James Shanahan looks to transform Plymouth Albion fortunes
Shanahan, 36, will see out the season at National One side Old Albanians before succeeding Nat Saumi as head coach at Albion, where he hopes to rekindle the success that took the Devonians to the brink of promotion in the mid-Noughties.
Twice Albion finished third during a period that produced top-class players such as Dan Ward-Smith and the Arscott brothers, Luke and Tom, but financial problems kicked in and the club lost its way causing the spectre of relegation to loom.
Prior to yesterday, Albion had won just 18 of 65 regular season matches over the last three seasons – a success rate of just 27 per cent – and it will be Shanahan’s job to reverse that decline when he assumes the Brickfields hot-seat in May.
The former Plymouth, Pirates and Exeter fly-half, above, told The Rugby Paper: “The potential at Plymouth is huge. It’s a massive rugby city and it’s a great chance for me to be involved at one of the top 24 clubs in the country.
“People will go and watch rugby there and I’ve got memories of playing Plymouth in 1996 when there were 1,500 people in – and that was in Division Five South!
“Then when I played there in National One we were regularly getting 3,000-plus, so there are people who want to watch if we can be successful.
“I want to make Brickfields a fortress again and I want a hard edge about Plymouth. It’s a long way to go and I want teams to know it’ll be tough.”
Shanahan is aiming to recruit up to 10 players. He added: “Seventy-five per cent of the squad will stay but I’ll also be looking for players who fit my skill-set on how the game should be played.
“They need to be abrasive, physical guys, but we also want to play rugby.”
NEALE HARVEY
