The Return Of Mr Plymouth Argyle

Plymouth Argyle club captain Paul Wotton made his return to football yesterday after a 12-month absence.

The Plymouth-born midfielder suffered a cruciate ligament injury to his knee in the Championship game against Hull City on December 9th 2006 and since then he has been out of the game.

After having surgery in the early part of 2007, carried out by specialist Dr Andrew Williams, Wotton looked to be on the road to recovery at the start of this season. But in September the Argyle skipper picked up an unrelated cartilage injury on the same knee.

Wotton underwent further surgery and has been working hard to regain his fitness and that hard work finally paid off yesterday when he stepped out onto a football pitch for the first time in 12 months when he took part in an Argyle reserve game.

Wotton played 56 minutes in the Pontin’s Holiday’s Combination clash against Exeter City, in which Argyle won 2-0.
The 30-year old midfielder felt sore after the game but was pleased to be finally back in action, he said: I am a bit stiff and sore, but that is to be expected. I have to be realistic, it is only 56 minutes after being out for 12 months.’

Due to injuries and suspensions the Argyle squad is looking a little threadbare at the moment and Wotton could even be included on the bench for Saturday’s game against Watford, Wotton explains: ‘Anyone who knows me knows that I would play on Saturday if the manager wanted me to play, but I want to do myself justice.’

Let’s have a look at the career of Mr Plymouth Argyle.

The Home Park stalwart has notched up 430 appearances for his home-town club to put him in 8th place on the Argyle all time appearance list, just 2 appearances behind Mickey Evans.
Wotton has lifted two league titles with the Third Division Championship secured in 2002, quickly followed by the Second Division Championship in 2004.
The 30-year old has gone from strength to strength, improving and adapting his game each time the club has climbed into a new division, whether he plays in midfield or defence.

Wotton has a reputation of possessing one of the most powerful shots in football with his penalties measuring up to 83mph. Wotton is also a free-kick specialist, often blasting the ball into the net from fully 30+ yards out, indeed of his 62 goals for Plymouth only two have been headers.

The midfielder is now in his 14th season at Home Park, a rare show of loyalty in today’s modern game, he has played under 11 different managers including three who occupied the caretaker role.
‘Wottsie’ came through the youth ranks at Home Park before making his first team debut in the 1994/95 season when manager Neil Warnock gave him his first big chance. But it wasn’t until Paul Sturrock arrived as manager in 2000 that Wotton’s Argyle career really took off. He was made club captain and formed a solid central defensive partnership with Graham Coughlan, helping Argyle claim the Third Division title with a record haul of 102 points.

When Argyle reached the Championship new manager Bobby Williamson converted Wotton into a tough tackling, all action central midfield player. This proved to be a masterstroke with Wotton again raising his game to cope with the demands of a higher division.
The move forward enabled Wotton to get closer to goal and his ability to strike a ball from distance brought the reward of scoring more goals from open play and the honour of being Argyle’s top scorer for that season and indeed last season as well, not bad for a midfielder!

Wotton has won the coveted Player Of The Season award twice, in 2003 and 2005 and is held in such high regard by the Argyle fans that many believe that he has only got green blood!

Could the inspirational captain lead the club from the bottom league to the top and land the ultimate prize of promotion to the Premiership? Few would bet against it.