Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Plymouth Albion
Full name	Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club
Founded	1875
Location	Plymouth, England
Ground(s)	The Brickfields
Coach(es)	Nat Saumi
League(s)	RFU Championship
2010–11	10th
Official website
	www.plymouthalbion.com

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Coordinates: 50°22′15.78″N 4°10′13.12″W / 50.37105°N 4.1703111°W / 50.37105; -4.1703111

Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The club was founded around 1915 from a merger between Plymouth RFC and Devonport Albion RFC. Since 2003 they have played their home games at The Brickfields stadium.

Albion's traditional strip and club colours are white, strawberry (red or cherry) and green.

[edit] Plymouth RFC

Formed 1875, the club played at South Devon Place.

In 1912, the Northern Union attempted to form a Western League of clubs in Devon and Cornwall. Huddersfield beat Oldham 31-26 in an exhibition game at South Devon Place in front of 8,000 spectators and as a result a meeting was held and the Plymouth Northern Union club was formed.

In July, the Northern Union club took over South Devon Place and as a result Plymouth RFC disbanded, later to re-emerge as part of a merger with Devonport Albion to become Plymouth Albion.

[edit] Devonport Albion RFC

Albion was formed in 1876 from apprentices at Devonport Dockyard and originally played at Devonport Park. After moving to Bladderly in 1887 they then moved to Home Park in 1893. The club stayed at Home Park for one season only, returning to Bladderley Lane in 1894, then, in 1896, Albion took a 14-year lease of Rectory grounds,^[1] (the current home of Devonport Services R.F.C.).

[edit] Current club

At match between Plymouth Albion and Cornish Pirates at the The Brickfields in 2007

The current club continued at the Rectory until an enforced move in 1957 to Beacon Park. In 2003, they moved from the run-down Beacon Park ground to a considerably more modern ground, The Brickfields, in Devonport. The Brickfields also has an adjacent athletics stadium.

Albion were a major force in English rugby union in the 1920s having five internationals on their books at one time. Around this time they attracted a crowd of 18,000 to a midweek game against Oxford University which established a record crowd for a club match in England which was not exceeded until the 1980s.

They were promoted to National Division One in 2002, and finished third in the 2003/04 season. Observers say it was Plymouth Albion's best position nationally since the 1920s. On their way to promotion, the team went on a two season unbeaten streak of over 50 games, starting when the club was in Division Three South and ending after their promotion to National Division One.

The major local rivals are Exeter Chiefs who also have an impressive new stadium at Sandy Park perched above the services junction of the M5. Devon local derbies have become major popular events. Together these clubs have reinvigorated the passion for rugby in the county.

[edit] Current Standings

2011-12 RFU Championship Table

watch · edit · discuss

Club

Played

Won

Drawn

Lost

Points For

Points Against

Points Difference

Bonus Points

Points

1

Bristol

22

17

0

5

615

386

229

13

81

2

Bedford Blues

22

14

1

7

640

476

164

16

74

3

Cornish Pirates

22

14

3

5

606

464

142

12

74

4

London Welsh

22

13

2

7

528

432

96

11

67

5

Nottingham

22

12

2

8

599

465

134

10

62

6

Leeds Carnegie

22

13

1

8

470

505

-35

6

60

7

Rotherham Titans

22

11

1

10

469

431

38

11

57

8

Doncaster Knights

22

9

2

11

467

524

-57

10

50

9

London Scottish

22

6

0

16

422

543

-121

10

34

10

Moseley

22

6

1

15

445

634

-189

7

33

11

Plymouth Albion

22

6

0

16

362

528

-166

6

30

12

Esher

22

4

1

17

376

611

-235

5

23

If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:

Number of matches won
Difference between points for and against
Total number of points for
Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled

Green background are promotion play-off places. Pink background are relegation play-off places.

[edit] Current squad

Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under IRB eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-IRB nationality.

Player	Position	Union
Chey Bryce	Hooker	England
Gareth Evans	Hooker	England
Rupert Freestone	Hooker	England
Ryan Hopkins	Prop	England
Mark Manton	Prop	England
David Morton	Prop	Scotland
Jordan Patey	Prop	England
Dan Collier	Lock	England
Tyler Hotson	Lock	Canada
Owain Lloyd	Flanker	Wales
Wayne Sprangle	Flanker	England
Sean-Michael Stephen (c)	Flanker	Canada
Jamie Tripcony	Flanker	England
Aaron Carpenter	Number 8	Canada

Player	Position	Union
John Broadley	Scrum-half	England
Ruairi Cushion	Scrum-half	Ireland
Alex Jeffery	Scrum-half	England
Bevon Armitage	Centre	England
Kenni Fisilau	Centre	Tonga
Cameron Mitchell	Centre	Scotland
Jamie O'Gallagher	Centre	England
Steve Johns	Wing	England
Tyson Lewis	Wing	England
Fionn McLoughlin	Wing	Ireland
Mark Lee	Fullback	England
Nat Saumi	Fullback	Fiji
Max Venables	Fullback	England