Once, maybe twice in a lifetime.....

[Chip green]

It's weird but even watching the Wednesday hull game yesterday it was difficult to believe that our team , in green and white stripes, with Luke, Curtis, Gary Sawyer all excellent servants of our club will be strolling around the Wembley turf. It's surreal, let's all ensure we make it a unique occasion for Wembley to go green, whatever the result, and show how special our club and fans are. :scarf:

 

[djg145]

What was that 'local' team that got to Wembley in the 70's - I think they had something to do with the Dockyard, one of their players was injured in a previous round and sadly had to have a leg amputated, I think his name was Dave?

I went up to Wembley to support them, but cannot remember their damn name lol, and I believe they WON.

Just found it on Youtube - it was Doug Holt and the team won 3 -1

 

[Lundan Cabbie]

Always growing up the dream was to go to Wembley.

Until the playoffs were introduced though there never seen much hope. I heard about our league cup and FA cup exploits in the early 70's and '84 but I was too young to even understand or experience what was going on.

I think even in the late 80's, maybe the early 90's you didn't even have the football league trophy that league one and league two teams play for with a chance of getting to Wembley. I remember an Anglo-Italian cup. That was a strange competition in itself.

So Wembley was a dream that would never seemingly by able to turn to reality. This was more so the fact it seemed when Burnley beat us at home in the playoffs in what seemingly felt like a real chance to final get to the promised land.

So, when 1996 came around and Argyle were 1-0 from the first leg I thought he we go again. Even more so after going two goals up and then witnessing that Mark Kinsella thunderbolt. It was like a dagger to the heart. We looked like going out and then Paul "Charlie" Williams got that header and it was possible to believe you can realise your footballing dreams.

So we did it. We got to Wembley. First dream realised. The next was to see them win. Ronnie Mauge's header was a footballing picture of beauty. We won. Second dreamed realised.

We will always have the memories of '96.

Now, 20 years on it taken a while but we are back there again. Same ground, new look.

Would love for it to happen all over again. To experience all over again. To have that same feeling and euphoria.

Do dreams come true 2nd time around? Can we really be that fortunate second time around to experience a victory? Does lightening strike twice?

This could be our last chance for a while perhaps. After all the suffering times over recent years this would give something back to the city and really rejuvenate the fan base. However, we have no divine right to win this game and AFC Wimbledon would be arguing after their recent struggles.

I'm being greedy. Yet is there is a footballing god, please just let us have our moment in the sun, once again!

it's not the same ground it's a new one, WEMBLEY was the original and alway's will be.

Three quarters of Home Park have been rebuilt but it's still Home Park.

 

[Fat_green_belly]

What was that 'local' team that got to Wembley in the 70's - I think they had something to do with the Dockyard, one of their players was injured in a previous round and sadly had to have a leg amputated, I think his name was Dave?

I went up to Wembley to support them, but cannot remember their damn name lol, and I believe they WON.

Not into reading whole threads then djg? .
His name was doug holt and all the other info including a youtube vid
of the game is posted above.
Were you one of the ones singing "were gonna win the cup" you can hear
in the second half? Any connection to the team?

 

[PM2020]

Hi Everyone

The youtube of the 74/75 final shows Devonport beat Merseyside. Dougie Holt goes to collect his medal at the end of the vid with the help of a man in a pale blue tracksuit. He was a coach for the team and also my Grandad, Charles Chapman. Sad story about Dougie.

The team also went on a footy tour to Ostend in Belgium in May 1971. Will try and find out more but I know my Grandad was involved back then too.

If anyone has more info of the team I would love to hear it.

 

[signalspast]

Time spans could be crossing over here but wasnt John Brimacombe signed on the back of the Wembley appearances.

 

[PM2020]

I don’t have lineups for the earlier finals but Brimacombe wasn’t at Wembley in 74/75. He joined Plymouth in the mid 80s so might have been more recent.

 

[Mark58]

I just checked out the 74/75 National Association of Youth Clubs televised piece on YouTube and it brought back a lot of memories as I was the same age as some of the guys who played. My 'claim to fame' was that I went to school (Saltash) with the Number 11 for the Plymouth team, Keith Sullivan. In fact, I actually played in the same team as Keith in a House competition. I say 'played' but although I was enthusiastic I wasn't very good. Keith had more talent in his big toe and I had in the whole of my footballing body but he was such a nice guy that he never mentioned my shortcomings and was always very encouraging. He went on to follow his brothers Colin and Phil by signing apprentice forms with Argyle. He was such a talented player but he didn't make it into the first team - as so many others don't. A shame.

I also spotted Dave Pook who similarly ended up on Argyle's books but didn't make it. I do remember playing opposite him once in a five-a-side match at the old Mayflower Centre. You will probably appreciate from this that my football playing highlights were exceedingly modest and few and far between - that's why I always think twice before criticising Argyle players too much! :lol: :scarf:

The other memories were of the fashions and hairstyles of the time. The 1970s was truly the decade that fashion forgot but as teenagers/young adults we all felt compelled to grow our hair to at least shoulder length and fashion it into a Star Wars-style Imperial Guard helmet. If you could accompany this with a bold Viva Zapata moustache you were the height of style. To fully carry it off, however, you needed a pastel suit, the jacket of which had lapels the size of a small country with each leg of the trousers resembling a full-size wind sock. Topped off with a pair of conning-tower toed, six-inch platformed shoes you suddenly became irresistible to women and the envy of every other guy in the vicinity. Not... :funny:

 

[Dreamgreen]

Many of that Dockyard team were at the FanFest a few months ago and were celebrated for winning (maybe it was an anniversary ?).
Paul Horrocks was part of that team. He played for Plymouth schools at the same time as Trevor Francis, Alan Rogers, Joe Scott, Kevin Griffin etc. He played for Falmouth and I think had some time at Bristol City.

 

[PM2020]

That’s interesting, I didn’t know that. I had heard a family story about Trevor Francis being in the dockyard team or something so this makes sense. Apparently Lee Chapman was at Plymouth at some point too? He was a good player!

 

[Pift]

I have a vague memory of being in secondary school and our PE teacher claimed to have played at Wembley with Argyle. His surname was Gray.

 

[Aldershot Exile]

I remember watching one of the games live on TV. Plymouth won and I think Steve Mallet scored one of the goals. He went to I think the score was either 2-0 or 2-1. He was a good player - i think he was the same age as Trevor Francis so would have been in the same school teams.
Funnily enough Public produced quite a few decent players - I wasn't one of them! I put it down to the tiny playground and the fact that we 'pitch' used was a basketball court. We were only allowed to play with a tennis ball, which wasn't the easiest thing to control. Different aged kids would be involved in different games so it was carnage! No goalkeepers as I recall, or it would have been several years of 0-0 draws.