GoS-DB Players

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's 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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NORMAN PIPER

Born: 08 January 1948

Came from: Apprentice Went to: Portsmouth

First game: 16 January 1965 Last game: 18 April 1970

Appearances: 233 (233/0) Goals: 37

Piper arrived at Argyle as an apprentice from Devon side Hatherleigh in 1963 and adjusted to the rigours of professional football with great ease. He started his career at full-back, but soon made a name for himself in midfield, where his creative talents were best utilised. Piper was considered the bright star in the relatively weak Argyle team of the late 1960's and was named the Player of the Year at the age of 19 in 1966-67. The next season saw him become Argyle's youngest ever captain, and then in April 1970 he was selected for the England Under-23 squad, playing in a game against Bulgaria at Home Park alongside the likes of Peter Shilton and Tony Currie.

Portsmouth snapped him up a few weeks later for a bargain £40,000. He made over 300 appearances for Pompey and after his release, chose to move to America to play for the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. He briefly returned to England with Yeovil Town before a return to the States to play for Columbus Magic, Wichita Wings and Pittsburgh Spirit.

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 John Lapthorn near Kingsbridge on 16/06/2014 ...

Norman Piper was an Argyle star performer from an early age. In his book 'Soccer for Thinkers' the great, and sadly no longer with us, manager of Argyle, Malcolm Allison, rated Norman Piper as one of the hardest working midfield players he had come across. That is true testimony to one of Argyle's best players of that era, from a manager that went on to manage at all levels.

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.