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| PLYMOUTH ADMIRALS
Based: Stonehouse Creek, King's Road, Plymouth
(also played at Plymouth Albion Rugby Club, at Weston
Mill Oak Villa, Plymouth & Plymouth Sports Centre and also at
College of St John and St Marks)
2004 BSL Division Two South Western Conference 2-6-2
Photo courtesy of Russ Hewitt
Photo courtesy of Martin Jefkins Team Notes: The Plymouth Admirals American Football Club was founded in 1984, and entered league competition in 1986, recording a 10 - 0 record. Promoted to the SW Premier division in 1987 the club were divisional runners up to the Cotswold bears. In 1988 Plymouth played briefly in the SWAFL league, with a 6 - 4 record before returning to national competition in 1989. The new coach Bill Benson rebuilt the team and achieved a 7 - 3 season. 1990 Bill returned to the states and Marty Shanks took over as player/Coach. He maintained the Club's stretch of successful seasons. In 1991, following a 10 - 0 season, the team fought through the Quarter Finals to play in the Semi Finals against Midlands Champions the LA Panthers. The Admirals 34- 30 win took the team to Saffron Lane in Leicester for the Bowl. Here we beat the Sutton Coldfield Royals taking the UK Premier Bowl with a 26 - 16 victory.
In 1992 in the National Division the Admirals 21 game
winning streak was broken by Delonghi Knights at Camberly. The Admirals hosted the Kent
Cougers for the Quarter Finals, the Cougers stole the game 22 - 21. 1993 was a year of
close tense games. Plymouth earned a 'wildcard' playoff slot, losing out to Bournemouth
Buccaneers. 1994 was another tense season for the club. They signed Operation Discovery LB
Nigel Hoyte who came out of retirement to play for them whilst living in the area. They
also gained a number of players from the defunct Torbay Trojans. This year the teams had
to play 2 inter conference games, with Plymouth meeting the London Rockets and Milton
Keynes Pioneers. The season saw 2 tied games with the Southern Seminoles. The Admirals
came 2nd in the division with a 7 -1 - 2 season. Plymouth travelled to Milton Keynes for
the Quarter Finals. The game was tense and impressive, the Pioneers won 12 - 0. In 1994
Jim Tuggle ran for 1,177 yards and he returned in 1995 with newly signed star RB Justin
Oke from Swindon, and the Admirals won the Division 2 South West Conference with an 8 - 1
regular season and home field advantage for the playoffs. In the Quarter Finals we beat
the London Olympians 2 with a 28 - 20 score, and went on to beat Crawley Raiders 25 - 14
in the Semi Finals. The Admirals lost in the Final at Birmingham 26 - 13 against Cambridge
Cats. 1996 saw changes for the Admirals with a new Head Coach Simon Nash and a change of
home venue. The Admirals also moved up to Division 1 to play the toughest teams in the
country who also had some big sponsors. This was the teams first losing season in its 10
year history finishing up with a 4 -6 season. At the end of this season many of the
longest serving players retired from the Club. Some had been with the Admirals from the
beginning. 1997 saw the beginning of a new ere for the Admirals, as the team began to
rebuild. The team stayed in Division 1 and finished with a 5 - 5 season. 1998 saw the true
impact of football at the highest level with a new team. More of the veterans retired and
the team now consisted largely of rookies and players from the youth team. Defensive
lineman Steve Howard took over as Head Coach and with an inherited system. This year truly
marked new ear for the Admirals with new home ground at Weston Mill Oak Villa. The
Admirals fought a valiant season in Division one. The 0 - 10 season did not reflect the
determination and new spirit within the Club. In 1999 the Admirals returned to Division 2.
Coach had devised a new Offensive and Defensive system hoping to develop a young team and
build upon the skills and experience of playing the top-flight teams. Again this season
had 2 inter conference games. The season ended with a 4 - 4 which could have been 6 - 2
but for two games lost in the last minute of time. A 'Wild card' slot pitted them against
Tiger Bay Warriors for the third time in the season, each team had won a game. The
Admirals lost a great game 23 - 16. 2000 saw the Admirals ready to go to the final, but it
was not to be with a 0 - 1 - 6 season. It could have been so different with 4 of the 6
losing games going to the wire. Made playoffs in 2001, but fell at the quarter-finals
stage to Oxford. Reached the semi-finals in 2002. Had a very tough year in 2003, when they failed to win a regular season
game. Improvement in 2004, when they finished 2-6-2 in the South West Conference of
Division Two - Montrell Turner led Division Two in tackles with 75 solos and 50 assists. |
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