The Pilgrims traveling up the league's

[Mr_Grieves]

Plymouth Argyle
View attachment 293950




The city of Plymouth the Largest city in England to have never hosted top flight football. During there 131 years the club have won a record 4 third tier titles.


Plans with the stadiums main stand is supposed to be under reconstruction but no mention of it on here and the fact that were renting it from the council means i'll be looking to build our own once we move up the leagues.
View attachment 293945




Chairman James Brent who took over in 2011 has hoped he haw found the man that will finally give the fans who have had a particularly hard last 5 years there firs true taste of success having never won a trophy ever having only lifted league titles in the past. Long term we hope can give the most southerly and westerly League club in England there 1st trip to the Premiership in the more distant future.
View attachment 293947


10 Years ago they were having there 1st go at the Championship Level in almost 20 years and after a 6 season stay they began there free fall through the leagues with back to back relegations in 2009/19 & 2010/11.


Key Players

Luke McCormick - GK
View attachment 293943
Heart and soul of the side. He's been with the team with a few breaks since 2000. Solid keeper for now.


Bobby Reid - MC
View attachment 293942
The teams best player just now. On loan from Bristol City sadly


Reuben Reid - AT
View attachment 293940
Reid was a Plymouth youth player through the glory days and after a great season on loan at Rotherham earning a move to West Brom in 2009. 4 poor season followed before he came home on loan last season scoring 17 league goals and dragging Plymouth to a mid table finish for the first time in years earning a full time move for this season.



Trophys
League 2 - 2014/15
Johnsons's Paint Trophy 2015/16
League 1 Play-Off Winners 2015/16
Championship Play-Off Winners 2017/18
Europa League 2020/21
Champions League 2021/22
Premiership 2021/22



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[Mr_Grieves]

Season 1 Preview
2014/15



Pre Season
My first season will be a year of penny pinching. Were cutting wages down to the minimum on players. We cut right back to have a basic squad
just this morning we added Tottenham as a parent club so hopefully we can fill out the 1st team with there kids
I would have like to make more changes the coaching staff but we are overstaffed in every department so i'll keep that as it is for now.
Bookies make us 41/1 for the League

Targets
League 2 - Promotion challenge
FA, League Cup & Johnston's paint trophy - No expectations


We dont have the squad to challenge on more than 1 front.

Transfers
View attachment 293939
Far more leave than arrive but i refuse to buy squad players as i need to! They must be able to contriubte!


Denzel Slager - MR
View attachment 293938


Jake Barker-Daish - MC
View attachment 293937


Slager will be starting Daish will be back up. Watch out for me calling him Danish its happened a lot so far.



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[lowman_mrl]

Good luck man!

Check out my story Pilgrims set sail again!

Just finished my first season as champions.....loan Appiah from Palace, smashed them in and won top goalscorer in the league for me!

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Good luck man!

Check out my story Pilgrims set sail again!

Just finished my first season as champions.....loan Appiah from Palace, smashed them in and won top goalscorer in the league for me!

I've got some catching up to do on you mate. Good 1st season there!

 

[Mr_Grieves]

August

A brilliant start with a convincing win at home to Wycombe
Were out of the League cup but far from embarrassed as Ipswich win 2-1
4 wins out of 5 then a draw that to our 91st minute equalizer
Lifesaver as i discover we have a future fee on our former youth player Sam Gallagher who is at Southampton. i sell that off and we get £625k in the bank allowing us to bring in some deadline day deals.


Fixtures

Plymouth 3-0 Wycombe
Banton
Reid
Harvey


League Cup 1st Round
Ipswich 2-1 Plymouth
Mellor


Tranmere 1-3 Plymouth
Reid 2
Harvey


Plymouth 3-1 Southend
Alessandra
O'Connor
Slager


Mansfield 1-1 Plymouth
*** 91st minute


Luton 1-3 Plymouth
O'Connor
Reid 2




League 2 Table
View attachment 293910
What a great start. We pick up a fine habit of scoring 3 goals and won all but one of our games. Pre Season favorites Shrewsbury languish down in mid table with only 1 win!




