Kevin Hodges
Encyclopedia
Kevin Hodges is a retired English footballer and manager who played as a midfielder
, and now works as a coach. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle
of the Football League, where he is the club's all-time appearance record holder. He also played for Torquay United
and went on to become their manager before returning to Plymouth Argyle as manager. After a period in coaching roles elsewhere, he returned to work for Plymouth Argyle where he is currently responsible for managing the youth team.
. He appeared for them in the FA Youth Cup
as a 15 year old before the club scrapped its youth team in 1978 as part of a cost-cutting exercise. He followed one of his former coaches, Bobby Howe
, to Plymouth Argyle
to sign his first professional contract. He would go on to represent the club with distinction for the next fourteen years, making a total of 620 appearances in all competitions, scoring 87 goals.
Hodges is the club's all-time appearance record holder and eighth on the all-time goalscoring record list. He was a member of the Argyle squad which reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup
in 1984. His best campaign came in the 1985–86 season under Dave Smith when the club won promotion
from the Third Division
. Hodges started in all 46 matches and scored 16 goals, an impressive return for a midfielder. In recognition of his performances that year, he won the club's Player of the Year award
.
His service to the club was rewarded early on in the 1987–88 season when a testimonial match
was played in his honour against the club he supported as a child, West Ham United
. Hodges became one of the few players to ever receive a second testimonial match in 1992, against Luton Town
, after fifteen years of service to the club. He was loaned to Torquay United
in January 1992, with first-team opportunities being limited at Home Park
, to help the Gulls in their battle against relegation back to the fourth-tier
of English football. Hodges' final game for Plymouth Argyle came in the Second Division on 20 November 1992, as a substitute against Stockport County
at Edgeley Park
. He was then allowed to rejoin Torquay United on a permanent basis in December 1992, thus ending his fourteen year association with the Pilgrims. He finished his playing career at Plainmoor
, scoring 5 goals in 81 appearances before officially retiring in 1997, in order to focus on coaching.
as first-team manager in the summer of 1996. He guided them to the Third Division Play-off Final in 1998, before returning to Home Park that summer to take up the position of Plymouth Argyle manager, replacing Mick Jones
. His stint as the club's manager was extremely different to the one as a player. The club were in the bottom division of the Football League, one which it was unaccustomed to, yet rather than bounce back up the club achieved mediocre league positions of thirteenth in 1999 and twelfth in 2000. The beginning of the 2000–01 season saw Hodges having to work with a tight budget and a team that needed rebuilding. After losing six of their first ten league games that season, Hodges' reign was brought to an end, and he was replaced by Paul Sturrock
.
Following his dismissal, Hodges spent some time scouting for Wolverhampton Wanderers
before being appointed as a Football Development Officer for the Somerset FA, a role which he continued to honour after being appointed as manager of Clevedon Town
in September 2004. He left in October 2005, with the club top of the Southern League Western Division
, to become an assistant manager to Steven Thompson at Football League One
club Yeovil Town
. He remained at Huish Park
until the appointment of Russell Slade
as the club's manager, and then joined Bristol Rovers
in October 2006 as the club's youth-team manager. Hodges spell with them lasted until June 2008 when he was released from his contract. The decision was made after the club decided to withdraw its youth team from the Football Combination
. Hodges returned to Plymouth Argyle again in October 2008 to work as a part-time coach for the club's Football in the Community Trust project. In September 2010, he assumed responsibility for coaching Argyle's under 18's. As of the start of the 2011–2012 season, while primarily responsible for youth players, Hodges assists first team manager Peter Reid
with reserve team fixtures when required.
Individual
Midfielder
A midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
, and now works as a coach. He spent the majority of his playing career with Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
of the Football League, where he is the club's all-time appearance record holder. He also played for Torquay United
Torquay United F.C.
Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...
and went on to become their manager before returning to Plymouth Argyle as manager. After a period in coaching roles elsewhere, he returned to work for Plymouth Argyle where he is currently responsible for managing the youth team.
Playing career
A winger, Hodges began his career as a schoolboy with local club BournemouthA.F.C. Bournemouth
A.F.C. Bournemouth is an English football club currently playing in Football League One. The club plays at Dean Court in Kings Park, Boscombe, Bournemouth, Dorset and have been in existence since 1899....
. He appeared for them in the FA Youth Cup
FA Youth Cup
The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under–18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part...
as a 15 year old before the club scrapped its youth team in 1978 as part of a cost-cutting exercise. He followed one of his former coaches, Bobby Howe
Bobby Howe (footballer born 1945)
-Career:Howe originally played for West Ham United F.C. youth system before progressing through their ranks and appearing in the first team at the age of 21 in 1966. He played at Upton Park until 1971 when he switched to A.F.C. Bournemouth. He played there until his retirement from league football...
