Gary Bottell

OVERALL STATISTICS

BIRTHAGESIGNED ONFROM
17-12-1959
N/A
07-09-1978
Blackbrook ARL
DEBUTLAST MATCHLEFT
19-11-1978 v Rochdale Hornets
Hull KR
1985- Whitehaven
CAREERAPPEARANCES (SUBS)
1978-1985
91 (41)
TRIESGOALSDGOALSPTS
8
0
0
25

Biography of Gary Bottell



HERITAGE NO : 932
Gary Bottell by Alex Service

It was always a pleasure to see local lads come into the First Team picture at Knowsley Road and Gary was just that, a tough, whole hearted player who came through the ranks and made his debut as a substitute forward at Rochdale Hornets in a League match on 19th November 1978. A look at the St. Helens team certainly reveals some of the Greats of the 1970s in evidence, but times were about to change and the side soon began to break up. Saints lost the match too, by 7-3, in front of just over 2,000 spectators. The team was: Pimblett, Jones, Glynn, Francis, Mathias, Holding K. Gwilliam, D. Chisnall, Liptrot, James, Bolton, Knighton, Pinner. Subs: Arkwright and Bottell.

Gary duly played most of his rugby for the Saints when the squad was being rebuilt with youngsters such as Chris Arkwright, Steve Peters, Barrie Ledger and Andy Platt. They were indeed tough times, with a change of Coach thrown into the mix, when Kel Coslett was replaced by Billy Benyon. Success would be forthcoming by the mid 1980s, but unfortunately Gary would not be a part of it. He had impressed the fans with some solid displays, however, when the going invariably got tough. He was strong and mobile and could play in the front or second rows. He turned out at hooker on a few occasions too.

Gary fell out of favour and spent some time on loan to Barrow. He also missed out on the New Zealand Tour Squad in 1984-85. After winning back his place in the squad in 1985-86, he unfortunately picked up an injury. "When I was in hospital, the Sister on the ward told me that Billy Benyon had been replaced by Alex Murphy," he recalls. "I was contacted by Whitehaven during my recovery from injury and as I returned to training Alex [Murphy] had said he was happy for me to stay and fight for a First Team place or I could go and possibly make a little money. I only completed one and a half seasons at Whitehaven, but the town and the people were great. It was good when Peter Gorley joined me at the start of the first full season but things were not the same as being at Saints. Peter then left after one season and I was really missing not being at Saints. I only moved because I needed some money after getting married. The odd thing with all this is that I never signed any forms for either Barrow or Whitehaven."

Gary retired somewhat prematurely at the age of 27 and joined Greater Manchester Police Force. "I worked as a PC at Man Utd's ground on Premiership final day and I remember talking to Roy Haggerty before he went into the dressing room to get changed. Oh the regrets at not keeping motivated and working harder!"

He is still a member of the Police Force, has been married for 25 years and has two boys, aged 12 and 17 [2010]. "I have strangely taken on a part time role as a scout for Bolton Wanderers Football Club which gets me out and about," he adds. Gary still loves watching the game and remains a staunch Saints fan. We will remember him as a bit of an unsung hero, very much in the mould of Mike Bennett in more recent and more successful times.



SEASON STATISTICS

Season (Official Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1978~790 0 0 2
1979~800 0 0 4
1980~810 0 0 6
1981~82 4 0 0 26
1982~83 3 0 0 30
1983~84 0 0 0 14
1984~850 0 0 7
1985~86 1 0 0 3
TOTALS:8 0 0 92
Season (Other Matches)TriesGoalsDGoalsMatches
1980~811001
1981~820001
1982~830002
1983~840003
TOTALS:1007

