Ian Twitchen I remember as when I left Swindon I went part-time pro- at Weston-Super-Mare in 1971 I think Torquay were in the Western League then I played in goal and played against Torquay serveral times then and later in 1989/93 I managed Keynsham Town and a few more Western League sides, we could have played against each other in the 70's. In the 80's I was asked back to the City and played for the Reserves in the Western League at the age of 38.stefano wrote:
Sorry for delay Arcadia only just spotted your post. 1969 to 1971. In 1969/70 we played Plymouth Argyle in the FA Youth Cup. Irishman Billy Bingham was the manager of Argyle. Our manager was Allan Brown who had just taken over from Frank O'Farrell, and our youth team coach was Don Mills. We drew 1-1 at Plainmoor having held a second minute lead until 10 minutes from time when Argyle equalised with a penalty. Ian Twitchin nearly snatched it for us in the last minute but future Tottenham keeper Peta Ba'lac did a double save. In the replay the following week we again took the lead with a superb Phil Sandercock 30 yarder into the roof of the net at the Devonport End, but Argyle again equalised with about 10 minutes to go. Extra time and no further goals so a toss of the coin for venue saw us back at Home Park the following week where we lost 3-1. This was of course well before penalty kicks were introduced to settle cup ties. Bitterly disappointing at the time as we had been the better team in the first two games, but on reflection quite a good effort as the entire Argyle team consisted of full time or apprentice professionals. We had 2 apprentices, Phil Sandercock and Stuart McGowan, and the rest of us were amateurs with full time jobs, including Ian Twitchin and Robbie Robbins both of whom went on to play for the Gulls in the Football League.
You have to remember football has changed now and as an amatuer you could not be payed.Thanks for getting back to me.
