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TONY BOOK
Born: 04 September 1934
Came from: Bath City Went to: Manchester City
First game: 22 August 1964 Last game: 07 May 1966
Appearances: 93 (93/0) Goals: 3
Book, nearly 30 years old, arrived at Home Park in the summer of 1964 with no Football League experience, having spent his early football career in the Southern League with Bath City after a spell with Frome Town. He also played in Canada with Toronto City having joined the club when Malcom Allison, his boss at Bath, was briefly in charge there. His performances in the Second Division soon repaid the faith shown in him by Allison, as Book established himself in the Argyle team.
Book was the complete full-back – a good tackler, plenty of pace, coolness under pressure and a willingness to get forward. Book's stunning form for Argyle saw him follow Allison to Manchester City, where he won the League Championship, FA Cup, League Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup and played until the age of 40.
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.
By Brian Knight* in Cheltenham on 27/03/2014 ...
In the summer of 1964 many eyebrows were raised in the football world when it was announced that Argyle's new manager, Malcolm Allison, had signed a player from the club which he had just ceased to manage, Bath City. The doubts concerned not so much the ability of Tony Book, but his years. He was 28 and that seemed too advanced an age to begin a career in the Football League, especially for a player who had spent the best of his playing days combining bricklaying with appearances for his home-town club in the Southern League.
The doubters were soon to be silenced. Book adapted quickly to the Second Division and began to turn in displays which marked him as the most complete full-back to wear the club's colours since World War Two. He had all the attributes required for the position: clean tackling, quick recovery, coolness under pressure and an eye for attacking possibilities.
But even better things were in store for Book. By the summer of 1966, Allison had joined Joe Mercer 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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