Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Wikipedia on Answers.com:

Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Top
Plymouth Albion
Plymouth albion badge.png
Full name Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club
Founded 1875
Location Plymouth, England
Ground(s) The Brickfields
Coach(es) Fiji Nat Saumi
League(s) RFU Championship
2011–12 11th
Official website
www.plymouthalbion.com

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.

Contents

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.

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.).

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.

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 (SF) 22 17 0 5 615 386 229 13 81
2 Bedford Blues (SF) 22 14 1 7 640 476 164 16 74
3 Cornish Pirates (Q) 22 14 3 5 606 464 142 12 74
4 London Welsh (Q) 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 (R) 22 4 1 17 376 611 -235 5 23
  • If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order:
  1. Number of matches won
  2. Difference between points for and against
  3. Total number of points for
  4. Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams
  5. 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.

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
Gareth Evans Hooker England England
Rupert Freestone Hooker England England
David McGregor Hooker Ireland Ireland
Jack Andrew Prop England England
Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter) Prop England England
Rob Dugard Prop England England
Ryan Hopkins Prop England England
David Morton Prop Scotland Scotland
Jon Vickers (Exeter) Prop England England
Dan Collier Lock England England
Charles Grace Lock England England
Tyler Hotson Lock Canada Canada
Addison Lockley (Exeter) Lock England England
James Harris (Wasps) Flanker Wales Wales
Sam Hocking Flanker England England
Wayne Sprangle Flanker England England
Sean-Michael Stephen (c) Flanker Canada Canada
Michael Stupple (Exeter) Flanker England England
Aaron Carpenter Number 8 Canada Canada
Dan Lee Number 8 England England
Player Position Union
Ruairi Cushion Scrum-half Ireland Ireland
Paul Rowley Scrum-half Ireland Ireland
Mark Lee Fly-half Scotland Scotland
Paul Roberts (Bath) Fly-half England England
Henry Slade (Exeter) Fly-half England England
Bevon Armitage Centre England England
Kenni Fisilau Centre Tonga Tonga
Sione Tu'ipulotu (Worcester) Centre Tonga Tonga
Jack Arnott (Exeter) Wing England England
Paul Bailey Wing England England
Steve Johns Wing England England
Tyson Lewis Wing England England
Michael McGrath Wing England England
Cameron Mitchell Wing Scotland Scotland
Gareth Espin Fullback England England
James Love Fullback England England
Jack Nowell (Exeter) Fullback England England
  • (club) indicates players who have featured on loan for Plymouth this season.

Notable former players

References

External links


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in