NATIONALS 1&2

FULL-TIME FOR PHIL After 44 years of competitive action, Fylde scrum-half Phil Swindells has called a halt to his playing days. They began at King Edward VII School in Lytham St Anne’s and in Fylde’s minis before his career gathered momentum with the Royal Engineers, Army U21 and Lancashire Police.

He featured in around 500 first-team matches for Blackpool from 1988 onwards, returned to Fylde, of Two North, in 2007 and played 350 times, mainly for the fourth team, the Vandals. It’s estimated that he appeared in 1,000 games overall but