Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). 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. After thirteen seasons in the second tier of English rugby union, Plymouth Albion finished last in the

2014–15 RFU Championship The 2014–15 RFU Championship, known for sponsorship reasons as the Greene King IPA Championship, is the sixth season of the professionalised format of the RFU Championship, the second tier of the English rugby union league system run by the Rug ...

, and currently play in National League 1.

Plymouth RFC

Formed 1876, the Plymouth Football Club, also known as Plymouth Chiefs, 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 7,000 spectators and as a result a meeting was held and the club joined the Northern Union. The first match under the new rules was lost, 22-17, against

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a city in the West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its city status until the Middle Ages. The city is governed ...

on Christmas Day. The club later re-emerged 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 Devonport Park is a public park located in Devonport, Devon. The historic park dates back to the 1850s and is situated on former military land. The park is home to many historic monuments including a war memorial to the 2,000 Devonport citizens ...

. After moving to Bladderly in 1887 they then moved to

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in Plymouth, England. The ground has been the home of Football League One club Plymouth Argyle since 1901.Devonport Services R.F.C. Devonport Services Rugby Football Club is an England, English rugby union team based in Plymouth, Devon, Plymouth, Devon. The club was originally called United Services Devonport and had their first recorded match back in 1904. Devonport Services ...

Current club

Devonport Albion continued at the Rectory until it merged with Plymouth RFC to become Plymouth Albion and moved in 1920 to Beacon Park. In 2003, they moved from the run-down Beacon Park ground to a newly built ground, The Brickfields, in Devonport. The Brickfields also has an adjacent

athletics stadium A stadium ( : stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage either partly or completely surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand o ...

. 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 The RFU Championship is an English rugby union competition comprising twelve clubs. It is the second level of men’s English rugby and is played by both professional and semi-professional players. The competition has existed since 1987, when ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, 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 Exeter Chiefs (officially Exeter Rugby Club) is an English professional rugby union club based in Exeter, Devon. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. The club was founded in 1871 and since 2006 has played its home m ...

who also have an impressive new stadium at

Sandy Park Sandy Park is a rugby union stadium and conference and banqueting centre in Exeter, England. It is the home ground of Exeter Chiefs, who from the 2010–11 season have been playing in the Gallagher Premiership, the top flight of the English r ...

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. Albion currently play in the National League 1, the third tier of English club rugby. The club have financial problems and only avoided entering

administration Administration may refer to: Management of organizations * Management, the act of directing people towards accomplishing a goal ** Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an administrative officer, administ ...

early in 2015 following a cash injection of £250,000 by local businesses. Albion entered administration on 8 April 2016 and were deducted 30 pts by the

RFU The Rugby Football Union (RFU) is the national governing body for rugby union in England. It was founded in 1871, and was the sport's international governing body prior to the formation of what is now known as World Rugby (WR) in 1886. It prom ...

. Following administration they were taken over by former players, Bruce Priday and David Venables who put forward a business case to the RFU. Since then, Priday has moved to pastures new, whilst Max Venables is the Club's Managing Director. The club also has a successful women's team and a new Under 18s Academy. They played their first game against a Cornwall XV in February 2019, finishing 50 - 7 victors.

Current standings

Season summary

Honours

* Devon Senior Cup winners (23): 1889, 1891, 1892, 1893, 1895, 1905, 1906, 1908, 1909, 1910, 1911, 1912, 1913, 1914, 1921, 1974, 1977, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988 *

Devon RFU Junior Cup The Devon Junior Cup is an annual rugby union knock-out club competition organized by the Devon Rugby Football Union. It was first introduced in the 1888–89 season when it was won by Paignton. During the pre-war years the Devon Junior Cup was o ...

winners: 1893 (reserve side) * Courage League Division 3 champions: 1988–89 * National Division 3 South champions: 2000–01

Notable former players

* Martin Schusterman – Argentinean International flanker * Aaron Carpenter – Canadian International flanker * Justin Mensah-Coker – Canadian International wing *

Graham Dawe Richard Graham Reed Dawe (born 4 September 1959 in Tavistock) is a former English rugby union footballer and the former coach of Plymouth Albion. He played for Bath Rugby, Sale Sharks, Plymouth Albion and Launceston. Dawe earned 5 caps for ...

– Former England International hooker * Jimmy Peters – England fly-half * Dan Ward-Smith – England number 8 * Rupeni Nasiga – Fiji International lock * Nat Saumi – Fiji international full back * Jané du Toit – Namibian International prop * David Palu – Tongan International scrum half * William Davies – Wales International centre * Rory Watts-Jones – Wales 7s International player * Tom Bowen – Current England 7s International player * Sean-Michael Stephen – Canadian International backrow forward * Sam Matavesi – Northampton Saints and Fiji International hooker * Brett Beukeboom – Canada and Cornish Pirates second row

Notes

References

External links

Plymouth Albion official site
{{Rugby union in England 1876 establishments in England English rugby union teams Rugby clubs established in 1876 Rugby union in Devon Sport in Plymouth, Devon