POP QUIZ, Town fans - which player has represented Swindon the most number of times in the 21st century?

Yes, you’ve guessed it, although the headlines might have given you a bit of a helping hand.

David Duke, the Scottish left winger who arrived in Wiltshire via Sunderland in 2000 and stayed for five years, still holds the record for most appearances in the red of Town since the turn of the millenium.

His might not have been the first name on Robins lips, as different pockets of Swindon fans remember the 33-year-old in very constrasting ways, but only Jerel Ifil and his 231 appearances come anywhere close to bettering Duke’s total of 234.

It’s a curious statistic for a man who was neither a fans favourite nor an eternal scapegoat.

By his own admisson, Duke, who now works as a marketing and advertising executive in the north east, found himself the subject of the Swindon crowd’s vitriol during the latter stages of his time at the County Ground.

But even those experiences have not darkened his memories of five crazy years with Town.

“I loved my five years at Swindon even though it was an up and down time for us,” he told the Advertiser.

“For most of the time I had a strong relationship with them (the fans).

“The first four years I never had problems with them. But I went through a tough time midway through that fifth season and I was not playing well at all.

“When we were not playing well I attracted quite a lot of criticism from the fans but it was nothing that I couldn’t handle.

“It seemed like that sort of thing would happen to one player every season.

“I remember Steve Robinson getting it one season and Bobby (Howe), it was something that was part of the job.

“I handn’t played that well that season and I was making a lot of errors, I partly deserved it.

“But I enjoyed living and working around Swindon, Wiltshire is a beautiful part of the country and I had a good time there.”

Stability was a sought-after and seemingly unattainable commodity during Duke’s spell in Swindon.

During his half-decade in SN1, he enjoyed and endured brief flirtations with administration, liquidation, relegation and promotion, while the club developed a taste for treating managerial appointments like speed dating.

Twenty-four months after he signed on with the Robins, Duke had already worked under four different regimes as Colin Todd and Andy King were shown the exit door before Roy Evans jumped ship in the wake of further financial troubles and King was reinstalled as boss.

“We had lots of different managers while I was there - some who were not so good and then a couple who were really very good,” said Duke.

“Roy Evans stands out. He was bringing the best out of us and when he walked, that was tough on us. He got on with the players and everyone was happy when he was there.

“He had a way of dealing with people.

“To lose him was a tough blow that year, especially when after that Andy King came in that day.

“He (King) was a unique guy and he had the best of intentions. It was not the easiest time for him and he had limited money behind him, but he was not the perfect manager at the time.”

In terms of matters on the pitch, two seasons feature heavily in Duke’s recollections of life as Robins.

But perhaps surprisingly it is the successful battle against the drop in 2000/01, rather than the play-off heartbreak of 2003/04, which he recalls with greatest affection.

“In that relegation year I think Danny (Invincibile) got that goal against Peterborough and then we spent the midweek on the radio listening to Bristol Rovers, who had had lots of games crammed into the last fortnight, and thankfully they lost,” he said. “It was a relief because we had to go to Stoke on the last day of the season and they ran away with the league that year.”

After a period in non-league Duke is all but retired from football now, having swapped his boots for a pair of golf shoes.

Despite what some fans may have said about him, he will always hold Swindon Town in high regards.

“I’m not the type of guy who goes back and looks on things with regret,” he said.

“I had a great time at Swindon, it’s a fantastic club and it was where I really started getting regular games in my career.”

DAVID DUKE ANSWERS SOME QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS

Q: When you arrived at Swindon, David, there was a lot going on off the pitch. How did that affect the squad on it? A: Financially it was always pretty fragile and it was always pretty hard to find success. We had an up and down first year and it was a massive task for everyone because we brought so many players in without perhaps much money. Then we became more consistent. We had a couple of years stand out.

Q: What made the teams you played in at the County Ground click? A: I remember the season where we struggled and went 13 games without a win. The thing was that we played quite well for four or five games without being able to get the result we wanted, and that habit of losing set in. Then we went 15 games without defeat and that showed that we were really a confidence team.

Q: I’m sure we all know the answer to this question, but do you have any particular memories that stick out from your time with Swindon? A: The big highlights for me were the season where we just avoided relegation and obviously the play-off year.

Q: You moved to Darlington when you left Town and since then you’ve spent time in the non-leagues in the north east. Do you still play much competitive football? A: I’ve pretty much stopped that now. When I came back up north I played a little bit to keep fit but I found it a bit difficult keeping those levels of fitness and working as well. This year I got a bit of a knock to my knee and used it as a reason to stop.

Q: And what do you do instead? Have you found another hobby to keep you going? A: I’m all about playing lots and lots of golf now and my aim is to get my handicap as low as possible. At the moment I’m a 12 but I would like to get to single figures by the end of the year.

Q: How hard has it been stopping playing football for a living?A: In the last couple of years of my career I was fortunate to get trained up in the area I’m working in now, and that experience has really helped. I love what I’m doing and I love having a career now. I’ve been doing this five or six years and I’m really enjoying it.