The Plymouth Admirals were formed in October 1984 by Adrian Patrick, they played two matches in their first year of competition, scoring victories over the Weston Stars and the Bristol Bombers.

Unfortunately, they were drawn away to Northants Stormbringers in their first playoff match – facing a team who had finished second in the Atlantic Premier Division, they were always the underdogs and they lost 8–35 to the eventual semi-finalists.

[8][9] 1990 was a somewhat mediocre season, losing four out of their first five matches before ending strongly,[10][11] although their situation off the field was much healthier – they were now playing on a new astroturf pitch at the Plymouth Sports Centre and were attracting an average attendance of between 200 and 300 supporters for each home game.

After comfortably winning their conference with a perfect 10–0 record, conceding just 30 points in the process, they were drawn away to against wildcard qualifiers Gwent Mustangs in their first playoff match.

After defeating the LA (London Area) Panthers (who finished the season as champions of the Midlands conference), they earned a trip to the Saffron Lane Stadium in Leicester to face the Sutton Coldfield Royals in their first ever playoff final.

Cheered on by a large travelling contingent, the Admirals beat their opponents 26–16 to claim the UK Premier Bowl Trophy and gain promotion to the top flight.

[13] The defeat suffered at the hands of the Delonghi Knights proved to be the only loss in the regular season as they won the National Southwest Division with a 9–1 record.

After beating the London Olympians and the Crawley Raiders, they reached their second playoff final played in Birmingham, again in front of a large number of their own supporters.

[2][19] The first season back in Division Two saw the Admirals' coach Steve Howard adopt a new offensive and defensive system to help develop his young players.

[2][22] 2004 saw the squad bolstered by the arrival of several American players, including Montrell Turner, who was named Top Tackler in BSL Division Two.