, to Plymouth Argyle
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the...
to sign his first professional contract. He would go on to represent the club with distinction for the next fourteen years, making a total of 620 appearances in all competitions, scoring 87 goals.
Hodges is the club's all-time appearance record holder and eighth on the all-time goalscoring record list. He was a member of the Argyle squad which reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
in 1984. His best campaign came in the 1985–86 season under Dave Smith when the club won promotion
Promotion and relegation
In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...
from the Third Division
Football League Third Division
The Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
. Hodges started in all 46 matches and scored 16 goals, an impressive return for a midfielder. In recognition of his performances that year, he won the club's Player of the Year award
Plymouth Argyle F.C. Player of the Year
Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English association football club based in Plymouth, Devon. Founded in 1886 as Argyle Football Club, they became a professional club in January 1903, and were elected to the Southern League ahead of the 1903–04 season...
.
His service to the club was rewarded early on in the 1987–88 season when a testimonial match
Testimonial match
A testimonial match or testimonial game, often referred to simply as a testimonial, is a practice in some sports, notably football and especially in the United Kingdom, where a club puts on a match in honour of a player for service to the club....
was played in his honour against the club he supported as a child, West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...
. Hodges became one of the few players to ever receive a second testimonial match in 1992, against Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
, after fifteen years of service to the club. He was loaned to Torquay United
Torquay United F.C.
Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...
in January 1992, with first-team opportunities being limited at Home Park
Home Park
Home Park is an all-seater football stadium in the Central Park area of Plymouth, England, and is the home of Football League Two club Plymouth Argyle. The ground, given the nickname the Theatre of Greens by the club's supporters, has been Argyle's permanent residence since 1901...
, to help the Gulls in their battle against relegation back to the fourth-tier
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
of English football. Hodges' final game for Plymouth Argyle came in the Second Division on 20 November 1992, as a substitute against Stockport County
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
at Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park
Edgeley Park is an association football and rugby union stadium in Stockport, England. The stadium was initially built for the rugby league club Stockport in 1901, but by 1902, the rugby club was defunct and in the same year, Stockport County Football Club, who were looking for a bigger ground,...
. He was then allowed to rejoin Torquay United on a permanent basis in December 1992, thus ending his fourteen year association with the Pilgrims. He finished his playing career at Plainmoor
Plainmoor
Plainmoor is a suburb of Torquay, Devon, but is best known as the name of the stadium in which Torquay United Football Club currently play.-History:...
, scoring 5 goals in 81 appearances before officially retiring in 1997, in order to focus on coaching.
Managerial career
Having initially been a player-coach and then youth-team manager at Torquay United, Hodges replaced Eddie MayEddie May
Edwin Charles May is an English former footballer and football manager.May was born in Epping.-Playing career:Eddie May joined Southend United from Dagenham in January 1965, making his league debut later that season. He went on to make 100 league appearances, scoring 3 times for the Shrimpers,...
as first-team manager in the summer of 1996. He guided them to the Third Division Play-off Final in 1998, before returning to Home Park that summer to take up the position of Plymouth Argyle manager, replacing Mick Jones
Mick Jones (footballer born 1947)
Michael "Mick" Jones is a former footballer and is a coach who is employed by Queens Park Rangers as assistant manager to Neil Warnock.-Playing career:...
. His stint as the club's manager was extremely different to the one as a player. The club were in the bottom division of the Football League, one which it was unaccustomed to, yet rather than bounce back up the club achieved mediocre league positions of thirteenth in 1999 and twelfth in 2000. The beginning of the 2000–01 season saw Hodges having to work with a tight budget and a team that needed rebuilding. After losing six of their first ten league games that season, Hodges' reign was brought to an end, and he was replaced by Paul Sturrock
Paul Sturrock
Paul Whitehead Sturrock is a Scottish football manager who, since July 2010, is the manager of Southend United. Until this appointment, Sturrock had most recently been at English League 1 club Plymouth Argyle in a business support role, having been relieved of his managerial duties, until he quit...
.
Following his dismissal, Hodges spent some time scouting for Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
before being appointed as a Football Development Officer for the Somerset FA, a role which he continued to honour after being appointed as manager of Clevedon Town
Clevedon Town F.C.
Clevedon Town Football Club are an English professional football club based in Clevedon, North Somerset. They currently play in the Southern League Division One South & West.-History:...
in September 2004. He left in October 2005, with the club top of the Southern League Western Division
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
, to become an assistant manager to Steven Thompson at Football League One
Football League One
Football League One is the second-highest division of The Football League and third-highest division overall in the English football league system....
club Yeovil Town
Yeovil Town F.C.
Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05...
