*Indicates unconfirmed information. Figures in brackets after English team names indicate all appearances made and goals scored in competitive matches for Football League clubs from 1888 onwards. For Scottish League clubs the figures show details of all competitive appearances and goals scored from 1946/47 onwards.
Vic Pilcher
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Appearances: 334 Goals: 16
Date / Year of birth: 3rd June 1921
Position: Midfielder
Season of first appearance: 1937/38
Season of last appearance: 1954/55
Also played for: Canterbury Waverley, Notts County (0) and Mansfield Town (0)
Long-serving Thanet-born player known for his lengthy throw-ins who initially joined Margate for the 1937/38 campaign at the time of the Arsenal 'nursery' link-up. Vic made his first team debut in a 7-0 win over Maidstone in a Kent League game at Hartsdown Park on 2.5.38 and he was still almost a month shy of his 17th birthday at the time. He didn't feature in the first team again before Margate folded at the end of the season.
Vic joined Canterbury for the 1938/39 campaign and then guested for Notts County and Mansfield during the Second World War whilst he was serving in the RAF.
After the war Vic returned to Margate when the club was re-formed for the 1946/47 season. He played at centre-back in the first two matches of the campaign before moving into midfield where he was a reliable, solid presence in the side. On 4.1.47 Vic scored his first goal for the club in a 4-2 home win over Sittingbourne in the Kent Senior Cup and he finished the season having scored twice from 35 appearances as Margate won the Kent League title.
Vic started the 1947/48 campaign with a goal in a 5-2 win over Gravesend & Northfleet in a Kent League game at Hartsdown Park on 23.8.47 and continued to be extremely consistent in midfield. He was virtually ever-present and scored five times in 44 appearances. Margate again took the Kent League title and Vic was also part of the sides that won both the Kent League Cup and Kent Senior Shield.
He made a further 39 appearances during 1948/49 to take his tally for the club past 100 and scored just once - a remarkable wind-assisted effort from the halfway line in a 6-1 win over Maidstone in a Kent League match at Hartsdown Park on 18.4.49. Vic was a dynamo in Margate's midfield throughout the season and the local press said he "worked like a Trojan".
Vic was a fixture in the side once more during the 1949/50 campaign and on 24.8.49 he scored with a stunning swerving effort from fully 30 yards in a 5-1 win over Snowdown in a Kent League game at Hartsdown Park. He made 39 appearances during the season and scored once more.
Vic then scored twice from 39 outings during 1950/51 and one of his goals came in a remarkable 6-5 defeat at Sittingbourne in the Kent League on 17.3.51.
During the 1951/52 campaign Vic made his 200th appearance for Margate as he played in 34 of the club's 38 matches. He scored once - in a 6-1 home win over Bowaters Lloyd in the Kent League on 8.12.51.
Vic was virtually ever-present during 1952/53 and scored three times in 38 outings. His third goal came in a 5-0 win over Chatham in a Kent League Cup tie at Hartsdown Park on 6.12.52 and turned out to be the last Vic scored for Margate. He finished the season as part of the side that drew 1-1 with visitors Folkestone on 9.5.53 to share the Kent Senior Shield.
During the 1953/54 campaign Vic continued to be a tower of strength in Margate's midfield and he made a further 37 appearances to take his career tally for the club past 300 - the first player in Margate's history to reach that landmark. In March 1954 Vic became club captain after Jack Yeomanson stepped down from the role and on 6.5.54 he was part of the side that beat Canterbury 5-0 at Hartsdown Park to win the Kent League Cup.
He retained the club captaincy for 1954/55 although Eric Worthington was first team captain. Vic made 29 appearances during the season, starting and finishing the campaign in the senior side after having a spell in the reserves mid-season. On 27.4.55 he played at centre-back as Margate won 2-1 at Chatham in the Kent League and that was Vic's last ever first team outing, almost 17 years after his debut.
He then spent the whole of the 1955/56 campaign in the reserves and by that time Vic was something of a veteran.
