- Plymouth Argyle by season:
Plymouth Argyle Football Club, also known as the Pilgrims and based in Plymouth, are one of only two football clubs in the English Football League to play in a principally green home strip. Traditionally the team play in a white away strip, but this was changed to one which was principally tangerine in colour for the 2002/03 and 2003/04 seasons, an act of homage to their highly successful former manager Paul Sturrock whose supported club, Dundee United play in a tangereen kit. The tangerine strip, which contained flashes of green engendered a new soubriquet applied to the team, the tangergreens.
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 mascot is known as Pilgrim Pete.
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 a general sports club, Argyle Athletic Club, the football section being known as Argyle F.C. 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. The first football match took place against Dunheved College (now Launceston College ) in Launceston where many of the club's first members had been educated.
Argyle's record victories are 8-1 wins over Hartlepool United and Millwall. On 3 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.
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.
Manager Paul Sturrock
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Strikers |
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Paul Mariner
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Tommy Tynan
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| Left Wing |
Central Midfielders |
Right Wing |
| Sammy Black /Gary Nelson |
Johnny Williams |
Ernie Machin |
Kevin Hodges
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| Left Back |
Central Defenders |
Right Back |
| Colin Sullivan |
Graham Coughlan |
Jack Chisholm |
Gordon Nisbet |
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Goalkeeper |
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Jim Furnell |
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The current Argyle squad
- 1 Romain Larrieu
- 2 David Worrell
- 3 Lee Hodges
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4 Jason Dodd (on loan from Southampton F.C.)
- 5 Graham Coughlan
- 6 Keith Lasley
- 7 David Norris
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8 Akos Buzsaky (on loan from FC Porto)
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9 Micky Evans
- 10 Bjarni Gudjonsson
- 11 Steven Milne
- 12 Green Army
- 13 Mathias Doumbe
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14 Tony Capaldi
- 15 Paul Wotton
- 16 Hasney Aljofree
- 17 Nick Chadwick
- 18 Scott Taylor
- 20 Steve Adams
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21 Dexter Blackstock (on loan from Southampton F.C.)
- 22 Paul Connolly
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23 Luke McCormick
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24 Peter Gilbert
- 25 Ryan Dickson
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90 Michael Foot (honourary)
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 (twelfth) player.
Current non-playing staff
| Job title |
Employee |
| Manager |
Bobby Williamson
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| 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
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| 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.
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
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| 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
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| 1986 |
Kevin Hodges
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| 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
For full list of players with articles on wikipedia see here.
- Fred Binney
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Bruce Grobbelaar
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John Hope Peddie
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David Jack
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Jack Leslie
- Marcus Murphy
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Billy Rafferty
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Peter Shilton
- John Uzzell
Famous fans
Major club honours
External Links
- http://www.pafc.co.uk - Club official website.
- http://www.argyle.org.uk - PASOTI (Plymouth Argyle Supporters On The Internet, the main fans' site).
- http://www.greensonscreen.co.uk - Useful site with audio/visual round ups of games as well as many good links.
- http://www.rubofthegreens.com - Club forum which also has some club news.
Last updated: 08-22-2005 14:03:47
