The oldest Cheltenham Town player to make his Football League debut?
The oldest Cheltenham Town player to make his Football League debut?
Kyle Storer is 29 years old and could make his League bow on Saturday, but is he the oldest to have made his debut while a Robin?
Kyle Storer is 29 years old and could make his League bow on Saturday, but is he the oldest to have made his debut while a Robin?
Kyle Storer: 29 years, 5 months and 15 days
The Cheltenham Town vice captain has had to wait, at least, two months longer than he would have wanted for his League bow.
He signed for the Robins to achieve his dream of playing in the Football League after a non-League career that took in Tamworth, Nuneaton, Kidderminster and Wrexham.
A moment of madness on his 29th birthday saw him banned for eight games and a back issue has delayed that by another five or so.
If Storer makes his League debut against Crawley Town on Saturday, he will be the sixth oldest in the Football League years.
Mark Freeman: 29 years, six months and 12 days.
Boka's dream was to play in just one Football League game.
He was let go by Hednesford Town because their manager John Baldwin thought he wouldn't be good enough for the Conference.
He joined Gloucester City and then Chris Robinson signed him for the Robins.
He was a key part of the side that won promotion from the Southern League, the FA Trophy and promotion to the Football League and made his bow as the Robins made theirs on August 7, 1999.
He made 65 more Football League appearances for the club before signing for Boston United in the summer of 2002.
Steve Book: 30 years, 1 month, 1 day.
The West Country boy had twice come close to making it in the League, during spells at Lincoln City and Brighton and Hove Albion in the mid 1990s.
He waas playing for Forest Green in the summer of 1997 when Steve Cotterill paid £8,000 to take him to Cheltenham.
More than 300 games followed. He was the undisputed number one for the FA Trophy winning season and the Conference title-winning campaign.
His debut came in the first Football League game against Rochdale and his first clean sheet came a week later at Mansfield Town.
He later made two appearances for Bristol Rovers and one for Swindon Town while registered as goalkeeping coach.
He is now back at his spiritual home as full-time goalkeeping coach.
Russell Milton: 30 years, 6 months and 27 days
Now the club's assistant manager, Milton's arrival in Gloucestershire came by chance as he relocated to the county from Kent in search of work as a teacher.
The Robins paid £4,000 to get the one-time Arsenal reserve player ahead of the 1997/8 season.
During his first two seasons injuries restricted his playing time, but after turning full-time in the summer of 1999 he was reborn.
His debut came in that first League game and by the end of that first season in the league he was the club's player of the year.
He made 117 League appearances before his release in 2003 and later played for Bath City.
He ran a soccer school and commentated on games for Radio Gloucestershire before taking on the role of youth team coach.
He was named manager in February 2015 after Paul Buckle's reign as boss ended abruptly but moved to assistant manager when Gary Johnson took over at the end of March.
Lee Howells: 30 years, nine months and 25 days
There are two great mysteries surrounding Howells. Why he was known as Archie and how was it he never played in the Football League before earning promotion with the Robins.
Born in Fremantle, Western Australia Archie was a Bristol boy. He played for Rovers as a youth but after his release decided to go 'Down Under' where he played for Brisbane Lions.
When he returned to England he linked up with his former Rovers youth team boss Lindsay Parsons, who had taken over as Robins boss during the wretched 1991/2 season.
He spent the next 13 years at the club starring in the rise from the Southern League and into what is now League One.
He came close to leaving in the summer of 1996 when Gillingham wanted to sign him - they even had one Steve Cotterill scout him.
Cotterill would later call Howells "the best midfield player the club has ever had."
Danny Wright: 31 years, 10 months and 28 days
The best thing to come out of Norfolk since Bernard Mathews opened his turkey farm, Wright was something of a Conference title-chasing journeyman until last season.
He made his name with Histon - combining his ace goalscoring with his work as a carpenter - and then went full time with Cambridge, Wrexham, Forest Green, Gateshead and Kidderminster.
He joined the Robins for the bounce back campaign and bagged 25 goals to earn him the player of the year award.
His Football League debut came just under a month shy of his 32nd birthday on the opening day of this season, making him the oldest Robins League debutant by more than a year.