Plymouth Albion R.F.C.
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| Plymouth Albion | |||
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| Full name | Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club | ||
| Founded | 1915 | ||
| Location | Plymouth, England | ||
| Ground(s) | The Brickfields | ||
| Coach |  Graham Dawe |
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| League | National Division One | ||
| 2005-06 | 5th | ||
| Official website | |||
| www.plymouthalbion.com | |||
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Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The club was founded around 1915 from Plymouth RFC and Devonport Albion RFC.
Albion's traditional strip and club colours are white, strawberry (red or cherry) and green.
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[edit] Plymouth RFC
Formed 1875, during its existence it 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.
[edit] 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. In 1895 Albion moved to the Rectory (the current home of Devonport Services R.F.C.).
[edit] Current club
The current club continued at the Rectory until an enforced move in 1957 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 Gate perched above the services junction of the M5. Devon local derbys have become major popular events.Together these clubs have reinvigorated the passion for rugby in the county. Other local rivals are Cornwall teams Cornish Pirates and Cornish All Blacks
[edit] Current Team
Adam Kettle Martin Rice Arron Cruickshanks Matt Newman Ben Gulliver Mike Lewis Brad Davis Nat Saumi Brett Stroud Nic Sesteret Chris Lowrie Nigel Cane Colin Stewart Richard Oxley Craig Wilson Ross Allan Dan Hawkes Ross Laidlaw Darren Ritchie Scott Zimmerman Ed King Steve Baretto Ed Lewsey Steve Johns Emyr Lewis Tim Mathias George Davis Tom Hayes Jacob Childs Wihan Neethling James Owen Jamie Tripconey Jannie Bornman Keni Fisilau Ross Batten Liam Gibson
[edit] External links
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