West Brom defender Gareth McAuley makes his 200th Premier League appearance… despite making top-flight debut aged 31
Northern Irish star joins the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Tugay and Edwin van der Sar in the top-flight late-bloomers club
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WEST BROM defender Gareth McAuley made his 200th Premier League appearance this weekend... despite making top-flight debut aged 31.
The Northern Irish star, 38, joins the likes of Gianfranco Zola, Tugay and Edwin van der Sar in a very exclusive club.
In fact, McAuley has made the eight-most appearances of any Premier League player to debut in the top-flight aged 30 or over.
Leading the way is former Fulham and Manchester United goalkeeper Van der Sar, with 313 games.
Ex-Blackburn midfielder Tugay made 233 appearances in the Premier League after debuting post-30-years-old, ahead of Chelsea legend Zola on 229 games.
Dave Watson (223), Paul Jones (211), Neville Southall (208) and Stuart Pearce (202) are the only other players to have played more times than McAuley as late, top-flight bloomers.
Most PL apps by players to make debut aged 30+
Edwin van der Sar - 313
Tugay - 233
Gianfranco Zola - 229
Dave Watson - 223
Paul Jones - 211
Neville Southall - 208
Stuart Pearce - 202
GARETH McAULEY - 200
Steve Ogrizovic - 191
Clive Wilson - 189
Veteran star McAuley came off the bench, replacing Jonny Evans in the 84th-minute of West Brom's 2-0 win over struggling Brighton at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
The 76-cap Northern Ireland international kicked-off his career at Linfield in 1996.
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He only moved to England in 2004 when he joined Lincoln City, before moving to Championship clubs Leicester and Ipswich, in 2006 and 2008 respectively.
However, it was only in joining West Brom in 2011 that McAuley got his crack at the Premier League.
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Since then, the centre-back has made 200 Premier League appearances, scoring 15 goals in the six-and-a-half years in the Midlands.
Meanwhile, two players have played close to 200 times after making their Prem debut post-30.
Former Coventry stopper Steve Ogrizovic (191) and ex-QPR and Tottenham star Clive Wilson (189) round-off the top ten late bloomers.