The 1956/57 season saw him become manager of the reserves and Vic only played a handful of matches for them. His first campaign in charge was a very successful one as the second string won the Kent League Division 2, the Kent Intermediate Cup and the Kent League Division 2 Cup - an unprecedented treble.
During the early part of the 1957/58 season Vic continued his role as reserve team manager and also made a handful of appearances but in December 1957 he emigrated to Cape Town, South Africa bringing a 20 year association with Margate to an end. In a letter to the club he wrote "To those to whom I have given any pleasure I would like to thank sincerely for the encouragement they have given me. To those whom I have disappointed (and there must have been numerous occasions) I would like to apologise most profusely."
Vic sailed from Southampton to South Africa on the mail ship Athlone Castle and arrived in the country with his wife Helen and eight year-old son John on Boxing Day 1957. Within days Vic started work as a linotype operator on the Cape Times - the morning English language Cape Town newspaper - and during his time with Margate he'd done the same job for the Isle of Thanet Gazette.
Because his job meant working shifts from 6.00 pm to 2.00 am Vic didn't play competitive football in South Africa but did get involved with a club called Green Point where he helped to coach young players. He also sometimes turned out for the Cape Times in matches against a team from the Cape Argus (the evening daily newspaper).
Vic continued to work for the Cape Times until retiring in 1986 at the age of 65, shortly before the paper's print department was closed down and outsourced to another printer. By that time technology had rendered the linotype business obsolete but Vic was able to master the new computer-based technology which replaced it.
During his career he won every medal available in senior Kent Football apart from the Kent Senior Cup and also played for Kent's amateur side in the late 1940's.
A good all-round sportsman, Vic was also a highly-rated seam bowler for Margate Cricket Club and a talented badminton player.
His real first name was actually Edwin and Victor was his middle name.
Vic died in South Africa in the early hours of 11.2.12 at the age of 90 and it was the night of his 69th wedding anniversary.
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1946/47 (MFC) |
35 (38) |
N/A |
2 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (1ST OF 16) |
PR |
2R |
N/A |
SF |
|
Margate
won Kent League title. | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1947/48 (MFC) |
44 (47) |
N/A |
5 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (1ST OF 18) |
1QR |
1R |
W |
W |
|
|
Margate
won Kent League title. Played in Kent League Cup Final (06.05.48 - beat Ramsgate Athletic 2-1). Played in Kent Senior Shield Final (08.05.48 - beat Gravesend & Northfleet 4-1). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1948/49 (MFC) |
39 (41) |
N/A |
1 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (10TH OF 18) |
PR |
2R |
2R |
1R |
|
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1949/50 (MFC) |
39 (40) |
N/A |
2 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (6TH OF 17) |
EPR |
1R |
2R |
SF |
|
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1950/51 (MFC) |
39 (41) |
N/A |
2 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (6TH OF 17) |
EPR |
1R |
2R |
RU |
|
Played in Kent
Senior Shield Final (12.05.51 - lost 2-0 to Folkestone Town). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1951/52 (MFC) |
34 (38) |
N/A |
1 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (4TH OF 17) |
1QR |
2R |
1R |
N/A |
|
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1952/53 (MFC) |
38 (43) |
N/A |
3 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (11TH OF 17) |
PR |
2R |
RU |
JW |
|
Played in Kent
Senior Shield Final (09.05.53 - drew 1-1 with Folkestone to share
trophy). Played in Kent League Cup Final (06.05.53 - lost 2-0 to Tunbridge Wells). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1953/54 (MFC) |
37 (40) |
N/A |
0 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (2ND OF 16) |
2QR |
1R |
W |
1R |
|
Played in Kent
League Cup Final (01.05.54 - drew 3-3 with Canterbury
City). Played in Kent League Cup Final replay (06.05.54 - beat Canterbury City 5-0). | |||||||||
|
SEASON (CLUB) |
FULL (MAX) |
SUB |
GLS |
|
FAC |
KSC |
KLC |
KSS |
|
|
1954/55 (MFC) |
29 (46) |
N/A |
0 |
KENT LEAGUE DIVISION ONE (5TH OF 17) |
2QR |
2R |
RU |
RU |
|