Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.
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RHYS SHIRLEY
Full Name: Rhys Bowles Shirley
Born: 18 January 2003
Came from: Trainee Went to:
First game: 07 August 2021 Last game: 07 November 2021
Appearances: 9 (3/6) Goals: 1
From Gunnislake, Shirley began his football in the Devon Junior and Minor League with Callington Colts and then Marine Academy Plymouth, where his express pace brought him to Argyle's attention. He also attended the Independent Football Academy (IFA) in Saltash.
At the age of 16 in the summer of 2019, Shirley joined Argyle's academy, where he signed a full-time apprenticeship contract. However, his bright start with the under-18s was curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, with football severely impacted throughput most of 2020 and early 2021. In the summer of 2021, Shirley enjoyed pre-season training sessions with the senior squad, and was selected for warm-up friendlies, most notably scoring a fine goal in Argyle's 7-0 win at Saltash.
Having impressed manager Ryan Lowe, the 18-year-old striker was rewarded with a place on the bench for the first team's early matches in the 2021-22 season, and made his Football League debut as a 76th minute substitute at Rotherham in the first game of the campaign. Later that August he scored his first senior goal, in a 4-1 EFL Cup defeat at Swansea.
However, after the high of that goal in Wales, he was released by Argyle in July 2022 having made nine appearances and scoring that single goal, in all competitions.
Eschewing the oft-traditional move into local non-league, he moved Stateside to study at Eastern Florida State College, where he also played for their "soccer" team, Eastern Florida State College Titans.
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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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