Comments on: Plymouth Argyle – Home Park

By: Nathan

Nathan — Thu, 24 Nov 2011 11:36:15 +0000

My trip to Home Park wad a great one (we won). The ground looks odd with the 3 newer stands and the one much older stand. I does however make it a strangely attractive ground. Parking was no issue at all,the car park at the ground was a decent size. Getting out however was a different matter, it took nearly an hour just to get out of the car park! Inside the ground we there was only one bar serving food, and it got fairly busy. The view from the away end was a very good one. The stewards however were less than helpful (they were the least helpful I have experienced) It seemed to us Town fans that due to the pay on the door tickets, they had overfilled the away end. There was an easy solution to this, they had only opened half the stand as there was only 800-900 of us. If the stewards had simply let us into a small section of this area of the stand, the problem would have been solved. But instead of doing this, they insisted on keeping us penned in. They told a large group of fans to go and find some seats. They did this, however there were no seats, so the tried to stand in the aisle, the stewards then started throwing people out for “not complying”. At one point three of them grabbed one guy by the neck, even though he wasn’t resisting. This made a bit of a sour atmosphere, as there was a lot of abuse aimed at the stewards. Having said that, the Plymouth fans themselves were friendly enough.
I would definately go again if Swindon were to play them as overall it was a great day.

By: johnalkins@hotmail.com

johnalkins@hotmail.com — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:53:35 +0000

Had an excellent day at Plymouth. The car park by the ground was no problem and we were quite quick getting out. Smaller crowd, sign of the times? I can see why people might have problems coming out after night games as the away end spills out into the picturesque park.
Another tea bar that provides sugar etc at a side table but then leaves all the bins over 10/15 yards away from it creating a mess at the table!

By: Ryan Jarvis

Ryan Jarvis — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 13:46:14 +0000

i went to home park last season when the argyle were in the championship, i was verry impressed with the parking, a free carpark for home and away fans are something that not enough grouds have, before the match we went to a loverly pub and chated to some realy friendly plymouth fans, all friendly enough and all real fans. we then found a van selling pasties, they were absolutely delicious. we then went to the clubshop and was amused by the many plymouth stuff, the chocolate was cool.
the stadium was nice well even tho one stand looks a bit ancient, the view was great and the argyle fans were briliant with banter but i never felt intimidated or worried and the atmosphere was great for a night game. the stuards were friendly and great for a chat. after the game we went into the centre of plymouth and found a mcdonalds where the cashier was a fan and he seemed happy for a bit of banter,
great club, easily the best away game ive been to. hope we get to play again, absolutely brilliant.

By: admin

admin — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 12:18:29 +0000

Hey Eddie,

I’m a season ticket holder at Home Park, so was at the City game last week. I can only agree with most of your viewpoints – it certainly was disgusting behaviour. However please don’t make the mistake of thinking that the people responsible were Argyle fans. Most of the people causing the aggro haven’t set foot in Home Park for years (probably since City or Millwall were last in town to be honest!), and had no intention of watching the game. They’re idiots pure and simple – they may claim to be from Plymouth but their motives are to have a scrap, not to support their club – Please don’t lump the other 99% of real fans in with these clowns!

I’m sure the league fixture next month will be classed as a Category A game rather than Cat C as the JPT game was, which should see a suitable cordon between the fans, correct use of dispersal orders and a much safer atmosphere, rather than the “hands-off” approach which apart from a few flash points was working until the last minute goal ensured that it all kicked off.

By: eddie choules

eddie choules — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 12:02:47 +0000

had a pint im the Britania, only city fan in there but i was left alone and no hassle.city won 2-1 to the delight of 2000 city fans at the game. The rest of night was DISGUSTING plymuff fans fighting each other, fighting their stewards and police. flares.fireworks,bottles and coins thrown onto the pitch. on leaving the away end exits to total darkness,there were no stewards or police and we were ambushed by chavs weilding cricket and baseball bats, hitting old men and terrorising women and children. they bricked supporters coaches windows and the E XETER CITY team coach. not enough police or stewards. we are at home park again in 4weeks GOD HELP US…………

By: Marc Harris

Marc Harris — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 23:03:12 +0000

Great day out, had few pints in the Britannia and a fantastic Cornish pasty in the ground. The big negative were the stewards who kept standing in packs right at the front blocking our view throught the game, they moved but it took a few choice words for them to listen. Swindon 4 Plymouth 0

By: Mick

Mick — Fri, 22 Oct 2010 17:56:57 +0000

Looking forward to returning to Home Park. Last time in the 90′s we won courtesy of a hat trick by the legend that is Andy Booth!

