Ronnie Mauge Becomes Argyle Ambassador
The man who scored one of the most famous goals in Argyle history has become a club ambassador.
Ronnie Mauge wrote himself into Argyle folklore when he headed home Mark Patterson’s cross in the 65th minute of the match on a glorious day at Wembley Stadium, as Argyle beat Darlington in the 1996 Third Division play-off final and won promotion.
It was Argyle’s first visit to Wembley, and Ronnie’s header remains our only goal at the stadium. More than 30,000 members of the Green Army mobilised to the capital that day, and for anyone who was there, it became a day they would never forget.
That includes Mauge.
“I’m delighted to be joining Plymouth Argyle as a club ambassador,” he said. “The love and respect I have for this great club is no secret. We hold a love and history together that will forever be in my heart.”
Mauge was signed by Neil Warnock, from Bury, in the summer of 1995. Ronnie had begun his career at Charlton Athletic, soon moving to Fulham, where he made his professional debut.
He had a brief loan spell with Manchester City whilst a Bury player, before he came to Devon for arguably the most successful period of his career.
Ronnie pulled on the green and white 158 times, scoring 18 goals, and even had he not scored the famous Wembley goal, would still likely have been a firm fans’ favourite for his combative, energetic displays in the heart of Argyle’s midfield.
One of those performances was against Bristol Rovers, where Mauge seemingly had a running battle with Rovers midfielder Ian Holloway. Not long after that, Holloway took over at Rovers manager, and very quickly signed Mauge, obviously recognising the battling qualities he saw in himself.
Ronnie played eight times for Trinidad and Tobago, including some games as the Soca Warriors reached the semi-final of the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament.
Mauge has frequently been seen at Argyle matches, including our more recent trip to Wembley, supporting his old club, and part of his new role will be to attend games in the South East, where he now lives. His first fixture as an Argyle official took place last week, as the Greens faced off against another of his former clubs, Charlton, at the Valley.
It is fitting that he will be seen at Argyle away matches, as this season’s away kit is modelled on the strip that Mauge and his team-mates wore on that day in May, 26 years ago.
If the class of 2022/23 could come anywhere close to emulating the class of 1996, no-one would be cheering louder than Ronnie.
