⚪️ Football community says goodbye to St Austell icon Jimmy Dent
The footballing community across Cornwall and Devon paid tribute to popular former St Austell skipper Jimmy Dent at a funeral service held at Weston Mill Crematorium last week.
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⚪️ Football community says goodbye to St Austell icon Jimmy Dent
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🟢 Argyle preview: Pilgrims seek to tame Black Cats
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⚪️ Football community says goodbye to St Austell icon Jimmy Dent
By Tom Howe
The footballing community across Cornwall and Devon paid tribute to popular former St Austell skipper Jimmy Dent at a funeral service held at Weston Mill Crematorium last week.
Born and bred in Plymouth, Jimmy's impact was felt on and off the pitch, with brother John fondly remembering him ‘as one of the most likable individuals’ who ‘always played football with a smile on his face and offered the benefit of the doubt to everyone’.
Growing up in the football-rich Ham Estate, Jimmy and John cut their footballing teeth alongside Britain's first £1 million player, Trevor Francis, who sadly passed away himself only this July. Their football journey continued through Plymouth Schoolboys, while Jimmy, a dynamic midfielder, captained South Trelawny Primary before representing Burrington School.
He began playing men’s football at Holsworthy, prior to excelling for the likes of Falmouth, Liskeard and Torpoint, earning a reputation for being an outstanding penalty taker albeit not against his goalkeeping brother, who recalled two famous incidents in an exclusive interview with Cornwall Sports Media.
“Jimmy was well known for being a very good penalty taker and would always take the penalties at every club he was at,” said John. “The only time he wouldn't take a penalty was when he played against me.
“We had this sort of uncanny thing. Once, at [Plymouth] Argyle, I was there as an apprentice and he was up there on his school holidays training. Afterwards he took ten penalties against me and didn't score one.
“Later on, I remember a game at St Austell where I was playing for Falmouth. St Austell were given a penalty, Jimmy took it and I saved that one too. After that, he never ever took another penalty if it was against myself and I always reminded him about it.”
Aside from his involvement in Cornish club football, Jimmy proudly represented Devon, with his cherished county cap on display for all to see at his home and now passed down a generation to his daughter Rosie.
The service at Weston Mill saw people from either side of the Tamar paying their respects, many donning football shirts in a poignant tribute, before travelling to the Green Taverners for a wake punctuated by stories like this from close friend and former St Austell clubmate, Craig Holman.
“In 45 years of supporting and being involved with St Austell, I can say that Jimmy was one of the best ever players to grace Poltair Park,” he said. “I was so lucky to have known and worked with the amazing Jimmy.
"He was brilliant on the pitch and what a character, too. So many great football players from Cornwall have so many memories and stories with him.”
A Senior Cup-winning captain, Dent led one of St Austell's finest ever teams under the tutelage of Mike Bickle — who sadly passed away himself on November 22.
Such was his impact upon St Austell, that in attendance alongside Holman at the funeral were fellow Town favorites Phil Dingle, Derek Silk, Peter May, Gerry Short, Nigel Brown, Wayne Hilston, Johnny Hughes, Paul Wilsmore, Andy Stern and Andy Ashton.
"He could drive a side so well and read the game so well, too," continued Holman. “He was a great footballer and an amazing man. He was simply the best. My thoughts are with his daughter Rose and their lovely family.”
Following news of his death — which occurred on the date of his 67th birthday following a long battle with illness — both Torpoint and St Austell arranged for a minute’s applause prior to their closest home games.
“I don't think I have seen that happen before when a local footballer had passed away, that something like that be done so quickly afterwards and for the amount of messages of condolences I have had,” said John.
“We spoke regularly but, since his diagnosis, I had video calls with him everyday. When he picked the phone up, every day, he would say 'yes, what do you want?' but in a nice way. He was useless with technology and, because it was a video call, all I could see was his forehead because he never held the phone in the right place so that I could see his face.
“[On the pitch], he was all effort and had probably one of the best left foots you could ever see. He played in midfield, in the engine room. He was a bit of a dynamo in there but as an attacking midfielder he could score a lot of goals as well.
“When he packed up playing, he followed Argyle and would go on away trips occasionally with a bunch of his mates who would all drink in a local pub. Every year they would go away on holiday together. They were very good friends and they recently met up, put [Jimmy’s] beer on the table and left it there for an afternoon.”
“I have been overwhelmed,” he concluded. “I knew that Jimmy was well liked but I didn't know how much.”
⚽️ EFL Championship: Saturday, 3pm: Plymouth Argyle v Sunderland.
⚽️ National League South: Saturday, 3pm: Chelmsford City v Truro City.
⚽️ Southern League Division One South: Saturday, 3pm: Malvern Town v Mousehole.
⚽️ Western League Premier Division: Saturday, 3pm: Falmouth Town v Barnstaple Town; Helston Athletic v St Blazey; Saltash United v Buckland Athletic; Shepton Mallet v Millbrook; Wellington v Torpoint Athletic.
⚽️ South West Peninsula League Premier West: Saturday, 3pm: Bude Town v Sticker; St Austell v Wadebridge Town; St Dennis v Penzance; Wendron United v Liskeard Athletic.
