Plymouth Argyle F.C. Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
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- Plymouth Argyle by season:
Following Sturrock's departure; the club reverted to a white strip for the 2004/05 season, even though fans had already been asked to vote for one of three tangergreen strips.
Overview
The club takes its nickname from the vast number of people that left Plymouth for the New World. The club crest features the Mayflower, the Plymouth ship, which carried many of the original pilgrims.
Their original ground 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 old 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 club was founded in 1886 as Argyle Athletic Club and much speculation and rumour surrounds the origin of the name Argyle. The most popular explanation is that they were named after the nearby Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, an army regiment with a strong football side of its own. Other theories suggest that the name comes from the nearby public house, The Argyle Tavern; where the founder members may have met. Alternatively they were named after a local street called Argyll Terrace. The club adopted its current name when it became fully professional in 1903.
Argyle's record victories are 8-1 wins over Hartlepool United and Millwall. On 3rd January 2004, this winning margin was equalled with a 7-0 thrashing of Chesterfield. The club's record defeat is 9-0 by Stoke City in 1960. Also in 2004, goalkeeper Luke McCormick set a record of seven games without conceding a goal.
Throughout the 1990s, under chairman Dan MacCauley; Argyle had a string of managers. Peter Shilton, Neil Warnock and John Gregory all managed the club, with mixed success.
The club was promoted from English league Division Three to Division Two as champions at the end of season 2001/02, after attaining 102 points, a club and Division Three record.
Towards the end of the 2003/04 season, with Argyle at the top of Division Two and several points clear of their rivals, Sturrock was offered, and accepted the post as manager of Premiership side, Southampton. His replacement was the Hibernian manager, Bobby Williamson. Argyle finished comfortably clear of the second placed side, Queens Park Rangers to achieve their second promotion in three years, this time into the Football League Championship for its inaugural season.
Manager
Paul Sturrock
Centenary season
The 2003/04 season was Argyle's 100th since becoming professional in 1903. The club put on several celebratory events, whilst the team won several awards. See: Plymouth Argyle F.C. season 2003-04.Team of the century
For the centenary celebrations, an all time best team of Plymouth Argyle players was chosen by fans of the club.
| Strikers | |||
| Paul Mariner | Tommy Tynan | ||
| Left Wing | Central Midfielders | Right Wing | |
| Sammy Black/Gary Nelson | Johnny Williams | Ernie Machin | Kevin Hodges |
| Left Back | Central Defenders | Right Back | |
| Colin Sullivan | Graham Coughlan | Jack Chisholm | Gordon Nisbet |
| Goalkeeper | |||
| Jim Furnell | |||
The current Argyle squad
12 Green Army is not a real player, but was registered by the club as a tribute to the supporters. The idea behind assigning the number 12 was that the great support from fans gives Argyle a similar advantage to having an extra (twelth) player.
| Job title | Employee |
|---|---|
| Manager | Bobby Williamson |
| First Team Coaches | Jocky Scott, Gerry McCabe |
| Youth Coach | Stuart Gibson |
| Physiotherapist | Paul Maxwell |
| Chief Scout | John James |
| Chairman | Paul Stapleton |
| Vice Chair | Peter Jones |
| Directors | Michael Foot, Phillip Gill, Nicholas Warren |
| Community Officer | Geoff Crudgington |
| Commercial Manager | Andy Budge |
| Club Shop Manager | Rachel Fry |
| Club Photographer | Dave Rowntree |
| Official Webmaster | Steven Hill |
Complete list of previous managers
Team managers of Plymouth Argyle and the dates they took over.
