Former Plymouth Argyle chairman Dan McCauley has passed away at the age of 84.
McCauley, who made his fortune from the Tiverton-based engineering firm Rotolok, had previously spells on the boards of Exeter City and Torquay United (Rotolok were the Gulls' shirt sponsors between 1986 and 1988) during the 1980s before becoming chairman of Plymouth Argyle in October 1991, at which point the Pilgrims were in Division Two (now the Championship).
He went onto spend nearly a decade at the helm at Home Park, which was a period in the club's history that certainly couldn't be described as dull. In his first season as chairman, McCauley replaced Dave Kemp as Pilgrims manager with the legendary former England goalkeeper Peter Shilton on March 2nd, 1992.
While Shilton's appointment was unable to stop the Pilgrims from being relegated into the 'new Divison Two' (now League One) at the end of the 1991-92 season, the finances made available to England's record appearance maker enabled him to bring in names such as Kevin Nugent, Steve McCall, Paul Dalton and Steve Castle. These players formed the basis of the Argyle side that agonisingly missed out on automatic promotion on the final day of the 1993-94 season before losing to Burnley in the Play-offs. This team is still widely considered to be one of the most entertaining in the Pilgrims' history, as they scored 88 league goals and conceded 56.
However, the relationship between McCauley and Shilton soured during the 1994-95 season, which resulted in Shilton leaving the club in early 1995. McCall and former England defender Russell Osman both took charge on a temporary basis, but couldn't stop Argyle being relegated to Division Three (now League Two) for the first time in their history.
In the summer of 1995, McCauley turned to serial promotion winner Neil Warnock in his quest to win promotion back to Division Two at the first attempt. It was a decision that paid off for McCauley as Warnock guided the Pilgrims to promotion via the Division Three Play-off final in 1996, where they beat Darlington 1-0. It was Warnock's fifth promotion out of the record eight that he has won in his career with Scarborough, Notts County (twice), Huddersfield Town, Argyle, Sheffield United, QPR and Cardiff City.
Once again the relationship between McCauley and Warnock deteriorated badly and Warnock left Home Park in February 1997. Warnock's assistant Mick Jones was appointed as his successor, but he was unable to prevent a return to the Third Division in 1998.
Pilgrims' record appearance holder Kevin Hodges, who had led Torquay United to the 1998 Division Three play-off final against Colchester United, was then tasked with leading the Pilgrims to another promotion from the bottom tier of the Football League. After two mid-table finishes Hodges was sacked early in the 2000-01 season and, after some persuasion from members of the Pilgrims' board, he appointed Paul Sturrock as manager - an appointment which proved to be one of the shrewdest ever made by the club.
On the eve of the 2001-02 season, McCauley finally sold up to a consortium headed by Paul Stapleton. By this time the redevelopment of the three sides of Home Park was already underway and was finally completed with the opening of the new Mayflower Stand midway through the 2019-20 campaign.
McCauley's other business interests included the Sutton Harbour Company and Drake's Island.
