Southward Ho! Plymouth’s Narrow Escape
The story of Plymouth Argyle’s financial difficulties and collapse into administration certainly had a cast of rum characters, including the former Leeds United Peter Ridsdale, who ended up chairman for a while as a result of a walking holiday in that part of the world. Yes. Us, neither.
Plymouth Argyle: James Brent’s “Five Year Plan”
Football club takeover and ownership tales often have common elements such as financial disarray, incompetent and/or egomaniacal former owners…and, all-too-often, Peter bloody Ridsdale. Plymouth Argyle came through all that. And yet… I last covered Plymouth in...
Pilgrim’s Progress: Plymouth’s Run To The FA Cup Semi-Finals, 30 Years On
This weekend, Sheffield United will take to the pitch at Wembley for their FA Cup semi-final against Hull City as representatives of the third tier of English football. It's uncommon but not completely unheard of for clubs from this level to get this far in the...
Plymouth Argyle: James Brent – Licensed To… Do As He Wishes
Whatever Plymouth Argyle chairman and owner James Brent is, and opinions vary passionately among Pilgrims fans on that, he is no “football man.” Nor is he a “philanthropist,” “benefactor” or “particularly nice.” Brent regularly admits to mistakes in his running of the...
The Revisionism Of Ridsdale
I knew it wouldn’t take long. Peter Ridsdale remains far better at taking credit than earning it. So he was always going to consider himself pivotal to Cardiff City’s promotion to the Premier League. It was just a pity that, last night, the BBC fell in with (for?)...
Plymouth Argyle Remain A Work In Progress
With many English and Scottish League titles already won or all-but-won, tight season-finishes have had to be sought elsewhere, such as the bottom of League Two. Wimbledon took only nine years to get back their Football League place but it might only take them two to...
Plymouth Argyle And The Devil They Know
It looks as if the battle to avoid relegation from League Two is going to go to the wire. With eleven games of the season still to play, just six points separate Dagenham & Redbridge in sixteenth place in the table at Wimbledon, who sit at its foot, and in such a...
When A Chairman Isn’t A Chairman: Part Three Of The Riddler Trilogy
If the Insolvency Service (IS) had wanted to really punish Preston North End “chairman of football” Peter Ridsdale for his recently-revealed derelictions of directorship duties, they would not have stopped at barring him from holding company directorships for...
Peter Ridsdale & The Question Of What Constitutes A “Chairman” Or “Director”
We could argue, perhaps, that there is one set of rules for the well-to-do and another for the rest of us. Peter Ridsale, latterly of Leeds United, Barnsley, Cardiff City, Plymouth Argyle and currently at Preston North End, has been disqualified from acting as a...
Kevin Heaneys Bankruptcy Raises More Questions Than It Answers
After everything, it was a simple tweet from BBC Cornwall that confirmed the end of Kevin Heaneys ownership of Truro City FC, but even this grand finale wasn't what many people had expected. After all the talk of winding up orders from creditors, investment groups...
Truro Citys Unexpected £700,000 Headache
The end of last summer didn't work out too well for Kevin Heaney, the property-developing owner of Blue Square Bet South side Truro City, when his attempts to by Plymouth Argyle out of administration failed after repeated promises to come good with the money for the...
Truro vs The Taxman: A Happy Ending?
Shortly before 12.30pm today @TruroCityTweet declared 'ALL CLEAR FOR CITY -TAX BILL PAID IN FULL' (their capitals not mine but worthy of shouting nonetheless) and it seemed in light of the current cloud of doom hanging over parts of non-league that the sun has broken...
This Week In Plymouth: The Final Chapter & A New Beginning
Clever man, that James Brent, the (drum roll)… new owner of Plymouth Argyle. In the past week he has revealed himself to be far from the philanthropic ‘saviour’ many fans have keenly labelled him, while displaying a sure political touch, to protect his financial...
Plymouth’s Administration: More Questions Than Answers
It is never helpful if, while writing about a situation, one of its main protagonists pipes up just before the proof-reading stage to issue a statement claiming the equivalent of “the earth is flat, the moon is made of cheese, and I’m taking my ball home if anyone...
Yesterday In Plymouth: A Tale Of Morals And Legalities
Yesterday in Plymouth, some people with lots of money demanded more money, some people with much less money were told they were getting no more money, until the people with lots of money got more money. This was morally indefensible. Doubtless, there will be people on...
Who Owns Leeds United? How Football Documentaries Should Be Made
Many years ago, I listened to prize-winning author and ultra-famous Arsenal fan Nick Hornby reading extracts from the book which made his name, Fever Pitch. And the reading was a disappointment. Hornby was good, but just not as funny as the voice, indeterminate and...
Happy Birthday, Argyle!
Organisation is the key to many of life’s success, and this has been ably demonstrated than by Plymouth Argyle fans over recent days, in dealing with two potential obstacles to the club’s exit from administration. The starkest issue was highlighted by Ian King on this...
Plymouth’s Takeover Takes A Worrying Twist
So near, yet so far. The future of Plymouth Argyle seems likely to be thrown into fresh turmoil if rumours that started circulating late yesterday afternoon regarding an attempt on the part of three former directors of the club to buy the mortgage held over its Home...
Yesterday In Plymouth: Peter Ridsdale – In Or Out?
Yesterday in Plymouth, shortly before noon, the BBC 'understood' that, Peter Ridsdale “is to step down from involvement with Plymouth Argyle.” I smiled. The statement seemed to explain an odd occurrence earlier that morning. A Plymouth article on the BBC website at...
Peter Reid Pays The Price At Plymouth
They lost again yesterday, of course, a two-nil reverse at Southend United which left them anchored to the bottom of the entire Football League and this morning, in an act entirely at odds with the slow, long, drawn out procedure of the take-over of Plymouth Argyle,...
