie Trueman on the occasion of his 300th test wicket in 1964, “Aye, but whoever does will be bloody tired.”
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Greg Smith says: “I’m very proud to have been able to break Goughie’s record. I have been able to get to know Goughie this year and we have had a few jokes about it – he’s a top guy. I didn’t think when joining 7 years ago that this would be possible but I’m very happy to be able to have done it. A lot of credit has to go to the lads as without them scoring the tries I wouldn’t have been able to reach this milestone at such a great club. I’m very proud to be spoken about in the same company as the other four fantastic players!”
Steve Gough said: “No one plays the game to go in search of records. We play because we love the game. Records are a byproduct of hard work and dedication, and Greg has shown that in spades. He deserves to go on and raise the bar even further. A massive congratulations to him on his achievements.”
Joint Head Coach Chris Briers says: “Greg has been a fantastic player for us over the last 7 seasons and his point scoring stats just go to show that. Over the last few seasons we knew this record was well within Greg’s reach and are not in the slightest bit surprised he’s passed it already. Greg has shown tremendous consistency and durability over the seasons and his goal kicking has played a huge part in the many wins we have achieved. Let’s also remember…he’s not a bad ball player either.”
Steve Gough
Steve Burnage
Oli Brennand
Chris Johnson