MAGPIES FACTS

FACTS

> The main foursome responsible for the introduction of organised soccer in Penzance were A. A. 'Toff' Amor, who became the first life member of the club; W. B. Walton, G. E. Adson and T. Peak. The 'Amor' Shield is still played for to this day by local junior footballers from the West Penwith League.

> The original clubs of the Cornwall County Football Association were: Penzance, Porthcurno, Truro, Probus School, Torpoint, Liskeard, Dunheved College and Millbrook.

> Penzance, it is believed, were the first Cornish club to appoint a player-manager. It was early in the 1950's when Charlie Paynter, manager of West Ham United, told the club that he was releasing defender Steve Forde on a free transfer.

The Magpies decided Forde was their man to become their player-manager and he was employed in that capacity. The Penzance commitment was to provide Forde with accommodation, a job and the sum of £5 a week for coaching and training.

> During April, 1954, Penzance AFC staged an all Football League game between West Ham United and Swansea Town. In the Swansea line-up were four Welsh internationals: Ivor Alchurch, Terry Medwin and Cliff Jones, who went on to play for Spurs, and Charles at centre-half. More than 7,000 turned out to watch the game.

> Penzance's former grounds prior to moving to Penlee Park in 1952 were at Trereife Field, Sona Merg and St Clare.

> Penzance were the first ever winners of the Cornwall Senior Cup, when they beat Launceston 5-0 at Liskeard in 1893.

> The Magpies were founder members of the South Western League in 1951/52 and this is their 52nd consecutive season competing in the league.

> Penzance's first ever match in the South Western League was versus Plymouth Argyle Reserves in 1951/52. Argyle won 1-0.

> The Magpies' first South Western League Goal was scored by Lewis Richards, a former West Ham apprentice, in 1951/52.

> Arguably the most successful decade in the history of the club was the 1960's, a decade in which the 'Black & White' Club boasted membership in excess of 3,000 and the club announced the scrapping of its former amateur policy by appointing a full-time player-manager in former Arsenal, Cardiff City, Brighton and Torquay winger Mike Tiddy.

> Penzance won their first SWL championship in 1956-57, a year in which Stoke City played the Magpies in a pre-season friendly.

> The Dann family is part and parcel of Penzance AFC and over the years the name has been to the fore in many a match programme or terrace conversation!

Nat Dann, a former Penzance player once stated that the Dann's were the only family in over 100 years of the club who have produced two consecutive generations of brothers who have played simultaneously for the first team, Nat and Terry Dann in the mid 1950's and Nat's sons Mike and Neil in the early 1980's.

Also according to Nat, he was the first player to break a leg at Penlee Park, and still has the 45 stitch marks to prove it!

Then of course, there is the family connection as far as the club's committee is concerned, Nat Dann in the 1960's and 70's and the famous figure of Jimmy Dann, the ex Club President, who can still be heard in the stand on matchday yelling at the players and shouting 'Come on Penzance!!!'

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RECORDS

Highest League Position . . . Champions in seasons 1974/75,

1956/57 and 1955/56

Lowest League Position . . . Bottom in 1991/92, 1990/91 and 1986/87

Most League Games Won . . . 24 in 1974/75 and 1972/73

Least League Games Won . . . 1 in 1990/91

Most League Games Drawn . . . 11 in 1976/77 and 1974/75

Least League Games Drawn . . . 1 in 1967/68

Most League Games Lost . . . 29 in 1990/91

Least League Games Lost . . . 1 in 1974/75

Most Goals Scored by a Player in a Season . . . 48 by Walter Goody (most ever by a Penzance player in the South Western League)

Most League Goals Scored . . . 113 in 1974/75

Least League Goals Scored . . . 31 in 1990/91

Most League Goals Conceded . . . 136 in 1990/91

Least League Goals Conceded . . . 35 in 1974/75

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STATISTICS

> Penzance's complete playing record over 52 consecutive seasons in the South Western League from 1951-52 to 2005-06 is as follows:

PLAYED: 1760

WON: 664

DRAWN: 328

LOST: 770

GOALS FOR: 3408

GOALS AGAINST: 3582

POINTS: 1809

> PLAYING RECORD OVER PAST FIVE YEARS . . .

2000-2001: P 36 W 16 D 9 L 11 F 65 A 59 Pts 57 Pos 8/19

2001-2002: P 36 W 16 D 8 L 12 F 79 A 62 Pts 56 Pos 6/19

2002-2003 P 36 W 16 D 8 L 12 F 53 A 55 Pts 41 Pos 13/19

2003-2004: P 34 W 14 D 8 L 12 F 50 A 46 Pts 50 Pos 8/18

2004-2005: P 32 W 6 D 8 L 18 F 48 A 78 Pts 26 Pos 14/17

2005-2006: P 34 W 10 D 4 L 20 F 52 A 74 Pts 34 Pos 13/18

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as at August, 2006