Home Park is a
football stadium in
Plymouth,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The ground has been the home of
Football League One club
Plymouth Argyle since 1901.
[The Home Park Story](_blank)
Greens on Screen. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
After undergoing considerable development in the 1920s and 1930s, the ground suffered heavy damage in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
. It reopened in time for the resumption of the
Football League in 1945, and underwent further improvements in the 1950s, including the installation of
floodlights
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...
and a new double-decker
grandstand. The ground remained relatively unchanged until 2001, when construction of three new all-seater stands began. The work was completed in 2002, and after further work the stadium became all-seater in the summer of 2007.
The stadium's record attendance was in 1936, when 43,596 spectators watched the club play a
Second Division
In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...
match against
Aston Villa. The record average attendance for a single season, 23,290, came in the
1946–47 season. The stadium was selected as part of England's
2018 FIFA World Cup bid by the
FA in December 2009. The ground has played host to
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
youth internationals, and a
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tourn ...
match between
Saint-Étienne and
Manchester United in 1977. Home Park has also hosted
Rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
and
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
, and live music in the summer, with
Elton John,
George Michael and
Rod Stewart among the acts who have performed at the ground.
Stands
The Mayflower stand, known as the Grandstand, reopened fully on 1 January 2020 following a significant refurbishment. The other three stands are each very similar in design and are linked together at the corners, having been built in 2001.
The Devonport End houses the more vocal of the club's supporters. The Lyndhurst Stand is the largest of the three stands, holding about 7,000 spectators, including the corners. The corner towards the East side of the ground is now the dedicated family corner. The Barn Park End is where the away supporters are housed. It holds about 3,000 spectators. The standard allocation given to visiting clubs had previously been 1,300, and this is increased as and when demand requires it.
All three stands have good views and standard facilities for a football stadium, including
concourse
A concourse is a place where pathways or roads meet, such as in a hotel, a convention center, a railway station, an airport terminal, a hall, or other space.
The term is not limited to places where there are literally pathways or roadways or tr ...
s, merchandise stands and food and drink outlets. The pitch measures about 100 metres (109 yards) long by 66 metres (72 yards) wide, with a few metres of run-off space on each side. The ground also has two pitch covers, rain and frost, to protect the pitch against adverse winter weather.
History
Construction and early years
Home Park was originally used by the now defunct
Devonport Albion rugby team from 1893 to 1894. Following a dispute with the ground's owners over rent, Albion left and the newly formed
Plymouth Rugby moved in, eventually also leaving, in 1899. In 1901 the Argyle Athletic Club obtained a lease on the ground, then an oval-shaped bowl and
cinder
Cinder is an alternate term for scoria.
Cinder or Cinders may also refer to:
In computing
*Cinder (programming library), a C++ programming library for visualization
*Cinder, OpenStack's block storage component
* Cyber Insider Threat, CINDER, a ...
track surrounded by
allotments and farmland.
[The 100 Football Grounds](_blank)
100 Grounds Club. Retrieved 16 January 2010. The new owners staged their first event, an athletics meeting, on
Whit Monday
Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit, is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. I ...
in 1901, however, leaseholder Clarence Spooner was keen for it to stage football. Following a series of successful trial matches involving Argyle Football Club, which attracted healthy crowds, Spooner made the decision to focus on establishing the first professional football club in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
.
The club, formed in 1886, changed its name to Plymouth Argyle in 1903 and became professional that same year. Home Park played host to its first competitive match, against
Northampton Town
Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...
, on 5 September 1903 in front of a crowd of 4,438. At the time the ground had one wooden grandstand which could accommodate 2,000 people, while the other three sides of the ground were surrounded by
slag heap
A spoil tip (also called a boney pile, culm bank, gob pile, waste tip or bing) is a pile built of accumulated ''spoil'' – waste material removed during mining. These waste materials are typically composed of shale, as well as smaller quan ...
banking
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Becau ...
with a waist-high fence. When Argyle joined the
Football League in 1920 several improvements were required to meet safety requirements.
