David Kemp was installed as the new manager at Plymouth Argyle during the 1990 – 1991 season and he saw his Plymouth side slump in the second division as they could only manage a disappointing 18th position finish in the division. The 1991 – 1992 campaign proved to be a debacle for the Pilgrims as their results were awful and they were condemned to a 22nd position finish, in turn demoting the club to the third tier of English football. They crashed out of the FA cup in the third round in 1992 as they suffered a 5-0 defeat against Bristol Rovers. They also crashed out of the league cup in to the third round, suffering defeat against Shrewsbury Town.
The following two season saw Plymouth steadily improve in the new second division as they stumbled to a 14th position finish at the end of the 1992 – 1993 season and improved dramatically to a third position finish at the end of the 1993 – 1994 season narrowly missing out on automatic promotion and promotion via the play offs.