WARRINGTON Wolves strolled to success at Wakefield Trinity Wildcats on Sunday afternoon, but there was one notable face who wasn’t out enjoying the west Yorkshire sunshine.

There were 3,552 people present at Belle Vue as Warrington triumphed 10-38, but Craig Garner wasn’t one of them – it was the first time he’d missed a Wire game in 31 years.

You would have to go back to Sunday March 3 1985 to find the last time that Craig missed a match, with Warrington defeated 22-4 by Bradford Northern at Odsal in his absence.

He was at Wilderspool the following week as Barrow were beaten 24-8 in front of a crowd of 2,674, beginning a whopping sequence of 1,067 consecutive appearances for Craig.

Craig missed the Wakefield clash as a family engagement had been arranged for the weekend before the Super 8s fixtures were announced last month.

But the 45-year-old was philosophical about the end of a quite extraordinary streak of terrace-hopping.

He said: “To be honest I wasn’t too concerned about missing it and it’s mainly other people who are more concerned about me.”

Craig had a close call weeks before he was set to celebrate 1,000 game back in 2014 as M62 traffic played havoc with travelling fans to watch the side at Hull FC – Craig made it into the KC Stadium with 12 minutes left to play as Warrington ran out 24-18 winners.

Game number 1,000 came on Saturday August 9 2014 as Warrington lost 24-16 to Leeds Rhinos in the Challenge Cup Semi Final at St Helens.

Former Woolston High School pupil Craig’s final match in his 31-year sequence came on Thursday August 4 at Warrington lost 18-20 at home to St Helens.

The stadiums Craig has travelled to in the last 31 years are much-changed or even gone completely – grounds like Knowsley Road, Central Park, the Boulevard, Hilton Park and of course Wilderspool are now nothing more than rubble.

He added: “There have certainly been a lot of clubs who have made improvements to their grounds but then there are still some clubs whose grounds are exactly the same, although there aren’t many.

“Who would’ve believed 20 years ago that we’d be in a great stadium averaging crowds over 10,000?”

And Craig has picked out his best and worst moments from following the Wire over the last 31 years.

“In the 1980s our famous pack in the Premiership winning side stands out as a highlight and another great moment was the first time at Wembley.

“I didn’t go in 1974 because I was only two years old and in those days you didn’t take young children like nowadays.

“There have been quite a few dark days – thankfully we managed to escape relegation as we’ve always been in the higher division since day one.

“It was a close moment and thankfully Paul Cullen came in and rescued us but it was a nervous time.”