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Home Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the neighborhood of Atlanta, GA, see Home Park (Atlanta)
- For the area of parkland associated with Windsor Castle, see Home Park, Windsor
- For the suburb of Bracknell, see Home Park, Bracknell
| Home Park | |
 |
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| Full name | Home Park Stadium |
| Nickname | Theatre of Greens |
| Built | 1893 |
| Opened | 1893 |
| Capacity | 20,922 |
| Home of | Plymouth Argyle |
| Pitch size | 110 x 72 yards |
Home Park is an Association Football stadium located in Plymouth, England, and is home to Plymouth Argyle F.C., who currently play in the Football League Championship.
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The present stadium is unrecognisable from the old windswept Home Park of ten years ago, with only the Mayflower Stand, built in the late 40's, still in existence from this period. The current capacity is stated at 20,232 (both seated and terraced).
The ground is currently made up of three all-seater stands and one predominantly consisting of terracing, having undergone major development during 2001-2. The ground's capacity is now just over 20,000 and has been sold out several times since the refurbishment, most recently during the visit of West Ham United in October 2004.
Home Park consists of four main stands: The Lyndhurst Stand, the Devonport Enclosure, the Barn Park End, and the Mayflower Stand. The Lyndhurst, Devonport and Barn Park stands have been substantially re-built under the Phase 1 project to redevelop both the ground and the surrounding area of Central Park, and are entirely joined together and all-seater. The Mayflower stand is, therefore, by some distance the oldest stand at Home Park and is the only one to incorporate terracing, at the front of the stand.
The changing rooms and the tunnel are located in this stand, and the two dugouts are in front of the terraces - a brave move considering this is traditionally where the hard-core Argyle fans tend to stand. The Barn Park End is used to accommodate away fans, and can hold up to 4,000 travelling fans depending on the game. The ground also includes a permanent press box between the Mayflower Stand and the Barn Park End.
From 2001, there have been plans to develop the stadium to modern standards with an all-seated capacity.
However, up until December 2006 the stadium was effectively leased from Plymouth Council. On 22 September 2006 the club and council agreed a valuation of £2.7 million for the ground[1]. On 22 December the club completed purchase of Home Park[2].
The club now plan to complete the redevelopment of Home Park by demolishing the Mayflower Stand and rebuilding it to look very similar to the Lyndhurst Stand, but there are are no definitive time scales as to when this will happen. The board are understandably keen not to reduce the capacity of the ground when attendances are relatively high - around 14,000 in 2004/5, the highest they have been for many years. It is estimated that the redeveloped ground will have a capacity of around 18,600
Apart from the games of Plymouth Argyle, Home Park has staged a number of notable games
- 1926 tramway strikers v police. That day, both before and after the match, there were violent clashes between strikers and their supporters, and police during the general strike.
- 1951 South West Counties v New Zealand in a rugby union tour match.
- 1966 The Football League beat the Irish Football League 12-0. The Football League team contained seven of the 1966 World Cup winning team.
- 1970 England under-23 v Bulgaria under-23.
- 1973 England under-23 v Portugal under-23.
- 1977 Manchester United v AS Saint-Étienne in the Cup Winners' Cup. Manchester United were ordered to play the second leg at least 300km from Old Trafford after crowd disturbances in the first leg.
- 2004 Plymouth Argyle v Chesterfield F.C. A long-standing Football League record was broken, as Plymouth Argyle broke the record for the quickest five goals in history from kick-off - Argyle led 5-0 after 17 minutes and 32 seconds (goalscorers Lee Hodges (4 mins), Tony Capaldi (11 mins), Nathan Lowndes (12 mins, 17 mins), David Friio (16 mins). This was then followed by a 6th (David Friio 36) after a further 20 minutes). The match ended at 7-0, with David Friio completing a hat-trick.
- 2007 Plymouth Argyle v Watford... Plymouth Argyle played Watford in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup. They were the lowest placed team left in the competition. Unfortunatly Argyle lost 1-0 to a Hameur Bouazza screamer. But if it wasn't for an inspired performance from Watford Goalkeeper, Ben Foster is may have been Argyle celebrating an FA Cup semi-final place.
The ground is located at the north of Central Park, approximately half a mile from the main Plymouth railway station, and about a mile from the coach station.
Turn immediately right out of the station, and cross the main road by footbridge. Any bus bound for Milehouse will drop you within 100 yards of the ground.
Turn immediately right out of the station, and right again under the railway bridge. You will arrive at a roundabout: in front of you will be a pub, the Pennycomequick. From here you can either walk up Alma Road to the top and turn right at the Britannia pub (the long way) or you can cut across the park about 50 yards up Alma Road, heading right. You will come to a concreted path, follow it uphill and it will bring you past the council-run pitch and putt golf course to Home Park itself.
Arriving from the east you will (probably) be on the A38 Devon Expressway. As you approach Plymouth, there is a major exit, the Marsh Mills roundabout. Do not take this exit unless you fancy wasting time driving through city-centre traffic. The next exit, the Leigham roundabout, is also sub-optimal. The third exit which will be sign posted Plymouth Argyle F.C. as well as the A386 for Plymouth City Centre and Devonport is the one you want. Head in the direction of Plymouth city centre. (NB There are speed cameras along the length of this road and the police often have a mobile patrol laser-checking as well). The car-parks are well sign posted, however as Argyle have become progressively more successful, it has taken longer to leave these car-parks after the game...
Unless you are on a club coach explicitly bound for Home Park, you will be deposited at Breton Side Bus Station.
Any bus bound for Milehouse will drop you within 100 yards of the ground - disembark at Central Park. Cross the road from the bus stop and proceed into Central Park itself - the Mayflower Leisure Centre will be on your left, go past this and the ground will be ahead of you. The away supporters' entrance (Barn Park End) is on the eastern side of the ground.
Exit the bus station through either of the staircases. If you are immediately outside the Charles Church (or what remains of it, as it was destroyed during the Blitz), then turn left and follow the signs for the railway station, and follow instructions as per arriving by rail. If you find yourself outside the Post Office, just head for the Charles Church....
| Football League Championship venues, 2006-2007 |
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| Britannia Stadium | Carrow Road | Deepdale | Elland Road The Hawthorns | Hillsborough | Home Park | Kenilworth Road KC Stadium | Layer Road | Loftus Road | Molineux Stadium Ninian Park | Oakwell Stadium | Portman Road | Pride Park Stadium Ricoh Arena | Roots Hall | Selhurst Park | Stadium of Light St Andrews | St Mary's Stadium | Turf Moor | Walkers Stadium |
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- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/plymouth_argyle/5372142.stm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/p/plymouth_argyle/6192903.stm
- Club Website
- Football Ground Guide
- Pictures pre and post 2001 redevelopment
- Satellite picture on Google Maps
| Plymouth Argyle Football Club |
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| Plymouth Argyle |
| Statistics | Seasons | Home Park |