THE DAILY DIARY

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Plymouth Argyle FC

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Saturday 30th May 2020

Neil Dewsnip spoke of the difficulty in managing signing for the upcoming season without yet being certain what league Argyle will be in. He argued: "It's very difficult. We've done our research, and we kind of know the squad that we'd like to take forward, as well as the players we'd like to attract to make us competitive next year. We have planned on the basis that we're going to be in League One, although we are not absolutely sure. We are waiting, obviously, for direction. It is very difficult for us, but equally difficult for the Board. They don't have the answers, either, and they need guidance from the league," said Dewsnip, who joined the Pilgrims in the summer of 2019. "There's talk of a salary cap, which will point us in a certain direction and, I suspect, a year of transition before every club can truly be on the same page."

"I think everything is up in the air at the moment – but that's across football, it isn't unique to Plymouth Argyle. Every day, in the media, there's a story about a different club in financial difficulty. I know, for our club, having been in financial difficulty in the recent past, the Board and Simon, as the owner, are loathed to go anywhere near that again – so we need to proceed with great caution, that's a footballing reality right now. It is clear that the football industry, particularly in the lower leagues, will have to respond quickly to adapt to the situation it finds itself in. One such solution, which has been met with broad approval by lower league clubs, is a salary cap, which could be implemented as early as next season.

"Potentially, it could make things harder. We still don't know what the landscape may look like for a year of transition – if there is one. What I think is fair to say is that there are some really big football clubs in League One next year, whose expectations are almost Premier League expectations – I'm thinking of Sunderland, Ipswich, and so on."

29th

Promotion may not yet be confirmed for Argyle but Director of Football Neil Dewsnip has said that Argyle are cautiously anticipating its confirmation, whilst reflecting on a great season getting out of League Two. He explained: "I think we are all very excited at the prospect of getting promoted – which was obviously the target that we discussed as a staff back in Spain. We don't know yet, although there is a very strong indication that will happen – we're sitting on our hands, slightly, but I'd be telling lies if I didn't think that it was a very strong possibility. Ryan is a very ambitious manager, as you would hope and expect, and we have had that discussion a number of times. We'll be delighted to go up, but slightly disappointed that we didn't get the opportunity, in the last nine games, to have won the league. That has been our goal all season, and we would argue that we were just coming into quite a rich vein of form. I think that we were right on course for achieving the goals that we had discussed at the start of the season. I think every season is like a sea journey - you go up the waves when you're playing well, but there's also some low moments. At those points, you need to show what you are about, be resilient, and stick together. Bradford City away strikes me as one of those moments."

"It was a bit of a doom and gloom moment. The pitch was our worst nightmare, circumstances in the game went against us, but, even then, with nine men, there was some real resilience shown towards the end, and we were not far off getting a result. We reminded one another after the game what we are made of. The players bounced back and did great after that point – at it proved to be such a crucial week." Doesn't it seem so long ago, already? It was a bad day, we bounced back, showed great resilience as a staff and a team. Ryan made one or two excellent tactical decisions which got us a goal, threw caution to the wind a little bit, and we nearly got a point out of it. What it did do, though, was set the tone for that final week, where we gathered two huge results to put ourselves in the position that we find ourselves in now."

"I would broaden that group of people – from Simon, the board, Andrew Parkinson and Zac Newton, who we deal with on a daily basis, and not forgetting the supporters. Everyone contributed in their way to, hopefully, getting us promoted. Ryan and Schuey had come from a winning environment, having been promoted at Bury, and John Lucas and Jimmy Dickinson came with them as well. They just carried on – as did some of the players who came from Bury, that was probably very important. Quite quickly, we were able to turn the group into a team who believed they could win. The lads who suffered a relegation previously were hurting, but very quickly they sensed that it was different. We won that first game at Crewe 3-0, and, suddenly, they believe everything. The start was crucial, and it set the tone for what is, hopefully, a successful season."

26th

Argyle today unveiled a new home kit for the upcoming season. The kit is predominantly dark green with a black collar. CEO Andrew Parkinson said: "We are delighted with the design of our 20/21 kits, and I want to thank both PUMA and Ginsters for their contribution in maintaining the club's proud tradition. Launching the new kit is always an exciting time for any football supporter, and, in the current situation, it represents a key opportunity for the club to generate revenue at a time when there are no ticket sales. The shirt has been designed with the Green Army in mind. We hope that fans will wear it with pride – not only for what we are achieving on the pitch, but also because it represents a commitment to the club, which we do not take for granted."

21st

Argyle have released an update on the status of the League Two season amidst the coronavirus outbreak. League Two clubs have agreed their preference to end the season on an unweighted points per game basis, if they are unable to resume the season safely. EFL Chief Executive Rick Perry has said: "In the event a divisional decision is made to curtail the 2019/20 season, the EFL Board is recommending that the League adopts the original framework with the amendments as identified, as there is a strong desire to remain as faithful as possible to the Regulations and ensure there is consistency in the approach adopted across the EFL in all divisions. The Board has always acknowledged that a single solution to satisfy all Clubs would always be hard to find, but we are at the point now where strong, definitive action is need for the good of the League and its members."

Having changed the accounting procedures to align with the EFL season, Argyle today submitted their accounts to companies house for the period of time from January 2019 to June 2019. A full copy of the report can be found on the club's website. The key revelations as as follows: The club made a loss of £1.4m. The fixed assets of the club increased by £4m in the year. The club has net assets of £6.7m. The club had £4m in the bank at June 30 - although much of this was ringfenced to be spent on concluding the development of the Mayflower Grandstand, which opened in January 2020. 60% of the club's revenues come from match-day activity.

17th

With lockdown restrictions easing, Argyle have announced the re-opening of their online superstore at argylesuperstore.co.uk. No word yet on whether the physical shop will be re-opening any time soon. Jamie Yabsley said: "Like with all areas of the football club, we are working hard to improve our supporter experience. With members of the Green Army living all over the world, online services are of growing importance to the club, particularly given the current circumstances. While there are a few technical elements that will help make things more efficient for our retail staff, the driving force behind the project was to make the website easier for supporters to use."

15th

Argyle have announced the way they voted in a virtual EFL meeting of League Two clubs where indicative votes were held to determine a way out of the season during the coronavirus pandemic. Argyle voted for the season to be ended on the implementation of a points per game model that would see the greens promoted as well as no club being relegated from League Two to the conference. EFL ratification is needed before any vote is finalised.

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