Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.
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WARREN JOYCE
Born: 20 January 1965
Came from: Preston North End Went to: Burnley
First game: 15 August 1992 Last game: 08 May 1993
Appearances: 40 (38/2) Goals: 4
When the Shilton-McGovern management team were searching for a leader following relegation to the third tier in 1992, John McGovern recalled a bullish midfielder he had once managed during his short spell at Bolton. Joyce had spent his entire career in the north-west when Argyle came calling – having made almost 400 appearances for Bolton and Preston respectively. He had earned the nickname 'Psycho' at Deepdale, but far from being a midfield enforcer, he also knew where the goal was and had more than 50 of them to his name. McGovern was delighted when Joyce became Argyle's first summer signing for £160,000, extolling his qualities as an all-round footballer and on-pitch leader.
In the end, the signing turned out to be a damp squib for all concerned. Joyce made just 30 league appearances for Argyle in a season of frustrating inconsistency for Shilton's men. Joyce was a dyed-in-the-wool northerner and hankered for a move back to his native north-west – so Argyle decided to cut their losses and sell him to Burnley for £140,000 in June 1993. The move would come back to haunt the Pilgrims, as Joyce played in both legs of the ill-fated playoff semi-final between the two clubs 11 months later, scoring the third goal in Burnley's decisive 3-1 second-leg victory at Home Park.
In total, Joyce made 70 league appearances and scored nine times for Burnley before being loaned to Hull City in 1995 and then making the move back there permanent 18 months later when his contract at Turf Moor ran out. In total he made 147 appearances for the Tigers and scored 15 goals before being appointed player-manager in 1998 - a role he held for two years, after which he moved to Belgium, where he was appointed manager of Manchester United's feeder club, Royal Antwerp, in 2006.
Two years later, he returned to England as co-manager of the Manchester United reserve side, along with former Manchester United forward Ole Gunnar Solskjær. When Solskjær left in 2011, Joyce took sole charge of the reserves and was involved in the much publicised story of United gazumping Argyle over the re-signing of Andy Kellett on transfer deadline day in February 2015 - a move which Kellett had thought was a 'wind-up'. In November 2016, Joyce was appointed manager by Wigan Athletic, but left four months later after just 24 matches in charge. His departure was somewhat controversial because he had initially been given a three-year deal, and after eye surgery in February 2017, he had been reluctant to take time off to convalesce and was still recuperating at the time of his dismissal.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
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From Merv Collins in Melbourne, Australia on 07/07/2020 ...
I met Warren Joyce, the newly-appointed manager of Melbourne City FC at a fans' day pre-season 2017/2018. He spotted the PAFC logo on my windcheater and happily engaged in a brief conversation about the club. Contrary to the report above, he said he loved Plymouth and the surrounding area and would have stayed except for the upheavals of the Shilton years. He improved the Melbourne City side defensively but was unable to win any trophies. He alienated several players, including the leading goal scorer Bruno Fornaroli and Tim Cahill and was replaced after two years. The club still hasn't won any silverware.
APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]
The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.
I'm very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree, the PAFC Media Team and Colin Parsons for their help with photos. Thanks also to staff at the National Football Museum, the Scottish Football Museum and ScotlandsPeople for their valuable assistance.
The following publications have been particularly valuable in the research of pen-pictures: Plymouth Argyle, A Complete Record 1903-1989 (Brian Knight, ISBN 0-907969-40-2); Plymouth Argyle, 101 Golden Greats (Andy Riddle, ISBN 1-874287-47-3); Football League Players' Records 1888-1939 (Michael Joyce, ISBN 1-899468-67-6); Football League Players' Records 1946-1988 (Barry Hugman, ISBN 1-85443-020-3) and Plymouth Argyle Football Club Handbooks.
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