Transfers
With a bit more cash in the bank we add two players on loan. veteran left winger Kevin Ellison will be back up but will probably get a lot of games & Burnley wing back Luke O'Neil. But our big signing was David Norris. A key player back in the championship days he's reaching the end of his playing career and after a few attempts earlier on in the summer i finally got my Midfield maestro that i was missing.

View attachment 293909View attachment 293908View attachment 293907


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[Mr_Grieves]

September


Dutch winger Slager runs Exeter to shreds with 2 goals and an assist. Center back Nelson got 2 as well.
Drop points at Accrington but elsewhere we dominate our division rivals scoring plenty of goals.


Fixtures


Plymouth 5-0 Exeter
Slager 2
B Reid
Nelson 2


Plymouth 4-2 Carlisle
Harvey
R Reid
Slanger
Bentley


This was a Man Utd style performance. 4 goals clear just after half a hour before Carlisle got two consolations to take back up the road.


Accrington St 0-0 Plymouth
We battered the door down but no goals and only 1 point today.


Northampton 1-3 Plymouth
R Reid
Nelson
Banton


Back to winning ways with Reuben Reid getting the goals.


Plymouth 4-1 Hartlepool
R Reid
Harvey
Brunt
B Reid


View attachment 293870




Plymouth 4-1 Portsmouth
O'G
R Reid
Slager
Harvey


Two of the most southern sides who are team expected to be in the promotion chase and going into today they were 1st & 2nd and here we cemented our place on top of the table






League 2
View attachment 293869
After almost 1/4 of the season Were still in top spot but Burton are right on our tails. I think Portsmouth will give us problems before the too long however.



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[coolmcool]

Looking good, Plymouth Argyle is my closest team so have always supported them right from playing Scarborough in the old divison 3 to playing Wolves in the Championship when Paul Ince was captain. They have had some good players over the years like Ebanks-Blake, Gosling, Mackie and Ashley Barnes but always seem to let everyone go on the cheap. KIU

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Looking good, Plymouth Argyle is my closest team so have always supported them right from playing Scarborough in the old divison 3 to playing Wolves in the Championship when Paul Ince was captain. They have had some good players over the years like Ebanks-Blake, Gosling, Mackie and Ashley Barnes but always seem to let everyone go on the cheap. KIU

I thought that when i was looking through there history and the players they had they did great by not spending much on players and bringing in profits on players but considering the amount of goals Ebanks-Blake scored they should have got more for him.

 

[Mr_Grieves]

October


Form flips with bad performances & bad discipline equaling bad results and the loss of top spot.
Coventry put us out of the Paint trophy but we took them all the way to penaltys.


Fixtures

Plymouth 2-1 Newport County
Banton
***
What a crazy crzy finish. We were loosing in the 90th minute but had turned it around by the 93rd minute to get a pretty undeserved 3 points.


Dag & Red 2-0 Plymouth
We were the better team but still slide to our 1st defeat in the League


Bury 3-2 Plymouth
Nelson
Brunt
Top Vs bottom so nothing to worry about! uh oh! The bubble seems to have burst!


AFC Wimbledon 2-2 Plymouth
Banton 2
Who gives a team 2 penaltys! Thats where both Wimbledons goals came from.


Johnstons Paint trophy 2nd round
Plymouth 0-0 Coventry - Coventry win 5-3 on pens


Plymouth 2-3 York
Ellison
R Reid
We were in control when just before the hour our star defender Curtin Nelson got sent off for a second yellow. York took advantage with 2 late goals to jump right on our tails in the table.




League 2
View attachment 293593
A very poor month with 2 defeats on the road followed by throwing away a 2 goal lead at home to rivals York. Lucky foe us that non of the teams around us took full advantage of our dropped points.



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[Mr_Grieves]

November


Undefeated in the month but only pick up 6 points from 12. December will be a big month!
Progress in the FA Cup as we get our 1st cup win in my time at the club.
Rueben Reid had his best month of the season so far.


Fixtures


Morcambe 2-2 Plymouth
R Reid
Banton


FA Cup 1st Round
Plymouth 1-0 Stevenage
R Reid
The match i wasnt bothered about winning is the one we win of course!


