PU PREVIEW 17: PLYMOUTH ARGYLE

Plymouth Argyle, the most southern and western League club in England, was founded in 1886 as Argyle Football Club. This club went out of existence in 1894 due to poor results but was resurrected in 1897 as part of a general sports club, the Argyle Athletic Club. The club adopted its present name when it became fully professional in 1903 and joined the Southern League, and became a founder member of the Third Division of the Football League in 1920. In the summer of 1924, a team from Plymouth visited Uruguay and Argentina, beating both national football sides (4-0 and 1-0 respectively). They also held Boca Juniors to a 1-1 draw. Plymouth manager Bob Jack resigned in 1937 after 27 years in charge. Argyle finished fourth in the Second Division in 1953, their highest League placing to date. In the spring of 1963, Argyle played in front of their largest ever crowd when 100,000 watched them play a match in Poland as a warm-up to an international cycle race. The club reached the League Cup semi-final in 1965 but lost to Leicester City. In March 1973, Plymouth played a match against famous Brazilian side Santos, who included Pele in their side, and beat them 3-2. In 1984, Argyle reached the FA Cup semi-final as a Third Division side but lost 1-0 to Watford. In the 2001-02 season, the club finished as Division Three champions with a record 102 points. On 3 January 2004, Argyle achieved their joint record win when defeating Chesterfield 7-0, scoring the first five goals inside 17 minutes, which were the fastest five goals ever scored in English football. In late 2006, Viz magazine published a one-off article, "The Pirates of Plymouth Argyle", depicting some of their players among a shipload of 18th-century pirates. In late 2010, the club was served with a winding-up notice by HMRC and went into administration the following March. They exited administration on 31 October 2011 after a takeover by James Brent's Akkeron Group. Before the deal was completed, the club agreed to sell its ground, Home Park, back to Plymouth Council (who had sold it to them in December 2006) and pay an annual rent.

Former Pompey boss Tony Pulis has managed Plymouth, as has former player Paul Mariner.

The Pilgrims are managed by Derek Adams and finished the 2017-18 League One campaign in seventh place.

Pompey and Plymouth have played each other on sixty-six occasions. including nine Cup meetings. Of the cup matches, Pompey won six (1 FA Cup, 5 League Cup) and Plymouth three (2 League Cup, 1 Zenith Data Systems Cup). In the fifty-five League meetings, Pompey has won twenty-two and Plymouth twenty-one and twelve have been drawn. The sides also met twice in the League Two play-offs in May 2016, the game at Fratton Park ending 2-2 and Plymouth winning 1-0 at Home Park to progress to the final where they lost to AFC Wimbledon. The last League meeting between the sides in September 2018 at Fratton Park ended 3-0 to Pompey.

(Information via Wikipedia and www.11v11.com)