GoS: Player Details

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Greens on Screen started its life in 1999 before many of the football sites that we are familiar with today, including Plymouth Argyle's own official site. Greens on Screen is dedicated to the sights, sounds and history of Plymouth Argyle Football club. It is owned and run by the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive, a charity dedicated to the promotion, preservation, and display of the heritage of our great football club.

The site owes its existence to Steve Dean. Without Steve's dedication and commitment for over 25 years, GoS would not exist and be the valued and loved resource for all football fans that it is today. The site is truly the envy of many clubs, and we owe a huge debt to Steve for his tireless work, and continued support behind the scenes.

Greens on Screen's first page was published in January 1999. Its early purpose was to bring Plymouth Argyle a little closer to those unable to see their team, and whilst it has changed a great deal over the years, its core themes - sights and sounds for Westcountry exiles - still stand. The site was very lucky to take on the content of Trevor Scallan's Semper Viridis in the summer of 2007, and in 2009 launched GoS-DB, a wealth of facts and figures from PAFC's history. A year later, we embarked on a complete history of Argyle, with much-valued contributions from chapter authors. Greens on Screen was taken over by its new custodians, The Argyle Archive, in 2024.

Greens on Screen is an amateur website and proud of it. It is run by a team of volunteers from the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive (Argyle Archive). Without the hard work and much-valued contributions of these volunteers, running the site would not be possible. Greens on Screen is self-taught and as a result, a little bit quirky.

Greens on Screen remains advertisement free, which means we are grateful for the generous support of our donors and the work of our volunteers to help keep it free of promotions. If you would like to support the work of Greens on Screen, please consider donating to the Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.

GoS's sole aim is to be a service to fellow supporters, and we look forward to continuing to celebrate Argyle'ss history for many years to come.

Plymouth Argyle Heritage Archive.
April 2024

Can you help? This page is the result of the best endeavours of all concerned. If you spot a mistake or know of facts to add, or have a better photo, please get in touch using 'Contact Us' (top, right).

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BERT BATTEN

Note: Batten's total number of goals scored is one greater than in some publications. That's because of the match at Queens Park Rangers on 15 Mar 1923. Some books show the goalscorers as Fowler and Devine (2) but the following day's Western Morning News clearly describes the first goal as scored by Batten, and Devine scoring just one.

Full Name: Herbert George Batten

Born: 14 May 1896

Came from: Bristol City Went to: Everton

First game: 26 November 1921 Last game: 13 February 1926

Appearances: 94 (94/0) Goals: 27

Bristol-born Batten, an inside-left, began his career with Bristol City, where he made seven appearances in just one season with his hometown club, before joining Argyle.

Arriving at Home Park as a prudent £100 Bob Jack signing, he spent nearly five years at Home Park and was a consistent performer and goalscorer. This led to his selection for an FA Tour of Australia in 1925. Down Under he set a new record for goals scored by an English player on a colonial tour, featuring in 25 of the 26 matches played and netting an astonishing 45 times, including six goals against South Australia in Adelaide, in May and five against the Australian national team in July.

This form, unsurprisingly, brought him to the attention of Everton and, after a delayed start to the following season because of the return voyage from Australia, he was sold to the Goodison Park club for a considerable profit at £1,000. At one stage, he briefly lined up alongside a young Dixie Dean. He could not, however, maintain a place in the side and moved on to Bradford City in 1926. He had made 15 appearances and scored once in his time at Goodison Park.

In Yorkshire, Batten netted five times in 24 matches for City, before then heading back south with Reading in 1927. He played 12 times and scored twice before then moving on to his last club, Clapton Orient (the modern day Leyton Orient) for whom he played 31 times, scoring six goals. He then called time on his professional career at the end of the 1927-28 season.

Potentially as a result of his last club being Clapton, the 1939 Register, recorded him residing in Hackney, in London, though little is known of his post-footballing career or occupation.

He passed away in May 1956 at the age of 60, in Chelsea, London.

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.

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.

Greens on Screen is run as a service to fellow supporters, in all good faith, without commercial or private gain. We have no wish to abuse copyright regulations and apologise unreservedly if this occurs. If you own any of the material on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of the page.