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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STAN WILLIAMS

Full Name: Alfred Stanley Williams

Born: 01 May 1919

Came from: Aberdeen Went to: Dundee

First game: 20 August 1949 Last game: 06 May 1950

Appearances: 37 (37/0) Goals: 5

Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Williams' professional career began with Aberdeen, whom he joined from Cape Town Railway in his homeland. He had also represented Western Province in a schoolboy tournament.

He had been following Aberdeen when the club toured South Africa, picking up tips from the players. During the tour, tragedy struck when their Welsh outside-right, Jackie Benyon, contracted peritonitis and died, aged just 27.

The circumstances led to Williams being invited for a trial, and he impressed enough to be offered a contract, beginning a 12-year association with the Pittodrie club. He was 19 years old when he joined Aberdeen in 1938.

He was a key figure in Aberdeen's 1947 Scottish FA Cup-winning side, scoring both goals in the quarter-final win over Dundee, both goals in the semi-final victory over Arbroath and the winning goal against Hibernian in the final, when he played alongside another future Pilgrim, George Taylor. The final was played in front of 82,140 at Hampden Park. He also played alongside fellow South African and future Pilgrim Bill Strauss at the club. In total, Williams made 127 appearances for Aberdeen, scoring 51 goals.

During the Second World War, he guested for both Clyde and Dumbarton, and also won a cap for Scotland in a wartime international against England.

After moving to Home Park for £6,000 in 1949 as a Jimmy Rae signing, he was a regular at outside-left but was unpopular with the crowd because of his style of play. The crowd didn't take to his habit of holding on to the ball for too long in a period when goals were proving hard to come by. His only appearances for the club came during the 1949-50 season in green, and he found further chances hard to come by.

He eventually returned to Scotland with Dundee in 1952 in a deal which saw Peter Rattray move to Home Park. He spent two more years with the Dens Park club, making 28 appearances and scoring four goals, before retiring from full-time professional football.

Some sources indicate a later spell with Floriana in Malta, though he subsequently returned to his homeland and died in Johannesburg in June 2007, aged 88.

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.