Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club who play in

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. 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 Brickfields Recreation Ground is a sports stadium and multi-sport complex in Devonport, Devon, Devonport, Plymouth, England, Plymouth, England. It is run by EveryoneActive on behalf of Plymouth City Council, and is the home ground of Rugby Union ...

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 Rugb ...

, and currently play in

National League 1 National One (last season 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 Leagu ...

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 is the governing body for professional rugby league in England, and until 1995 for the whole British Isles. The name Rugby Football League previously also referred to the main league competition run by the organisati ...

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 status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), 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 ...

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.

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 Beacon Park is a public park in the centre of the city of Lichfield, Staffordshire, in the United Kingdom. The park was created in 1859 when the Museum Gardens were laid out adjacent to the newly built Free Museum and Library. The park has si ...

. 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 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 Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

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 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 the Gallagher Premiership, the top flight of the English rug ...

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 ** Administrative assistant, Administrative Assistant, traditionally known as a Secretary, or also known as an admini ...

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 pro ...

. 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 The Devon Senior Cup is the third tier county cup in the county of Devon. It is administered by the Devon County Football Association The Devon County Football Association, also simply known as the ''Devon FA'', is the governing body of foot ...

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 Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austral ...

– 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 f ...

– 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 useful forward to have in the Wasps ...

– England number 8 *

Rupeni Nasiga Rupeni Nasiga (born 8 October 1985) is a Fijian rugby union footballer. He currently plays for the Nadroga rugby team and the Fiji national rugby union team and usually plays as a lock. He was part of the Fiji team at the 2011 Rugby World Cup ...

– Fiji International lock * Nat Saumi – Fiji international full back *

Jané du Toit Johannes Albertus du Toit (born 2 October 1975 in Windhoek, South-West Africa) is a Namibian rugby union loosehead prop with Plymouth Albion. He played with Namibia at the 2007 Rugby World Cup.David Palu – Tongan International scrum half * William Davies – Wales International centre *

Rory Watts-Jones Rory Watts-Jones (born 15 December 1988) is a retired Welsh rugby union player. A flanker, he played club rugby for Cardiff Blues regional team. Born and raised in Cowbridge, Watts-Jones joined Cowbridge RFC and played for the Wales under-16s t ...

– Wales 7s International player * Tom Bowen – Current England 7s International player *

Sean-Michael Stephen Sean-Michael Stephen (born 27 October 1982) is a Canadian rugby union player. From 2006 to 2008, Stephen played for France, French club AS Béziers Hérault. Since 2008, he has played for and currently Captain (sports), captains Plymouth Albion R. ...

– Canadian International backrow forward *

Sam Matavesi Sam Matavesi (born 13 January 1992) is a Fijian rugby union player who plays for the Northampton Saints in the Premiership Rugby competition but also had a short stint with Top 14 side, Toulouse. His position of choice is hooker even though he h ...

– 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 2015 Rugby World Cup was the eighth Ru ...

– 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