Greatest Manager No.2

THE Greatest Pilgrims, voted for by the Green Army, lists the top 25 Argyle legends in all positions and we finish the series with our managers.

Greatest Pilgrim Managers
Ranked No.2
Dave Smith

The wonderful Dave Smith is your runner-up in the list of greatest Pilgrim managers and a promotion-winner who took us to the brink of the top flight.

Smith was a full-back with Burnley and Brighton in his playing days, but his greatest skill was as a coach, learning his new trade with Sheffield Wednesday, Newcastle and Arsenal.

His first managerial job came at Mansfield in 1974 and he showed signs of the inspirational style he brought to teams, guiding them from a relegation battle to promotion. He then won promotion again with Southend, twice.

After a break from football, he took over as Argyle boss in 1984 and turned around a struggling team to win us promotion to the Second Division in the 1985-86 campaign. Smith had an eye for a player and the coaching skill to improve everyone he worked with.

He was building one of the greatest Argyle teams and many felt the top-flight was a real possibility when he left to take the job at his hometown club of Dundee. He later returned to Devon and won promotion with Torquay United.

A man blessed with the skill to win promotion at numerous clubs, Dave Smith is certainly a great Pilgrim.

For information on the Greatest Pilgrims, please click here.

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The Big Green Lottery raises valuable funds for the Argyle Academy, including the purchase of a new minibus for our young stars last year. At present, our BGL membership stands at 650 and our aim is to reach 1,000 members, which would effectively triple the quarterly donations to the Argyle Academy.

For more information, contact us on bgl@pafc.co.uk and to join the BGL, simply sign up online

Greatest Manager Results So Far
2. Dave Smith
3. Neil Warnock
4. Bob Jack
5. Derek Adams
6. Tony Waiters
7. Ian Holloway
8. Jimmy Rae
9. John Hore
10. Peter Reid   
11. Bobby Saxton
12. Ellis Stuttard
13. Peter Shilton  
14. Kevin Hodges
15. Malcolm Allison
16. Tony Pulis
17. Ken Brown
18. Jack Tresadern
19. Carl Fletcher
20. Jack Rowley
21. Billy Bingham
22. David Kemp
23. John Sheridan
24. Bobby Moncur
25. William Fullarton