Going Up in the World

...having previously played for the Pilgrims Devon Expressway rivals.

TOM SLEEMAN recalls four players that excelled after leaving Exeter City and then playing for Argyle.

AFTER progressing through the ranks at Wimbledon, and remaining part of the squad as the club relocated to MK Dons, Jamie then moved to Exeter City in 2005. He spent three seasons at St James' Park with his impressive performances in the 2007-08 season meaning that Paul Sturrock was willing to move in the January transfer window and pay £145,000 to bring Jamie to Home Park. Sturrock's faith was repaid instantly; Jamie scored 15 seconds into his debut and again nine minutes later. Mackie became a first-team regular for the Pilgrims in the following season, and in his third and final season with Argyle, was top scorer for the Pilgrims before moving to QPR for a fee of around £500,000, and going on the play in the Premier League for the R's as well as winning Scottish international recognition.

AFTER making 196 appearances for Exeter City, Marker swapped the red and white stripes for the green of Argyle and spent five years at Home Park, in which time he made more than 200 appearances and was impressive enough to be bought for £500,000 by Kenny Daglish, who was then Blackburn Rovers manager. Nicky went on to win a Premier League medal with Rovers in 1995. Marker left Ewood Park two years later to move to Bramhall Lane, where he spent two years before making a brief return to Home Park and another four appearances for the Pilgrims.

'BUSTER' progressed from a trainee at Exeter City to make 65 appearances for the Grecians, and in turn attracted Alan Ball to fork out £500,000 to take the Exeter-born winger to Manchester City. Famously, Ball claimed Phillips would be the first £10m Englishman - a title that Martin failed to live up to, as he only played 15 games for the Citizens before moves to Portsmouth and, then, in the summer of 2000, Argyle. Martin was a permanent fixture in the Argyle side in his first two seasons at the club, gaining promotion from Nationwide Division Three in his second season, scoring six time to help the Pilgrims on their way. The next season saw him feature less, and, as Argyle got promoted in 2003-04, injuries meant that Martin only made 10 appearances.

JOHN Sims made the move across Devon from Exeter to Argyle in 1979, following his manager Bobby Saxton, who had played for Argyle before his stint as a manager at the Grecians. Simmo was a hard-working centre-forward, who scored just under 50 goals in 185 appearances for the Pilgrims in his four years at the club. Not only did John move from Exeter to Argyle, but he gave the Grecians a constant reminder of what they were missing out on as he scored against Exeter on five separate occasions.