David Larter has revealed his shock of losing his Montrose appearance record – 25 years after it was ‘set.’
Montrose club ambassador Larter has been widely reported as having played the most-ever games for the Links Park club with 432 appearances between 1984 and 1998.
He was expecting that to be surpassed this season by current midfielder Terry Masson.
But after looking into information published by John Litser in ‘A Record of Post-War Scottish League Players’, the Angus club have revised their records.
Litser’s totals included substitute appearances that weren’t previously available to Montrose.
That has left Larter, a club ambassador and current goalkeeping coach, third – behind Les Barr on 500 and Bobby Livingstone on 447.
It has also had a major impact on Masson’s attempts to set a new record as he has been pushed back to fourth place on 420.
Shock
GABLE ENDIES REVISE CLUB APPEARANCE RECORDS
Despite earlier beliefs that Terry Masson was closing in on the record of 432, new archive info shows the record to actually be an incredible 500 games, set by Les Barr in 2 spells at LP between 1971 and 1989 https://t.co/jb4HH4BlFN pic.twitter.com/osUh112CRF
— Montrose FC (@MontroseFC) September 12, 2023
“This came as a bit of a shock to me,” said Larter.
“It’s no-one’s fault and it’s really important that records are accurate.
“I knew for a few months the club were looking into it but it’s not how I expected the ‘record’ to go.
“I came into the season fully expecting Terry to overtake me this year.
“I’d been speaking to him for a while about it and, before I took on the goalkeeping coach role, I said I’d come up for the game he overtook me on.
“I’d have been delighted for Terry on a personal level to overtake me and take first spot this year. He has been a phenomenal midfielder over the years.
“But now that’s not going to happen this season and Terry has quite a few more games to get to top spot.
“This is a lot tougher on him than it is on me.
“He’s now got 60-odd more games to catch up.
“Hopefully, he can get enough games to get into second place by the end of the year.
“The other thing Terry has to remember is that what he has done for this club is still incredible.
David Larter: Terry Masson has been incredible for Montrose
“His length of service and dedication to the cause is phenomenal.
“To get to well over 400 games as a midfielder with one club is quite a feat – regardless of what happens next.
“He also still has a chance to get into second spot before the end of the season. That in itself is a great achievement.
“I’d also like to pass on my congratulations to Les and Bobby.
“I’ve spoken to Les over the years and I don’t think he knew anything about this until now either.”
While Larter is no resigned to losing his record, he is looking on the bright side.
He added: “I’m still the record appearance holder as a keeper.
“I’ve also had over 20 years thinking I hold the record so those memories don’t go!
“I didn’t even know about the ‘record’ at the time. It only came to light a few years later.
“Now it’s gone but I’m still up there with a lot of games next to my name.
“I’m proud of the fact I played so many times for Montrose. It’s a fantastic club and it’s brilliant to be still involved in it.”
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