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's 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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TOM CLEGHORN

Full Name: Thomas Cleghorn

Born: 13 February 1870

Came from: Portsmouth Went to: Appointed Trainer

First game: 29 February 1904 Last game: 11 February 1905

Appearances: 5 (5/0) Goals: 0

Cleghorn was born in Leith, the port district of Edinburgh. He started playing locally with Leith Albion, a local junior club. His employment then caused him to move to Darlington where he played for Darlington St Augustine's (1888-90), and then Darlington Town (1890) before returning north of the border. Back in Leith he joined Leith Athletic (1892-94), with his home town club, by then in Scottish Football League Division One.

He then moved south to join Blackburn Rovers in 1894, making a name for himself as a tough-tackling left-half. After making 45 top-flight appearances and scoring three goals during two years with Rovers, he joined Liverpool in 1896, for whom he played 70 times and scored once, over three seasons.

In 1898, he signed for Southern League Portsmouth, where he later played under Frank Brettell as he took Pompey into the Southern League and professionalism. He won both Southern and Western League titles while at Fratton Park, making 80 appearances across the two competitions during his three seasons with the club.

When, in 1903, Brettell took over as the first manager of Argyle with the same remit as he had at Fratton Park, of securing entry into the Southern League and establishing the club as a professional outfit, he coaxed Cleghorn out of retirement. Having returned to his Scottish home, Cleghorn was persuaded to take on the position of player/trainer at Home Park, with Brettell noting that he could also serve as a reserve half-back. He duly joined, along with another former Portsmouth player, Harry Digweed, who also chose to reunite with Brettell.

He kept the trainer role for three seasons, also playing five first-team games for the club in addition to his coaching duties. As a player, he was described as 'dour, experienced and everlasting'; as a coach, 'clever, conscientious and well esteemed by all'.

When he retired from the game for a second time, he again returned to Scotland and took over as licensee of the Bruce Arms in Lanark in April 1907. He would run the pub for nearly 40 years, until his death in Lanark in October 1946, aged 77.

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.

We are very grateful to many who have helped write GoS-DB's player pen-pictures, and to Dave Rowntree and the PAFC Media Team 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 on this site, and object to its inclusion, please get in touch using the 'Contact Us' button at the top of the page.