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MARK PATTERSON
Born: 13 September 1968
Came from: Derby County Went to: Gillingham
First game: 14 August 1993 Last game: 03 May 1997
Appearances: 154 (151/3) Goals: 3
Mark Patterson joined Argyle from Derby County in the summer of 1993, and established himself as a classy and dependable right-back who was a warm favourite of the Home Park faithful. After failing to establish himself in an expensive Derby squad, Patterson accepted the advances of Argyle boss Peter Shilton – who had witnessed the young fullback's development first-hand when himself a Rams player.
Signed to replace the outgoing Gary Poole, Patterson was an integral cog in Shilton's 1993-94 playoff side. A pocket dynamo with a ceaseless engine, he was tigerish and persistent in the tackle; but it was his marauding runs down the right flank that endeared him most to the club's fans. Despite his attacking instincts, 'Patto' only scored three times in 154 appearances in a green shirt, but does deserve mention as the player who provided the superb cross for Ronnie Mauge to head home Argyle's Wembley winner against Darlington in 1996.
Few Argyle players have ridden such a dramatic roller-coaster ride in their Home Park tenures as Patterson. In three seasons, the former Carlisle United apprentice experienced a playoff semi-final defeat, then relegation to the basement division and a subsequent promotion at Wembley. He also played under three different managers during his four years at the club, in Shilton, Neil Warnock and Mick Jones.
Patto's final season at the club was marred by injury and he only managed a handful of appearances. With his contract expiring in the summer of 1997, he opted to join Gillingham despite insisting he would have remained at Home Park had an acceptable offer been forthcoming. After hanging up his boots, Patterson took over the reins of the Kent club's youth set-up.
YOUR CONTRIBUTION
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From Drew Savage in The North on 25/10/2013 ...
For the benefit of younger readers, the best one-line explanation I can come up with is: if David Norris had been a right-back, he'd have probably turned out like Mark Patterson.
Signed by Peter Shilton from Derby for £60,000, at that point in history he was simply the latest in a long line of ace Argyle right-backs (following in the bootmarks of Gordon Nisbet, Kenny Brown and Gary Poole) and perhaps at the time we didn't quite realise how lucky we were to have him.
Over the years we've had talented players that didn't have the workrate, and more than our fair share of huffers and puffers who put in the mileage but hadn't got the skills to back them up, but Mark Patterson combined footballing technique and physical effort with style.
When you're growing up you always look out for players who play in your position, and as I progressed through youth football I got moved backwards from being a speedy but limited left-winger, to a midfield scuffler, to ending up getting parked at ... More
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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