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| Full name | Plymouth Argyle Football Club | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | The Pilgrims, The Greens | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1886 as Argyle F.C. Turned pro. 1903 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Home Park , Plymouth | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Capacity | 20,134 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chairman | Paul Stapleton | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manager | Bobby Williamson | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| League | The Championship | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003-04 | Second Division, 1st Promoted | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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.
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 GermanThe Federal Republic of Germany ( German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland is one of the world's leading industrialized countries, located in the middle of the European Union. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark and the Baltic Sea, to the east bombers during the BlitzThe Blitz a popular English contraction of the German word Blitzkrieg was the sustained and intensive bombing of Britain, particularly London, from September 7, 1940 through to May 1941 by the German Luftwaffe in World War II. Although the Blitz is named on Plymouth in World War IIWorld War II was the most extensive and costly armed conflict in the history of the world, involving the great majority of the world's nations, being fought simultaneously in several major theatres, and costing tens of millions of lives. The war was fough. 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 May2002 : January February March April May June July August September October November December A timeline of events in the news for May, 2002. See also Afghanistan timeline May 2002 May 31, 2002 The United States Department of State issues a travel warning 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.