JIMMY GEE

Full Name: James Patrick Gee

Born: 06 June 1933

Came from: Royal Air Force   Went to: Released

First game: 27 August 1956   Last game: 27 August 1956

Appearances: 1 (1/0)   Goals: 0

Born in Plymouth and formerly on Torquay United's staff, often a way of retaining amateur players at that time, he was also a Devon County water polo player.

Gee, a goalkeeper, played once for Argyle as an amateur under Jack Rowley, one of several goalkeepers tried following the retirement of Bill Shortt and Les Major.

The first reports of 'J. Gee, a goalkeeper from Plymouth' came in January 1950, when he was selected for the Devon County side in the National Association of Boys' Clubs' football competition following a trial match at Kingsteignton. The following day, another report showed his club as Virginia House, an organisation based in Looe Street in the city.

He had been recorded as playing for Launceston in 1955 and was described as 'a local lad just out of the RAF' by the Western Evening Herald when he was included in a public practice match at Home Park in mid-August 1956. Having completed his National Service and a short period of demobilisation leave, he was surprisingly selected for his first-team debut only a fortnight later, after Argyle had conceded 12 goals in its first three games of the season.

He was unable to prevent Argyle losing 3-0 to Queens Park Rangers at Loftus Road, in a game where Rangers netted seven times but, remarkably, had four goals disallowed for infringements. A report stated that the Plymouth defence "looked unsteady when under pressure and Gee in goal was given plenty of work".

Having already used local 18-year-old Peter Dyer in the first three matches of the season before Gee played in the fourth, Argyle's goalkeeping crisis was solved two days after the defeat at Loftus Road with the signing of Harry Brown, an experienced keeper from, ironically, Queens Park Rangers. A fourth keeper of the season, Reg Howell, would later play a single game for the club as cover for Brown in October 1956.

Whilst manager Jack Rowley said he "was not writing him off for the moment", Gee never played for the first team again, and his name did not appear in the retained list at the end of the season. He did, however, play in the South Western League for Argyle in December 1956 and was, most likely, released before the end of the season. Newspaper reports show him back playing with Launceston in February 1957, through to December 1957, which would have been into the following season. He later played for Tavistock in 1959.

Gee was a carpenter in later life and worked for the remainder of his working life in the building trade. He was also an accomplished golfer, playing off a low handicap and later serving as club captain at Elfordleigh Golf Club. He remained living in Plymouth until he passed away in April 2008, aged 74.

Footnote: The photo, the only one we could find, is from the West London Observer report of his only game for Argyle.