Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle

Full name	Plymouth Argyle Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Pilgrims
Founded	1886, as Argyle F.C.
Ground	Home Park, Plymouth
Capacity	16,388
Owner	James Brent
Chairman	James Brent
Manager	John Sheridan
League	League Two
2012–13	League Two, 21st
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Plymouth, Devon, that plays in Football League Two.

Since becoming professional in 1903, the club has won five Football League titles (one Division Two and two Division Three), five Southern League titles and one Western League title. The 2009–10 season was the club's 42nd in the second tier of English football. The team set the record for most championships won in the third tier, having finished first in the Third Division South twice, the Third Division once and the Second Division once.

The club takes its nickname, "The Pilgrims", from an English religious group that left Plymouth for the New World in 1620. The club crest features the Mayflower, the ship that carried the pilgrims to Massachusetts. The city of Plymouth is the largest in England never to have hosted top-flight football. They are the most southern and western League club in England.

History

Main article: History of Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Stadium

Outside view of the Devonport Stand

Main article: Home Park

The original ground of the professional club at Home Park was destroyed by German bombers during the Blitz on Plymouth in World War II. Having been rebuilt after the war, Home Park was largely demolished as part of an extensive process of renovation, and the first phase of a new stadium built by Barrs plc was completed in May 2002. The new Devonport End was opened for the 2001 Boxing Day fixture with Torquay United. The other end, the Barn Park End, opened on the same day. The Lyndhurst stand reopened on 26 January 2002 for the game against Oxford United. Plans are currently under discussion regarding the completion of the refurbishment of the ground with the replacement of the Mayflower stand. The ground is situated in Central Park, very near to the residential area of Peverell. Towards the end of the 2005–06 Championship season, the club decided to buy the stadium for £2.7 million from Plymouth City Council, releasing the ground from a 125-year lease. This purchase was concluded in December 2006.

In the summer of 2007, the club, having failed to persuade the UK authorities of the case for retaining a standing terrace, decided to add 3,500 temporary seats to the Mayflower enclosure, dropping the capacity to just under 20,000 from 20,922 (an exact figure is not yet available). In December 2009 it was announced that the stadium was to be one of 12 chosen to host matches during the World Cup 2018, should England's bid be successful. The then Argyle chairman Paul Stapleton stated that work on a new South Stand at Home Park would start in 2010. However, England failed to be chosen for the 2018 tournament, and Plymouth Argyle entered administration in March 2011. After selling the stadium back to the council on 14 October 2011 for £1.6 million, this project was in serious doubt.

The club was then taken over by local business owner James Brent, who submitted fresh plans to build a new Mayflower Grandstand with a 5,000 seating capacity, and an associated leisure complex. The plans include an Ice Rink with 1,500 spectator seats, 10 screen cinema complex with an iMax screen, 120 bedroom hotel, 4,200m sq retail units (A1 and A3). Planning permission for the project was granted on August 15, 2013. The development is due to commence in September 2013, with demolition of the old stand planned for late October 2013.

Rivalries

Further information: West Country derby

The club's traditional rivals are fellow Devon sides Exeter City and Torquay United; other rivalries exist with Bristol City, Bristol Rovers and Portsmouth (the Plymouth–Portsmouth game is known as the Dockyard Derby). Although the rivalry with Exeter City has been blunted for a while due to a difference in divisions, Argyle's relegation into League One, coupled with Exeter City's survival, reignited the tensions. A distinct rivalry arose between Argyle and Luton Town after inflammatory comments made by Joe Kinnear who was manager of the Hatters during the 2001–02 promotion season, although this mutual antipathy has now somewhat abated. Similarly, after the departure of Ian Holloway to Leicester City in November 2007 a noticeable mutual dislike arose, culminating in Argyle's 0–1 victory at the Walkers Stadium in early February 2008 although this mutual antipathy has now similarly subsided. In the 1990s, Argyle had a rivalry with Burnley as the Clarets beat them in a Division Two (now League One) play-off semi-final in 1994, and relegated them on the last day of the season four years later. However, the rivalry has subsided over the past few years, especially after Burnley's promotion to the Premier League in 2009.

Players

Current squad

As of 17 March 2014.

