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    Current sporting longevity

    Cora Staunton may very well hold the current world record for her playing career in a team sport - she made her debut for the Mayo ladies footballers in 1995, aged 13, and today aims to win her fifth All-Ireland medal. Obviously Phil Taylor and Ronnie O'Sullivan trump her in individual sport, but I struggle to think of another Nineties player involved in a field competition.

    #2
    Not quite as long but I'll go for Peter Stringer who made his Munster debut on 3 October 1998 versus Ulster. He started for Worcester this weekend aged 39.

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      #3
      She's scored Mayos first two points today, hell of a player, I could make a joke about the how the men's team could've done with her last week but it wouldn't really be a joke

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        #4
        Buffon is still going strong and he made his debut for Parma in 1995.

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          #5
          O'Sullivan isn't the longest serving snooker player - that goes to Jimmy White. Played in the World Championship as far back as 1981. You don't see him on the telly a great deal these days (apart from when he does analysis for Eurosport) but he still enters tournaments. He's playing Xiao Guodong this Wednesday afternoon in Preston in the International Championship qualifiers.

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            #6
            Gareth Barry made his debut for Aston Villa in 1998

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              #7
              Bartolo Colon was 24 when he started pitching in MLB for Cleveland Indians in 1997. He's currently on the Twins roster.

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                #8
                Paul Collingwood's First Class debut was in 1996 - he played a T20 international this month (for a World XI versus Pakistan)

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                  #9
                  Kazuyoshi Miura must be the winner here I'd have thought - played for various Brazilian clubs in the latter half of the 1980s and still playing for Yokohama in the second tier of the J League at the age of 50.

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                    #10
                    Marcus Trescothick beats Collingwood - first class debut May 1993. He's just re-signed for another season at Somerset.

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                      #11
                      Shiv Chanderpaul first class debut Guyana v Leeward Islands in February 1992 aged 17, played this week for Lancs at 43

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                        #12
                        Incidentally, the attendance at that ladies' football final was 46,286, which compares rather favourably with some of the cross-Channel male fixtures this weekend.

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                          #13
                          Richard Johnson became Champion Conditional National Hunt Jockey in the 1995/96 season, at the age of 18. He's now 40.

                          He was the Champion Jockey in 2017 for the second successive time after being second to Tony McCoy for 16 consecutive years.

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                            #14
                            Reigning Speedway World Champion Greg Hancock is 47 and made his debut for Cradley Heath in 1989.

                            He's currently out of action through injury but is otherwise still active in the top flight in the sport's most competitive leagues (Poland and Sweden) and will compete on next year's Grand Prix circuit, I imagine.
                            Last edited by Ray de Galles; 25-09-2017, 10:27.

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                              #15
                              Moroccan tennis player Younes El Aynaoui turned professional aged 18 in 1990. He is still (just about) on the ATP tour, now aged 46.

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                                #16
                                Kimiko Date-Krumm's professional debut was in 1988, but she doesn't count anymore as she finally retired two weeks ago, with a somewhat sad ending.

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                                  #17
                                  I think Davide Rebellin, at 46, is road cycling's elder statesman. Appeared on the Pro Tour (now World Tour) in 1992 aged 21* and remarkably came 9th in Lombardia. Also in the race that day were Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly and Sean Yates.

                                  He was still making regular World Tour appearances last year when his team CCC Sprandi Polkiwice were invited to the WT races. This year he is at Kuwait - Cartucho.es but has still been in a fair number of Europe Tour races including the Volta a Portugal. He also came 10th in the Italian National Championships road race in June this year.


                                  (* road cycling being largely an endurance sport, riders (especially male riders) turn pro later than in a lot of other sports. Pro cyclists are still considered 'young' at 25)
                                  Last edited by Kevin S; 25-09-2017, 19:08.

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                                    #18
                                    Although he's younger than Bartolo Colon, I think Ichiro's professional career has gone on longer.

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                                      #19
                                      Sticking with tennis players, Leander Paes has to be up there. Made his professional debut in 1991.

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                                        #20
                                        By two years if we are talking pro teams, by five years if we are talking top flight. Ichiro made his NPB debut in 1992.

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                                          #21
                                          Think the longest serving professional footballer in England is Paul Robinson (the defender not the goalkeeper). Made his debut for Watford in October 1996. He's played for Birmingham once in the league and twice in the League Cup this season.

                                          Honourable mention to Livingston's regular keeper Neil Alexander who's still going. Definitely played for Stenhousemuir in August 1997, Wiki suggests his debut was the preceding season. Can't verify this as Soccerbase doesn't go back that far (anyone got the relevant Rothmans to hand?)

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                                            #22
                                            Jaromir Jagr started in 1990 or 1991, I think. I'm not sure if he's signed for this year but I think I res that he plans to.

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                                              #23
                                              He's still trying to get a NHL deal, but also wants to play in the Olympics, so it is probably more likely that he ends up in the KHL.

                                              He first played in the Czech top flight at 15, for the national team at 17, and for the Penguins in 1990-91.

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                                                #24
                                                I played the 2001 iteration of EA Sports' NHL franchise absolutely loads on a friend's PC when we shared a flat in 2001-02. Having been in Toronto in late 2000 I consequently always played as the Maple Leafs, with my own created character in a frontline alongside Mats Sundin and Alexander Mogilny, while my friend lined his avatar up for the Washington Capitals in a fearsome three with Jaromir Jagr and Peter Bondra. Jagr was a 10-year NFL veteran back then, so I was amazed to find during the last Olympics that he was still playing at the top level. I just love that he's still going strong.

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                                                  #25
                                                  Originally posted by San Bernardhinault View Post
                                                  Sticking with tennis players, Leander Paes has to be up there. Made his professional debut in 1991.
                                                  Daniel Nestor is older than Paes. He played his first Challenger and Tour matches (as a student, so technically amateur) in 1989. He has won at least one Tour level doubles title every year since 1994, but hasn't got one as yet in 2017 (he and Inglot are into the QFs of this week's tournament, but time is running out). He has also finished the season in the top 20 of the doubles rankings in all years since 1995 except 1999 (27th) and 2013 (25th). He is currently at 43 this year, though.

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