Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle

Full name	Plymouth Argyle Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Pilgrims[1]
Founded	1886 (1886), as Argyle F.C.
Ground	Home Park
Capacity	12,800 [2]
Owner	Simon Hallett
Chairman	James Brent
Manager	Derek Adams
League	League One
2017–18	League One, 7th of 24
Website	Club website
Home colours Away colours

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. The club competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system, following promotion from League Two in the 2016–17 season. It is one of two clubs in Devon currently competing in the Football League, the other being Exeter City, Argyle's local rivals.

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 club have predominantly played in green and white throughout their history, with a few exceptions in the late 1960s and early 1970s when white was the colour of choice. A darker shade of green, described as 'Argyle green', was adopted in the 2001-02 season, and has been used ever since.^[3] The city of Plymouth is the largest in England never to have hosted top-flight football. They are the most southerly and westerly League club in England.

Name

Much speculation surrounds the origin of the name Argyle. One explanation is that the club was named after the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, an army regiment with a strong football side of its own. Another theory is given by the local geography–suggesting the name comes either from the nearby public house, The Argyle Tavern, where the founder members may have met, or from a local street Argyle Terrace.^[4]

The club adopted its current name when it became fully professional in 1903.

History

The club was founded in 1886 as Argyle Football Club, the first match taking place on 16 October 1886.

Chart of table positions of Plymouth Argyle in the Football League

The club was disbanded 1894, before being resurrected in 1897 as one part of a general sports club, the Argyle Athletic Club.^[5] The club joined the Southern League, effectively the English 3rd tier, in 1903 becoming professional in the process. Argyle won the Southern League in 1912-13, then in 1920-21 entered the Football League Third Division as a founder member along with most of the Southern League, where they finished 11th in their first season.

Between 1921–22 and 1926–27, Argyle finished second in the new Third Division South six seasons in a row, thereby missing promotion. Argyle eventually won promotion to Football League Division Two in 1929–30, when they topped the Third Division South, with attendances that season regularly reaching 20,000. Manager Bob Jack resigned in 1937, having spent a grand total of 27 years in charge of the Pilgrims.

Argyle's 20-year stay in Division Two came to an end in 1949-50 after finishing 21st, - two points short of survival. They were back in Division Two before long, after winning the Third Division South in 1951-52. The closest they ever came to playing in the Football League First Division (top tier) was in 1952–53, when they reached fourth place in the Football League Second Division, their highest finish to date. They were relegated again in 1955-56, just 3 points behind Notts County. The Pilgrim's reputation as a 'yo-yo club' continued after they won Division Three–by now a national league–in 1958-59. Argyle returned to Division Three after relegation in 1967-68.

After spending six years in Division Three, Argyle finally returned to Division Two in 1974–75, however they were back down again in 1976-77.

Since then, the team has wavered between the 2nd and 3rd tier, before being double relegated in 2010-11, directly due to insolvency as they were deducted the 10 points that they needed for survival. The club returned to the 3rd tier after finishing second in 2016-17.

On 14 August 2018 it was announced that shareholder Simon Hallett had purchased part of James Brent's stake in the club and had become the new majority shareholder and owner of the club, while former director David Felwick would return to the club as Chairman, with Brent set to step down on 31 October 2018.^[6]

Stadium

Outside view of the Devonport Stand

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^[7] of the case for retaining a standing terrace, decided to add 3,500 temporary seats to the Mayflower enclosure,^[8] 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.^[9] 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,^[10] 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, a 10 screen cinema complex with an iMax screen, a 120 bedroom hotel and 4,200m sq retail units. Planning permission for the project was granted on 15 August 2013. The development was due to commence in September 2013, with demolition of the old stand planned for late October 2013 after the Portsmouth home match. As of June 2015 the plans have been withdrawn, though planning permission still remains.

