The Original Pilgrms

The origin of Plymouth Pilgrims football club was back in 1975 started at the Mayflower Centre, when there was a ladies 5-a-side league running on Sunday afternoons.

Martin Curtis was manager of two teams and when attending a monthly committee meeting, a letter was read out from Newquay Football Club, informing the league about a women's 11-a-side tournament they were planning for June 1975, which included an invitation to enter.

Players from the two top sides plus a selection from the rest of the league, made up the side, but a name was still needed, Plymouth was the easy part and as it was unknown territory, Pilgrims was chosen. The team went to Newquay and promptly came away as winners against already established teams and Plymouth Pilgrims were on their way.

The next few months were spent getting together enough players, officials and of course a pitch, as all of these were needed, if the team was to enter a proper league. On 6th May 1976, the forms were sent off and registered the name of Plymouth Pilgrims with the W.F.A. in London.

In June 1976, the Pilgrims returned to Newquay and duly retained the Invitation Cup (which incidentally Plymouth Pilgrims won again the following year as well). A couple of weeks later, a friendly was played against Bristol City which ended in a highly creditable 3-3 draw, this after being 3-0 down at half time.

Early records show that Plymouth joined the Women's Western League Division One in 1976, alongside Bath , Brislington, Bristol Avon, Bristol City , Chard, Newport and Warminster. August 1976 saw the first official match in the league, with an away Western League fixture against Chard which ended in a 2-2 draw. The season was to get even better, as a remarkable Women's FA Cup run ended with a dramatic 4-3 defeat against Leicester at the quarter final stage, after leading 3-1. Two years later the team went out at the same stage to Nottingham .

May 1977 saw Plymouth Pilgrims entertain the Swedish touring team Ronninge Sports club at Torpoint in front of a large crowd, that ended honours even in a 1-1 draw. The season ended with the team finishing runners-up in the league, won one cup and lost another in the final, to end a remarkable 12 months.

During their history the team has played in the Western, South Western and Devon Leagues but always aimed to be the top Devon side. Their best moment came when playing at Wembley in 1996, before Argyles promotion playoff victory against Darlington .

Plymouth left the league at the end of the 1981/82 season, rejoining again for the 1988/89 season with a change of name from Plymouth Pilgrims to Saltash Pilgirms. The league became the South West Regional League in readiness for the 1990/91 season. The WFA went bankrupt in 1993 and in order to preserve women's football, the FA took over the running of the game. This meant that women's football was at last on a par with that of the men's game with a common set of rules and regulations.

Saltash Pilgrims then joined Plymouth Argyle where they were re-named Plymouth Argyle Ladies. However unlike Plymouth Argyle Ladies, Torpoint Athletic Ladies still have some of the original players playing and coaching the team.

Torpoint ladies athletic football club was established in 2005 by Mandi McCann and Anna Hugill. We are fully supported by Torpoint athletic football club, whom has never previously had a ladies team.

In our first season (2005-2006) we reached 2nd in the league and missed the top spot by one point. We won the IT league cup against ST.Columb Minor (2-1) and were the only team in the league to bet them, which stoped them from being unbeating.

We are a newly founded team with great history and a variety of abilities and experiences, we have a number of players who have played in the south west combination league, county level, south west level, as well as some young local talent. We are very proud to have a good mixture of youth and experience within the squad and looking forward to next season.