The wooden grandstand was demolished and replaced by a much larger and more modern structure at a cost of £12,000, while concrete terracing with crush barriers were added around the other three sides of the ground. A pitched roof was erected along the main entrance at the Devonport End of the ground, to provide cover for supporters using that terrace. The new grandstand incorporated players changing rooms and club offices. Many of these facilities were built with funds provided by the official supporters club.
By the 1930s the ground was regularly hosting crowds in excess of 20,000 and on 10 October 1936 the record attendance was set. A crowd of 43,596 were in attendance to watch the club play out a 2–2 draw with
Aston Villa in the
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...
. The ground continued to host Second Division football until the outbreak of war in 1939.
Wartime bombing
The city of
Plymouth was hit hard during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
due to its strength as a military base:
HMNB Devonport was the largest naval base in Western Europe. As the ground was so close to the city centre and
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England.
Description
Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abou ...
, it was unlikely that it would escape unharmed. The
Football League was abandoned three games into the
1939–40 season, but Home Park continued to host matches until summer 1940 in the hastily organised
South West Regional League
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...
. In April 1941 there was a series of
Luftwaffe
The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German ''Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the ''Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabtei ...
bombing raids on the city, known as the
Plymouth Blitz; Home Park did not escape. The Grandstand was all but destroyed after sustaining multiple hits and the pitch was littered with impact craters, which left the club facing a major rebuilding operation when the war ended in 1945.
Post-War
Several drastic measures were required to be ready for the resumption of a regionalised
Football League in 1945. Disused
army huts were used as changing rooms, buses and trams were used as offices, and
railway sleeper
A railroad tie, crosstie (American English), railway tie (Canadian English) or railway sleeper ( Australian and British English) is a rectangular support for the rails in railroad tracks. Generally laid perpendicular to the rails, ties trans ...
s were used for terracing.
The Football League was still split into
North and South North and South may refer to:
Literature
* ''North and South'' (Gaskell novel), an 1854 novel by Elizabeth Gaskell
* ''North and South'' (trilogy), a series of novels by John Jakes (1982–1987)
** ''North and South'' (Jakes novel), first novel ...
divisions, having been created four years earlier in order for the League to continue whilst limiting the amount of travel by teams during the war. The
1945–46 season was its only full campaign. Records from this time tend not to be included in official records. Plymouth Argyle's first official match back at the ground for six years was played on 31 August 1946. 25,659 spectators watched a 3–1 victory against
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
in the Second Division.
A new double-decker Grandstand was built in 1952, one of the last to be based on the template made popular during the 1920s and 30s by prolific football stadium architect
Archibald Leitch
Archibald Keir Leitch (27 April 1865 – 25 April 1939) was a Scottish architect, most famous for his work designing football stadiums throughout Great Britain and Ireland.
Early work
Born in Glasgow, Leitch's early work was on designing ...
, with
floodlights
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...
installed in October 1953.
Running the length of the pitch, it had standing room in the first tier, known as the Mayflower Terrace, and wooden seating in the second tier.
[Home Park]
100 Grounds. Retrieved 17 January 2010. When a roof was erected on the Lyndhurst side of the ground in 1964, three-quarters of the ground were under cover, with all but the second tier of the Grandstand being standing room. In the
1969–70 season seats were added at the back of the Mayflower Terrace, which took the
seating capacity
Seating capacity is the number of people who can be seated in a specific space, in terms of both the physical space available, and limitations set by law. Seating capacity can be used in the description of anything ranging from an automobile that ...
to 4,100 and the overall capacity to 40,000.
In the late 1970s the pitched roof at the Devonport End of the ground had to be removed for safety reasons.
It was replaced in 1984 by a non-pitched structure, leaving just the Barn Park End uncovered.
The ground remained relatively unchanged throughout the 1990s, aside from the Lyndhurst Stand being made all-seater. However, its future seemed unclear when the club outlined plans to move to a new site in
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated ...
in 1996. The Plymouth Tradium, designed by
Alfred McAlpine
Alfred McAlpine plc was a British construction firm headquartered in Hooton, Cheshire. It was a major road builder, and constructed over 10% of Britain's motorways, including the M6 Toll (as part of the CAMBBA consortium). It was listed on the ...