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

No.	Position	Player	Nation
1	GK	Jake Cole	England
2	DF	Durrell Berry	England
4	DF	Maxime Blanchard	France
6	MF	Conor Hourihane	Ireland
7	FW	Lewis Alessandra	England
8	MF	Romuald Boco	Benin
9	FW	Reuben Reid (on loan from Yeovil Town)	England
10	FW	Marvin Morgan	England
11	MF	Dominic Blizzard	England
14	MF	Luke Young	England
15	MF	Paul Wotton	England
16	DF	Neal Trotman	England
17	DF	Curtis Nelson	England
18	FW	Tyler Harvey	England
19	MF	Nathan Thomas	England
20	MF	Jason Banton	England
21	FW	Matt Lecointe	England
23	GK	Luke McCormick	England
25	DF	Ben Purrington	England
26	DF	Matthew Parsons	England
27	MF	Andres Gurrieri	Argentina
28	FW	Tope Obadeyi (on loan from Bury)	England
30	MF	Ryan Lane	England
31	GK	Andrew Hannah	England
32	GK	Cameron Dawson (on loan from Sheffield Wednesday)	England

Out on loan

No.	Position	Player	Nation
22	DF	Jamie Richards (at Weymouth)	England
24	MF	Isaac Vassell (at Weymouth)	England

Retired numbers

• 12 – The Green Army (supporters)

Reserves

The club's reserve team, up to the end of the 2010–11 season, played in the Football Combination. The club also entered a team in the South Western League, but withdrew from that competition after one season in 2007. The club confirmed their withdrawal from the Football Combination on 27 June, alongside 18 other Football League clubs. The club will now arrange reserve fixtures on dates of their choice, rather than follow a fixture list.

The reserves' honours include the Southern League Championship in 1922, 1926, 1929, 1934 and its League Cup in 1933, 1934 and 1936; 1934 was the first Southern League Double.

Player of the Year

Main article: Plymouth Argyle F.C. Player of the Year

Year	Winner
1966	Johnny Newman
1967	Norman Piper
1968	Pat Dunne
1969	David Burnside
1970	Derek Rickard
1971	Jim Furnell
1972	Dave Provan
1973	Neil Hague
1974	Ernie Machin
1975	Paul Mariner
1976	Paul Mariner
1977	Neil Ramsbottom

Year	Winner
1978	George Foster
1979	Fred Binney
1980	George Foster
1981	David Kemp
1982	John Sims
1983	Gordon Nisbet
1984	Gordon Staniforth
1985	Tommy Tynan
1986	Kevin Hodges
1987	Tommy Tynan
1988	Steve Cherry
1989	Tommy Tynan

Year	Winner
1990	Nicky Marker
1991	Kenny Brown
1992	Dwight Marshall
1993	Steve McCall
1994	Steve McCall
1995	Marc Edworthy
1996	Mick Heathcote
1997	Chris Billy
1998	Martin Barlow
	Carlo Corazzin
1999	Mick Heathcote
2000	Paul McGregor

Year	Winner
2001	Wayne O'Sullivan
2002	Graham Coughlan
2003	Paul Wotton
2004	Mickey Evans
2005	Paul Wotton
2006	David Norris
2007	Lilian Nalis
2008	Krisztián Timár
2009	Romain Larrieu
2010	Carl Fletcher
2011	Carl Fletcher
2012	Maxime Blanchard
2013	Onismor Bhasera

Noted former players

Main article: List of Plymouth Argyle F.C. players

For details on former players who have a Wikipedia article, see: Category:Plymouth Argyle F.C. players.

Team of the century

For the centenary celebrations, an all time best team of Plymouth Argyle players was chosen by fans of the club.

1	GK	ENG	Jim Furnell
2	DF	ENG	Gordon Nisbet
3	DF	ENG	Jack Chisholm
4	DF	EIR	Graham Coughlan
5	DF	ENG	Colin Sullivan
6	MF	ENG	Ernie Machin
7	MF	ENG	Kevin Hodges
8	MF	ENG	Johnny Williams
9	FW	ENG	Paul Mariner
10	FW	ENG	Tommy Tynan
11	MF	SCO	Sammy Black &
—	MF	ENG	Garry Nelson

Manager: Paul Sturrock

World Cup players

The following players were chosen to represent their country at the FIFA World Cup while contracted to Plymouth Argyle.

