Exeter City and Plymouth Argyle transfer worked out well for all parties despite initial backlash | OneFootball

Jamie Mackie caused controversy when he handed in a transfer request to join Plymouth from Exeter but it worked out well for all parties.

It's not often players move from Exeter City to Plymouth Argyle, but a few brave souls have taken the leap.

The bitter Devon rivals have shared a fair few players over the years, but there's normally been other clubs and a bit of time in-between.

Joel Grant is the most recent player to make the move directly from St James Park to Home Park, but he wasn't much of a loss for the Grecians and left on a free transfer.

The most famous this century was undoubtedly Jamie Mackie's controversial move across the county back in January of 2008.

The former Scotland international joined City from the newly-formed MK Dons in 2005 as a long-term project and made 24 appearances and scored three goals for Exeter in the Conference in his first year.

His second campaign brought five goals in 43 appearances before he really took off in 2007/08.

After being a bit-part player he suddenly became the main man at Exeter and scored 11 goals in 24 games, with all of them coming in a 12-game burst leading into the January transfer window.

Mackie's form drew EFL attention

Mackie was out of contract in the summer of 2008 and suddenly started attracting interest after two fairly-mediocre seasons.

It meant City's faith in him, and the effort they had put into his development, was rewarded by the forward handing in a transfer request to force through a move to their most bitter rivals.

In the end, City agreed a £145,000 fee with Argyle for Mackie, and he duly jumped ship in what was a wildly controversial move at the time.

His red-hot form was highlighted by a brilliant brace on debut for Argyle and Plymouth fans must have thought they'd struck gold.

However, he wasn't able to continue that purple-patch in front of goal, though he was a useful and reliable player for Argyle in the Championship for two-and-a-half years, finishing his final campaign as their top scorer with eight as they were relegated to League One amid growing financial problems.

Mackie transfer worked out for all involved

In the end, it was a good deal for all involved. Mackie got his move to a good level and was able to play week in week out, amassing 16 goals in 88 games for the Green Army.

The jump up in standard was the basis for a career that also took in international and Premier League football, and he's now enjoying a post-playing new career on our TVs as an EFL pundit.

Exeter would have been pleased to get a six-figure sum for a player they picked up for nothing who had scored a bagful of goals to help drive their charge towards promotion back into the EFL via the play-offs in 2008.

While the sands of time look kindly on the deal, failure to gain promotion back into the EFL in 2008 would have certainly raised a lot of questions and everyone would have been asking why the club didn't force him to stay.

When Mackie retired in 2020, he had racked up close to 500 appearances and scored 77 goals in a career that took in everything from the non-league to the top flight, though it was his time in the West Country that set him on his way.