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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BILLY LEECH

Full Name: William Leech

Born: 15 July 1875

Came from: Stoke Went to: Leicester Fosse

First game: 01 September 1903 Last game: 28 April 1906

Appearances: 152 (152/0) Goals: 7

Leech, a left-half (midfielder) and occasional forward, was born in Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire in 1875 and played for local clubs Newcastle White Star and Newcastle Swifts before joining Southern League Tottenham Hotspur for the 1898-1899 season as a half-back.

After that single season for Spurs in which he only played four games, scoring twice, he returned to Staffordshire to spend the 1899-1900 season with Football League Second Division side, Burslem Port Vale (as Port Vale were originally known), for whom he played 26 times, scoring once. He then made the short move to Potteries rivals and First Division side, Stoke (before the addition of the suffix 'City' in 1925) for the 1900-1901 season and into the next. His solid run was ended in February 1902 after breaking his leg against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup, after which, he was allowed to leave the club. In total, he had made 50 appearances and scored twice.

It took him more than a year to recover from his injury, which was not uncommon to be career-ending in that era, and in July 1903, he signed for Southern League Argyle. He spent three seasons at Home Park, making over 40 appearances in each season, and scoring seven goals in total.

During this time, he had established himself fully as the club's first-choice left-half. The Argyle handbook of 1905-06 memorably stating, "No comment needed! The one and only Leech. A pocket champion, admired on the stand side and elsewhere in the Three Towns. 'Nuf sed'."

After his time with Argyle, he returned to the Football League with Leicester Fosse (as Leicester City were known in their early days), becoming a first-team regular in the 1906-07 season and the following campaign, as the Foxes won promotion out of the Second Division in 1907-08, his only honours in football. In total, he played 87 times and scored three goals, across five seasons at Filbert Street. His playing career had seen him amass over 300 games and score 13 goals.

He then became an assistant trainer at the club until his retirement in 1911.

Remaining living locally, he passed away in Leicester in November 1934, aged 59.

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 used on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of each page.