• George Baker (1958)
• Rory Fallon (2010)

Club officials

Boardroom positions

Position	Name	Nationality
Chairman/Owner:	James Brent	English
Chief Executive:	Martyn Starnes	English
Director:	David Felwick CBE	English
Director:	Peter Jones	English
Director:	Richard Holliday	English
Director:	Tony Wrathall	English
Non-executive Director:	Colin Sexstone	English

Coaching positions

First Team

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	John Sheridan	Irish
Assistant Manager:	Gary Owers	English
First Team Coach:	Sean McCarthy	Welsh
Performance Manager:	John Harbin	Australian
Goalkeeping Coach:	Rhys Wilmot	Welsh
Head Physio:	Paul Atkinson	English
Chief Scout:	Darren Sheridan	English

Youth Team/Academy

Position	Name	Nationality
Head of Youth:	Kevin Hodges	English
Development Coach:	Shaun Taylor	English
First team Player/Coach:	Paul Wotton	English
Coach:	Ian Stonebridge	English
Coach:	Phil Stokes	English
Physio:	Tom Hunter	English
Youth Development Officer:	John James	English
Chief Scout:	Peter Distin	English

Managerial history

Main article: List of Plymouth Argyle F.C. managers

• 1903 Frank Brettell
• 1905 Bob Jack
• 1906 William Fullarton
• 1907 Committee
• 1910 Bob Jack
• 1938 Jack Tresadern
• 1947 Jimmy Rae
• 1955 Jack Rowley
• 1960 Neil Dougall

• 1961 Ellis Stuttard
• 1963 Andy Beattie
• 1964 Malcolm Allison
• 1965 Derek Ufton
• 1968 Billy Bingham
• 1970 Ellis Stuttard
• 1972 Tony Waiters
• 1977 Mike Kelly
• 1978 Malcolm Allison

• 1979 Bobby Saxton
• 1981 Bobby Moncur
• 1983 Johnny Hore
• 1984 Dave Smith
• 1988 Ken Brown
• 1990 David Kemp
• 1992 Peter Shilton
• 1995 Steve McCall
• 1995 Neil Warnock

• 1997 Mick Jones
• 1998 Kevin Hodges
• 2000 Paul Sturrock
• 2004 Bobby Williamson
• 2005 Tony Pulis
• 2006 Ian Holloway
• 2007 Paul Sturrock
• 2009 Paul Mariner
• 2010 Peter Reid
• 2011 Carl Fletcher
• 2013 John Sheridan

Honours

Plymouth Argyle's list of honours include the following.

Honour	Number	Years
League
Football League Second Division Champions	1	2003–04
Football League Third Division Champions	2	1958–59, 2001–02
Football League Third Division Runners-up	2	1974–75, 1985–86
Football League Third Division South Champions	2	1929–30, 1951–52
Football League Third Division South Runners-up	6	1921–22, 1922–23, 1923–24, 1924–25, 1925–26, 1926–27
Football League Third Division Play-off Winners	1	1995–96
Southern Football League Champions	1	1912–13
Southern Football League Runners-up	2	1907–08, 1911–12
Western Football League Champions	1	1904–05
Western Football League B Runners-up	1	1906–07
South West Regional League Champions	1	1939–40
Domestic Cups
FA Cup Semi-finalist	1	1983–84
FA Cup Quarter-finalist	1	2006–07
Football League Cup Semi-finalist	2	1964–65, 1973–74

Records

Main articles: List of Plymouth Argyle F.C. records and statistics and List of Plymouth Argyle F.C. results by opponent

Club records

• Record attendance at Home Park: 43,596
  • vs Aston Villa, Second Division, 10 October 1936.

• Joint Record victory: 8–1
  • vs Millwall, Second Division, 16 January 1932, Home Park.
  • vs Hartlepool United, Second Division, 7 May 1994, Victoria Park.
• Joint Record victory: 7–0
  • vs Chesterfield, Second Division, 3 January 2004, Home Park.
• Record League defeat: 0–9
  • vs Stoke City, Second Division, 17 December 1960.

• Record FA Cup victory: 6–0
  • vs Corby Town, FA Cup Third round, 22 January 1966.

• Record FA Cup defeat: 1–7
  • vs Tottenham Hotspur, FA Cup First round Replay, 19 January 1910.

• Record League Cup victory: 4–0
  • vs Portsmouth, League Cup Second round, 9 October 1973.

• Record League Cup defeat: 0–6
  • vs West Ham United, League Cup Second round, 26 September 1962.

• Most League points (2 for a win): 68
  • Third Division South, 1929–30.

• Most League points (3 for a win): 102
  • Third Division, 2001–02.

• Fewest League points (2 for a win): 27
  • Second Division, 1967–68.

• Fewest League points (3 for a win): 41
  • Championship, 2009–10.

