Plymouth Argyle Football Club Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

is an English

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club based 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 ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. They compete in

Football League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

, the third tier of the

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

, as of the 2017–18 season. The club was founded in 1886 as ''Argyle Football Club''. At this time, there was no League football,"History of the Football League"
. The Football League. Retrieved 28 April 2010. so matches were arranged on an

ad hoc Ad hoc is a Latin phrase meaning literally 'to this'. In English, it typically signifies a solution for a specific purpose, problem, or task rather than a generalized solution adaptable to collateral instances. (Compare with ''a priori''.) Com ...

basis, supplemented by cup competitions. In January 1903, the club became a

limited company In a limited company, the liability of members or subscribers of the company is limited to what they have invested or guaranteed to the company. Limited companies may be limited by Share (finance), shares or by guarantee. In a company limited by ...

and changed their name to ''Plymouth Argyle F.C.'' Election to the Southern League followed in March, as the club gained direct entry to the First Division for the 1903–04 season. The club were also invited to compete in the Western League, a competition which was considered secondary to the Southern League. Argyle finished as runners-up in 1908 and 1912,"Southern League final tables"
RSSSF. 25 May 2010. before winning the League championship for the first time in 1913."Plymouth Argyle"
FCHD. Richard Rundle. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Covers seasons up to and including 2007–08. Retrieved 28 April 2010. The club harboured ambitions on entering the

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

of the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

before competitive football was put on-hold in May 1915 due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

.Danes, ''Complete Record'', p. 19. The Southern League resumed in August 1919, but it was to be Argyle's last season as a member before the League's top division was absorbed by the Football League to create the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

ahead of the 1920–21 season. A year later, more clubs were added to the division and it was split in two,

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

and

Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

. Argyle were placed in the latter."1921–22 Third Division South"
. Statto. Retrieved 25 May 2010. The club finished as runners-up for six consecutive seasons between 1922 and 1927,Cowdery & Curno, ''Miscellany'', p. 57. before finally winning the League championship in the 1929–30 season, and promotion to the Second Division for the first time. Argyle remained there for almost twenty years before returning to the Third Division South in 1950. The club won the League championship again in the 1951–52 season, and Argyle's best season to date followed a year later. They finished fourth in the Second Division and reached the

fifth round Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash th ...

of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. The club were relegated again in 1956 before winning another League title in the 1958–59 season, in the re-unified

. Argyle's stay in the second tier of English football this time lasted almost a decade until they were relegated again in 1968. The club were promoted from the Third Division once more in 1975 as runners-up, the first time they had done so without ending the season as champions. Argyle reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in April 1984,"The FA Cup Archive"
The Football Association. Retrieved 23 May 2010. and were promoted from the Third Division as runners-up again in the 1985–86 season. Argyle were relegated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in their history at the end of the 1994–95 season, but earned promotion again the following year, this time at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in the 1996 Third Division play-off final. The club won their first League championship in forty-three years at the end of the 2001–02 season, breaking numerous records in the process, including a Third Division record points tally of 102."Football League Points Records"
. The Football League. Retrieved 29 April 2010. Argyle conceded just 28 League goals that season and kept 27 clean sheets in 46 matches. Two years later, the club won the Second Division of the Football League and promotion back to the second tier, which was renamed the Championship by the League's board in the summer of 2004."League gets revamp"
BBC Sport. 10 June 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2010. Argyle's success in the 2003–04 season took their tally of titles in the third tier of English football to four, which is a divisional record. As of the end of the 2012–13 season, Plymouth Argyle Football Club has spent 40 seasons in the second tier of English football, 39 seasons in the third, and seven seasons in the fourth. The table details their achievements in all senior

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

competitions, their top goalscorer(s), and average home league attendance for each completed season since their professional debut on 1 September 1903.Danes, ''Complete Record'', p. 15.

Table key

Key to divisions: * SL Div 1 =

Southern League First Division The Southern League is a men's football competition featuring semi-professional clubs from the South and Midlands of England. Together with the Isthmian League and the Northern Premier League it forms levels seven and eight of the Englis ...

* WL Div 1 = Western League First Division * Div 3 =

Football League Third Division The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the f ...

* Div 3S =

Football League Third Division South The Third Division South of The Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division North with clubs elected to the League or relegated from Division Two allocated to on ...

* Div 2 =

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

* FLS =

Football League South The Football League North and Football League South divisions of the Football League were created temporarily for the League to continue through the Second World War while limiting the amount of movement that was required by teams. The leagues star ...

* Champ =

Football League Championship The English Football League Championship (often referred to as the Championship for short or the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship purposes) is the highest division of the English Football League (EFL) and second-highest overall in the En ...

* Lge 1 =

* Lge 2 =

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Key to league record: * P = Matches played * W = Matches won * D = Matches drawn * L = Matches lost * F = Goals scored * A = Goals conceded * Pts = Points gained * Pos = Final position Key to rounds: * R1 = First round * R2 = Second round * R3 = Third round * R4 = Fourth round, etc. * QF = Quarter-finals * SF = Semi-finals * GR = Group stage * NA = Not applicable

Seasons

Footnotes

References

;General * * * * * * ;Specific

External links

Plymouth Argyle F.C. official website

Plymouth Argyle F.C. archive
{{featured list Seasons Plymouth Argyle F.C.