Plymouth Albion R.F.C.

Plymouth Albion

Full name	Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club
Founded	1920 (1920)
Location	Plymouth, England
Ground(s)	The Brickfields
Coach(es)	James Shanahan
League(s)	Greene King IPA Championship
2012–13	9th
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 / 50.3710500; -4.1703111

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.

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,^[3] (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 considerably more modern 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.

Current standings

Current squad

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

Player Position Union Tom Cowan-Dickie (Exeter) Hooker England Gareth Evans Hooker England Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter) Prop England Lloyd Fairbrother (Exeter) Prop England Tom Harrison Prop England David Morton Prop Scotland Ben Rogers Prop England Matt Shields Prop England Ian Ashcroft-Leigh Lock England Brett Beukeboom Lock Canada Harrison Tovey Lock England Sam Hocking Flanker England Sam Matavesi Flanker England Sean-Michael Stephen Flanker Canada Michael Stupple Number 8 England

Player Position Union Ruairi Cushion (c) Scrum-half Ireland Paul Rowley Scrum-half Ireland Declan Cusack Fly-half Ireland Dan Mugford Fly-half England James Shanahan Fly-half England Paul Bailey Centre England Chris Elder Centre England Toby Howley-Berridge Centre England Pale Nonu Centre New Zealand Heath Stevens Centre England Jack Arnott (Exeter) Wing England Tom Bowen Wing England Jamie Davis Wing Wales Lewis Warner Wing England Louis Messer Fullback England Ben Woods Fullback Ireland

Transfers 2013–14

Players In

• Pale Nonu from Rotherham Titans
• Ben Woods from Old Belvedere^[4]
• Heath Stevens from Coventry
• Tom Harrison from FC Auch Gers^[5]
• Gareth Evans from London Welsh
• Dan Mugford from London Scottish^[6]
• Chris Elder from Esher^[7]
• Jamie Davis from Cardiff RFC^[8]
• Matt Shields from Nottingham^[9]

Players Out

• Aaron Carpenter to Cornish Pirates^[10]
• Rupeni Nasiga released^[11]
• Wayne Sprangle Tiverton Rugby Club^[12]
• Jon Vickers to Nottingham^[13]
• Jack Andrew to Cornish Pirates^[14]

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 – Former Wales International centre
• Rory Watts-Jones – Current Wales 7's International player

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Devonport.

External links

• Plymouth Albion official site