Football Season Review

Plymouth had a horrid experience from start to finish as they ended up relegated for the second season in a row. It was a campaign in which most of the fans' attentions were turned towards the very survival of the club, who found themselves with huge financial problems. Few could have predicted what happened to Plymouth early in the season, as they entered it with outside promotion hopes and claimed an impressive 1-0 away win over Southampton on the opening day, but everything went downhill after that. The Pilgrims initially struggled to beat teams at home and flirted with relegation, but the return of Bradley Wright-Phillips from injury helped them improve a great deal, as the diminutive striker went on to become League One's top scorer in the first half of the season and, combined with striking partner Rory Fallon, helped the Pilgrims stir well clear of danger and allowed them to even dream about a Play-Off place. However, the season started to go off the rails in December. The financial cracks of the club started to appear in public, and the Pilgrims, looking for a buyer, had to sell their best players to stay afloat: inspirational midfielder Craig Noone joined Brighton, and was followed by Bradley Wright-Phillips and Rory Fallon, who both left the club shortly after the Pilgrims went up to 12th with a 3-2 win at Bristol Rovers on 3rd January. The former joined Charlton permanently and the latter joined Ipswich after spending a month and a half there on loan. Manager Peter Reid was left with a very small squad and his side initially struggled to cope with losing their best players in a short space of time, going on a dreadful run of form that made relegation look like reality for the first time during the season. Things got even worse in the third week of February, as Plymouth were docked ten points after entering administration, which eventually sealed their fate. Reid managed to find a way to get the best out of what remained of his squad, and Plymouth went on a good run of form late in the season that left their hopes alive, but back to back defeats against regional rivals Exeter and promotion winners Southampton eventually sealed their return to League One. The consolation the fans will take from the season behind them is that the Pilgrims did manage to remain operational, while it was very difficult to expect them to remain in the league with all the turmoil they've been going through. What will be a stab in the heart for the players is the fact that they've done enough to stay up, as they ended the league six points below safety; had it not been for the point deduction, Plymouth would have been a League One side again next season.

Player of the Season: Carl Fletcher