, would have seated 25,000, and also incorporated community sports and leisure facilities. These plans were soon shelved in favour of revamping Home Park.
2001-02 redevelopment
A new plan, based on wholesale redevelopment of the existing ground, was announced in 2000 which at the time would cost an estimated £9million. The stadium would be rebuilt in two phases, with the first phase seeing the complete redevelopment of the Devonport End, Lyndhurst Stand, and Barn Park End. The second phase involved the Mayflower Grandstand which would be replaced by a new three-tiered structure to complete an 18,500 capacity all-seater bowl. The green light came in June 2001 when the club and
Plymouth City Council
Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives. The council is currently in a state of no overall control, with the Conservatives governing as a minority a ...
agreed a new long-term lease for the ground. The building firm
Barr Construction
Barr Construction was a major Scottish contracting organisation operating throughout the United Kingdom.
History
The company started in the late 19th century as a joinery firm known as W & J Barr & Sons and gradually expanded into civil engine ...
moved onto the site two months later.
During the first six months of the
2001–2002 season supporters watched the club's matches from one touchline before the first phase was completed in February 2002. One of the biggest attendances since the redevelopment was set on 20 April 2002, as 18,517 spectators watched Plymouth Argyle recorded a 2–0 win against
Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
in the
Division Three
The Football League Third Division was the third tier of the English football league system in 1920–21 and again from 1958 until 1992. When the FA Premier League was formed, the division become the fourth tier level. In 2004, following the fo ...
, shortly after securing promotion as champions of that division. A feat which was bettered in 2004, and then in 2007. Home Park attracted its highest average league attendance since the early 1960s in
2004–05 season in the
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
, the first season after it was rebranded from its former name of Division One. Despite this, a start date for the second phase of redevelopment would not materialise. The former chairman of Plymouth Argyle,
Paul Stapleton, declared that not completing the project was the biggest disappointment of his tenure.
Freehold purchase and conversion to all seater
The club purchased the freehold of the ground from
Plymouth City Council
Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives. The council is currently in a state of no overall control, with the Conservatives governing as a minority a ...
to become sole owners in December 2006 for £2.7m. It was hoped that work on a new Grandstand would begin the following year. It hosted its biggest crowd since the redevelopment in March 2007 when 20,652 were in attendance to watch Argyle play
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
in the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
. That summer the ground became
all-seated as the club was forced to convert the Mayflower Terrace into seating by the
Department for Culture, Media and Sport
, type = Department
, logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg
, logo_width =
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture = Gove ...
. In the aftermath of the
Hillsborough disaster in 1989 regulations were brought in, recommended by the
Taylor report
The Hillsborough Stadium Disaster Inquiry report is the report of an inquiry which was overseen by Lord Justice Taylor, into the causes of the Hillsborough disaster in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989, as a result of which, ...
, that all stadiums in the top two divisions of
English football
Association football is the most popular sport in England, where the first modern set of rules for the code were established in 1863, which were a major influence on the development of the modern Laws of the Game. With over 40,000 association f ...
must be all-seated unless there are exceptional circumstances. The club had been given three years grace after winning
promotion
Promotion may refer to:
Marketing
* Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...
back to the
Football League Championship in 2004.
Three major summer initiatives were announced by the club just over a week later, which were carried out over the next month. The Mayflower Terrace was replaced by temporary, unreserved seating with a capacity of 3,500. A new state-of-the-art
public address system
A public address system (or PA system) is an electronic system comprising microphones, amplifiers, loudspeakers, and related equipment. It increases the apparent volume (loudness) of a human voice, musical instrument, or other acoustic sound sou ...
was installed, and the last of ground's iconic
floodlight
A floodlight is a broad-beamed, high-intensity artificial light. They are often used to illuminate outdoor playing fields while an outdoor sports event is being held during low-light conditions. More focused kinds are often used as a stage ...
towers were dismantled after 54 years of service, with a new system put in its place.
[Home Park](_blank)
Greens on Screen. Retrieved 21 January 2010. The capacity of the ground was therefore reduced by roughly two thousand to 19,500 following these changes.
