Where to start? Here's a dozen that spring to mind, including my top 10 Argyle memories at Home Park.
1. Santos with 38,000 was memorable. It was not every day an Argyle fan got to see the World's best player grace Home Park and we will never again see anything like that number of people packed in the ground. The game itself though had the air of a friendly which it was of course.
2. The first Everton cup game with 35,000 was quite an occasion but there wasn't enough at stake to make it particularly dramatic.
3. The return of Malcolm Allison as Palace manager when a last minute penalty from Terry Venables was saved by Argyle's best ever keeper Jim Furnell to secure a 2-1 win.
4. Blackburn on a Tuesday night with 28,000 plus for a 3rd division old money top of the table clash was pretty special. I can still hear, "Oh Billy Billy, Billy Billy Billy Billy Rafferty" ringing around the ground now as we won to take their place at the top of the table. A few weeks later and 21,000 saw us clinch promotion with a Mariner goal against Colchester.
5. Another Tuesday night with 21,000(yeh right, and the other 7,000) packed in like sardines to see us clinch promotion with a 4 nil thumping of Bristol City with a memorable opener from Garry Nelson and a brace from Tommy Tynan.
6. A 6-0 thrashing of Torquay in an old division 3 game on Boxing Day when I was about 11. I can still remember being stood at the front of the Devonport End as Piper curled in a wonderful free kick. He also scored a second but Mike Bickle took the plaudits with a 4 goal show.
7. Another 4 goal performance I think from Bickle as we beat Cardiff 7-1 in a 2nd division game which until the 7-0 rout of Chesterfield many years later was our biggest ever home win.
8. A 2-1 home win in front of 23,000 for a 3rd division fixture when the Don Roger's inspired Swindon team paraded the League Cup around the ground a week after defeating the mighty Arsenal at Wembley.
9. A few weeks after England won the World Cup I saw the Football League eleven beat the Irish league eleven about 12 nil at Home Park with almost a full World Cup Final line up. I think Callaghan and Budgie Byrne were 2 that were squad players for the World Cup who played that night but it was a strong team England fielded comprising most of the team who had beaten West Germany in the final. I think Byrne scored 4 that night. Again though, a great experience but it had the air of a friendly.
10. The Cheltenham game when we won to claim the title under Luggy and were presented with the trophy at the final whistle. It capped a phenomenal record points breaking season but deep down I think I was still thinking, "but it's only the 4th division"
11. The 2 nil QPR home win to secure promotion to the Championship with Evans header and Friio's neat finish which capped a great tussle that had gone on between two very good sides all season.
12. The Colchester play off winning game when just 15,000 fans made as much noise as any larger crowd I have seen at Home Park when "Charlie" Williams magnificent header settled the tie.
I think my final 3 would be Bristol City, QPR and Colchester. The first 2 pip Blackburn for me as promotion was achieved on the day itself. I think the Colchester game might edge it for me purely because I never other than dreamt I would see an Argyle team run out at Wembley and other than the drama on the night itself there was the excitement of that to celebrate and look forward to at the final whistle.
:lol:
