List of Plymouth Argyle F.C. seasons

Plymouth Argyle Football Club is an English association football club based in Plymouth, Devon. They compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system, as of the 2023–24 season. The club was founded in 1886 as Argyle Football Club. At this time, there was no League football,^[1] so matches were arranged on an ad hoc basis, supplemented by cup competitions. In January 1903, the club became a limited company and changed their name to Plymouth Argyle F.C.^[2] Election to the Southern League followed in March, as the club gained direct entry to the First Division for the 1903–04 season. The club were also invited to compete in the Western League, a competition which was considered secondary to the Southern League.^[3]

Argyle finished as runners-up in 1908 and 1912,^[4] before winning the League championship for the first time in 1913.^[5] The club harboured ambitions on entering the Second Division of the Football League before competitive football was put on-hold in May 1915 due to the First World War.^[6] The Southern League resumed in August 1919, but it was to be Argyle's last season as a member before the League's top division was absorbed by the Football League to create the Third Division ahead of the 1920–21 season.^[7] A year later, more clubs were added to the division and it was split in two, Third Division North and Third Division South. Argyle were placed in the latter.^[8]

The club finished as runners-up for six consecutive seasons between 1922 and 1927,^[9] before finally winning the League championship in the 1929–30 season, and promotion to the Second Division for the first time.^[10] Argyle remained there for almost twenty years before returning to the Third Division South in 1950. The club won the League championship again in the 1951–52 season, and Argyle's best season to date followed a year later. They finished fourth in the Second Division and reached the fifth round of the FA Cup. The club were relegated again in 1956 before winning another League title in the 1958–59 season, in the re-unified Third Division. Argyle's stay in the second tier of English football this time lasted almost a decade until they were relegated again in 1968. The club were promoted from the Third Division once more in 1975 as runners-up, the first time they had done so without ending the season as champions.^[11] Argyle reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup for the first time in April 1984,^[12] and were promoted from the Third Division as runners-up again in the 1985–86 season.^[13]

Argyle were relegated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time in their history at the end of the 1994–95 season, but earned promotion again the following year, this time at Wembley Stadium in the 1996 Third Division play-off final.^[14] The club won their first League championship in forty-three years at the end of the 2001–02 season,^[15] breaking numerous records in the process, including a Third Division record points tally of 102.^[16] Argyle conceded just 28 League goals that season and kept 27 clean sheets in 46 matches.^[17] Two years later, the club won the Second Division of the Football League and promotion back to the second tier,^[18] which was renamed the Championship by the League's board in the summer of 2004.^[19] Argyle's success in the 2003–04 season took their tally of titles in the third tier of English football to four, which is a divisional record.^[20] As of the end of the 2012–13 season, Plymouth Argyle Football Club has spent 40 seasons in the second tier of English football, 39 seasons in the third, and seven seasons in the fourth. The table details their achievements in all senior first team competitions, their top goalscorer(s), and average home league attendance for each completed season since their professional debut on 1 September 1903.^[21]

Table key

Winners*	Runners-up^¤	Play-offs^†	Promoted ↑	Relegated ↓	Top scorer in Argyle's division^‡

Seasons

Season	Division	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Pos	FA Cup	EFL Cup^[a]	Competition	Result	Player(s)	Goals	Average attendance^[b]	Notes
Season	League^[c]									FA Cup	EFL Cup^[a]	Other^[d]		Top scorer(s)^[e]		Average attendance^[b]	Notes
1903–04	SL Div 1 WL Div 1	34 16	13 8	10 4	11 4	44 22	34 18	36 20	9th 3rd	R1	—	—	—	Jack Peddie	21	7,517	^[f]
1904–05	SL Div 1 WL Div 1	34 20	18 13	5 4	11 3	57 52	39 18	41 30	4th 1st*	R1	—	—	—	Jack Picken	29	7,964	—
1905–06	SL Div 1 WL Div 1	34 20	16 8	7 8	11 4	52 34	33 23	39 24	6th 3rd	R2	—	—	—	Harry Wilcox	25	6,147	—
1906–07	SL Div 1 WL Div 1	38 10	10 5	13 3	15 2	43 16	50 10	33 13	15th 2nd^¤	R1	—	—	—	Herbert Swann	15	5,578	^[g]
1907–08	SL Div 1 WL Div 1	38 12	19 5	11 2	8 5	50 14	31 14	49 12	2nd^¤ 4th	R2	—	—	—	Harry Ingham	14	8,537	—
1908–09	SL Div 1 WL Div 1	40 12	15 6	10 1	15 5	46 12	47 13	40 13	10th 3rd	R3	—	—	—	Tommy Hakin	17	5,900	—
1909–10	SL Div 1	42	16	11	15	61	54	43	11th	R1	—	—	—	Jimmy Hindmarsh	15	4,778	—
1910–11	SL Div 1	38	15	9	14	54	55	39	8th	R1	—	—	—	Harry Raymond	12	6,140	—
1911–12	SL Div 1	38	23	6	9	63	31	52	2nd^¤	R1	—	—	—	John Boden	20	7,441	—
1912–13	SL Div 1	38	22	6	10	77	36	50	1st*	R2	—	—	—	Fred Burch	28	8,173	—
1913–14	SL Div 1	38	15	13	10	46	42	43	5th	R2	—	—	—	Fred Burch	14	9,253	—
1914–15	SL Div 1	38	8	14	16	51	61	30	17th	R1	—	—	—	Fred Burch	15	4,250	—
1915–19	The Southern League and FA Cup were suspended until after the First World War.																^[h]
1919–20	SL Div 1	42	20	10	12	56	29	50	5th	R3	—	—	—	David Jack Billy Kellock	12	11,195	^[i]
1920–21	Div 3	42	11	21	10	35	34	43	11th	R3	—	—	—	Harry Raymond	7	13,714	^[j]
1921–22	Div 3S	42	25	11	6	63	24	61	2nd^¤	R1	—	—	—	Frank Richardson	31^‡	14,809	^[k]^[l]^[m]
1922–23	Div 3S	42	23	7	12	61	29	53	2nd^¤	R3	—	—	—	Jack Fowler	17	11,024	—
1923–24	Div 3S	42	23	9	10	70	34	55	2nd^¤	R1	—	—	—	Percy Cherrett	27	11,200	—
1924–25	Div 3S	42	23	10	9	77	38	56	2nd^¤	R1	—	—	—	Jack Leslie	14	12,610	—
1925–26	Div 3S	42	24	8	10	107	67	56	2nd^¤	R3	—	—	—	Jack Cock	32^‡	13,815	^[n]
1926–27	Div 3S	42	25	10	7	95	61	60	2nd^¤	R3	—	—	—	Jack Cock	33	11,263	^[o]
1927–28	Div 3S	42	23	7	12	85	54	53	3rd	R1	—	—	—	Sammy Black	16	10,223	—
1928–29	Div 3S	42	20	12	10	83	51	52	4th	R4	—	—	—	Ray Bowden Jack Leslie	22	10,808	—
1929–30	Div 3S ↑	42	30	8	4	98	38	68	1st*	R3	—	—	—	Sammy Black	24	15,232	^[p]
1930–31	Div 2	42	14	8	20	76	84	36	18th	R3	—	—	—	Sammy Black	20	19,261	—
1931–32	Div 2	42	20	9	13	100	66	49	4th	R4	—	—	—	Jack Leslie	21	19,520	—
1932–33	Div 2	42	16	9	17	63	67	41	14th	R3	—	—	—	Sammy Black	13	17,465	—
1933–34	Div 2	42	15	13	14	69	70	43	10th	R3	—	—	—	Jimmy Cookson	28	15,454	—
1934–35	Div 2	42	19	8	15	75	64	46	8th	R4	—	—	—	Jack Vidler	21	13,787	—
1935–36	Div 2	42	20	8	14	71	57	48	7th	R4	—	—	—	Sammy Black	16	16,107	—
1936–37	Div 2	42	18	13	11	71	53	49	5th	R4	—	—	—	Jack Connor	17	21,476	—
1937–38	Div 2	42	14	12	16	57	65	40	13th	R3	—	—	—	Bill Hullett	10	18,550	^[q]
1938–39	Div 2	42	15	8	19	49	55	38	15th	R3	—	—	—	Bill Hullett	10	16,847	—
1939–40	Div 2	3	2	0	1	4	3	4	5th	NA	—	—	—	—	—	—	^[r]
1940–45	The Football League and FA Cup were suspended until after the Second World War.																^[s]
1945–46	FLS	42	3	8	31	39	120	14	22nd	R3	—	—	—	—	—	—	^[t]^[u]
1946–47	Div 2	42	14	5	23	79	96	33	19th	R3	—	—	—	Dave Thomas	19	23,290	^[v]
1947–48	Div 2	42	9	20	13	40	58	38	17th	R3	—	—	—	Ernie Edds	14	23,239	—
1948–49	Div 2	42	12	12	18	49	64	36	20th	R3	—	—	—	Maurice Tadman	15	22,648	—
1949–50	Div 2 ↓	42	8	16	18	44	65	32	21st	R3	—	—	—	Bill Strauss	10	22,054	—
1950–51	Div 3S	46	24	9	13	85	55	57	4th	R3	—	—	—	Maurice Tadman	26	16,347	—
1951–52	Div 3S ↑	46	29	8	9	107	53	66	1st*	R1	—	—	—	Maurice Tadman	27	19,126	—
1952–53	Div 2	42	20	9	13	65	60	49	4th	R5	—	—	—	Maurice Tadman	15	22,813	—
1953–54	Div 2	42	9	16	17	65	82	34	19th	R4	—	—	—	Maurice Tadman	12	19,501	—
1954–55	Div 2	42	12	7	23	57	82	31	20th	R3	—	—	—	Peter Anderson Eric Davis Johnny Porteous	8	19,259	—
1955–56	Div 2 ↓	42	10	8	24	54	87	28	21st	R3	—	—	—	Neil Langman	9	17,122	—
1956–57	Div 3S	46	16	11	19	68	73	43	18th	R2	—	—	—	Neil Langman	18	12,127	—
1957–58	Div 3S	46	25	8	13	67	48	58	3rd	R3	—	—	—	Wilf Carter	32	19,506	—
1958–59	Div 3 ↑	46	23	16	7	89	59	62	1st*	R3	—	—	—	Wilf Carter	25	22,881	^[w]
1959–60	Div 2	42	13	9	20	61	89	35	19th	R3	—	—	—	Wilf Carter	22	20,354	—
1960–61	Div 2	42	17	8	17	81	82	42	11th	R3	R4	—	—	Wilf Carter	28	17,646	^[x]
1961–62	Div 2	42	19	8	15	75	75	46	5th	R4	R1	—	—	Wilf Carter	20	14,008	—
1962–63	Div 2	42	15	12	15	76	73	42	12th	R3	R2	—	—	Wilf Carter	14	15,727	—
1963–64	Div 2	42	8	16	18	45	67	32	20th	R3	R2	—	—	Frank Lord	8	12,902	^[y]
1964–65	Div 2	42	16	8	18	63	79	40	15th	R4	SF	—	—	Frank Lord Mike Trebilcock	17	14,652	^[z]
1965–66	Div 2	42	12	13	17	54	63	37	18th	R4	R2	—	—	Mike Bickle	12	13,076	—
1966–67	Div 2	42	14	9	19	59	58	37	16th	R3	R2	—	—	Mike Bickle	13	14,235	—
1967–68	Div 2 ↓	42	9	9	24	38	72	27	22nd	R3	R2	—	—	Mike Bickle	10	10,667	—
1968–69	Div 3	46	17	15	14	53	49	49	5th	R1	R1	—	—	Mike Bickle	12	10,590	—
1969–70	Div 3	46	16	11	19	56	64	43	17th	R2	R1	—	—	Mike Bickle	18	9,113	—
1970–71	Div 3	46	12	19	15	63	63	43	15th	R1	R1	—	—	Don Hutchins	11	8,704	—
1971–72	Div 3	46	20	10	16	74	64	50	8th	R1	R2	—	—	Derek Rickard	14	10,828	—
1972–73	Div 3	46	20	10	16	74	66	50	8th	R4	R1	—	—	Alan Welsh	13	9,048	—
1973–74	Div 3	46	17	10	19	59	54	44	17th	R3	SF	—	—	Steve Davey	19	7,769	—
1974–75	Div 3 ↑	46	24	11	11	79	58	59	2nd^¤	R4	R1	—	—	Billy Rafferty	26	14,056	^[aa]
1975–76	Div 2	42	13	12	17	48	54	38	16th	R3	R2	—	—	Paul Mariner	16	14,800	—
1976–77	Div 2 ↓	42	8	16	18	46	65	32	21st	R3	R1	—	—	Brian Hall	10	13,328	^[ab]
1977–78	Div 3	46	11	17	18	61	68	39	19th	R3	R1	Anglo-Scottish Cup	GR	Terry Austin	13	6,752	—
1978–79	Div 3	46	15	14	17	67	68	44	15th	R1	R2	—	—	Fred Binney	28	7,524	—
1979–80	Div 3	46	16	12	18	59	55	44	15th	R1	R3	Anglo-Scottish Cup	GR	David Kemp	15	5,775	—
1980–81	Div 3	46	19	14	13	56	44	52	7th	R3	R1	—	—	David Kemp	28	6,761	—
1981–82	Div 3	46	18	11	17	64	56	65	10th	R1	R2	Football League Group Cup	GR	John Sims	19	4,792	^[ac]
1982–83	Div 3	46	19	8	19	61	66	65	8th	R3	R1	—	—	John Sims	14	4,537	—
1983–84	Div 3	46	13	12	21	56	62	51	19th	SF	R2	Associate Members' Cup	SF	Tommy Tynan	20	5,335	^[ad]
1984–85	Div 3	46	15	14	17	62	65	59	15th	R2	R2	Associate Members' Cup	R1	Tommy Tynan	32^‡	5,131	^[ae]
1985–86	Div 3 ↑	46	26	9	11	88	53	87	2nd^¤	R3	R1	Associate Members' Cup	GR	Kevin Hodges	16	8,085	—
1986–87	Div 2	42	16	13	13	62	57	61	7th	R4	R1	Full Members' Cup	R1	Tommy Tynan	20	12,391	—
1987–88	Div 2	44	16	8	20	65	67	56	16th	R5	R2	Full Members' Cup	R1	Tommy Tynan	19	10,266	—
1988–89	Div 2	46	14	12	20	55	66	54	18th	R4	R2	Full Members' Cup	R1	Tommy Tynan	26	8,627	—
1989–90	Div 2	46	14	13	19	58	63	55	16th	R3	R2	Full Members' Cup	R2	Tommy Tynan	18	8,722	—
1990–91	Div 2	46	12	17	17	54	68	53	18th	R3	R3	Full Members' Cup	R1	Robbie Turner	14	6,850	—
1991–92	Div 2 ↓	46	13	9	24	42	64	48	22nd	R3	R1	Full Members' Cup	QF	Dwight Marshall	15	6,738	—
1992–93	Div 2	46	16	12	18	59	64	60	14th	R3	R3	Football League Trophy	GR	Steve Castle Paul Dalton Kevin Nugent	13	6,377	^[af]
1993–94	Div 2	46	25	10	11	88	56	85	3rd^†	R4	R1	Football League Trophy	GR	Steve Castle	22	9,357	^[ag]
1994–95	Div 2 ↓	46	12	10	24	45	83	46	21st	R3	R1	Football League Trophy	GR	Richard Landon Kevin Nugent	7	5,832	^[ah]
1995–96	Div 3 ↑	46	22	12	12	68	49	78	4th^†	R3	R1	Football League Trophy	GR	Adrian Littlejohn	18	7,440	^[ai]
1996–97	Div 2	46	12	18	16	47	58	54	19th	R3	R1	Football League Trophy	QF	Mickey Evans	15	6,494	—
1997–98	Div 2 ↓	46	12	13	21	55	70	49	22nd	R1	R1	Football League Trophy	R1	Carlo Corazzin	17	5,322	—
1998–99	Div 3	46	17	10	19	58	54	61	13th	R3	R1	Football League Trophy	R1	Dwight Marshall	12	5,322	—
1999–2000	Div 3	46	16	18	12	55	51	66	12th	R4	R1	Football League Trophy	R2	Paul McGregor	16	5,371	—
2000–01	Div 3	46	15	13	18	54	61	58	12th	R1	R1	Football League Trophy	R2	Ian Stonebridge	12	4,944	—
2001–02	Div 3 ↑	46	31	9	6	71	28	102	1st*	R2	R1	Football League Trophy	R1	Graham Coughlan David Friio	11	8,788	^[aj]
2002–03	Div 2	46	17	14	15	63	52	65	8th	R3	R1	Football League Trophy	R2	Marino Keith	12	8,980	—
2003–04	Div 2 ↑	46	26	12	8	85	41	90	1st*	R1	R1	Football League Trophy	R2	David Friio	15	12,654	—
2004–05	Champ	46	14	11	21	52	64	53	17th	R3	R1	—	—	Paul Wotton	13	16,419	^[ak]
2005–06	Champ	46	13	17	16	39	46	56	14th	R3	R2	—	—	Paul Wotton	9	13,776	—
2006–07	Champ	46	17	16	13	63	62	67	11th	QF	R1	—	—	Barry Hayles	14	13,011	—
2007–08	Champ	46	17	13	16	60	50	64	10th	R4	R3	—	—	Sylvan Ebanks-Blake	13^‡	13,000	^[al]
2008–09	Champ	46	13	12	21	44	57	51	21st	R3	R1	—	—	Paul Gallagher	13	11,533	—
2009–10	Champ ↓	46	11	8	27	43	68	41	23rd	R3	R1	—	—	Jamie Mackie	8	10,316	—
2010–11	Lge 1 ↓	46	15	7	24	51	74	42	23rd	R1	R1	Football League Trophy	QF	Bradley Wright-Phillips	13	8,613	^[am]
2011–12	Lge 2	46	10	16	20	47	64	46	21st	R1	R1	Football League Trophy	R1	Simon Walton	9	6,915	—
2012–13	Lge 2	46	13	13	20	46	55	52	21st	R1	R2	Football League Trophy	QF	Jason Banton	6	7,095	—
2013–14	Lge 2	46	16	12	18	51	58	60	10th	R3	R1	Football League Trophy	R2	Reuben Reid	21	7,304	—
2014–15	Lge 2	46	20	11	15	55	37	71	7th^†	R2	R1	Football League Trophy	S/F	Reuben Reid	20	7,693	—
2015–16	Lge 2	46	24	9	13	72	46	81	5th^†	R1	R1	Football League Trophy	Q/F	Jake Jervis	14	8,841	—
2016–17	Lge 2 ↑	46	26	9	11	71	46	87	2nd^¤	R3	R1	EFL Trophy	GR	Graham Carey	15	10,649	—
2017–18	Lge 1	46	19	11	16	58	59	68	7th	R2	R1	EFL Trophy	GR	Graham Carey	16	10,413	—
2018–19	Lge 1 ↓	46	13	11	22	56	80	50	21st	R2	R2	EFL Trophy	GR	Freddie Ladapo	18	9,847	—
2019–20	Lge 2 ↑	37	20	8	9	61	39	68	3rd	R2	R2	EFL Trophy	GR	Antoni Sarcevic	10	10,086	^[an]
2020–21	Lge 1	46	14	11	21	53	80	53	18th	R4	R2	EFL Trophy	GR	Luke Jephcott	18	1,808	^[ao]
2021–22	Lge 1	46	23	11	12	68	48	80	7th	R4	R2	EFL Trophy	GR	Ryan Hardie	19	13,130	—
2022–23	Lge 1 ↑	46	31	8	7	82	47	101	1st*	R1	R1	EFL Trophy	RU	Ryan Hardie	17	15,492	—
2023–24	Champ									TBD	TBD	—	—

Footnotes

References

General

"Plymouth Argyle". Statto. Archived from the original on 20 April 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
"Plymouth Argyle". Football Club History Database (FCHD). Richard Rundle. Archived from the original on 14 June 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
"The Introduction Page of the RSSSF". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF). Archived from the original on 22 December 2012. Retrieved 26 April 2010.
Knight, Brian (1989). Plymouth Argyle: A Complete Record 1903–1989. Derby: Breedon Books. ISBN 0-907969-40-2.
Cowdery, Rick; Curno, Mike (2009). Plymouth Argyle Miscellany. Plymouth: Pitch Publishing. ISBN 978-1-905411-30-6.
Danes, Ryan (2009). Plymouth Argyle: The Complete Record. Plymouth: Breedon Books. ISBN 978-1-85983-710-8.

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