GoS: Player Details

MIKE BICKLE

Full Name: Michael John Bickle

Born: 25 January 1944

Came from: St Austell Went to: Gillingham

First game: 11 December 1965 Last game: 27 September 1971

Appearances: 195 (184/11) Goals: 74

If ever there was a case of 'local boy, done good', it may well have been Mike Bickle. Born in Plymouth, his journey to professional stardom began with Cornish side St Austell, together with midweek games for Co-op Welfare in the Devon Wednesday League, on account of him holding a job as a milkman with the Plymouth Dairies. The 'milkman' prefixed moniker would follow Bickle long into his career and proved to be a headline-writer's dream.

His prolific scoring record attracted the attention of Malcolm Allison's assistant, Derek Ufton. However, with a surfeit of strikers at the time, the recommendation fell on deaf ears. When Ufton replaced Allison in the hot seat in late April 1965, he wasted no time in following up and signing his own recommendation for the club.

He soon started scoring for Argyle reserves, and, having left his job, was handed his debut against Southampton in December 1965. Naturally, Bickle found the net and he kept on scoring for the next six years. As a local boy, Bickle was the darling of the Home Park terraces, and his courage in the penalty box endeared him to supporters. At only 5ft 9in, he wasn't tall for a striker but was fearless, tenacious and brave. He finished top goalscorer in his first four seasons with Argyle and seemed destined for a long and successful career in the game.

Only thirteen men have scored four goals in a game for Argyle; of those thirteen, two have done it twice. One was Maurice Tadman, the other was Mike Bickle. His first four were in his second season as Argyle thumped Cardiff City 7-1 in October 1966. The second came a couple of seasons later in a 6-0 Boxing Day derby win against Torquay United at home, in December 1969.

The 1969-70 season was Bickle's finest with 18 goals from 36 starts. Injured in the following season, his path back to the first team was then challenged by the emergence of Keith Allen, Jimmy Hinch and Don Hutchins, meaning Bickle was stuck in the reserves.

The Pilgrims then accepted a fee of around £7,000 from Gillingham for his services in 1971. The Gills were managed by former Argyle player Andy Nelson, who wasted no time in swooping for his former team-mate. However, he initially struggled to settle in Kent and then disaster struck. Just six matches into the 1972-73 season, a collision with a team-mate during a game at Stockport left Bickle with stitches and temporarily paralysed, the injury keeping him out for two months. He attempted a comeback against Reading in the FA Cup in November 1972, which was aborted when he injured his shoulder. It was later revealed that the original injury, which also had resulted in a broken bone in his neck, would risk further damage and potential paralysis if he continued, and it was this that forced him into early retirement.

Initially reluctant to give up, he would not play for Gillingham again and eventually he reluctantly accepted the medical advice, retiring from the professional game in January 1973, aged just 29. In two seasons at Priestfield, he had played 32 times and scored seven goals.

As part of his exit from Gillingham, Nelson helped Bickle set up a Testimonial which was played at Home Park in May 1973 against Manchester City, with the visitors narrowly triumphing 3-2 in front of 12,541, the size of the crowd a good illustration of his popularity. Due to the neck injury which had forced his retirement from the game, he was unable to play in his own testimonial.

Bickle returned to live in Plymouth and spent many years working in Devonport Dockyard, where he remained until his retirement in 2010. He was a frequent matchday guest and visitor to Home Park. His wife, Sandra, even washed the Argyle Legends' kit for many years.

Mike sadly passed away in Plymouth in November 2023, aged 79 years old.

In total, he played 195 times for Argyle and scored 74 goals, which as of December 2025 etches him permanently into the club's history as the 12th highest scorer of all-time, just seven goals short of a place in the Top 10.

YOUR CONTRIBUTION

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From Chris Coleman in Blackpool, Lancashire on 16/11/2013 ...

My first ever game at Home Park that my dad, who was a lifetime fan, took me to was an FA Cup 3rd Round tie against Corby Town. Argyle ran out 6-0 winners with Mike Bickle getting a hatrick against them. After that I was hooked even though we lived in Newquay, and Mike Bickle was my first Argyle hero. There have been many more since in the last 47 years.

By Brian Knight* in Cheltenham on 12/03/2014 ...

As a milkman with the Co-operative Society, Mike Bickle built up a scoring reputation at two levels — on Wednesday afternoons with Co-op Welfare in the Devon Wednesday League and on Saturdays with St Austell in the South-Western League. Eight goals in six games for Argyle Reserves at the end of 1965 were enough to convince manager Derek Ufton that the centre-forward had something to offer the club.

Bickle signed professional terms in December 1965, was given a first-team chance and ended the season with nine League goals in 17 games, a record on which he could well have improved had injury ... More

From Paul Martin in St. Austell on 10/01/2015 ...

My first game at Home Park was in September 1964 when Argyle beat Newcastle 2-1. I was hooked for ever and became a HP regular from that day on. My only regret was that I would see less of my home town club St. Austell and in particular my hero Mike Bickle. My long standing memory of Mike playing for St. Austell is when he scored all 9 in a 9-2 away victory at Nanpean Rovers.

You can imagine my joy when Bickle "followed" me to Home Park in 1965. He embraced the rise from South Western League to Division 2 with little difficulty. He was a natural goal scorer at any level. I believe Mike ... More

From John Pickford in Sainghin-en-Melantois, France on 11/12/2017 ...

Looking through a box of programmes at a collectors fair I came across Gillingham v. Argyle in the FA Cup Round 1 on 20 November 1971. It didn't sink in straightaway but this was Mike Bickle's home debut for the Kent club having signed earlier in the month and provided the two assists that enabled Gillingham to beat Reading 2-1 away the week before the cup tie. The programme makes a real fuss of the qualities that Mike Bickle will bring to the team, managed at the time by Andy Nelson who had played with Mike for Argyle of course. Sadly for Mike, through injury he did not have the opportunity ... More

From John Eales in Plymouth on 27/04/2023 ...

To answer John Pickford’s question, Mike Bickle did not score for Gillingham in the first round FA Cup tie in 1971. A match report can be found here: http://www.gillinghamfcscrapbook.co.uk/DisplayMatchReport.php?matchreport=MatchReports/1971-72/1971-72%20Plymouth%20Argyle%20Home%20FAC1.jpg&matchdate=20/11/1971&season=1971-72

APPEARANCE DETAILS [reselect competitions]

The details below reflect appearances in all first-team competitions.