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DONALD CASE
Note: Donald Case’s nickname of ‘Ron’ is a mystery. Its origin is not known but it seems it became so common that he was often recorded as R.Case, even in the club's handbooks of that time. However, his registration with The Football League confirms he was Donald, as does the England & Wales register of births.
Full Name: Donald Patrick Case (also known as Ron)
Born: 12 June 1916
Came from: Plymouth United Went to: Released
First game: 12 January 1946 Last game: 12 January 1946
Appearances: 1 (1/0) Goals: 0
Although the Second World War was at an end, the Football League divided its competition into regional sections for the 1945-46 season because of the exceptional conditions at that time, with so many players still serving in the Armed Forces or employed on essential war work. Argyle played in the Football League South that season, against first-class opposition such as Arsenal, Chelsea, Spurs, Aston Villa and Wolves. It proved impossible for the Pilgrims to field a regular side; 72 players made an appearance and performances inevitably suffered. From week to week the club called on Armed Services players, guest footballers from other League clubs and local amateurs to supplement its registered playing staff.
Case was one of 21 players whose only first team games for Argyle were in the Football League South season and who usually played in local football or for the Armed Forces. Born in Plymouth, he was a strong centre-forward signed from local amateur side Plymouth United, having scored a remarkable 29 goals in 10 appearances for them that season. He had also played for the Royal Navy’s Torpedo Depot – which as a centre forward was probably a headline writer’s dream. The club registered him with the Football League on 11th January 1946 and he made his debut and solitary appearance for the club the next day in a home defeat by Newport County. The following day the Western Independent said: "A trial was given to Case, the Plymouth United centre-forward, who showed once or twice that he can shoot, but obviously he is not yet ready for this class of football."
Case appeared in the team photo at the start of the following campaign, but made no further first team appearances and only played once for the 'A' team in the Plymouth & District League in the 1946-47 season.
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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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