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JOHN HORE
Full Name: Kenneth John Hore
Born: 10 February 1947
Came from: Apprentice Went to: Exeter City
First game: 20 April 1965 Last game: 21 October 1975
Appearances: 441 (434/7) Goals: 17
Preferring to use his middle name, having been born Kenneth John Hore, Johnny was born in Enniscaven, near St Dennis, Cornwall, in 1947 and made his Argyle debut against Northampton Town in 1965. Along with his astonishing appearance record, Hore also created a small piece of Argyle history in 1965 when he became the first ever substitute for the Pilgrims, in a match against Charlton. It was not long before Hore was given an extended run in the team, and he was appointed captain in the early 1970s.
He was never spectacular, lacked pace, and goals were rare. Yet he would do the simple things well, often covering team-mates, nullifying attacks by solid tackling and then distributing short passes to retain possession. Loved by the fans, his terrace chant summed him up - he was indeed 'here, there and everywhere'.
Hore appeared for Plymouth Argyle in midfield or as full back on over 440 occasions across a decade at Home Park. It was his task to mark Pelé when Santos lost to Argyle 3–2 at Home Park in March 1973. However, by March 1976, Hore was deemed surplus to requirements at Home Park and joined Exeter City, where played over 220 games for the Grecians.
After leaving St James Park he joined Bideford, as player-manager, and guided them to two Western League championships as manager whilst also running a successful health club business in the Guildhall Centre, Exeter.
Post his playing career, Hore was appointed Argyle manager in October 1983. However, his managerial career was short-lived; owing to his lack of success in the League, he was dismissed 12 months later. Although his time in charge was short-lived, he led the club to an incredible FA Cup semi-final. However a painful, narrow 0-1 defeat to George Reilly's early headed goal for Watford at Villa Park, in front of the thronging masses of the Green Army, meant that Argyle did not become the first team from the Third Division to reach the final.
He returned to Exeter City as coach and then caretaker manager for a spell in 1985, before moving into management in local non-league football with Torrington and Barnstaple Town after which he moved out of the game to focus his energies on his health club.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
If you can add to this profile, perhaps with special memories, a favourite story or the results of your original research, please contribute here.
From Ian Newell in Plymouth on 25/10/2013 ...
I started attending Home Park in 1967 and the one thing I did know was Johnny Hore would be on the pitch, giving it his all. The memories I have of him are him stinking of horse liniment at night games, his short shorts and those rugby boots, which if it was believed, had steel studs which he sharpened on the concrete before every game.
The man was a Duracell Bunny before they had such a thing and the infamous song which the policemen tried their best to stop in the Devonport End was true; he was 'here', he was 'there' and he was 'every flipping where'. ... More
From Simon Ayers in Haslemere on 14/08/2022 ...
What great memories there are of John. He was a mainstay of the team from when I first went to Argyle in 1964.
When he first came to Argyle he was a youngster and lived fairly near my home in Milehouse. At the time my dad edited the St Bartholemew's Church Magazine. A regular feature was an interview with a local celebrity. A young John Hore was definitely very high profile as an emerging talent at Argyle.
John agreed to be interviewed for the magazine, and came to the house one memorable evening. I would have been around ten years old, and as an Argyle fan was completely in awe of him. ... More
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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