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

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JOHN SIMPSON

Born: 02 February 1908

Came from: Partick Thistle Went to: Stranraer

First game: 27 August 1932 Last game: 11 March 1933

Appearances: 5 (5/0) Goals: 2

Originally from Scotland, Simpson moved to Home Park with Jimmy Rae after impressing while playing against Argyle for Scottish club Partick during a benefit match for fellow Scot and Pilgrim, Alec Hardie. Whilst Rae went on to unbridled success as a player, and later as manager, Simpson found chances far harder to come by and made just five appearances in the 1932-33 season. After leaving Home Park he returned to his homeland to play for Stranraer before crossing the Irish Sea to play for Sligo Rovers.

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 Simpson in Fife, Scotland on 14/11/2014 ...

John Simpson (my father) did not set the heather on fire at Plymouth, which disappointed him, as he had been a prolific scorer for Partick Thistle, including 9 goals in Thistle's 1931 16-0 Scottish Cup win over Royal Albert. He had previously played for Queens Park and Maryhill Juniors. I understand that he and Jimmy Rae were sold to Argyle mainly to solve financial problems at Thistle.

Others may be able to confirm this, but I believe he suffered a double cartilage injury in the same knee while at Plymouth. The injury troubled him all his life, and presumably limited his playing opportunities at Home Park. After leaving Plymouth he was the player-coach at Stranraer, and finished his career at Sligo Rovers because (as he said) "You only needed one leg to play in the League of Ireland." John died in Glasgow on 13 May 1999.

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.