Southampton failed to see the same results as Plymouth Argyle from Home Park legend | OneFootball

The Argyle skipper failed to recreate the same sort of form at St Mary's as he did for his hometown club

Paul Wotton and Plymouth Argyle were synonymous near the start of the century, and the thought of the Pilgrims’ skipper ever leaving Home Park to play elsewhere seemed nonsensical.

The ferocious leader led his hometown club from the fourth tier to the second over the course of three seasons two decades ago, and played a massive part in the Devon outfit establishing themselves as a Championship side during their heyday.

The local lad raised the standards within the dressing room and on the pitch, with orders being barked out constantly, while the opposition were barely given any room to breathe as he fought tooth and nail for all things green.

But in the summer of 2008, the Argyle legend shuffled along the south coast to Southampton, who failed to see the best of the Home Park warrior, as the Saints entered one of their worst periods of recent times.

Paul Wotton leads Plymouth Argyle to the Championship from League Two

Wotton embodied Plymouth Argyle during his time at the club; he headed every ball, flew into every tackle, and powered every shot with every sinew of his being, all in the name of PAFC.

Having made his debut as a teenager, and experienced tear-jerking relegation heartbreak at Burnley in his youth, the Plymothian did everything within his power to get his boyhood club back to past glories, and succeeded beyond expectation.

Whether he was operating in the backline or marshalling the defence in a midfield role, the tenacious skipper was no stranger to putting his body on the line to earn a Pilgrims point, with opposing players feeling the brunt of his desire time and time again.

And he could play a bit too, you know, as his goalscoring record attests to, with his dead-ball efforts cannoning into the back of the net on regular occasions, leaving goalkeepers worried of skeletal damage should they get in the way.

Having played his part in a side that romped to 102 points in the fourth tier in the 01/02 season, Wotton continued to lead the way through the third tier, with 19 goal contributions in the 03/04 campaign speaking for itself.

Whether he was blasting the ball home himself, or setting up centre-back partner Graham Coughlan for a set-piece special, the omnipotency of the boy who had stood on the terraces of Home Park as a child continued to grow, just like Argyle’s stature within the game.

Before long, the pair were doing the business in the second tier, with the great and good of the game coming down to Home Park and being sent back with a whimper; Argyle took no prisoners in front of their own fans.

Wotton was paramount to that, with the blood bursting from every vessel as he commandeered his teammates into giving their all for the club he loved, and the one that meant so much to him.

That was until one day in December 2006, when all that came crashing down in an instant against Hull City. The dreaded ACL. 14 months out. Argyle’s leader had been lost.

Nevertheless, the club carried on and secured consecutive top-half finishes in the second tier, with Wotton returning for the final few months of the season, and blasting a customary spot-kick against Preston North End on what proved to be his final appearance in green during his first spell with the club.

Paul Wotton’s Southampton move fails to go to plan

Football has never been a sentimental sport, there is far too much money being thrown around for any sort of emotion to come anywhere near business matters, and Wotton felt the full brunt of it that summer.

Having fought to come back from the traumatic injury, the club he had given his heart and soul to for over a decade were prepared to let him go in the summer of 2008, with no new deal being offered to the club legend.

Instead, Southampton quickly snapped him up on a three-year deal, and even if he was hurting inside, the new arrival wasn’t letting it show in his first words as a Saints player.

He told BBC Radio Solent: "I feel it's the perfect change for me playing-wise, experience-wise, and lifestyle-wise. I'm so excited about it.

"It's unreal, I just can't wait to get going.

"The club is set up for the Premier League. I'm not saying we're going to to be promoted, but that has to be the aim. The set-up here is awesome , the sky's the limit," said the former Argyle captain.

While the facilities may have been top flight standard, the action on the pitch most definitely wasn’t, with the club falling to defeat after defeat that following season, having narrowly avoided relegation the season before.

This time there would be no escape from the inevitable, and after a run of just one win in their final eleven league games of the season, the Saints succumbed to relegation into the third tier.

Injuries were once again hampering Wotton, with just 30 starts across his two seasons at St Mary’s seeing his influence wane, with his performance levels never getting back to what they were before that dreaded day against Hull.

Paul Wotton makes emotional return to Plymouth Argyle

With Southampton unable to get out of League One at the first attempt, the club were more than happy to loan Wotton out for the final season of his contract, first to Oxford United and then Yeovil Town, before joining the Glovers permanently in January 2012.

But one year on, his first love were calling once again; they had tried seeing other people, but it just wasn’t the same, and they wanted their old life back that they once had.

Argyle were in financial dire straits at this time, with the club battling to stay in the Football League after back-to-back relegations, while constant administration issues saw them fighting to keep the club afloat at all.

As times got tough, there was only one man who was going to step up to the firefighting mission, and his name was Paul Anthony Wotton.

However, many aches and pains his legs gave him during that second stint at Home Park, the Argyle stalwart was going to give his all to keep his club in the EFL, and some 15 years on from his debut, he had just as much influence at the Theatre of Greens.

What he lost in mobility he more than made up for in leadership and passion, as he soaked up the anxiety from all of those hardy souls who stuck by the team and turned it into positive energy on the field.

Without him, Argyle would more than likely have fallen through the trapdoor and into the abyss of non-league, and who even knows if they would be functioning in their current guise right now.

Southampton fans wouldn’t believe it, but Paul Wotton is one of the most important players in the Greens’ history: A man who helped drove his hometown club to success, and held onto their arms as they dangled over the cliff edge.

They say if you cut him open he bleeds green and white, and maybe it was that desire to see his boyhood side succeed that brought the best out of him, as he gave his all for the club who loved him just as much.