Former team members of the Plessey Sunday League side recently commemorated the 40th anniversary of winning Sunday League Division 1 and Isle of Wight Albany Cup in 1985 at the Isle of Wight Community Club.
The Plessey Sunday League side was founded in 1973 by manager and secretary Malcolm Fry. Founding members present included Gerry Shaw (420 appearances), Tommy Knox (400+ games), Paul Venables (300+ appearances), Alan ‘Cyril’ Knowles (300+ appearances), Geoff Taylor and Chris Belford.
Further distinguished former players included Colin Crews (100+ goals, 200+ appearances) and Andy Watson (200+ appearances).
Plessey were first promoted to the Isle of Wight Sunday League Division 1 in 1979. Their first trophy was the President’s Cup in 1980, beating The Sun Inn at Church Litten.
In 1981, Plessey were beaten in the Albany Cup final by Wishing Well. In 1983, Plessey took the Albany Cup trophy by beating Tavern 2-0 at Church Litten.
Further trophies followed. In 1984, Plessey took the Albany Cup again, this time with a 2-0 win over BHC. With the league and cup double following in 1985.
In 1986, under the management of Malcolm Fry, Plessey reached the final of the Hampshire Intermediate Cup, losing out to Monarchs at Church Litten. Then, under the helm of Tommy Knox, Plessey went on to win the Hampshire Intermediate Cup with a 4-2 victory against Swallows at Westwood Park.
The Plessey Reserve side was started in 1983 and managed by Geoff ‘Boss Hogg’ Taylor, winning promotion to Division 2 in 1985. Both the reserve side and the first team – managed by Vern Burt and Cyril Knowles- consistently won trophies in the 90s.
The highlight of the 90s for Plessey was the first team winning Sunday League Division 1 and the reserves winning Division 2 in 1992/93 – a unique achievement in Island Sunday Football.
With the sad decline of Isle of Wight Sunday league football, 1998/99 was the final season for the Plessey Sunday league side.
