Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

club who play in

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, 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 Brickfields Recreation Ground is a sports stadium and multi-sport complex in Devonport, Plymouth, England. It is run by EveryoneActive on behalf of Plymouth City Council, and is the home ground of Rugby Union team Plymouth Albion of the Nationa ...

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 National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

Plymouth RFC

Formed 1876, the Plymouth Football Club, also known as Plymouth Chiefs, played at South Devon Place. In 1912, the

Northern Union The Rugby Football League (RFL) is the governing body for rugby league in England. Founded in 1895 as the Northern Rugby Football Union following 22 clubs resigning from the Rugby Football Union, it changed its name in 1922 to the Rugby Footb ...

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 rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...

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, England. 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 ...

. After moving to Bladderly in 1887 they then moved to

Home Park Home Park is a football stadium in the area of Milehouse, Plymouth, Devon, England. With a capacity of 17,900, the ground has been the home of Plymouth Argyle Football Club since 1903, and was also used between 1900 and 1903 by Argyle Athlet ...

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, (the current home of Devonport Services R.F.C.).

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,

, 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 completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

. 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 The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

which established a record crowd for a club match in England which was not exceeded until the 1980s. The Brickfields

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 Eng ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, 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 England, 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 i ...

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 Premiership Rugby, the top flight of the English rugby union ...

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

, 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: the process of dealing with or controlling things or people. ** Administrative assistant, traditionally known as a se ...

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

Martín Schusterman Martin Schusterman (born 13 September 1975) is an Argentine retired rugby union footballer. His last club was San Isidro Club. His usual position was at flanker. Schusterman started his career in 1997 with San Isidro Club in Argentina. In 2003 ...

– Argentine international flanker * Aaron Carpenter – Canadian international flanker * Justin Mensah-Coker – Canadian international wing * Henry Slade – Exeter and current England international outside centre *

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 E ...

– Former England international hooker * Jimmy Peters – England

fly-half In the game of rugby union, there are 15 players on each team, comprising eight forwards (wearing jerseys numbered 1–8) and seven backs (numbered 9–15). In addition, there may be up to eight replacement players "on the bench", numbered 16� ...

Dan Ward-Smith Daniel Ward-Smith (born 2 January 1978) is a former New Zealand-born English rugby union player who played at number eight for Bristol & London Wasps. He also covered flanker and second row, which made him a massive forward to have in the Was ...

– 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 back row forward *

Sam Matavesi Sam Matavesi (born 13 January 1992) is a Fijian rugby union player who plays for Lyon in the French Top 14 competition as of the 2024-25 season, having departed Northampton Saints with whom he spent 5 seasons. Lyon will be Matavesi's second stin ...

– Northampton Saints and Fiji international hooker *

Brett Beukeboom Brett Gary Beukeboom (born 13 August 1990) is a former rugby union lock who played for Canada. Beukeboom made his debut for Canada in 2012 and was part of the Canada squad at the 2015 Rugby World Cup The IRB 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eight ...

– Canada and Cornish Pirates second row

Notes

References

External links

* {{Coord, 50, 22, 16, N, 4, 10, 13, W, type:landmark, display=title 1876 establishments in England Rugby clubs established in 1876 Rugby union teams in Devon Sport in Plymouth, Devon