The family section of the stadium was moved from block 1 of the Devonport End to the 'Zoo corner' between the Lyndhurst Stand and the Barn Park End, with a kids activities zone in the concourse.^[11]

In January 2017, director Simon Hallett invested £5,000,000 into the club, along with all other directors exchanging previous loans into equity, with the intention on using the money for renovating the Mayflower Grandstand. No immediate timeframe was put on the renovations, but chairman James Brent indicated work is planned to start in 2018, finishing in 2020 ahead of the Plymouth 2020 Mayflower celebrations.^[12]

Later that month, temporary seating was once again put in place on the Grandstand, this time as a one-off for an FA Cup 3rd round replay vs Liverpool.^[13] The seating was kept in place for the next home match, a League 2 game vs Devon rivals Exeter City, but tickets were not on sale to the general public. Shortly after this game, the seating was removed.^[14]

Rivalries

The club's traditional rivals are fellow Devon sides Exeter City and Torquay United; other rivalries exist with Bristol City, Bristol Rovers, Cheltenham Town and Portsmouth. The rivalry with Portsmouth was heightened in May 2016, when the two teams met in the League 2 play off semi final, of which Argyle prevailed. The play-offs have also sprung up a mutual disliking of Wycombe Wanderers, after the 2014–15 play off loss.^[15]

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.^[16]

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 2014.

Players

Current squad

As of 29 August 2018^[17]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Matt Macey (on loan from Arsenal) 2 DF Joe Riley 3 DF Gary Sawyer (captain) 4 DF Yann Songo'o 5 DF Ryan Edwards 6 MF Jamie Ness 7 MF Antoni Sarcevic 8 MF David Fox (vice-captain) 9 FW Ryan Taylor 10 MF Graham Carey 11 MF Rúben Lameiras 13 MF Stuart O'Keefe (on loan from Cardiff City)

No. Position Player 14 DF Niall Canavan 15 MF Conor Grant 16 FW Joel Grant 17 MF Lionel Ainsworth 18 FW Calum Dyson 19 FW Freddie Ladapo 20 MF Gregg Wylde 21 GK Kyle Letheren 22 DF Tafari Moore 23 DF Ashley Smith-Brown 24 DF Peter Grant 25 DF Scott Wootton

Reserve Squad

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.^[19] Argyle had earlier withdrawn from the Combination in mid-season in 1981–82, for financial reasons.

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.^[20]

For the 2015–16 season, Argyle entered a team into the South West Peninsula League Division One West, with matches played at Seale-Hayne, dubbed 'Hodges Park' after club legend Kevin Hodges, outside Newton Abbot.^[21] The side consists mainly of U-18 players, but occasionally includes senior players who are not getting first team football or who are returning from injury.^[22]

After applying for promotion and finishing 2nd behind Mousehole, the reserves side were promoted to the Premier Division for the 2016–17 season. The team started playing their games at the home of the Devon FA, Coach Road, in Newton Abbot^[23] and finished 6th in 2016–17.

As of 15 May 2018^[24]

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

No. Position Player 28 DF Jordan Bentley 29 FW Alex Fletcher 30 FW Alex Battle 31 GK Michael Cooper 32 DF Harry Hodges

No. Position Player 33 FW Luke Jephcott 34 DF Ryan Law 35 MF Dan Rooney 36 MF Cameron Sangster

Apprentices

As of 15 May 2018^[25][26]

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

No. Position Player 1 GK Max Childs (2nd year) 2 DF Isaac Burdon (1st year) 3 DF Reuben Collum (1st year) 4 MF Tom Purrington (2nd year) 5 DF Andrew Burn (2nd year) 6 DF Oliver Tomlinson (1st year) 7 MF Michael Peck (2nd year) 8 MF Adam Randell (2nd year)

No. Position Player 9 FW Klaidi Lolos (2nd year) 10 MF Rio Garside (2nd year) 11 FW Aaron Goulty (2nd year) 12 GK Harry Townsend (1st year) 13 MF Jude Boyd (1st year) 14 MF Joe Seery (1st year) 15 FW Rubin Wilson (1st year)

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 1978 George Foster 1979 Fred Binney

Year Winner 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 1990 Nicky Marker 1991 Kenny Brown 1992 Dwight Marshall 1993 Steve McCall

