Plymouth Rocks

Eastern Football League (1975-1980)

Background

The Plymouth Rocks were a southeastern Massachusetts semi-pro football team during the late 1970’s that participated in New England’s Eastern Football League. As the late Boston Globe sportswriter Joe Concannon explained in a 1975 feature on the league, even the semi-pro label was aspirational:²Concannon, Joe. “It would seem they love the game…”. The Globe (Boston, MA). August 26, 1975

“To term it semi-pro football, really, is to misuse the word. The league, in fact, has a rule against paying the players.”

During the Rocks’ first season in 1975 the team advanced to the EFL championship game, hosting the Tri-Attleboro Kings at Plymouth-Carver Regional High School on November 30th. The Kings defeated the Rocks 6-3 before an estimated crowd of 1,500.³SCOREBOARD. The Globe (Boston, MA). December 1, 1975

In 1977, with former New England Patriots defensive lineman Rick Cash installed as head coach, the Rocks captured the Eastern League title, defeating the Middleboro Cobras 27-13 in the championship game on November 26th, 1977.

Demise

In 1980, team owner Albert Giovanella Jr. of Plymouth, who owned local trucking firm John Alden Transportation, was indicted on charges of illegally dumping barrels of toxic waste in Plymouth and Halifax, Massachusetts as part of an inter-state hazardous waste dumping scheme coordinated with organized-crime linked chemical companies in New Jersey. Giovanella later pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the case.⁴Simon, James. ASSOCIATED PRESS. “Bay State warns organized crime: Don’t dump hazardous waste on us”. The Globe (Boston, MA). August 7, 1983

Coincidentally or not, the Rocks vanished from the Eastern League schedule following the 1980 season.

In 2015, after a break of 34 seasons, a new edition of the Plymouth Rocks began play in the Eastern Football League.

Downloads

1977 Plymouth Rocks Roster

1977 Eastern Football League Directory & Schedule

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