Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Plymouth Albion

Full name	Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club
Founded	1920
Location	Plymouth, England
Ground(s)	The Brickfields (Capacity: 8,500)
Coach(es)	Graham Dawe
League(s)	National League 1
2014–15	12th (relegated) from Greene King IPA Championship
1st kit 2nd kit
Official website
www.plymouthalbion.com

Coordinates: 50°22′15.78″N 4°10′13.12″W / 50.3710500°N 4.1703111°W

Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The club was founded around 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC and Devonport Albion RFC. 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 finish last in the 2014–15 RFU Championship, and currently play in National League 1.^[1]

Plymouth RFC

Formed 1875, the club 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 8,000 spectators and as a result a meeting was held and the Plymouth Northern Union club was formed. In July, the Northern Union club took over South Devon Place and as a result Plymouth RFC disbanded, later to re-emerge 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. After moving to Bladderly in 1887 they then moved to Home Park 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,^[2] (the current home of Devonport Services R.F.C.).

Current club

At match between Plymouth Albion and Cornish Pirates at The Brickfields in 2007

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.

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 in 2002, 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 who also have an impressive new stadium at Sandy Park 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 early in 2015 following a cash injection of £250,000 by local businesses.^[3] Albion entered administration on 8 April 2016 and were deducted 30 pts by the RFU. Following administration they were taken over by former players, Bruce Priday and David Venables.^[4]

Club honours

• Courage League Division 3 champions: 1988–89
• National Division 3 South champions: 2000–01

Current standings

2015–16 National League 1 Table
	Club	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Try bonus	Losing bonus	Points
1	Richmond (C)	30	23	2	5	854	534	320	16	4	116
2	Hartpury College	30	21	0	9	966	558	408	15	5	104
3	Blackheath	30	21	2	7	794	488	306	9	6	103
4	Ampthill	30	20	2	8	746	620	126	14	5	103
5	Rosslyn Park	30	20	0	10	745	578	167	12	3	95
6	Darlington Mowden Park	30	19	0	11	766	640	126	11	4	91
7	Esher	30	17	0	13	801	603	198	14	6	88
8	Plymouth Albion	30	22	0	8	733	647	86	11	3	72[n 1]
9	Coventry	30	13	2	15	710	653	57	9	6	71
10	Fylde	30	11	1	18	736	804	–68	11	10	67
11	Blaydon	30	10	0	20	565	772	–207	10	7	57
12	Hull Ionians	30	9	0	21	645	872	–227	10	11	57
13	Loughborough Students	30	9	0	21	680	774	–94	10	9	55
14	Wharfedale (R)	30	6	1	23	592	869	–277	10	7	43
15	Cinderford (R)	30	7	1	22	545	969	–424	7	4	41
16	Henley Hawks (R)	30	6	1	23	478	975	-497	5	3	29
Points system: 4 points for a win; 2 points for a draw; 1 point if a team loses by seven points or less (losing bonus); 1 point if the team scores four or more tries in a match (try bonus) If teams are level at any stage, tiebreakers are applied in the following order: Number of matches won Difference between points for and against Total number of points for Aggregate number of points scored in matches between tied teams Number of matches won excluding the first match, then the second and so on until the tie is settled
Plymouth Albion were deducted 30 points for going into administration on 8 April 2016[5] Green background is the promotion place. Pink background are relegation places. Updated: 30 April 2016 Source: "National League 1". NCA Rugby.

Current squad

2014–15 Note: Flags indicate national union as has been defined under WR eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-WR nationality.

Player Position Union Tom Cowan-Dickie Hooker England Ted Stagg Hooker England Luke Chapman Prop England Tom Fidler Prop England James Gibbons (D/R) Prop England Tom Harrison Prop England Tom Heard Prop England Dan Pullinger (D/R) Prop England Tom Hicks (D/R) Lock England Tom Jubb Lock England Neale Patrick Lock Scotland Alistair Bone Flanker England Eoghan Grace Flanker Ireland Iain Grieve Flanker England Sam Matavesi Flanker Fiji Sam Simmonds (D/R) Flanker England Herbie Stupple Flanker England Rob Langley Number 8 England Rhys Oakley Number 8 Wales

Player Position Union Ruairi Cushion Scrum-half Ireland Josh Davies Scrum-half Wales Cameron Setter Scrum-half England Declan Cusack Fly-half Ireland Lawrence Rayner Fly-half England James Shanahan Fly-half England Toby Howley-Berridge Centre England Marc Koteczky Centre Australia Ben Woods Centre Ireland Jack Arnott (D/R) Wing England Jake Henry Wing Wales Peter Horman Wing England Mark Kohler Wing Canada Elliot Clements-Hill Fullback England Lewis Warner Fullback Wales

Notable former players

• Martin Schusterman – Argentinean International flanker
• Aaron Carpenter – Canadian International flanker
• Justin Mensah-Coker – Canadian International wing
• Graham Dawe – Former England International hooker
• 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 7's International player
• Tom Bowen – Current England 7's International player

References

1. Marsh, Paddy (19 April 2015). "It's all over for Albion". Cornwall Independent.
2. "www.DevonportOnline".
3. "Plymouth Albion: Troubled club avoids administration". BBC Sport. 2015-01-29. Retrieved 2015-02-07.
4. "Plymouth Albion taken over by David Venables and Bruce Priday". BBC Sports. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 12 April 2016.
5. "Plymouth Albion taken over by David Venables and Bruce Priday". BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2016.

External links

• Plymouth Albion official site