Year Winner 1994 Steve McCall 1995 Marc Edworthy 1996 Mick Heathcote 1997 Chris Billy 1998 Martin Barlow Carlo Corazzin 1999 Mick Heathcote 2000 Paul McGregor 2001 Wayne O'Sullivan 2002 Graham Coughlan 2003 Paul Wotton 2004 Mickey Evans 2005 Paul Wotton 2006 David Norris

Year Winner 2007 Lilian Nalis 2008 Krisztián Timár 2009 Romain Larrieu 2010 Carl Fletcher 2011 Carl Fletcher 2012 Maxime Blanchard 2013 Onismor Bhasera 2014 Reuben Reid 2015 Luke McCormick 2016 Graham Carey 2017 Sonny Bradley 2018 Graham Carey

Team of the century

For the centenary celebrations, an all-time best team of Plymouth Argyle players was chosen by fans of the club.^[27]

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

Manager: Paul Sturrock

Club officials

Boardroom positions

Position	Name	Nationality
Chairman:	James Brent	English
Vice-Chairman:	Simon Hallett	English[28]
Chief Executive:	Michael Dunford	English
Director:	Richard Holliday	English
Director:	Tony Wrathall	English
Director:	John Morgan	Welsh
Non-Executive Director:	Jane Chafer	English
Non-Executive Director:	Jo Cubbon	English

^[29]

Coaching positions

First Team

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Derek Adams	Scottish
Assistant Manager:	Paul Wotton	English
First Team Coach:	Kevin Nancekivell	English
Goalkeeping Coach:	Rhys Wilmot	Welsh
Fitness Coach:	Ollie Osborne	English
Head Physio:	Paul Atkinson	English
Physiotherapist:	Gareth Law	English
Sports Therapist:	Vicki Hannaford	English
Kitman:	Neil Lunnon	English
Assistant Kitman:	Sean Porter-Nail	English
Chief Scout:	Greg Strong	English
Football Analyst:	Matt Neil	English

Youth Team/Academy

Position	Name	Nationality
Academy Director:	Kevin Hodges	English
Academy Manager:	Phil Stokes	English
Head of Academy Coaching:
Professional Development Phase Coach 17–21:	Robbie Herrera	English
Youth Development Phase Lead Coach 5-11 :	Dan Thompson	English
Academy Goalkeeping Coach:	Rhys Wilmot	Welsh
Academy Physiotherapist:	Tom Hunter	English
Youth Administrator:	Pete Bellamy	English

Honours

Plymouth Argyle's list of honours include the following.^[31]

Records

Most appearances

#	Name	Argyle career	Appearances	Goals
1	Kevin Hodges	1978–1992	620	87
2=	Sammy Black	1924–1938	491	184
2=	Paul Wotton	1995–2008 2012–2015	491	66
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	2.668
2	Wilf Carter	1957–1964	148	275	1.858
3	Tommy Tynan	1983–1985 1986–1990	145	310	2.137
4	Jack Leslie	1921–1934	136	401	2.948
5	Maurice Tadman	1947–1955	112	253	2.258
6	Jack Vidler	1929–1939	103	256	2.485
7	Fred Burch	1906–1915	92	239	2.597
8	Kevin Hodges	1978–1992	87	620	7.126
9	Ray Bowden	1927–1933	85	153	1.800
10=	George Dews	1947–1955	81	271	3.345
10=	Mickey Evans	1990–1997 2001–2006	81	432	5.333
12	Mike Bickle	1965–1971	71	179	2.521

Sponsorship

The club's current sportswear manufacturer is Puma.^[32] The club's main sponsor is Ginsters.^[33] Shirt sponsorship was not introduced by the club until 1983.^[34] 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. Between 2002 and 2011 the club was sponsored by Cornish pasty-makers Ginsters.^[35]

In 2011 with the club still in administration, local timber merchant WH Bond Timber sponsored Argyle's kits at first for the 2011–12 season and until the end of the 2013–14 season. Local construction access company LTC Group87 then sponsored Argyle from the start of the 2014–15 season, having their LTC Powered Access branch's logo on the shirts. Cornwall-based company Ginsters then came back for a second spell as main sponsor in the 2016–17 season.^[36]

References and notes

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plymouth Argyle F.C..

• 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