The Leyton Orient historian informed Greensonscreen that former Argyle winger Adrian Thorne passed away in Twickenham on 29 July. He was 84. After 4 seasons at the Goldstone, Thorne moved along the south coast in the summer of 1961, having scored 44 times in 84 outings for Albion. 3 of those Brighton goals came at Home Park, 1 in a 3-2 defeat in February 1960 and both in a 2-1 win on Easter Monday 1961.
Looking more like a male model than a professional footballer, the dapper winger was unable to recapture his earlier form during a three season stay at Home Park. Indeed, he made only 10 appearances in his first season, scoring once. He was the first victim of the change of manager in November 1961, when Ellis Stuttard took over from Neil Dougall. Thorne was not combative enough for Stuttard's liking and played only one game in each of the next two seasons. When I spoke to Thorne in 2011 about his time at Argyle, he referred to the Argyle manager as "that beastly man Stuttard, something I am sure dear Ellis would have found amusing."
Early in Thorne's first season, when Argyle lined up against Luton Town on 26 August 1961 the forward line included Thorne, who had scored 5 in a single game for Brighton in April 1957, Wilf Carter who had also scored 5, against Charltonn on 27 December 1960 and Keith Williams, who in November 1958 had scored 4 times in an FA Cup game in November 1958, (plus Peter Anderson who had a hat-trick to his name in a game at Doncaster in October 1958). Argyle lost 3-0 to Luton!
He moved to Exeter in December 1963 and helped them to promotion. He stayed another season at St James' Park, but with Ellis Stuttard inheriting the manager's job there, Thorne left at the end of the campaign and signed for Leyton Orient.
Steve at GoS pointed out that there is a video on the Brighton website obituary, of Thorne scoring his five goals against Watford. The standard of video is rather like the standard of the football, poorer than we would expect today, but it is still a wonderful record of a lost time.
Looking more like a male model than a professional footballer, the dapper winger was unable to recapture his earlier form during a three season stay at Home Park. Indeed, he made only 10 appearances in his first season, scoring once. He was the first victim of the change of manager in November 1961, when Ellis Stuttard took over from Neil Dougall. Thorne was not combative enough for Stuttard's liking and played only one game in each of the next two seasons. When I spoke to Thorne in 2011 about his time at Argyle, he referred to the Argyle manager as "that beastly man Stuttard, something I am sure dear Ellis would have found amusing."
Early in Thorne's first season, when Argyle lined up against Luton Town on 26 August 1961 the forward line included Thorne, who had scored 5 in a single game for Brighton in April 1957, Wilf Carter who had also scored 5, against Charltonn on 27 December 1960 and Keith Williams, who in November 1958 had scored 4 times in an FA Cup game in November 1958, (plus Peter Anderson who had a hat-trick to his name in a game at Doncaster in October 1958). Argyle lost 3-0 to Luton!
He moved to Exeter in December 1963 and helped them to promotion. He stayed another season at St James' Park, but with Ellis Stuttard inheriting the manager's job there, Thorne left at the end of the campaign and signed for Leyton Orient.
Steve at GoS pointed out that there is a video on the Brighton website obituary, of Thorne scoring his five goals against Watford. The standard of video is rather like the standard of the football, poorer than we would expect today, but it is still a wonderful record of a lost time.