Plymouth 2-2 Burton
We came back from 2 goals down to grab a point from the league leaders.


Shrewsbury 1-1 Plymouth
Banton


Cheltenham 2-3 Plymouth
R Reid 2
O'G


This was more like it! the match looked won after 20 minutes but Cheltenham forced a late flurry but it wasnt enough




League 2
View attachment 293567
Were still floating the leaders 4 points off top spot but some small signs of revival towards the end of the month.



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[Mr_Grieves]

December


Bury appoint Aberdeen legend Eoin Jess as manager
Clean sweep of award as i win manager of the month Slager wins player of the month & Curtin Nelson wins young player of the month.
Our cup dreams are over for the year.


Fixtures

FA Cup 2nd Round
Plymouth 3-4 Rochdale
B Reid
Ellison
Banton


That was a FA Cup tie! Our on loan Bobby Reid put us ahead after 6 minutes we held the lead for 20 minutes before rochdale leveled it up. On the hour there star player Vincenti put them ahead and Andy Johnston soon had them 3-1 ahead Ellison brought us back into the game for a minute as Henderson put Rochdale 2 goals ahead again! Banton scored again to make the last 10 minutes interesting but we couldnt level it up after a huge effort!


Plymouth 6-3 Oxford
Nelson
Slager 2
B Reid
R Reid
Hartley


Plymouth 4-1 Cambridge
Slager
R Reid 2
Harvey


Two games where injurys got so bad that we couldnt name a full bench and we get two of the best wins of the season.


Stevenage 1-3 Plymouth
Slager 2
Harvey




League 2
View attachment 293535
Were back on top but boy its close. 3 teams split by 1 point.



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[Mr_Grieves]

January


Very tough month. We have no budget to buy players, Spurs are offering nothing but donkeys and injurys are stacking up
2 big wins but a few dodgy performance. Were scoring for fun but at the other end were leaking goals but we are playing quite a few development players i hope to make money off in the coming years.


Fixtures

Plymouth 4-1 Tranmere
R Reid 3
Harvey


Wycombe 2-2 Plymouth
B Reid
R Reid
We deserved more from this match but a late O'G from Mellor gave up 2 points.


Southend 2-3 Plymouth
O'Connor
O'Neil
Slager
We lead for over 3/4 of the game before Southen turned the game on its head with 2 goals in 3 minutes. We then scored right away to get level then our man of the moment Slager scored in the 92nd minute to get a huge win!


Plymouth 4-1 Mansfield
R Reid 2
B Reid
Banton
Slanger out for 2 months


Plymouth 1-1 Luton
Hall


Exeter 2-2 Plymouth
B Reid
Banton


Carlisle 2-3 Plymouth
Banton
Purrington 2
Were getting a lot of results like this. Carlisle pulled level twice but 2 goals from wing back Ben Purrington.




League 2
View attachment 293529
We had a bumpy month with 2 big home wins and 5 dodgy performances usually away from home. Were still top and its still a 3 way battle at the top. The further we can pull away from 4th the better.




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[Mr_Grieves]

February


Jeff Stelings boys get revenge holding us to 3-3 draw
Top of the table clash with Portsmouth also ends in a draw and a 3rd draw in a row leaves it close at the top once again!




Fixtures


Plymouth 2-0 Accrington
Harvey
***
Top scorer Reuben Reid is out for 2 months leaving us without 3 of our starting 4 forwards. We were forced into loaning a Palace youngster Kwesi Appiah for 3 month as much needed back up!


Plymouth 3-1 Northampton
Appiah
Reid 2


Hartlepool 3-3 Plymouth
Harvey
Appiah
Hall
3 times we took the lead 3 times Hartlepool pulled level


Portsmouth 0-0 Plymouth
We had 10 men for most of the 2nd half so happy with a point.


Plymouth 2-2 Dag & Red
Harvey
Appiah




League 2
3 draws in a row to round out the month leaves us greatful to still be top if only on goal difference. Oxford in 4th are the only danger to the top 3's promotion charge.



