Plymouth Argyle F.C.

Plymouth Argyle

Full name	Plymouth Argyle Football Club
Nickname(s)	The Pilgrims[1]
Founded	1886, as Argyle F.C.
Ground	Home Park, Plymouth (Capacity: 16,388[1])
Owner	James Brent
Chairman	James Brent
Manager	Carl Fletcher
League	League Two
2011–12	League Two, 21st
Website	Club home page
Home colours Away colours
Current season

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, 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 holds 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 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

Stadium

This section is outdated. Please update this section to reflect recent events or newly available information. Please see the talk page for more information. (October 2011)

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 English Coca-Cola 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^[2] of the case for retaining a standing terrace, decided to add 3,500 temporary seats to the Mayflower enclosure,^[3] 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^[4] . 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 ^[5], this project is now in serious doubt.

Rivalries

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)^[6] 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.^[7] 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

As of 30 April 2012 (2012 -04-30)^[update].^[8][9]

Current squad

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
2	Defender	Berry, DurrellDurrell Berry	England
3	Defender	Williams, RobbieRobbie Williams	England
5	Defender	Purse, DarrenDarren Purse	England
6	Defender	Nelson, CurtisCurtis Nelson	England
8	Midfielder	Walton, SimonSimon Walton (captain)	England
11	Forward	Feeney, WarrenWarren Feeney	Northern Ireland
13	Defender	Soukouna, LadjieLadjie Soukouna	France
14	Defender	Bhasera, OnismorOnismor Bhasera	Zimbabwe
15	Midfielder	Young, LukeLuke Young	England
16	Defender	Richards, JamieJamie Richards	England
17	Forward	Sims, JaredJared Sims	England
18	Midfielder	Copp, JordanJordan Copp	England
19	Midfielder	Wotton, PaulPaul Wotton	England
20	Midfielder	Hourihane, ConorConor Hourihane	Ireland
21	Midfielder	Lennox, JoeJoe Lennox	England
22	Defender	Blanchard, MaximeMaxime Blanchard	France
23	Goalkeeper	Cole, JakeJake Cole	England
24	Forward	Vassell, IsaacIsaac Vassell	England
26	Midfielder	Harper-Penman, JedJed Harper-Penman	England
27	Forward	Lecointe, MattMatt Lecointe	England
29	Forward	Chadwick, NickNick Chadwick	England
33	Goalkeeper	Chenoweth, OllieOllie Chenoweth	England
TBA	Forward	Cowan-Hall, ParisParis Cowan-Hall	England

Retired numbers

• 12 – The Green Army (supporters)^[10]

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 now follow a fixture list.^[11]

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.^[12]

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

Noted former players

This list of "famous" or "notable" sporting persons has no clear inclusion or exclusion criteria. Please help to define clear inclusion criteria and edit the list to contain only subjects that fit that criteria.

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.^[14]

1		GK	Jim Furnell
2		DF	Gordon Nisbet
3		DF	Jack Chisholm
4		DF	Graham Coughlan
5		DF	Colin Sullivan
6		MF	Ernie Machin
7		MF	Kevin Hodges
8		MF	Johnny Williams
9		FW	Paul Mariner
10		FW	Tommy Tynan
11		MF	Sammy Black &
		MF	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:	James Brent	English
Acting CEO / Finance Director:	Martin Baker	English
Director:	David Felwick CBE	English
Director:	Peter Jones	English
Director:	Richard Holliday	English
Honorary Club President:	Chris Webb	English

Coaching positions

First Team

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Carl Fletcher	Welsh
Assistant Manager:	Romain Larrieu	French
First Team Coach:	Kevin Nancekivell	English
Goalkeeping Coach:	Rhys Wilmot	Welsh
Prozone & Fitness Coach:	Scott Russell	Australian
Head Physio:	Paul Atkinson	English
Chief Scout:	Bob Shaw	English

Youth Team

Position	Name	Nationality
Manager:	Kevin Hodges	English
Physio:	Steve Brown	English
Youth Development Officer:	John James	English
Chief Scout:	Peter Distin	English

Managerial history

Honours

Plymouth Argyle's list of honours include the following.^[15]

Records

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

Current

Argyle improved their finishing position in the league every season from 2000–01 until 2007–08.

Recent seasons

‡ 10 Points deducted for entering administration

Most appearances

Bold indicates still playing for the club.

#	Name	Argyle career	Appearances	Goals
1	Hodges, KevinKevin Hodges	1978–1992	620	87
2	Black, SammySammy Black	1924–1938	491	184
3	Craig, FredFred Craig	1912–1915 1919–1930	467	5
4	Wotton, PaulPaul Wotton	1995–2008 2012–	456	64
5	Williams, JohnnyJohnny Williams	1955–1966	448	55
6=	Hore, JohnnyJohnny Hore	1965–1975	441	17
6=	Jones, PatPat Jones	1947–1958	441	2
8	Evans, MichaelMichael Evans	1990–1997 2001–2006	432	81
9	Leslie, JackJack Leslie	1921–1934	401	136
10	Russell, MosesMoses Russell	1914–1915 1919–1930	400	6

Most goals

#	Name	Argyle career	Goals	Appearances	Goal/game ratio
1	Black, SammySammy Black	1924–1938	184	491	0.374
2	Carter, WilfWilf Carter	1957–1964	148	275	0.538
3	Tynan, TommyTommy Tynan	1983–1985 1986–1990	145	310	0.467
4	Leslie, JackJack Leslie	1921–1934	136	401	0.339
5	Tadman, MauriceMaurice Tadman	1947–1955	112	253	0.442
6	Vidler, JackJack Vidler	1929–1939	103	256	0.402
7	Burch, FredFred Burch	1906–1915	92	239	0.384
8	Hodges, KevinKevin Hodges	1978–1992	87	620	0.140
9	Bowden, RayRay Bowden	1927–1933	85	153	0.555
10=	Dews, GeorgeGeorge Dews	1947–1955	81	271	0.298
10=	Evans, MichaelMichael 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.^[16] 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.^[17] Shirt sponsorship was not introduced by the club until 1983.^[18] 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, which looks set to continue until at least 2012.^[19]

See also

• Westcountry 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

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