Thanks to Dave Rowntree for many of the player images after 1984.
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SIMON KING
Full Name: Simon Daniel Roy King
Born: 11 April 1983
Came from: Gillingham Went to: Gillingham
First game: 03 September 2011 Last game: 08 October 2011
Appearances: 6 (6/0) Goals: 0
King began his career with hometown club Oxford United, making his debut just after his 18th birthday in May 2001. He made just three further appearances for the club over the next two years before joining Barnet on a free transfer. A versatile defender, he began his career at left-back but later moved to the centre of defence. He played more than 160 times for The Bees between 2003 and 2007 and in 2005 helped the club return to the Football League by winning the Conference. He also won three caps for the England National Game side.
In June 2007 he was sold to Gillingham for £200,000 and became the first-choice centre-back for the next two years. He was named player of the year in each of his first two seasons with the club and in 2008-09 was also voted into the League Two team of the year, a season that saw King help Gillingham win promotion through the play-offs. His form led to a new three-year contract but in the following pre-season he suffered an ankle ligament injury during a friendly, which kept him out for the entire 2009-10 campaign. The injury continued to be a problem well into the next season and, after a brief return to training, a setback kept him on the sidelines until February 2011. After making his comeback he played four times before the end of the season and early in the following campaign joined Argyle on a one-month loan as he looked to regain full fitness.
King's first few days at Home Park were quite a baptism of fire; he made his debut (along with Jamie Griffiths) in the away match at Burton Albion, the day following a strike threat when the players initially refused to board the team coach after more missed wage payments, in 2011's painful period of administration. In all he made six appearances in his month with the club, but the signings of Paul Bignot and Ben Gibson increased the competition for defensive places and Argyle did not seek to extend the loan agreement. However, the spell had some positive impact on his fitness; after returning to Kent he made nine further league appearances for the Gills. Having seemingly re-established himself in Gillingham’s side and despite being the club’s longest serving player, he was released, somewhat oddly, whilst the side was managerless.
In July 2012 King signed for Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle, but was was forced to retire from senior football at the end of the 2012-13 season, having failed to recover from an ankle injury. However, in August 2013 he signed for Isthmian League Division One North club Thurrock and turned out regularly for the club.
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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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