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[Mr_Grieves]

March


We still stumbling to draws that stopping us to get comfortable at the top of the table.
At York we had to fight from behind to get one of our few 3 points.
Still despite this were top and unbeaten in the League since October


Fixtures


Newport Co 2-2 Plymouth
Hartley
Ellison


Plymouth 3-1 AFC Wimbledon
Appiah
Slanger
Nelson
Finally we break the 4 game draw streak


Plymouth 2-2 Bury
O'Neil
Banton
Nelson gets sent off AGAIN! as we draw AGAIN!


York 2-3 Plymouth
Harvey 2
Ellison


Plymouth 1-1 Morcambe
O'G




League 2
View attachment 293045
6 games to go and we go into the last leg 2 points clear. 11 points clear of 4th place and just a few wins from the ultimate goal of promotion.



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[CabbageC]

Enjoying the write up, keep going!

I have a Plymouth save on-the-go, and am trying to take them as high as I possibly can. My game is a few seasons ahead of yours, but it's fun to see how others tackle the lower leagues. You are doing much better than I did in the first season, although I did scrape into the promotion playoffs. I remember sacking Paul Wotton (player/coach) caused me all sorts of headaches.

It will be interesting to track which homegrown players perform well for you.

Now i'm off to find the other Plymouth story that was mentioned here

 

[Mr_Grieves]

I remember sacking Paul Wotton (player/coach) caused me all sorts of headaches.

I did that on day one as his playing stats were as bad as his coaching stats but went pretty much unnoticed. Board still had a mumble at the end of the month but thats it.

 

[Mr_Grieves]

April


Title goes down to the final day with Plymouth, Burton & Portsmouth all on 88 points.
Appiah loan is cancelled after he gets injured for the rest of the season. His 4 goals could turn out cruical!
Burton win the contenders battle of the month.




Fixtures


Plymouth 5-2 Shrewsbury
Harvey 2
Miller 2
Ellison
One of our 3 subs was 15 year old Jason Rigby.


Burton 3-2 Plymouth
B Reid
T Harvey
Our first defeat in over 5 months. This was a must win match for Burton of there title hopes would have been over.


Oxford 2-2 Plymouth
R Reid
Mellor
Wing back Mellors 87th minute goal secures Promotion. Lots of work to do to try and lift the championship.


Plymouth 3-0 Cheltenham
Slager
Reid
Ellison
We did what we had to do. From now on were just doing so and checking and hoping Portsmouth who drew & Burton who lost results. Today put us back on top spot.


Cambridge 3-1 Plymouth
Brunt
Not the time to have a disastrous performance in a top vs bottom clash.




League 2
View attachment 292964
Could it be written any better? Top 3 are all level on 88 points. We have the goal difference advantage but that counts for nothing if we loose!




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[Dave1875]

Not going to lie, when I saw the word Pilgrims I initially thought it was a Boston United story you were doing

Well done on winning promotion though. The steamroller just getting started?

 

[andy_14clark]

Don't think I've seen a league tighter at the top on the last day as that haha.

Looking forward to the next update

 

[Mr_Grieves]

Final Game


3 teams fight for the title but only one can walk away with the title. We have the lead in the title race thanks to goal difference and for the second week in a row were playing a relegated team.


Portsmouth have a trip to 11th place Southend who are in 11th with nothing to play for if we slip up then they are in prime position to win the league.


Burton are also at home and face pre season favorites Shrewsbury who are down in 13th




Half time


Plymouth 1-0 Stevenage
Ruben Reid gave us the lead after 37 minutes of dominance we need another 2 to get comfortable.


Portsmouth 1-0 Southend
Same story over at Pompy who lead from top scorer Matt Tubbs


Burton 1-0 Shrewsbury
Took the lead just before half time to stay in the hunt


Full Time


Plymouth 4-0 Stevenage
Reid never made it out for the 2nd half with a injury and his replacement Ryan Brunt scored half of his season goals in the last half hour of the season to win us the League 2 title.


Portsmouth 4-0 Southend
Strange how all the games went the same way!


Burton 4-1 Shrewsbury
Burton also put on a show in the 2nd half but too little too late.




Final Table
View attachment 292939
So we all finish on 91 points but our mass goal scoring in the 1st half of the season was the difference.



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