ALL MATCHES

DateMatchPosOpponentsCompVenueFTFTOTGDG
19th Nov 1978 1
L
 15 Rochdale Hornets L A 3 7 VIEW
2nd May 1979 2
L
 5 Leigh L A 2 5 VIEW
18th Mar 1980 3
L
 14 Hull L H 10 18 VIEW
12th Apr 1980 4
L
 15 Widnes L H 0 19 VIEW
20th Apr 1980 5
L
 15 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 4 21 VIEW
26th Apr 1980 6
L
 15 Bradford Northern PT1 A 0 30 VIEW
10th Aug 1980 --
W
 18 Oldham* Fr Ward Cup H 30 12 1 VIEW
30th Nov 1980 7
L
 13 Featherstone Rovers L A 8 12 VIEW
21st Dec 1980 8
L
 13 Bradford Northern L A 0 11 VIEW
26th Dec 1980 --NPS
W
 15 Oldham L H 11 10 VIEW
28th Dec 1980 9
L
 11 Barrow L A 8 11 VIEW
1st Jan 1981 10
L
 15 Widnes L A 8 11 VIEW
4th Jan 1981 --NPS
W
 15 Salford L H 29 14 VIEW
8th Mar 1981 11
W
 15 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 11 5 VIEW
24th Mar 1981 12
L
 15 Hull L A 15 18 VIEW
9th Aug 1981 --
L
 13 Oldham* Fr Ward Cup A 8 12 VIEW
16th Aug 1981 13
W
 13 Blackpool Borough LC1 A 28 0 2 VIEW
23rd Aug 1981 14
W
 14 Barrow LC2 H 40 17 VIEW
30th Aug 1981 15
W
 14 Fulham L H 35 4 VIEW
6th Sep 1981 16
W
 14 Castleford L A 32 17 VIEW
13th Sep 1981 17
W
 15 Leigh L H 16 13 VIEW
20th Sep 1981 18
L
 15 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 12 21 VIEW
11th Oct 1981 --NPS
W
 15 Bradford Northern L H 20 8 VIEW
15th Nov 1981 --NPS
W
 15 Bradford Northern L A 20 8 VIEW
22nd Nov 1981 19
L
 15 Barrow L A 5 7 VIEW
6th Dec 1981 20
W
 13 Whitehaven L A 9 7 VIEW
3rd Jan 1982 21
L
 15 Leeds L A 4 30 VIEW
20th Jan 1982 22
L
 13 Castleford L H 10 40 VIEW
24th Jan 1982 23
L
 15 Leigh L A 5 27 VIEW
27th Jan 1982 24
W
 15 York L H 17 3 VIEW
31st Jan 1982 25
L
 13 Hull L A 8 26 VIEW
7th Feb 1982 26
L
 11 Leeds L H 6 15 VIEW
13th Feb 1982 27
L
 15 Wigan CC1 H 12 20 VIEW
21st Feb 1982 28
W
 12 York L A 19 7 VIEW
28th Feb 1982 29
W
 11 Whitehaven L H 41 7 1 VIEW
3rd Mar 1982 30
W
 11 Featherstone Rovers L H 14 4 VIEW
14th Mar 1982 31
W
 11 Warrington L H 18 10 VIEW
21st Mar 1982 32
W
 11 Fulham L A 17 2 VIEW
4th Apr 1982 33
L
 8 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 16 28 1 VIEW
9th Apr 1982 34
W
 8 Wigan L H 13 11 VIEW
18th Apr 1982 35
W
 13 Barrow L H 15 6 VIEW
21st Apr 1982 36
L
 8 Hull L H 13 14 VIEW
25th Apr 1982 37
L
 12 Wigan L A 5 23 VIEW
5th May 1982 38
L
 9 Hull PT1 A 8 23 VIEW
15th Aug 1982 --
D
 11 Oldham* Fr Ward Cup H 15 15 VIEW
22nd Aug 1982 39
D
 10 Leigh L A 19 19 1 VIEW
29th Aug 1982 40
L
 10 Hull Kingston Rovers L A 10 31 VIEW
5th Sep 1982 41
W
 10 Widnes LC1 A 14 12 VIEW
12th Sep 1982 42
W
 10 Oldham L H 20 15 VIEW
15th Sep 1982 43
W
 10 Barrow LC2 A 9 6 VIEW
19th Sep 1982 44
L
 10 Barrow L A 12 19 VIEW
3rd Oct 1982 45
W
 10 Featherstone Rovers L A 29 12 VIEW
6th Oct 1982 46
W
 10 Carlisle LCSF (rep) A 9 5 VIEW
10th Oct 1982 47
L
 10 Leigh L H 10 19 VIEW
23rd Oct 1982 48
L
 10 Warrington LCF N 0 16 VIEW
31st Oct 1982 49
