THE Albion club, as they were known, was formed in 1876 by apprentices from the Devonport Dockyard.

Albion first played in Devonport Park but in 1887 moved to Bladderley, where spectators paid threepence to watch and players a penny for admission.

For the 1894-5 season Albion used Home Park, now the home of Plymouth Argyle FC, before a move to Rectory Field the following season.

After the First World War, Plymouth Albion, as they were now known, moved to Beacon Park.

In 1928-9 five Albion players were selected for England – in fact the club supplied half the pack.

Albion celebrated its centenary in 1976 when more than 50 first XV games were played and in the second year of leagues the Devon club won Division Three with a 100 per cent record.

But they suffered relegation in successive seasons as the 1990s proved a difficult decade.

They only avoided the drop by winning at Weston-super-Mare in the last fixture of the 1998-99 season.

The following year the club was restructured and Graham Dawe was appointed as Chairman of Rugby.

Along with many other changes, results improved and Albion finished fourth in the league.
Between 2000 and 2002, the club gained promotion twice and set a new National League record of 41 consecutive victories.

In 2003, Albion played their last match at Beacon Park and moved to the Brickfields.

A Sports Centre was subsequently built on-site with a Grandstand able to seat 1,500 spectators.

But financial issues and poor results followed, and the club found itself at the foot of the Championship table before being relegated in April 2015 after 13 years in the second tier of English rugby.

Plymouth Albion entered administration in March 2016 and was rescued by two former players, David Venables and Bruce Priday.

The club began a process of rebuilding on and off the field and enjoyed a successful first season under new ownership, finishing second in National League One in 2016-17.

In the 2019/20 season, Rams won 44-14 in the first-ever league game played between the clubs.

Post-Covid, Rams triumphed 26-19 on their maiden trip to Brickfields before completing a double with a 41-27 victory at Old Bath Road.

In the 2022/23 season, a 26-14 home success helped set a joint-record 10th win to start the campaign before a costly 27-24 reverse in Devon.

Then in December last year, Fraser Honey’s late penalty snatched a 22-20 win in an OBR cracker, only for Rams to go down again 28-22 in April as the Devonians once again smashed any promotion hopes.

However, the pain in Plymouth was halted last time out as Rams made it eight wins to start the season with a 21-16 success in October, captain Max Hayman at the double as Dan Swain dotted down on his 50th appearance and Honey was unerring in adding a trio of conversions.

For tickets to Saturday's third-last home game of the season, click here