• Most League goals: 107
  • Third Division South, 1925–26.
  • Third Division South, 1951–52.

• Most goals in a season: 33
  • Jack Cock Third Division South, 1926–27.

• Most goals in one match: 5
  • Wilf Carter vs Charlton Athletic, Second Division, 27 December 1960.

• Fastest five goals
  • Argyle defeated Chesterfield 7–0 at Home Park to record their joint biggest win. In the process they also broke the English record for the fastest five goals scored in a professional game–after just 17 minutes. The goalscorers were: Lee Hodges (4 minutes), Tony Capaldi (11 minutes), Nathan Lowndes (12 & 17 minutes) and David Friio (16 minutes). Friio went on to complete his hat-trick, scoring in the 36th and 89th minutes. Football League Second Division, 3 January 2004.

Seasons

Main article: List of Plymouth Argyle F.C. seasons

Most appearances

Bold indicates still playing for the club.

#	Name	Argyle career	Appearances	Goals
1	Kevin Hodges	1978–1992	620	87
2	Sammy Black	1924–1938	491	184
3	Paul Wotton	1995–2008 2012–	482	64
4	Fred Craig	1912–1915 1919–1930	467	5
5	Johnny Williams	1955–1966	448	55
6=	Johnny Hore	1965–1975	441	17
6=	Pat Jones	1947–1958	441	2
8	Michael Evans	1990–1997 2001–2006	432	81
9	Jack Leslie	1921–1934	401	136
10	Moses Russell	1914–1915 1919–1930	400	6

Most goals

#	Name	Argyle career	Goals	Appearances	Goal/game ratio
1	Sammy Black	1924–1938	184	491	0.374
2	Wilf Carter	1957–1964	148	275	0.538
3	Tommy Tynan	1983–1985 1986–1990	145	310	0.467
4	Jack Leslie	1921–1934	136	401	0.339
5	Maurice Tadman	1947–1955	112	253	0.442
6	Jack Vidler	1929–1939	103	256	0.402
7	Fred Burch	1906–1915	92	239	0.384
8	Kevin Hodges	1978–1992	87	620	0.140
9	Ray Bowden	1927–1933	85	153	0.555
10=	George Dews	1947–1955	81	271	0.298
10=	Mickey Evans	1990–1997 2001–2006	81	432	0.187

Sponsorship

The club's current sportswear manufacturer is Puma, having signed a contract in 2011 to take over from Adidas. The club's main sponsor is WH Bond & Sons, a company specialising in agriculture, who signed an agreement to sponsor the club in the summer of 2011 to take over from Ginsters. Shirt sponsorship was not introduced by the club until 1983. Beacon Electrical were the first company to have their name on the shirt of Plymouth Argyle, but it lasted just one season. Ivor Jones Insurance was the next sponsor and their agreement with the club lasted for two seasons. National & Provincial (now merged with Abbey National) were sponsors for the 1986–87 season before the club signed an agreement with the Sunday Independent which would last for five seasons. Rotolok Holdings plc became the club's major sponsor in 1992, which was owned by then Pilgrims chairman Dan McCauley. This lasted for six seasons before the club linked up with local newspaper the Evening Herald. This would last until 2002 when the club accepted a deal put to them by successful local pastry firm Ginsters.

Period	Sportswear	Sponsor
1975–1976	Umbro	None
1976–1978	Pilgrim
1978–1980	Bukta
1980–1982	Adidas
1982–1983	Pilgrim
1983–1984		Beacon Electrical
1984–1986		Ivor Jones Insurance
1986–1987		National & Provincial
1987–1990	Umbro	Sunday Independent
1990–1992	Ribero
1992–1996	Admiral	Rotolok
1996–1998	Super League
1998–1999	Errea	Evening Herald
1999–2002	Patrick
2002–2003		Ginsters
2003–2005	TFG
2005–2009	Puma
2009–2011	Adidas
2011–	Puma	WH Bond

See also

• West Country derby

References and notes

Special thanks to BBC Devon: http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/devon/hi/people_and_places/history/newsid_8303000/8303515.stm

External links

• Official website
• Plymouth Argyle archive
• Plymouth Argyle at the Football League official website
• BBC Sport – Club news – Recent results – Upcoming fixtures – Club statistics
• Sky Sports – Club news – Fixtures & results – Club statistics – Video
• ESPN – Club news – Fixtures & results – Club statistics – Squad statistics