Iain Russell: Loyalty difficult to find in football, much less a skipper like the fantastic Mr Fox

Foxy has now surpassed goalkeeper Roddy McKenzie’s record of 185 appearances for the club and I believe he will go on to play many more games and set a record which will be extremely difficult to beat.

Our captain is a fantastic role model to any aspiring young footballer. He leads the dressing-room and has all the qualities needed to be a great skipper.

Foxy works harder than anyone for his team-mates when out on the park, he’s tenacious in the tackle and a wonderful striker of the ball. Although he shoots too much and doesn’t pass to me enough (!), he links the play well between the midfield and the strikers.

Off the park, he is a true gentleman and treats everyone in the squad as his friend, and he always has time for people.

If anyone within the dressing-room has an issue big or small, Liam is always there to listen and help.

The skipper’s record not only proves what an accomplished player he is but also the type of person he is.

Loyalty is hard to find in football and I am sure the management and board at the club will be first to say how loyal and supportive he has been.

Over the past six years – through the good times and also the much published recent troubles the club has suffered – the club captain has helped in more ways than one.

Long-serving players at any one club are very rare in the modern game. This is down to various reasons.

The much-publicised sagas involving Samir Nasri and Carlos Tevez, in which the two players were heavily criticised, shows why there is no loyalty at the highest level.

I believe that one of the main reasons the two players moved to high spending Manchester City was financial. They were both offered massive sums of money to switch from their more successful clubs to join Roberto Mancini’s side.

How can you blame them? Across the world, would any member of staff be loyal to the company they work for if they were offered far more money to switch to another company to do the same job?

Another reason why Liam’s record is so special is that in the current era players move from club to club quite regularly, rarely staying in one place.

And it’s not always their fault as more and more players are released from teams and find opportunities hard to come by. Teams are shuffled every season and players don’t tend to stay at one club for an extended period of time.

Football has turned into a cynical business and when these types of records are made it is to be appreciated and recognised as a wonderful achievement.

Congratulations, Foxy.

• Livingston striker Iain Russell writes for the Evening News every Thursday