W
 9 Warrington L H 16 11 VIEW
6th Nov 1982 50
L
 9 Leeds L A 10 13 VIEW
14th Nov 1982 51
W
 9 Workington Town L A 20 15 VIEW
21st Nov 1982 52
L
 9 Castleford L H 23 24 VIEW
27th Nov 1982 53
W
 11 Fulham JP1 H 17 5 VIEW
12th Dec 1982 54
L
 11 Wigan JP2 A 5 9 VIEW
19th Dec 1982 --NPS
W
 15 Featherstone Rovers L H 13 10 VIEW
26th Dec 1982 55
W
 15 Wigan L H 11 8 VIEW
2nd Jan 1983 --NPS
W
 15 Widnes L A 18 11 VIEW
9th Jan 1983 56
W
 15 Hull L H 19 18 1 VIEW
16th Jan 1983 57
L
 9 Castleford L A 10 31 VIEW
23rd Jan 1983 58
W
 15 Barrow L H 20 5 VIEW
30th Jan 1983 59
W
 15 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 13 7 VIEW
6th Feb 1983 60
W
 9 Oldham L A 10 0 VIEW
27th Feb 1983 --NPS
W
 15 Leeds CC2 A 23 13 VIEW
16th Mar 1983 61
W
 15 Warrington L A 17 13 VIEW
20th Mar 1983 62
L
 9 Hull L A 13 24 1 VIEW
29th Mar 1983 63
W
 15 Halifax L H 22 0 VIEW
4th Apr 1983 64
L
 10 Widnes L H 9 11 VIEW
10th Apr 1983 65
W
 15 Halifax L A 23 5 VIEW
12th Apr 1983 66
L
 11 Bradford Northern L A 6 13 VIEW
17th Apr 1983 67
W
 10 Carlisle L H 39 7 VIEW
24th Apr 1983 68
L
 12 Widnes PT1 H 7 11 VIEW
22nd May 1983 --
D
 9 Warrington* Fr Testimonial A 16 16 VIEW
7th Aug 1983 --
W
 12 Huyton* Fr Charity H 48 14 VIEW
10th Aug 1983 --
W
 13 Widnes * Fr Testimonial H 44 20 VIEW
14th Aug 1983 --
W
 10 Oldham* Fr Ward Cup A 32 10 VIEW
11th Sep 1983 69
L
 8 Castleford L H 10 22 VIEW
14th Sep 1983 70
L
 15 Warrington LC2 H 26 30 VIEW
5th Feb 1984 71
W
 15 Salford L H 20 0 VIEW
12th Feb 1984 72
W
 15 Leigh CC1 H 16 10 VIEW
19th Feb 1984 73
L
 9 Leeds L A 7 18 VIEW
25th Feb 1984 --NPS
W
 15 Hull CC2 H 24 14 VIEW
4th Mar 1984 74
W
 15 Featherstone Rovers L A 21 13 VIEW
16th Mar 1984 75
W
 9 Hull L H 22 10 VIEW
20th Mar 1984 --NPS
W
 15 Warrington L H 37 25 VIEW
25th Mar 1984 --NPS
L
 15 Castleford L A 22 26 VIEW
1st Apr 1984 76
W
 15 Oldham L H 31 20 VIEW
6th Apr 1984 77
W
 15 Leigh L H 37 12 VIEW
15th Apr 1984 78
W
 9 Whitehaven L A 27 21 VIEW
20th Apr 1984 79
W
 15 Wigan L H 20 13 VIEW
23rd Apr 1984 80
D
 11 Widnes L A 28 28 VIEW
29th Apr 1984 81
W
 15 Warrington PT1 A 19 13 VIEW
7th May 1984 82
L
 15 Hull Kingston Rovers PTSF A 16 21 VIEW
9th Sep 1984 83
W
 15 Leeds L A 21 2 VIEW
14th Sep 1984 84
W
 15 Runcorn Highfield LC1 H 58 14 VIEW
26th Sep 1984 --NPS
W
 15 Barrow LC2 A 26 10 VIEW
30th Sep 1984 85
L
 15 Bradford Northern L A 10 30 VIEW
4th Nov 1984 86
W
 15 Warrington L A 20 14 VIEW
25th Nov 1984 87
W
 15 Bradford Northern L H 28 6 VIEW
30th Jan 1985 88
L
 9 Castleford L A 12 30 VIEW
3rd Feb 1985 89
W
 9 Leigh L H 56 16 VIEW
15th Sep 1985 90
W
 15 Carlisle LC1 H 72 8 1 VIEW
13th Oct 1985 91
L
 8 Castleford L A 18 32 VIEW
20th Oct 1985 92
W
 15 Hull Kingston Rovers L H 39 22 VIEW
*Unofficial Match. **Non Playing Sub.
WINS : 62 | LOSSES : 44 | DRAWS : 4

GALLERY





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