40 YEARS ON!!

Tomorrow’s a special day for me and three friends. We’ve been friends since we met on our first day at Stoke Damerel Primary school 40 years ago. And we’ve been Argyle fans for as long as we can remember. None of us live in Plymouth (though our families still do) but although we’ve moved away to different parts of the country, our hearts are still at Home Park. Tomorrow the four of us are getting together for a 40 Year Anniversary of ‘being mates’. Most of what we’ll be doing and talking about will not be of the remotest interest to anyone else of course. But a centrepiece of our day is the Charlton match and since I am in nostalgic mood and I rarely post on here, I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane and see how many others remember the games of the past against the Addicks.

We'd hammered Charlton 5-0 in the 72-73 season at HP and I remember Neil Hague scoring the only goal on a spring evening in 73-74 but my memories really begin the following year. Charlton were our rivals in the first season my gang experienced the joys of promotion (74-75). I remember a 2-0 away win which came days after we beat Bury 1-0 away, kick-starting what had been a disappointing season (7 straight defeats away before the Bury game). I think Hughie McAuley got his first goal for us that day. Later in the season, I was in a crowd of around 21,000 when we drew 1-1 at home and Billy Rafferty missed a last minute penalty (oh Billy Billy!). Interestingly, Charlton’s average home gate that season was lower than ours and in fact for many years at The Valley or Selhurst Park the most they would get would be mid-teen crowds. But the rebuilt Valley and the way they positioned and communicated themselves as a community club has led to a sustained revival in their support. Even now in Division Three (let’s call it what it always was!) they get 4 times the support they used to get the last time they were down here. Unlike Argyle, I’m afraid…Maybe there is a lesson for us there…

Charlton was also the first team we beat in our first season back in Division Two – Brian Johnson got the winner in a 1-0 victory at HP. They beat us later that season at The Valley 2-0. We played Charlton away on Friday nights in Division Two. Just as Tranmere used to play their games on a Friday night to avoid clashing with the big games on the Mersey, so Charlton were probably trying to avoid competition from Palace, West Ham and Millwall.

The following season we were relegated – a bitter memory for all four of us. You never forget your first relegation. It’s like your first love leaving you or your dog dying. One of the very few high spots of the season was a 1-0 win on New Year’s Day against Charlton with Terry Austin scoring one of his very few goals (we all to this day remember ‘where we were’ when we heard Mariner had gone).

We didn’t face Charlton again for 3 years, until they were relegated in 1980. We drew 1-1 home and away but we were brutally disappointed by a 2-1 home defeat in the FA Cup 3rd Round. I remember we pulverised them and despite a David Kemp goal we ended up losing to a last minute winner from Paul Walsh who later went on to play for England and Liverpool. If I remember correctly, Gordon Nisbet had only recently joined us when he played in the 1-1 away draw in January 1981. What a fabulous player he was. As was David Kemp who scored the equaliser at The Valley. Such a shame that Kemp's management spell at Home Park coincided with a terrible financial period. He put one player on the pitch who wasn't even earning a salary - just appearance money...The football was awful but I always felt he didn't really get a fair crack at the whip..

Charlton were promoted in 1981 and it was 10 more years til we next met them. If you were at Selhurst Park that day in November 1990 (Charlton by now having had to abandon the Valley) you would not forget the awesome goalkeeping of David Walter. His performance and Robbie Turner’s early goal gave us victory. Robbie also scored in the 2-0 win at home on the last day of the season as we did the ‘double’ over them. Robbie was often criticised (as so many players have been needlessly criticised by our supporters over the years) but I liked him and he put in some cracking performances for us.

The following season, Garry Nelson came down to HP and grabbed a brace as they beat us 2-0 and I saw my first match with Peter Shilton in goal the following April when we gained a 0-0 draw at Upton Park (Charlton having had to move grounds again!).