Mick

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:23:11 +0000

I only have two down points when it comes to Home Park.

Firstly the turnstiles at the away end are so slow where pay on the gate is offered.

And secondly, the floodlighting is extremely poor in comparison to other Premier League and Championship grounds.

By: John

John — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 10:44:49 +0000

A little bit of local knowledge from an Argyle fan..

Parking There is a car park at the ground. It’s free, but it gets full pretty quickly, and if you arrive any later than an hour before kickoff, then abandon any hopes of getting in here. It also has horrible bottlenecks after the game. There is on-street parking nearby, but please don’t block anyone’s drive or park on chevrons etc. Almost every week the PA guy reads out some poor souls registration number as their car is towed away.

I find it easier to park a good 20 minutes walk away from the ground (around peverell area of the city) and walk to Home Park, which you can see from a distance, or just follow the sea of Green and White.

Pubs If you are walking from Peverell, then a detour via Mutley Plain is probably a good idea. The Hyde Park is the first pub you’ll get to, and the venue of choice for many an Argyle fan – as an away fan, you’ll be more than welcome here. There are a number of chain pubs (Wetherspoon, Hogshead, etc) along the strip, but you’ll need to keep colours covered.

The king of them all however is the Britannia Inn, which is closer to the ground. Arrive late and you’ll find huge queues to get in, and four-deep at the bar, but you can’t beat it for a friendly mix of home and away fans, chatting over a pint. This is football as it should be. It’s a Wetherspoons pub too, so you won’t be paying the earth for your drinks, but they’ve also bent the usual rigid Wetherspoon “rules”, so you’ll have no problems wearing colours in this pub.

Food If you’re coming to Devon, you HAVE to try the local cuisine. And that means a genuine pasty. Which isn’t what you’ll find in the ground (or being sold by our sponsors – sorry!) – instead, seek out one of the Ivor Dewdney vans outside the ground (one conveniently on the way from the Britannia pub to the ground, and one at the bottom of the Barn Park entrance to Central Park) and get yourself a “real” pasty.

HotelsThe hotels mentioned in the main review are very good hotels, and convenient for exploring Plymouth and the surrounding areas. They are around a 15-20 minute walk from Home Park. There is a rumour of a hotel being built attached to the ground as part of the redevelopment of the main stand, but nothing has been announced yet.

Atmosphere There can be a tremendous atmosphere within Home Park, depending on the number of away fans in attendence – the Home Park faithful enjoy very good humoured banter with almost all away teams’ fans. The acoustics on the new stands are pretty good, so you should be able to generate some noise. As the club has unallocated seating in the Mayflower (to the left of the away stand), you’ll find that there’s vocal support for the club coming at you from both sides, which although disjointed at times really helps keep a large away crowed buzzing.

Nightlife/Other attractions Plymouth is famous (or infamous!) for Union Street, a “strip” of bars, clubs and bars that is the destination for most of those seeking fun on a Friday/Saturday night. It can get quite rowdy however, and those looking for a quieter night out might want to investigate some of the smaller bars and pubs on the Barbican, such as the Jazz Cafe, The Navy or The Distillery.

There’s a whole wealth of attractions in and around Plymouth, so you might want to make a long weekend of it – You can grab a boat from the Barbican and sail around Plymouth Sound, or head into your car and up onto Dartmoor where you can meet wild ponies, pixies and go rock climbing. Take an hour to chill on the Hoe, looking out to sea with an ice cream. Five minutes drive, and you’re in Cornwall, which opens up the possibility of going to the Eden Project, Jamie Oliver’s “Fifteen” restaurant or one of the stunning sandy beaches, for surfing or sunbathing!

Overall Home Park should definitely be on your list of grounds to visit – make a weekend of it, and enjoy the Devon sunshine and hospitality. Many away fans left Home Park with a smile on their face last season, and not just because of our disastrous home form!