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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SYD RAWLINGS

Full Name: James Sydney Dean Rawlings

Born: 05 May 1913

Came from: Everton Went to: Retired

First game: 31 August 1946 Last game: 13 December 1947

Appearances: 57 (57/0) Goals: 20

Born in Wombwell, near Barnsley, in modern day South Yorkshire, winger Rawlings joined Argyle from Everton as a Jack Tresadern signing, and was virtually ever-present at outside-right in his only full season with the club. His father Archie was an England international, who won one cap in 1921 and also played for Preston North End, as Syd did, and later for Liverpool. [Some sources list his father as Bill, but Bill Rawlings was an unrelated England international from the same era, with the same surname.]

Syd started his career with Preston North End in 1932 and in two years played 12 times for the club, before moving to Huddersfield Town in 1934, for whom he played 11 times and scored twice.

In 1935 he then had a season with West Bromwich Albion playing 10 times and scoring once, before moving to Northampton Town for the 1936-37 season, a prolific period of 48 games and 18 goals. In 1937 he moved to Millwall for two years, another productive spell which saw him appear 53 times and score 27 goals. In his time with the club, he had played in Millwall's run to the final of 1944-45 Football League War Cup (South) Final which they lost 2-0 to Chelsea in front of a Wembley crowd of 90,000. Both teams were presented to George VI before kick-off.

Rawlings then played for Everton during WWII, having initially played on loan from Millwall and then signing permanently in 1940. He also made a few war-time guest appearances for Liverpool.

Arriving at Home Park from Goodison Park in May 1946, he scored 17 goals during that first post-war season (1945-46) in Division Two but retired midway through his second season at Home Park. Whether his early retirement was an early sign of health issues, is not clear but a local newspaper report shows that he did come out of retirement in August 1949 for the pre-season of the 1949-50, whilst he struggled a bit with pace he did show he still had something to offer but no contract was forthcoming. He continued to play locally for Tavistock and subsequently managed them for a short period.

Tragically, Syd died from leukaemia in late 1956, at hospital in the seaside resort of Penarth, three miles outside of Cardiff; he was just 43 years old.

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.