Then it was another 15 years before we played them again. And what a performance we put on that night at The Valley. Holloway’s side was finally blossoming. Hayles and Ebanks-Blake grabbed 2 goals and despite a Luke McCormick ‘howler’ we out fought, out thought and out played them to win 2-1. That Autumn we were outstanding in London. A comfortable 2-0 win over QPR (Halmosi’s goal I notice is someone’s avatar on Pasoti) and a bitter last-minute defeat at West Ham in the League Cup when we played the best football I had seen since Shilton’s Nearly Men. Like many of us I wondered what would have been if Holloway had stayed. He had a very good first season but by the second season you could see he was really moulding a squad and a philosophy of playing football that was everything I wanted Argyle to be. In those matches against Charlton, QPR and West Ham, the way we passed and moved was a joy to behold. I’m glad he’s finally got the chance at Blackpool to put into practice what he wanted to do here. I never understood the ridiculous outpouring of bile toward the man. I’m proud he managed my team.

Of course, toward the end of the season under Sturrock our play-off hopes were ended by Charlton in a 2-1 home defeat. But the match was also noteworthy for the start of Seip-gate. One of the most depressing sagas in my history of supporting the club and soon, it was clear, a symptom of all that was going wrong with the club.

Our penultimate season in Division Two (I’ll have none of this silly 'Championship' branding nonsense) saw Emile Mpenza score a cracking last minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw at home. Mpenza – what could have been, eh? He played a handful of games but he was one of the most exciting talents I’ve seen at the club. You felt he could rise to the occassion. Apparently he also rose to the occasion off the pitch according to one of the funniest stories I heard...I think it's on Rumours somewhere... Sadly, the pitifully few games he played were another symptom of the chaos that HP was descending into off the pitch. And the shocking 2-0 defeat at The Valley, complete with a typical Simon Walton performance (minus the sending off), showed the chaos we were descending into on the pitch.

Charlton were relegated that season; we postponed the agony for 12 months. And so, for one season, we were in a higher league than the Addicks. The only time that has happened in all my nearly 40 years of following the club.

I’m looking forward to the match tomorrow, to being with my oldest mates, to sharing great memories and to having a great time (win, lose or draw).

I hope you all enjoy the game too. The team need us like never before. The club need us like never before. In all the years of following the club, I can’t remember the times being as desperate off the pitch for Argyle as they are now. And yes, I lived not only through MacAuley but also through the Daniels, Williams and Bloom years when our manager had to run marathons to raise money for players, when our commercial department had to pioneer the Lottery as a way of raising cash (Bill Pearce R.I.P.) and when we still very nearly went out of business.

But somehow, even in those difficult days, we seemed to be a united spirit among the fans toward a football club. Now, there seems such division among fans, among the board and behind the scenes that people seem to be just bereft of energy and commitment and even enjoyment about PAFC. And as someone else has said, it is neither running as a good football club nor as a good business. It’s very sad.

But there is only one sensible course of action for us as fans when we do turn up to the game – whether you’re a season ticket holder or someone like me who gets to games as often as I can but not as often as I’d like, even though some of the games I’ve seen these last couple of seasons have been the worst since the Kempovitch years – and that’s to sing our hearts out for the Greens!! COME ON ARGYLE!!! Maybe, just maybe, for the 4 of us on our 40th year of friendship and fandom, they'll win 4-0.....

Good post,i remember all of the games that you talk about. I think in that cup tie in 1981,they had a keeper called Nicky Johns,who always seemed to have an absolute blinder against us,a bit like Alan Knight of Portsmouth used to.I remember Crudgie saving a penalty from Walsh at the Valley in about the same era,probably in that 1-1 draw you mention.My dad used to talk about matches against Charlton that took place before i was born-i think both matches finished 6-4 in one season,with Wilf Carter scoring 5 in one game-there were a good few other high scoring matches between the clubs back then,as well.Some good points on a more general basis in the post,enjoy the game today and lets hope we can give 'em another 5-0 panning,just like when Tony first took over.

Elburton":1qecgcsd said:

The two 6-4 games were a day apart!

26/12/60 - Charlton 6 Argyle 4
27/12/60 - Argyle 6 Charlton 4

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Didn't realise that! Good christmas entertainment,i think the defences must have over indulged in the turkey,pud and plonk in the lead up to those games. I believe that in one year in the fifties, Argyle beat Bristol City 5-0 down here on Christmas day and lost 6-0 at Ashton Gate on Boxing day! They liked their high scoring games back then.

There were always rumours that Bill Shortt(Later landlord of the Golden Hind) our goalkeeper had celebrated our Christmas win with a little too much vigour.
To win 5-0 one day and to lose 6-0 the next sounds as if the whole team had celebrated a bit too much. As you say those were the days.

