Daily Mail article on Argyle

[Kentishgreen]

Reg Jenkins was another. Must have been a long way from Plymouth to Millbrook for the scouts!

 

[Welwyn Pilgrim]

Another Public Secondary School Argyle player was, I think, John Brimacombe? Someone with better knowledge may correct me

 

[Green Flash]

I don’t know but I do recall he made his debut after doing a shift in the dockyard that morning

 

[ghost of hughie reed]

Alan Rogers was also playing out on the wing, so we didn't have much chance of keeping the score down. They played well together but Trevor was just that bit more skilled than anyone else. I always rued the day when Trevor went to Birmingham. As you say, one that got away. He was too good for Argyle but he could have used us as a stepping stone, home town and all that. Although he would have been on Argyle's radar I guess his dad preferred him to get better coaching with a bigger and better club up North. But what could have been, eh?

Trevor as we know went to top flight Brum City, on his debut as a 16 yr old he put 4 past Bolton.
Sadly there was no way he would have signed and played beneath his level at PAFC.

 

[Antipodean]

Alan Rogers was also playing out on the wing, so we didn't have much chance of keeping the score down. They played well together but Trevor was just that bit more skilled than anyone else. I always rued the day when Trevor went to Birmingham. As you say, one that got away. He was too good for Argyle but he could have used us as a stepping stone, home town and all that. Although he would have been on Argyle's radar I guess his dad preferred him to get better coaching with a bigger and better club up North. But what could have been, eh?

Playing those two at schoolboy level you could have parked all the buses in the Milehouse depot and still lost.

 

[Antipodean]

Trevor as we know went to top flight Brum City, on his debut as a 16 yr old he put 4 past Bolton.
Sadly there was no way he would have signed and played beneath his level at PAFC.

Well, Birmingham was not 'top flight' when he went there - they were in the old Division 2. We were in Division 3, and I just had a look at the squad around then - pretty handy!

Plymouth Argyle - Squad 1970/1971

Plymouth Argyle » Squad 1970/1971

www.worldfootball.net

Sure, Birmingham a richer club in a higher division, in a part of the country where a promising young footballer will attract more notice. But still, there was no way Argyle were beneath his level at that age. By the time he turned 18 maybe!

 

[deathadder]

Well, Birmingham was not 'top flight' when he went there - they were in the old Division 2. We were in Division 3, and I just had a look at the squad around then - pretty handy!

Plymouth Argyle - Squad 1970/1971

Plymouth Argyle » Squad 1970/1971

www.worldfootball.net

Sure, Birmingham a richer club in a higher division, in a part of the country where a promising young footballer will attract more notice. But still, there was no way Argyle were beneath his level at that age. By the time he turned 18 maybe!

As a young lad I used to work in Coxside gasworks and Trevor's dad, Ray worked there at the same time. Apparently Trevor signed for Birmingham because Stan Cullis, their manager had a good reputation for developing young players.

 

[Antipodean]

As a young lad I used to work in Coxside gasworks and Trevor's dad, Ray worked there at the same time. Apparently Trevor signed for Birmingham because Stan Cullis, their manager had a good reputation for developing young players.

This thread is a trip down memory lane for me. I remember those imposing gasholders in Coxside and the mounds of coal uncomfortably close to the Teats Hill flats. Stan Cullis left Birmingham, and football, in March 1970. Sweet talking Francis Senior must have been one of his last tasks at the club! The Argyle manager at the time was Ellis Stuttard, who went on to be our Chief Scout. He would certainly have had an eye for young football talent, although developing it is another skill I suppose.

 

[silkman]

My dad Reg Mitchell was one of the coaches at the time under Ellis Stuttard and I remember going with him to Roy Francis’s house one Saturday morning to talk to him about getting Trevor to sign for Argyle. They lived at the bottom of Melrose Avenue/ Fountains Crescent and we lived in Springhill, Pennycross so it was just a short walk. My dad knew Roy from playing together in the Western League I think. I do remember Roy saying to my dad - “if it was your son, what would you do Reg?”. This was after Birmingham had already shown an interest. My dad’s response was honest and he said something along the lines of that Trevor would be well looked after at Argyle but Birmingham was understandably the bigger opportunity.

 

[Antipodean]

Very interesting, silkman. Your dad was right. Clearly, he had too much integrity! And the family home just a short hop to Home Park. I went for a student interview at The University of Birmingham a couple of years later, and they offered me a place subject to A level results. I was put up in a guest house in Edgbaston and it was OK, but I preferred the atmosphere of Nottingham. I don't know what kind of life Trevor Francis had in Birmingham, but I imagine the football facilities were better. Oddly, I had the grades to join Mr Hallett at Oxford, but I just didn't fancy being surrounded by Hooray Henrys!

 

[Aldershot Exile]

Both Trevor Francis and Alan Rogers were in the same year at Public Secondary (in the year above me) and were both obviously excellent players. Interestingly, the playground at Public was tiny, and was only slightly lartger than the combined size of a basketball court and a volleyball court. We were only allowed to play football with tennis balls, and the 'goal' was the width of the basketball posts! I have often wondered how instrumental this was in developing skills - amd accuracy of finishing!

 

[saxman]

Both Trevor Francis and Alan Rogers were in the same year at Public Secondary (in the year above me) and were both obviously excellent players. Interestingly, the playground at Public was tiny, and was only slightly lartger than the combined size of a basketball court and a volleyball court. We were only allowed to play football with tennis balls, and the 'goal' was the width of the basketball posts! I have often wondered how instrumental this was in developing skills - amd accuracy of finishing!

Did it develop your skills too?

 

[IJN]

Both Trevor Francis and Alan Rogers were in the same year at Public Secondary (in the year above me) and were both obviously excellent players. Interestingly, the playground at Public was tiny, and was only slightly lartger than the combined size of a basketball court and a volleyball court. We were only allowed to play football with tennis balls, and the 'goal' was the width of the basketball posts! I have often wondered how instrumental this was in developing skills - amd accuracy of finishing!

Jimmy Greaves put his amazing ability to strike a ball cleanly because he played with a tennis ball on his cobbled back lane.

 

[Andy70]

I read an interview with Bobby Charlton back in the day. He said even at the peak of his career, he used to spend half an hour every day kicking a tennis ball against the wall.

 

[Shankster]

I’ve always considered that the very best managers have socialist leanings, I think that stems from a desire to prove doubters wrong and a strong belief in the collective over ‘self’.

Lowe is very much the socialist and he pretty much god-worships’ Klopp who is almost Marxist in his views and leanings.

come the revolution!