- A. ^ : Records from all domestic league competitions are sourced to Danes, Complete Record, up to and including the 2008–09 season, and to Statto, and Football Club History Database, as appropriate thereafter. Wartime competitions are listed at RSSSF.
- B. ^ : The Football League Cup competition started in the 1960–61 season.
- C. ^ : Records from other domestic cup competitions are sourced to Danes, Complete Record, up to and including the 2008–09 season, and to Statto, and Football Club History Database, as appropriate thereafter.
- D. ^ : Includes goals scored in the Southern League, Western League, Football League (including play-off matches), FA Cup, League Cup, Associate Members Cup/Football League Trophy, and several now-defunct competitions, such as the Anglo-Scottish Cup, Football League Group Cup, and Full Members Cup.
- E. ^ : League matches only (including Southern League and Football League, but excluding Western League and play-off matches). Sourced from Danes, Complete Record, up to and including the 2008–09 season, and from the Football League website thereafter.
- F. ^ : Jack Peddie scored the clubs first professional goal on 1 September 1903 against West Ham United in the Western League. He scored the club's first Southern League goal four days later against Northampton Town.
- G. ^ : Herbert Swann scored all five goals in a 5–0 home win against Millwall in the Western League on 31 October 1906.
- H. ^ : During the war, the only football played at the clubs Home Park ground was military-based. It was used by service teams stationed at HMNB Devonport, who organised regular matches during the conflict.
- I. ^ : Having left the club eight years earlier, David Jack became the worlds most expensive footballer when he joined Arsenal for £10,890 from Bolton Wanderers.
- J. ^ : The Football League expanded its membership at the end of the 1919–20 season by forming a Third Division. All but one of the 22 Southern League First Division clubs were included in the new league, with the exception being Cardiff City, who were elected to the Second Division at the expense of Grimsby Town.
- K. ^ : The Football League expanded its membership again at the end of the 1920–21 season when it created an extra division for clubs based in the North. The existing division was therefore split in two and called the Third Division South, and Third Division North, respectively.
- L. ^ : The club finished level on points with Southampton at the top of the table, but missed out on promotion by goal average. Only the league champion gained promotion to the Second Division at the time.
- M. ^ : Frank Richardson scored 31 goals in the Third Division South.
- N. ^ : Jack Cock scored 32 goals in the Third Division South.
- O. ^ : The club finished two points behind Bristol City to make it six successive league finishes as runner-up, which left supporters questioning the team's desire for Second Division football.
- P. ^ : Promoted to the second tier of English football for the first time. The team went undefeated until Christmas Day, and were confirmed as Third Division South champions by Easter.
- Q. ^ : Bill Hullett scored 10 goals in 11 matches this season after signing from Everton.
- R. ^ : League football was abandoned after three games because of the Second World War.
- S. ^ : The club played out the 1939–40 season in regional league and cup competitions, before they were forced to withdraw from competitive football as the war intensified. Guest players were permitted, and results and records from this period are not included in official statistics.
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- T. ^ : The FA Cup was contested in 1945–46, but the Football League proper did not resume until the following season. However, 1945–46 did see the only full season played in the wartime Football League North and South regionalised competition; this included First and Second Division clubs divided geographically, playing each other home and away. The club were able to take part despite the city of Plymouth in ruins, but they often struggled to assemble 11 fit players on a Saturday, so it was no surprise that they managed just three wins from 42 matches. In all, 72 players represented the club that season.
- U. ^ : From the First Round Proper to the Sixth Round of the 1945–46 FA Cup, matches were played over two legs.
- V. ^ : Dave Thomas scored one goal in 10 consecutive matches this season.
- W. ^ : Having finished in the top half of the league in the previous season, the club were placed in the newly united Third Division following the amalgamation of the Third Division North and Third Division South.
- X. ^ : Wilf Carter scored 5 goals in the 6–4 win against Charlton Athletic in the Second Division on 27 December 1960 at Home Park, just one day after they lost to Athletic 6–4 at The Valley.
- Y. ^ Having finished level on points with Grimsby Town, the club avoided relegation on goal average.
- Z. ^ : The club's first appearance in the semi-finals of the League Cup. They lost 4–2 on aggregate to Leicester City and went out at the same stage eight years later, losing 3–1 on aggregate against Manchester City.
- AA. ^ : The first time that the club had been promoted in the Football League without winning the title, benefitting from the three-up, three-down promotion and relegation system that was in place at the time.
- AB.^ : The criteria for separating clubs finishing on the same number of points was changed ahead of this season from goal average (goals scored divided by goals conceded) to goal difference (the difference between goals scored and goals conceded).
- AC. ^ : This season saw the introduction of three points for a win instead of two.
- AD. ^ : The club's first appearance in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. They lost 1–0 to Watford at Villa Park. Argyle would go on to reach the quarter-finals in 2007 and lost to the same opponents by the same scoreline.
- AE. ^ : Tommy Tynan scored 31 goals in the Third Division.
- AF. ^ : The Third Division of the Football League became the Second Division after all clubs in the First Division broke away in order to form the FA Premier League.
- AG. ^ : First appearance in the play-offs, lost in the semi-finals to Burnley, 3–1 on aggregate.
- AH. ^ : Relegated to the fourth tier of English football for the first time.
- AI. ^ : Promoted to the Second Division via the play-offs, beating Colchester United 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, and Darlington 1–0 in the final.
- AJ. ^ : The club won the Third Division championship with 102 points in the 2001–02 season, which is a record for that division.
- AK. ^ : The First Division was renamed the Championship from the 2004–05 season.
- AL. ^ : Sylvan Ebanks-Blake scored 23 goals in the Championship, 11 for Plymouth Argyle, and 12 for Wolverhampton Wanderers.
- AM. ^ : The club was deducted ten points by the Football League for issuing a notice of intention to appoint an administrator.
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