Council ownership
On 4 March 2011, the club entered administration.
As part of a rescue package, which saw South West hotelier James Brent take over the club, Plymouth City Council agreed to buy back the freehold for a reported £1.6m and lease the ground back to the club for an annual rent of £135,000.
With new investment and directors on the Argyle board, the club could afford to buy-back the ground from the Council in 2016.
2018-19 redevelopment
![Main Grandstand, Plymouth Argyle FC - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Main_Grandstand%2C_Plymouth_Argyle_FC_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1647509.jpg)
The Mayflower Grandstand was the club's main stand, with space for about 7,000 spectators including the old terrace. It is the oldest part of the ground, having been built in 1952. It houses the club's main offices, the boardroom, team changing rooms and press rooms, and also accommodates executive boxes. The player tunnel sits slightly off centre going underneath the Mayflower, leading up towards the changing rooms.
There had been plans to replace this stand for a number of years. In 2013, planning permission was given to demolish and rebuild the Mayflower Grandstand, however these plans never proceeded. In 2018, a new set of plans received consent and the redevelopment of the Grandstand and the surrounding area began, managed by the club's Head of Operations, Jonathan Back, a retired police Chief Inspector and lifelong Plymouth Argyle fan. The main redevelopment would include the fitting of new seats in the top tier, replacing the antiquated wooden ones, fitting new seats on the terrace, and replacing the roof. For players, there would be a new changing room block and a new tunnel to the East side of the ground in the corner of the Grandstand and the Barn Park End.
The Grandstand was subsequently shut to spectators for the entirety of the
2018-19 season, severely reducing Home Park's capacity. To each side of the stand there used to stand two separate buildings, to the east was the Chisholm Lounge which was used for hospitality, as a press area and was home to the Argyle
disc jockey
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile ...
until its demolition in August 2018. Behind the Chisholm Lounge was the supporter's bar, known as the 'Far Post Club'. This was also demolished to make way for a new supporter's bar, to be funded by fan group 'The Green Taverners'. To the west of the Grandstand was a disabled enclosure, which too was demolished to make way for new buildings, this time for a new club shop.
The club store façade was given a new look in October 2019 by Marcus Rees, a graphic design student at the
Plymouth College of Art
Arts University Plymouth is an independent university-sector Higher Education (HE) provider located in Plymouth in South West England. The former Plymouth College of Art was officially granted university status in 2022. In April 2019 the s ...
, and local business, Eagle Signs.
According to Rees, the signage was designed to, "pay homage to the original design, which was made out of bronze."
Unsuccessful World Cup Bid
In August 2009, the club announced plans for wholesale development of the stadium and regeneration throughout the area. The club declared that the city of
Plymouth would be submitting an application to
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
(the FA) to be a host venue for
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's
2018 FIFA World Cup Bid. The eye-catching plans were released to the public on 14 December 2009, two days before the FA would announce which candidates they had selected for the bid. The plans, designed by
Populous, include developing the stadium into a 46,000 capacity
all-seater
An all-seater stadium is a sports stadium in which every spectator has a seat. This is commonplace in professional association football stadiums in nations such as the United Kingdom, Spain, and the Netherlands. Most association football and Ame ...
area, with a 5,000-seat
indoor facility and hotel built into the complex, at a cost of at least £50m. The build would be done in three stages. The First Phase, a new Mayflower Stand, will become a reality regardless of the bid, increasing the capacity to 27,000. The Second Phase, an additional 8,000 seats, and the Third Phase, an additional 11,000 seats, would be completed by the
2014–15 season should Plymouth's application and
England's bid be successful, giving the stadium a capacity of 46,000 all-seated by this stage.
The city presented its bid at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...
in November 2009 with numerous businesses and sports clubs from
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
and
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
fully behind it. A selection of those included the city's
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
and
basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...
clubs,
Plymouth Albion
Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club are a rugby union club who play in Plymouth, England. The present club was founded in 1920 from a merger between Plymouth RFC (founded 1876) and Devonport Albion RFC (founded 1876). Since 2003 they have pl ...
