Plymouth Argyle sour grapes followed remarkable Wycombe Wanderers call | OneFootball

46-year-old Barry Richardson kept a clean sheet for Wycombe Wanderers against Plymouth Argyle in 2016 in a game that sparked bad blood for the clubs.

It's fair to say that Wycombe Wanderers and Plymouth Argyle weren't on the friendliest of terms over the last decade, but how it unfolded was rather bizarre.

It's January 2016, and Wycombe are taking on the Pilgrims at Home Park in a League Two fixture. It's an important clash, with both sides vying for promotion to the third tier. The Chairboys knocked Plymouth out of the play-offs in the previous season, before falling to defeat against Southend United at Wembley, so the Greens were out for revenge.

Gozie Ugwu gave the visitors the lead after three minutes, but disaster struck just 10 minutes later. First-choice goalkeeper Alex Lynch sustained a serious injury, meaning he couldn't carry on. A shortage of goalkeepers meant that Gareth Ainsworth had to name 46-year-old goalkeeping coach Barry Richardson on the bench, who hadn't played a competitive match since November 2005.

However, 'Wild Thing' was left with little choice but to bring Richardson on for the rest of the game. Incredibly, the veteran goalkeeper kept a clean-sheet as Wanderers secured the 1-0 win, becoming the first opposing goalkeeper to not concede at Home Park that season.

This led to a rather bitter response from Argyle, who posted on Twitter that Wycombe came to "waste time, niggle and get under our skin. They did it and they won. See you next week". This rather bizarre game sparked years of dislike between the two clubs.

Barry Richardson's incredible clean sheet in one and only Wycombe game

Richardson joined the Buckinghamshire outfit in 2014. At the age of 43, it was clear he wasn't there to play, but due to a lack of numbers in the squad and financial constraints, the shot-stopper was registered as a player.

Having seen the club narrowly avoid the drop to the National League in 2014, Richardson continued to work with Ainsworth and his goalkeepers, such as Matt Ingram and Ryan Allsop. The veteran often found himself named on the bench in league fixtures for Wycombe though, as they struggled for goalkeepers.

The 30th January 2016 was a day that Richardson would've probably thought wouldn't have ever come. After first-choice Lynch sustained an early injury, the 46-year-old was called upon to play the remaining 80 minutes in a must-win clash with Plymouth. These were his first competitive minutes in over a decade.

Incredibly, Richardson became the first away goalkeeper to keep a clean sheet on the Home Park turf that season, as his side heroically held on to their 1-0 lead. This would be the final action of the keeper's playing career, but what an incredible way to go out.

Tensions were sparked between Plymouth and Wycombe

This match is often seen as the spark of what became a rather fierce disliking between the two teams. The fallout began after the final whistle, as Ainsworth and then Argyle manager, Derek Adams, had an altercation on the touchline. The Wycombe boss was seething with the Scot.

Plymouth's official Twitter account then accused Wycombe of coming to "waste time, niggle and get under our skin". These accusations would become a common theme of Argyle's disliking of the Chairboys, and Wanderers supporters often jokingly refer to January 30th as 'Barry Richardson Day.'

The two clubs have played many times since, with hostilities always remaining. In 2021, well over five years later, Anis Mehmeti tapped his wrist after scoring a brace against Plymouth, in homage to the Pilgrims supporters always referring to Wycombe as time-wasters. It's fair to say that the bizarre January day was the fuel on the fire that would burn for many years to come.

However, since both managers left their respective clubs and Plymouth won promotion to the Championship, it's fair to say that the grudge is long-forgotten by both sets of supporters. Many fans from both clubs will look back on it and laugh at how bizarre the situation was.