Sean McCarthy - 11 Things

WE have assembled a list of 11 things that you should know about new Argyle coach Sean McCarthy.

1 Striker Sean, 45, played 176 times for Argyle in two spells - 1988-90 and 1998-2001 - scoring 48 goals. Kevin Hodges, the manager who signed him in 1998 had been a team-mate on his debut ten years earlier.

2 On April 16, 1990, Sean scored a hat-trick as Argyle won a Second Division encounter at West Bromwich Albion 3-0. Two days later, at Home Park, he netted both goals in a 2-0 win against Oldham, thus bagging nearly half of his total goals in a nine-month season inside 72 hours.

3 Despite his distinctly Irish-sounding name, Sean is proper Welsh. He was born in, and played for, Bridgend before three seasons at Swansea City, to whom Ken Brown paid £50,000 to take him to Home Park.

4 Sean scored his 200th career goal whilst playing for Argyle, on February 19, 2000 in a Third Division game against York City at Home Park. Team-mates Chris Hargreaves and Paul McGregor shared in his celebration, with the trio taking off their shirts to reveal T-shirts bearing the numbers ‘2’, ‘0’ and ‘0’. The undergarments were presumably beginning to whiff a bit since Sean had scored his 199th goal against Torquay eight games earlier.

5 Sean's first goal for Argyle - one of 14 strikes in his debut season - was on October 8, 1988, in a 3-1 home win over Bradford City. Two years later, he left Home Park for Bradford in a £250,000 move, then aclub-record sale for the Pilgrims.

6 On December 2, 2000, Sean scored the first two goals of the Paul Sturrock era at Home Park in a 2-0 victory over arch rivals Exeter City at St James’s Park. Defenders David Worrell and Brian McGlinchey, and midfielder David Friio all made Pilgrims’ debuts in the first Pilgrims' side to be selected by Luggy.

7 Little more than a year after his double strike against Exeter City, Sean lined up for the Grecians against Argyle at Home Park on February 26, 2002. It did not go well for Sean - Exeter lost 3-0 and he was red-carded for elbowing Graham Coughlan.

8 A successful three-year goalscoring spell at Bradford saw his value soar and, in 1993, he moved to Premier League Oldham Athletic for £500,000. His 42 goals in 140 league appearances include the Latics' last ever Premiership goal, in a 1-1 draw with Norwich City at Carrow Road on the final day of the 1993-94 season.

9 On January 28, 1989, one of Sean's goals put Argyle within 12 minutes of knocking an Everton side containing nine internationals out of the FA Cup. In front of the Match of the Day cameras, Sean gave the Pilgrims the lead when he beat countryman Neville Southall in the Everton goal. An inexplicable handball by Pilgrims’ defender Adrian Burrows allowed Kevin Sheedy to level from the penalty spot and take the tie back to Goodison Park, where Argyle lost 4-0.

10 Despite his goalscoring prowess, Sean was never capped at full international level by his country. The nearest he came was in February 1991, when he played for Wales B against England at the Vetch Field Swansea, England won 1-0 thanks to a goal from Arsenal's Paul Davis.

11 Sean was famously serenaded by Argyle supporters for the size of his ample posterior, but enjoyed the distinction of once scoring for the Pilgrims with that part of his anatomy. It came in a Nationwide Third Division game at Southend United on September 9, 2000, when he charged down an attempted clearance by the Shrimpers’ former Exeter City goalkeeper Andy Woodman. The ball rebounded off Sean’s (heck, I’m going to say it) arse for a goal.