With Former England goalkeeper and Plymouth Argyle Peter Shilton recently appearing on Saturday evening's on Strictly Come Dancing, we will be looking back at his reign as manager of the Pilgrims as part of a four part series.
On March 2nd 1992, England goalkeeping legend Peter Shilton was unveiled as the new manager of Plymouth Argyle.
He replaced David Kemp after new Chairman Dan McCauley decided it was a time of fresh direction at Home Park following a 1-0 home defeat at the hands of John Beck's Cambridge United.
At the time of his appointment, Argyle were battling against relegation from the 'old' Division Two, the Championship in new money, and had spent a number of seasons treading water after winning promotion under Dave Smith in 1986.
Although Shilton had little in the way of managerial experience and despite the old saying in the game that goalkeepers don't make good managers, he had played under managerial greats such as Sir Alf Ramsey, Brian Clough and Sir Bobby Robson, so many followers of the Pilgrims were keen to see what he had learnt from playing under such names.
One of his first acts as manager was to appoint his former Nottingham Forest team-mate John McGovern as his assistant.
Shilton's managerial debut came against one of his former club's Derby County as the Pilgrims picked up a creditable 1-1 draw.
New signings were quickly made as striker Kevin Nugent was recruited from Leyton Orient and midfielder Steve McCall, a UEFA Cup winner with Ipswich Town in 1981, arrived from Sheffield Wednesday.
However, despite the new arrivals, Shilton was unable to pull Argyle clear of the relegation zone as they went into their final game of the season at home to promotion Blackburn Rovers, then managed by Kenny Dalglish, needing a win to stay up.
A crowd of 17,459 poured into Home Park to witness the encounter which the Pilgrims lost 3-1 as David Speedie bagged a hat-trick for Rovers which propelled them into the Play-Offs, which they later won to secure promotion to the Premier League, and condemned Argyle to a place into the 'new' Division Two.
The next task for Shilton was to build a side that could lead the Pilgrims to promotion at the first attempt.
