Argyle Arms

There had to be one, somewhere in Plymouth, at some point in time – a pub named after the local football team.  The question is, when did this York Street pub acquire its name?

The building it seems, was used as a beer retailer’s from at least the early 1860s and therefore most likely, since it was first built.  However, Argyle didn’t play their first game until October 1886, and it would appear that part of the inspiration for calling the team Argyle was Argyll Terrace, off Houndiscombe Road, which was, itself, then relatively newly built.  The earliest clear reference found to date for York Street premises as the Argyle Arms is dated around 1911, just a few years after the club went professional (in 1903), but it may well be that the name had already been in use before that, either way, soon after the outbreak of the Great War in 1914 the property ceased to be a beerhouse and became a milliner’s instead.

Incidentally, it’s interesting to note that one of the licensees was called William Harper, namesake of a later Argyle Scottish stalwart who joined the club from Arsenal in 1931.

Licensees

1862 - Harriet Stewart
1867 - William Stewart
1873 - James Denniford
1890 - William Harper
1895 - WJ Cross
1907 - F Bartlett