RTG’s totally and utterly (we hope) indispensable guide to this season’s away grounds.
THE OPPO – Plymouth Argyle
DATE – Saturday 10 February 2007
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 have until 5.30pm on Thursday 25th January to apply – voucher 43 required. General sale will commence from 10.00am on Thursday 1 February – subject to availability.
Prices: Adults £22; U16’w £6, OAP £15; full time students £15.00 (proof of studies required at time of purchase and at the turnstile).
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 what is the first weekend of half term in some areas, 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 10.05am First Great Western service will get you to Plymouth at 1.08pm. Alternatively the 6.35am GNER from Newcastle gets to York at 7.34am, then change for the 7.44am Virgin service to Birmingham New Street, where you arrive just before 10am. Change for the 10.10am Virgin service which arrives in Plymouth at 1.48pm.
Going home: unless you leave the match in time to catch the 4.25pm Virgin service up to York, you aren’t going to get back to the north east on the same night. The following morning though, engineering works will affect your journey back: a bus transfer leaving Plymouth station at 9.26am will get you to Tiverton Parkway station in time for the 10.55am First Great Western service to London Paddington, where you arrive at 2pm. From there it’s back across London to Kings Cross for the 3pm GNER service which gets you back to Newcastle at 6pm.
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 half term – hotels and B+B’s will all be busy – ring around as soon as you know you’re going, to sort your accommodation out.
From the station to Home Park: 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.
Alternatively ALS are running their usual coach service – click here for details.
I’M MANDY, FLY ME
Feeling flush? Can’t be bothered with all that driving or messing around on trains? Exiles can fly to Plymouth airport from Bristol, Gatwick, Manchester, Leeds/Bradford and Jersey. From the north east, you can fly from Ponteland International on FlyBe.
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.
LAST SEASON
Finished 14th in the Championship with 56 points.
THIS SEASON
12th of 24 in the Championship with 39 points:
P28 W9 D12 L7 F36 A35 Pts 39 GD 1
HEAD TO HEAD
We’ve played the Pilgrims 23 times in the League in recent years: we’ve won 11, they’ve won 8, then 4 draws.
LAST 6 MEETINGS
12.08.06 Sunderland 2 Plymouth 3 (Murphy, Elliott)
15.03.05 Sunderland 5 Plymouth 1 (Whitehead, Arca, Stewart, Caldwell, Thornton)
21.08.04 Plymouth 2 Sunderland 1 (Stewart 71)
16.04.92 Sunderland 0 Plymouth 1
23.11.91 Plymouth 1 Sunderland 0
03.03.90 Plymouth 3 Sunderland 0
TRIVIA
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.