Research and History of the Brand

The brand I am creating a match day programme for is Plymouth Argyle. Plymouth Argyle are based in the city of Plymouth, England; they are the most southern team in the football league. Plymouth currently reside in the third tier of English football, League One. They are only 1 of 2 teams in the football league based in Devon. Plymouth is the biggest city to never host top flight football. The clubs nickname is The Pilgrims taken from the religious group that left Plymouth in 1620 in search of The Americas. The ship that carried them also features on the clubs crest and also has a stand named after it; the Mayflower Grandstand. The stadium that Plymouth Argyle play home games at, Home Park, is the 37th largest stadium in England. The club has several rivalries with the main ones being Exeter City, Torquay United and Bristol City. However due to Plymouth’s decline in leagues several more rivalries have cropped up. The rivalry with Exeter has increased due to being in the same division but the rivalries with Bristol City and Torquay have calmed down since the clubs being in different divisions and often Plymouth loan players to torquay and get loaned players from Bristol with recent players Vyner and Garita coming down on loan. Rivalries have cropped up due to being down in the fourth tier. One of these being Portsmouth which like Plymouth also shouldn’t be at the bottom of the football league. This rivalry is often referred to as the Dockyard Derby. This rivalry has intensified due to both clubs meeting each other in the League 2 Play off semi-finals where after two legs Plymouth came out on top. Another rivalry that has popped up is one with Bristol Rovers. Plymouth Argyle like to bring back former players into senior roles In the club. Rhys Wilmot Played 133 games for the club between 1989 and 1992 before getting sold to Grimsby Town. He is now Plymouth Argyle’s youth and first team goalkeeping coach. Paul Wotton played just under 500 games for the club between 1994 and 2015 before retiring and becoming head coach. record appearance holder Kevin Hodges played 620 games between 1978 and 1992. He is now the academy director and manager of the youth team. He has helped develop such players as Cameron Sangster, Michael Cooper and Alex Fletcher who have all now played in the first team at a young age. The highest home attendance is 43,000 in 1936 vs Aston Villa. Plymouth currently are being shirt sponsored by Ginsters with the kits being provided by Puma.