| # | Date appointed | Manager name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1903-08-01 | Frank Brettell |
| 2 | 1905-08-01 | Bob Jack |
| 3 | 1906-08-01 | Bill Fullerton |
| 4 | 1910-08-01 | Bob Jack |
| 5 | 1938-04-01 | Jack Tresardern |
| 6 | 1948-09-01 | Jimmy Rae |
| 7 | 1955-02-01 | Jack Rowley |
| 8 | 1961-03-01 | Neil Dougall |
| 9 | 1961-11-01 | Ellis Stuttard |
| 10 | 1963-10-01 | Andy Beattie |
| 11 | 1964-05-01 | Malcolm Allison |
| 12 | 1965-05-01 | Derek Ufton |
| 13 | 1968-02-01 | Billy Bingham |
| 14 | 1970-03-01 | Ellis Stuttard |
| 15 | 1972-10-11 | Tony Waiters |
| 16 | 1977-05-01 | Mike Kelly |
| 17 | 1978-02-14 | Lennie Lawrence (Caretaker) |
| 18 | 1978-03-16 | Malcolm Allison |
| 19 | 1979-01-05 | Bobby Saxton |
| 20 | 1981-06-01 | Bobby Moncur |
| 21 | 1983-10-01 | Johnny Hore |
| 22 | 1984-11-01 | Dave Smith |
| 23 | 1988-07-06 | Ken Brown |
| 24 | 1990-02-06 | John Gregory (Caretaker) |
| 25 | 1990-03-01 | David Kemp |
| 26 | 1992-03-02 | Peter Shilton |
| 27 | 1995-01-02 | Steve McCall (Caretaker) |
| 28 | 1995-06-22 | Neil Warnock |
| 29 | 1997-02-03 | Mick Jones |
| 30 | 1998-06-21 | Kevin Hodges |
| 31 | 2000-10-04 | Kevin Summerfield (Caretaker) |
| 32 | 2000-10-31 | Paul Sturrock |
| 33 | 2004-03-04 | Kevin Summerfield (Caretaker) |
| 34 | 2004-04-20 | Bobby Williamson |
Players of the season
Since 1966 the player of the season award has been made by Plymouth Argyle to the best player of the past season.
| Season | 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
Other notable players
Famous fans
Major club honours
| Competition | Achievement | Year |
|---|---|---|
| Division Two (New Format) | Champions | 2004 |
| Third Division (Old Format) | Champions Runners-up | 1959 1975, 1986 |
| Third Division South | Champions Runners-up | 1930, 1952 1922, 1923, 1924, 1925, 1926, 1927 |
| Division Three (New Format) | Champions Play-off winners | 2002 1996 |
| Southern League | Champions Runners-up | 1913 1908, 1912 |
| Western League Division One | Champions | 1905 |
| Western League Division One 'B' | Runners-up | 1907 |
| South West Regional League | Champions | 1940 |
This is an Article on Plymouth Argyle F.C.. Page Contains Information, Facts Details or Explanation Guide About Plymouth Argyle F.C. How to get to the ground
The ground is located at the north of Central Park, approximately half a mile from the main Plymouth railway station, and about a mile from the coach station.From the station
By bus
Turn immediately right out of the station, and cross the main road by footbridge. Any bus bound for Milehouse will drop you within 100 yards of the ground.Walking
Turn immediately right out of the station, and right again under the pedestrian footbridge and railway bridge. You will arrive at a roundabout: in front of you will be a pub, the Pennycomequick. From here you can either walk up Alma Road to the top and turn right at the Britannia pub (the long way) or you can cut across the park about 50 yards up Alma Road, heading right. You will come to a concreted path, follow it uphill and it will bring you past the council-run pitch and putt golf course to Home Park itself.Arriving by road
Arriving from the east you will (probably) be on the A38 Devon Expressway. As you approach Plymouth, there is a major exit, the Marsh Mills roundabout. Do not take this exit unless you fancy wasting time driving through city-centre traffic. The next exit, the Leigham roundabout, is also sub-optimal. The third exit which will be signposted the A386 for Plymouth City Centre and Devonport is the one you want. Head in the direction of Plymouth city centre. (NB There are speed cameras along the length of this road and the police often have a mobile patrol laser-checking as well). The car-parks are well-signposted, however as Argyle have become progressively more successful, it has taken longer to leave these car-parks after the game... Arriving by coach
Unless you are on a club coach explicitly bound for Home Park, you will be deposited at Breton Side Bus Station. By bus
Any bus bound for Milehouse will drop you within 100 yards of the ground.Walking
Exit the bus station through either of the staircases. If you are immediately outside the St Charles church (or what remains of it, as it was blown up during the Blitz), then turn left and follow the signs for the railway station, and follow instructions as per arriving by rail. If you find yourself outside the Post Office, just head for the St Charles church....External Links