Yesterday In Plymouth… Nearly There?
Yesterday in Plymouth, 'Cornish-based property developer' Kevin Heaney appeared to finally disappear from contention as the part-saviour of the Argyle Football Club, as he should have done months ago in Plymouth. And, it would seem, 'Devon-based entrepreneur' James...
Yesterday In Plymouth: Heaney’s ‘Last’ Hurrah?
Yesterday in Plymouth, 'Cornish-based property developer' Kevin Heaney appeared to have a bluff called, 'Devon- based entrepreneur' James Brent appeared to be a favourite once again to buy Argyle Football Club, and the Football League, on whose board most attention...
Yesterday In Plymouth… Strike Averted, But Club Not Saved
Yesterday in Plymouth, it nearly all kicked off, or rather it nearly didn't. Lead administrator Brendan Guilfoyle “all-but-vanished” and somebody paid for acting chairman Peter Ridsdale to jet to the South of France, while staff at Home Park remained resolutely...
Yesterday In Plymouth: Background To Insurgam
Earlier this evening, we wrote on the extraordinary impromptu press briefing given by two Plymouth Argyle players and their manager, Peter Reid. This evening, in the second part of a double-bill, a little more background about why professional footballers should be...
Insurgam! A Players Strike At Plymouth?
Sometimes, help can come from the most unexpected of sources. Last Friday, it was announced to a mixture of joy and relief - probably more of the latter than the former, considering the shenanigans of the last few months - that Plymouth Argyle Football Club had been...
Yesterday In Plymouth: The Final -Or Penultimate? – Chapter
Yesterday in Plymouth, Argyle Football Club was saved from extinction's brink. Lead administrator Brendan Guilfoyle said he was “satisfied that Bishop International Limited has secured the necessary funding and everything is agreed between the numerous parties.” And...
Yesterday In Plymouth, Part… Umm…
Yesterday in Plymouth, Argyle's lead administrator Brendan Guilfoyle said an incredible thing… no, wait, I know he's been saying incredible things since the start of Argyle's spell in administration in March (and some Luton and Crystal Palace fans might be prepared to...
On The Subject Of Deadlines… A Big Week For Wrexham & Plymouth Argyle
Two clubs are facing deadlines in the near future after months of insecurity, but while Wrexham now seem likely to be headed towards a brighter future, Plymouth Argyle supporters are probably at the point now of not believing anyone until the take-over of their club...
Pilgrim’s Regress, Part Two: Five Minutes With Sparks
What better way to continue a mini-series of articles on Plymouth Argyle than to miss a deadline. Today's words of distinctly finite wisdom from the South-West were actually spoken four days ago and published the day before the day before yesterday. So I'm late...
Pilgrims Regress: The Continuing Suffocation Of Plymouth Argyle
Years of trade union negotiating experience taught me the value of reading things very carefully. The English language's propensity for nuance is part of both its charm and its devil. But however carefully I read what has been written about and said by the main...
The Continuing Take-Over Woes Of Plymouth Argyle
One takeover has happened. One is due to happen by the end of the month. One is on-and-on-going. And one might not now happen at all. But however far down the takeover line Plymouth Argyle, Stockport County and Port Vale are – and even Rangers, who have nominally...
Peter Ridsdale Reluctantly Takes Over At Plymouth
This is not a transaction that I sought or contemplated but, if it is the only route to guarantee a future for Plymouth Argyle Football Club, it is a route that I am prepared to take. After seven months of claiming that he was a mere consultant to Plymouth Argyle...
Plymouth Argyle: The Club With The Unknown Owners
Brendan Ambrose Guilfoyle has a ‘complex’ track record in football club administrations - a reputation to which he is living down as ‘lead’ administrator at Plymouth Argyle, it appears. Argyle’s current situation was neatly, if inadvertently, summed up by adjacent...
Tales From The Sharp End: Cardiff City, Tranmere And Plymouth Argyle
I’ve been off-line for most of the last month – my PC is older than my jokes and I can’t afford a replacement on this money. And I was hopeful that, beyond Plymouth, there wouldn’t be much football financial mess to cover. Some hope. There was good news. The fact that...
Plymouth Argyle Are Dying, And Nobody Seems To Care.
In this morning's edition of The Guardian, the unsurpassable David Conn brought the wider world of football up to date with the latest situation from Plymouth Argyle, a club that have featured on the pages of this website several times over the last few months. The...
Poles Apart Yet Fans United: Plymouth Argyle And Brighton & Hove Albion Recall Old Bonds
As Brighton & Hove Albion and Plymouth Argyle took the pitch for their League One match last night, the immediate prognosis for the two clubs couldn't have looked more different. While Plymouth have just been deducted ten points (which has sent them plummetting to...
Plymouth Argyle: The Song Remains The Same
It has taken until nearly March, but the first ten point deduction of the season in the Football League is now finally upon us with the news that Plymouth Argyle have lodged a "notice of intention" to enter into administration. The notice of intention - the date of...
Plymouth Argyle & Peter Ridsdale: A Match Made… Well, Somewhere
We have touched on the subject of the serial football club chairman on this site before, and there are none quite as prolific as Peter Ridsdale. Like the Freddy Krueger from the Nightmare On Elm Street film series, every time we think that he has finally been slayed,...
Westward Ho! Are There Choppy Waters Ahead For Plymouth Argyle?
If you believed the hype which surrounded the club over the previous two close seasons, the big surprise about Japan’s relatively successful World Cup squad was the lack of Plymouth Argyle players in it. If you believe the hype now, Plymouth’s Home Park ground – or at...