RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO – Plymouth Argyle
DATE – Saturday 21st August 2004
KO TIME – 3pm
THE GROUND – Home Park, Plymouth, Devon – click here and here for maps of the area – the red circle shows where the ground is.
Home Park is close to the centre of Plymouth in the Central Park area, just off the A386 – and about a mile and a half from the nearest railway station.
A maximum of 2,022 away supporters are accommodated in the Barn Park End which is all-seater and completely covered. Disabled supporters sit in front of the Devonport End.
TICKETS
Season ticket holders can apply by postal application only until 5.30pm on Thursday 5th August 2004 – voucher 57 required. General sale will commence from 10.00am on Wednesday 11th August 2004 – subject to availability.
Prices: Adults £20; OAP £13; Junior £5.00
GOING BY CAR?
There’s no getting around it – it’s an absolutely hellish long journey from the north-east…a shade over 400 miles and will take you 7-8 hours. Infact as they once said in the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “…you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist, but that’s just peanuts to the journey to Plymouth.” It takes chuffin hours, and you’ll be travelling to a seaside/holiday resort on a school holiday weekend, you’ll get stuck behind endless caravans on the M5, don’t say you weren’t warned…
There’s a huge free car park at the ground, but don’t leave it till the last minute to get there, obviously.
Ø From Sunderland do the usual A19/A1/A1(m) malarkey then onto the M1.
Ø At M1 jcn 23A, take the A42 which later turns into the M42.
Ø Leave the M42 at jcn 9 and take the second exit onto the A446 southbound (avoids you having to use the M6 toll road)
Ø Rejoin the M42 about 5-6 miles later and continue to M42 jcn 4A.
Ø Join the M5 southbound and basically stay on it until you’re past Exeter and the motorway comes to an end at jcn 31.
Ø Take the A38 ‘Devon Expressway’ to Plymouth (another 40 miles or so)
Ø At the junction with the A386 you’ll see the first signposts to Home Park – take the A386 (second exit) for about a mile and the stadium’s on your left.
GOING BY TRAIN?
The 6.00am GNER from Newcastle will get you to London King’s Cross for 9am. Either take a cab across town to Paddington Station or use the Underground, where the 10.30am First Great Western service will get you to Plymouth at 1.30pm.
Going home: if you’re quick back to Plymouth station (which means leaving a shade before full time), the 5pm First Great Western service from Plymouth gets you back to London Paddington at 9pm, or the 5.40pm service gets back to the smoke at 9.20pm. A quick dash back across town to Kings Cross and the 10pm GNER will see you back in Skunk Central just before 2am. The bad news (apart from the fact that you’re in Newcastle) is that the local trains and metros have stopped by that ungodly hour, so unless you parked there in the first place, you’ll need to find a cab to get you home.
If you don’t fancy doing the whole journey in one day, scroll down to our ‘Stopping Over’ section for details of hotels. Word of advice though: it’s school holibobs – hotels and B+B’s will all be busy – ring around as soon as you know you’re going to sort your accommodation out.
Come out of the station, turn right past the taxi rank, down the hill under the bridge to the Pennycomequick roundabout, then go up Alma Road – you’ll see Home Park from the top of the hill. Alternatively just grab a taxi outside the station.
To search for alternative train times and book tickets visit National Rail’s website.
Alternatively ALS are running their usual coach service – click here for details.
STOPPING OVER?
Click here for a list of hotels in Plymouth, here for a list of B+B’s, or here if you fancy staying in the Halls of Residence at Plymouth Uni.
SCRAN AND BOOZE
If you’re walking to the ground from the rail station you’ll go past a pub called the Pennycomequick, or the pub closest to the ground is called the Britannia – a Wetherspoons. Avoid the nearby Embassy Club which is home supporters only. Or there’s no shortage of pubs and places to eat in the centre of Plymouth if you’re there early enough.
LEND US A FIVER I’M OUT OF CASH
There’s a Halifax cash machine about 10 mins walk north of the stadium on Outland Road, and an independent machine within Trelawney News on Trelawney Road, just west of the stadium. Or if you’re in the centre of Plymouth prior to the game, absolutely no shortage of cash machines.
IN THE NEWS
Plymouth recently beat Premiership Southampton in a pre-season friendly, even though the Saints’ side included James Beattie and one Kevin Phillips.
LAST SEASON
Finished top of Div 2 (now League One) with 90 points:
P46 W26 D12 L8 F85 A41
HEAD TO HEAD
We’ve played the Pilgrims 22 times in the League in recent years: we’ve won ten, they’ve won six, then six draws.
LAST 6 MEETINGS
16.04.92 Sunderland 0 Plymouth 1
23.11.91 Plymouth 1 Sunderland 0
03.03.90 Plymouth 3 Sunderland 0
18.11.89 Sunderland 3 Plymouth 1
04.04.89 Sunderland 2 Plymouth 1
18.12.88 Plymouth 1 Sunderland 4
TRIVIA
– Best league win: 8-1 vs Millwall in 1932.
– Worst league defeat: 0-9 vs Stoke City in 1960.
– Record transfer fee received: £750,000 from Southampton for Micky Evans (March 97)
– Record transfer fee paid: £300,000 to Port Vale for Peter Swan (July 94)
Argyle Athletic Club was formed in Plymouth in 1886 with football just one of the sports available, in addition to rugby, cricket and, obviously, athletics. It’s not clear why the ‘Argyle’ name was included but it’s thought to be taken from the name of the street where the club’s committee used to meet – however no-one is entirely sure. In 1898 Devonport Albion rugby club left Home Park; Argyle AC, aware that their football section was the most successful part of the club and mindful that other south coast towns like Portsmouth and Southampton already had thriving football clubs, took over the venue. In 1903 they changed their name to Plymouth Argyle and gained membership to the Southern League and in 1904 entered the FA Cup for the first time.
Famous former Pilgrims: Bruce Grobelaar, Mickey Horswill, Paul Mariner, Gary Megson, Mickey Quinn, Bobby Saxton, Peter Shilton.
Ex-Mackems with a Plymouth connection: Doug Collins, Jim Hamilton.
Credits Plymouth Argyle FC, Rubofthegreens.com, Plymouth City Council, Link, Multimap, Rough Guide to English Football, Football Ground Guide, Soccerbase, The AA, BBC, National Rail.
