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JOHN SIMS
Born: 14 August 1952
Came from: Exeter City Went to: Torquay United
First game: 31 October 1979 Last game: 14 May 1983
Appearances: 185 (183/2) Goals: 49
Born in Belper, Derbyshire, centre-forward, Sims, began his career as an apprentice at the Baseball Ground.
Although he only played three times for the Rams, one of those appearances was as a substitute in the European Cup semi-final against Juventus, for Brian Clough's side in the 1972-73 season. He also had loan spells with Luton Town (1973-74, 3 games & 1 goal), Oxford United (1974-75, 7 & 1) and Colchester United (1974-75, 2 & 0).
He was released by Derby and joined nearby Notts County in December 1975 for a fee of £10,000, where he spent three seasons, making 61 appearances and finding the net on 13 occasions.
In December 1978, he moved to Devon, joining Exeter City in a transfer worth £12,000 and following a Boxing Day goal-scoring debut, he scored 11 league goals in 25 starts during the second-half of the season to finish as joint-highest scorer at St James Park. He added one goal from a further eight league appearances at the start of 1979-80 season before following his manager (and former Argyle player) Bobby Saxton to Home Park in a £22,500 deal in October 1979.
Sims spent four seasons at Home Park, playing under Saxton and his successor, Bobby Moncur. He fell just one goal short of joining the illustrious group of players to have scored 50 or more goals for the club. As of 2024, he ranked 25th in the all-time goalscoring list for the Pilgrims. In his time at the club, he was known as a hardworking striker, who won over the Argyle fans with his committed performances, culminating in him winning the Player of the Season award for 1981-82.
After leaving Argyle, he moved to Torquay United where he played 30 times and bagged eight goals in the 1983-84 season, joining a select band of players to have played in the Football League for all three Devon clubs. He re-joined Exeter City in February 1984, playing a further 25 times and scoring six goals. Upon returning to Plainmoor as player-coach in November 1984, he made another 17 appearances for the Gulls and scored three goals. When manager, David Webb, left the club he took over the reins, but his spell in charge lasted just 33 days with one win and one draw in eight matches.
That was to prove to be his final involvement in the Football League - in total his playing career had yielded 345 appearances and 86 goals - over half of which were in green.
He went on to play for Saltash United and Torquay-based Waldon Athletic, before going on to run the former Post Horn pub in the town.
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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.
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