Tommy Tynan, Argyle Legend

The name Tommy Tynan, to me, conjures up images of childhood memories cheering on the Green Army.

Undoubtedly it will do the same for many of you as well.

What was so special about Tommy? Was it his pace? Or maybe the fact the he scored goal after goal after goal?

Even after he moved ‘up the road’ in 1990 to become player coach of Torquay he remained firmly in the hearts of the Home Park faithful.

Scoring over 250 goals in less than 600 appearances (career) he has got to go down in history as one of the most prolific goal scoring machines this country has ever seen.

About Tommy:
Born 17th November 1955 in Liverpool.

First played professional terms for Liverpool after winning a competition to get a pro contract. He never broke into the first team though and moved onto Swansea City on loan in the 1974-75 season.

In the 1976-77 season Tommy left his home town and moved on to Sheffield Wednesday where he played for two seasons scoring 30 goals.

He then moved on to Lincoln City for £33,000 but stayed for only a couple of months before moving on to Newport County in a £25,000 deal where he spent five eventful years. Winning the Welsh cup and playing in Europe.

In 1983-84 season Tommy moved even further south by signing for Argyle in a £55,000 deal. Helping the Pilgrims to an FA cup Semi Final against the mighty Watford in his first season, Tynan was an instant hit a Home Park and fans were bitterly disappointed when he moved to Rotherham in 1986 because his wife couldn’t settle in the Westcountry.

Whilst there Tommy continued to bang away the goals but never really settled and towards the end of the season he returned to the Theater of Greens on loan, during which time he scored 9 goals in 10 games helping Argyle get promotion to the old Division 2.

For the following 4 seasons Tommy was a regular in the Argyle squad scoring consistently, one of his most memorable matches would be the 4-3 defeat of Blackburn at Home Park when he scored all four goals and that was at close to 35 years of age!

In 1990 Tynan moved up the coast to rivals Torquay and helped them get to Division 3 after a play off win against Blackpool. He suprised many people by then moving to Doncaster before being put out to pasture and returning to the Westcountry as first a Publican at the Golden Hinde followed by the Mermaid. Tommy is still in Plymouth to this day driving us where we need to go as a taxi driver. I wander how many Argyle fans ask him to recount some of his favourite stories every day?


If you want to find out what your Argyle Legend is doing now then comment on this story or email: plymouth@vitalfootball.co.uk and we will see what we can do.