🏆 Walter C Parson League Cup second round: Saturday, 2.30pm: Callington Town v Mullion; Camelford v Newton Abbot Spurs; Newquay v Dartmouth.
🟢 Argyle preview: Pilgrims seek to tame Black Cats
By Colin Bradbury
Plymouth Argyle v Sunderland
EFL Championship
Saturday, November 25, 2023
Championship football resumes on Saturday as Sunderland make the long trip to Home Park.
In their second season back in the Championship (they made the play-offs last May, going down by the odd semi-final goal to eventual winners, Luton Town) Sunderland currently lie in sixth spot in the table.
It’s been an up-and-down season so far for the Black Cats. After losing to Ipswich and Preston on the first two weekends of the campaign, they went on to win four of their next five league games, including a 5-0 thrashing of newly relegated Southampton. In the last game before the international break, they beat Birmingham 3-1.
Sunderland continue to attract the largest following in the Championship, with home crowds averaging more than 41,000 so far this season. The away end at Argyle will undoubtedly be packed to capacity for Saturday’s clash. Fans have remained faithful through a roller-coaster several years that saw a double-drop from the Premier League to League One, with four seasons spent in the third tier. During that period, Sunderland and Argyle met six times, with the Black Cats winning four, drawing one and losing only once.
As a club, Sunderland have been somewhat transformed since the chaotic seasons following their 2017 relegation from the Premiership. In 2021 the club was acquired by the family behind France’s Louis-Dreyfus Group, bringing much-needed stability. This has been accompanied by a greater long-term focus, with a data-driven strategy to identify under-valued young talent that can be developed and sold on for a profit. That partly explains why Sunderland boast the youngest squad in the Championship.
Recent examples of this, and players to watch at Home Park on Saturday, include:
Jack Clarke joined Sunderland on a permanent deal from Spurs in 2022 for a rumoured £1m, having enjoyed a loan spell at the Stadium of Light the previous season. The 22-year-old, for whom the north London club paid £10m to Leeds in 2019, has certainly found form since moving to the north east. Having played in all 16 games so far, he is the Championship’s joint second highest scorer with nine league goals to his name. The club currently values him in the region of £15m.
Trai Hume is a hard-tackling 21-year-old right back who arrived in 2022 from Northern Ireland’s Linfield for a fee of just £150,000. He too has been a mainstay, starting all league games this season. Ranking in the top four per cent against his positional peers in the Championship for tackles, Hume is also dangerous going forward, placing within the top 13 per cent for pass completions. He’s currently valued at north of £6m.
Jobe Bellingham comes with the blessing (or curse) of a famous family name. Brother Jude, of course plays for Real Madrid, but 18-year-old Jobe has been making waves of his own since moving to the Stadium of Light in the summer. He has also started every Championship match this season, scoring three times, and has been linked with both Spurs and Borussia Dortmund (where his older brother made his name). There has been some talk of manager Tony Mowbray resting the youngster for the trip to Plymouth as in the campaign so far Bellingham has already put in double the number of minutes he played for Birmingham in the whole of last season.
Turning to the home side, Argyle will be anxious to get their season back on track. Sitting 19th in the table, the Greens have recorded only one win in the last eight games and have yet to take three points on an away trip.
The issue is not hard to identify. Argyle have scored 27 goals this season — the fourth highest in the division, matching visitors Sunderland, as well as Leeds and Southampton. Unfortunately Argyle have also leaked 27, leaving them 19th in terms of goals conceded and putting them in the less illustrious company of Sheffield Wednesday and QPR.
Defensive frailties were on display in the most recent outing at Elland Road. Individual errors — in this case from Kaine Kesler-Hayden and Julio Pleguezuelo — led directly to the two Leeds goals and in truth, the Greens were fortunate not to concede more. Tightening up at the back must surely be Steven Schumacher’s top priority.
More encouraging though is that of the eight games Argyle have lost so far, five have been by a single goal, including in the clashes with high-flyers Southampton, Leeds and Ipswich. Given the Pilgrims’ status as Championship new boys with one of the smallest budgets in the division, that is pretty impressive. It’s no surprise that opponent after opponent has complimented Argyle on the quality of their play and it does feel like only a matter of time before the fine margins turn in the Pilgrims’ favour.
There’s a good chance to get some points on the board in the run up to Christmas. Argyle have nine games in the six weeks to December 29, including against Coventry (20th in the table), QPR (23rd), Rotherham (22nd) and Birmingham (18th). Positive results against those lower-placed teams would be a good way to go into the New Year.
As for Saturday’s team news, fans will be looking for the return of strikers Ryan Hardie and Mustapha Bundu who both sustained hamstring injuries in the clash with Ipswich at the end of October. Before the international break, Schumacher indicated that Bundu could be fit for the Sunderland clash but appeared less confident about Hardie. That was almost two weeks ago however, and the manager is likely to give an update in his Thursday pre-match press conference.
There will be no weekend round-up this week, but we’ll be back on Tuesday. See you then!
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