Enjoyed reading that.

Hope you had a top day mate and that in 30 odd years from now I can look back and feel the same.

Peter_Jones":3makwezg said:

So how was your day, "GreenMill"?

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Thanks Peter (and also to Green Matt) for asking. We had a great weekend. Visiting eventually some of the finest pubs in the country.

We started in The Town House, though.....which had er character... and a pub called Bigwigs which in our day was a wonderful little pub called The Swan and in this day... isn't quite the same. Then to our horror we discovered they had rebranded the Breton Arms - and not just re-named it but given it a new concept too. Shame, we thought, as we wistfully remembered our days playing Tron in the corner... By the way, some woman put on the most appalling selection of songs on the jukebox and then left before they began! We were therefore subjected (as the only people in there) to a foul medley of adult-oriented-rock from the 1980s. It was like farting in a lift before leaving it..

But then we hit a purple patch. The Minerva which has always been a wonderful little pub; great atmosphere, a real snug and it keeps its beer well. Then the Queens on the Barbican which I was sorry to see has lost all the charming porcelain pigs that Queenie used to collect and display. And finally of course, The Dolphin. One of the country's great pubs. We were flagging by now (we're not the blades we once were) but we still had enough legs to get to Annabels (sp?) which used to be the Sailing Club and had a fantastic live band and a clientele that was comfortably our side of 40, so we felt at home...

Of course, we also took in other old haunts - Victoria Park, Central Park, and the city centre.. Walking around the city centre on a Saturday and Sunday, we passed the Armada Centre (which I remember being hailed as our retail heaven when it was first built) and of course the new Drake Shopping Centre, as well as the Derry's building (which once proudly housed the Co-op where mum and I would trade our blue stamps in part payment for goods) now boarded up and gone. The number of closed down, boarded up shops and pubs we passed made me feel like I was stuck in a Bruce Springsteen song...

It struck us as absurd that anybody could have seriously suggested another retail concept or more student accommodation next to Home Park. I mean, even the shops in the centre that are still open look like they're struggling to make ends meet. It's not as if there's an excess of consumer spending that needs to be mopped up or an absence of competition from superior retailers. And, anyway, Central Park is one of the best parks in the country. The view from the brow of the hill by the Pitch and Putt on a clear day is one that lifts the spirits. CP should not be subject to cinemas and supermarkets, McDonalds and Unite Housing. Especially when there is no need. It was a little depressing to think that such plans were seriously published by the board. Are they so out of touch...?

We walked up to the Hoe and gazed again upon one of the most beautiful natural harbours in the world. I have been lucky enough to travel and live abroad and visit some amazing places. But that view across to Cornwall, out to south Hams, back to Dartmoor always inspires me...

Oh and in between, we saw a football match between two poor teams which was (after the first 25 minutes which were quite good) desperate and for the most part boring, played in a stadium that had the least atmosphere I can ever remember. Even the four of us found the energy being sapped out of us as we tried to raise a few "C'mon Argyle" cries. I was amazed to read one paper calling it 'lively'. Mistake riddled, yes. But lively?

Usually in these situations, there's some good gallows humour from the crowd to compensate. There was a game in 1981 at home to Huddersfield in midweek which ended 0-0 and was so bad that someone behind me asked a policeman to arrest the players on the pitch for impersonating footballers.

I went to the Peterboro game at home this season which was equally shocking in the second half. When the fourth official put the board up for 5 minutes additional time, a woman yelled 'Please, enough, just let us go home'. But this time, there didn't seem to be even enough energy for a bit of grim banter like that. I think a sense of resignation and despair has settled in; maybe for some, even worse than that: indifference.

Still, it stopped us from drinking too much...

Hores Everywhere":uyk4vgs6 said:

GreenMill, two fantastic posts which, as an exile, I enjoyed reading.

I am sure you and your fellow sufferers enjoyed your weekend reunion and, as hoped, you did get to see 4 goals, just not in the right order :x .

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Thanks HE and also thanks to Bermudian.
By the way, the Johnny Hore song is still one we sing for laughs even now... I bet you were at his testimonial against Liverpool when the score was...?