. He remained at Huish Park
Huish Park
Huish Park is a football ground in the suburbs of Yeovil, Somerset, England and is the home ground of Yeovil Town Football Club. The stadium replaced the club's previous ground, The Huish famous for numerous FA Cup giant-killings was officially opened on 4 August 1990, with a match against then...
until the appointment of Russell Slade
Russell Slade
Russell Slade is an English football manager currently in charge of League One side Leyton Orient.-Notts County:Slade was assistant manager to Mick Walker at Notts County, and took over as caretaker manager when Walker was sacked in September 1994. When County appointed Howard Kendall as manager...
as the club's manager, and then joined Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers F.C.
Bristol Rovers Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Bristol, that competes in Football League Two. The team plays its home matches at the Memorial Stadium, in the Horfield area of the city....
in October 2006 as the club's youth-team manager. Hodges spell with them lasted until June 2008 when he was released from his contract. The decision was made after the club decided to withdraw its youth team from the Football Combination
Football Combination
The Football Combination , is a football competition for the reserve teams of English Football League clubs from Southern England and Wales...
. Hodges returned to Plymouth Argyle again in October 2008 to work as a part-time coach for the club's Football in the Community Trust project. In September 2010, he assumed responsibility for coaching Argyle's under 18's. As of the start of the 2011–2012 season, while primarily responsible for youth players, Hodges assists first team manager Peter Reid
Peter Reid
Peter Reid is an English football manager, pundit and retired player, who is currently without a club since his departure from Plymouth Argyle.A defensive midfielder in his playing days, Reid enjoyed a long and successful career...
with reserve team fixtures when required.
Honours
Plymouth Argyle- Football League Third DivisionFootball League Third DivisionThe Football League Third Division was the 3 tier of English Football from 1920 until 1992 when after the formation of the Football Association Premier League saw the league renamed The Football League Division Two...
- Runner-up (1): 1986–87
Individual
- Plymouth Argyle Player of the YearPlymouth Argyle F.C. Player of the YearPlymouth Argyle Football Club is an English association football club based in Plymouth, Devon. Founded in 1886 as Argyle Football Club, they became a professional club in January 1903, and were elected to the Southern League ahead of the 1903–04 season...
- Winner (1): 1986–87
Career statistics
| Club | Division | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Club Total | International | Total Games | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||||
| Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle F.C. Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the... |
Third | 1978–79 | 12 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 9 | 0 | - | - | 12 | 0 | ||
| Third | 1979–80 | 44 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 54 | 6 | - | - | 54 | 6 | |||
| Third | 1980–81 | 41 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 46 | 5 | - | - | 46 | 5 | |||
| Third | 1981–82 | 46 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 55 | 11 | - | - | 55 | 11 | |||
| Third | 1982–83 | 46 | 11 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 12 | - | - | 52 | 12 | |||
| Third | 1983–84 | 43 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 2 | 60 | 7 | - | - | 60 | 7 | |||
| Third | 1984–85 | 45 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 53 | 10 | - | - | 53 | 10 | |||
| Third | 1985–86 | 46 | 16 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 54 | 16 | - | - | 54 | 16 | |||
| Second | 1986–87 | 35 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 40 | 5 | - | - | 40 | 5 | |||
| Second | 1987–88 | 37 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 7 | - | - | 43 | 7 | |||
| Second | 1988–89 | 31 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 36 | 1 | - | - | 36 | 1 | |||
| Second | 1989–90 | 44 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 49 | 4 | - | - | 49 | 4 | |||
| Second | 1990–91 | 42 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 47 | 3 | - | - | 47 | 3 | |||
| Second | 1991–92 | 14 | 0 | - | - | 1 | 0 | 15 | 0 | - | - | 15 | 0 | |||
| Second | 1992–93 | 4 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 4 | 0 | - | - | 4 | 0 | |||
| Total | 530 | 81 | 39 | 4 | 51 | 2 | 620 | 87 | 0 | 0 | 620 | 87 | ||||
| Torquay United Torquay United F.C. Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley... |
Third | 1991–92 | - | - | ||||||||||||
| Fourth | 1992–93 | - | - | |||||||||||||
| Fourth | 1993–94 | - | - | |||||||||||||
| Fourth | 1994–95 | - | - | |||||||||||||
| Fourth | 1995–96 | - | - | |||||||||||||
| Fourth | 1996–97 | - | - | |||||||||||||
| Total | 68 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 81 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 81 | 5 | ||||
| Career Totals | 598 | 85 | 44 | 4 | 59 | 3 | 701 | 92 | 0 | 0 | 701 | 92 | ||||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||||
| Torquay United Torquay United F.C. Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley... |
 |
August 1996 | June 1998 |
|||||||
| Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle F.C. Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles, five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the... |
|
June 1998 | September 2000 |
|||||||
| Total |
||||||||||