, and
Plymouth Raiders
The Plymouth Raiders was a professional basketball team based in Plymouth, England. The team competed in the British Basketball League, the country's premier basketball competition.
The club was founded in 1983 through a merger between two lo ...
, and local football clubs
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
, and
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
. Plymouth was selected as a part of
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
's
2018 FIFA World Cup Bid, alongside 11 other cities on 16 December 2009. Plymouth Argyle director
Paul Stapleton described himself as being overwhelmed, going on to say that getting over the first hurdle "gives our supporters belief that we can achieve things", while the bids chairman, Douglas Fletcher, described the bid as one "for the people of
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...
and
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
". A day later the club revealed that the stadium could possibly be renamed for sponsorship reasons as a part of funding for the project which shall begin in the summer of 2010.
However, on 2 December 2010 England lost its World Cup bid to Russia. Following the failure of the World Cup bid, the consortium that had taken controlling interest in the club in 2009 quickly lost interest now property speculation was out of the question and a few months later the club entered administration.
Other uses
The stadium has also hosted matches involving the
England national team at various levels. The
England Amateur team played 4 matches against other national teams,
twice against their
Welsh counterparts in 1914 winning 9–1
and 1925 winning 2–1,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in 1972 winning 4–0,
and
Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
in 1973, again winning, this time 3–0.
The Amateurs also played a match against Plymouth Argyle, on 1972-11-13, winning 2–1 with an attendance of 830.
A
FA Amateur XI beat a
South Western Football League XI 7–3 in 1954.
Home Park also hosted three
England Under-23 matches in the 1960s and 1970s. A 6–1 win against
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
in 1962, a 4–1 win against
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
in 1970 and a 0–0 draw with
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
in 1973.
In March 2015, more than 11,000 people watched the
England U-20s play out a 2-1 friendly win over the
USA U-20s.
The final of the 1933–34
Football League Third Division South Cup The Football League Third Division South Cup was a football knockout competition open to teams competing in Football League Third Division South.
The competition was first held in 1933–34 and ran until the 1938–39 season. The cup was revived ...
was held at Home Park,
Exeter City
Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...
beating
Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
1–0.
The ground hosted a match in 1966 between
representative sides of the Football League and
the Irish Football League. A crowd of 35,458 were in attendance as the Football League, featuring seven members of the
1966 FIFA World Cup winning squad, were 12–0 victors.
On 5 October 1977, Home Park hosted
Manchester United's European Cup Winners' Cup
The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The cup was, chronologically, the second seasonal inter-European club competition organised by UEFA. The tournam ...
first round second leg tie against
AS Saint-Etienne
As, AS, A. S., A/S or similar may refer to:
Art, entertainment, and media
* A. S. Byatt (born 1936), English critic, novelist, poet and short story writer
* "As" (song), by Stevie Wonder
* , a Spanish sports newspaper
* , an academic male voice ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
. United won the game 2–0 (3–1 on aggregate). Despite being based nearly 300 miles away at
Old Trafford in
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, United had played their "home" tie at Home Park as
UEFA
Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...
had ordered them to play at least 120 miles from Old Trafford due to
hooliganism
Hooliganism is disruptive or unlawful behavior such as rioting, bullying and vandalism, usually in connection with crowds at sporting events.
Etymology
There are several theories regarding the origin of the word ''hooliganism,'' which is a d ...
incidents at the first leg in France, for which they had initially been expelled from the competition completely and only readmitted on appeal.
Home Park has also been used for purposes other than football. Before Argyle moved in, the site was used for
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
matches, and it hosted an
athletics
Athletics may refer to:
Sports
* Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking
** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport
* Athletics (physical culture), competi ...
meeting in the early 20th century.
Rugby
returned in 1951 when
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...
played the South West Counties, winning 17–8.
Plymouth Argyle was limited in what it could do with the stadium throughout the 1900s, because of a long-standing
lease
A lease is a contractual arrangement calling for the user (referred to as the ''lessee'') to pay the owner (referred to as the ''lessor'') for the use of an asset. Property, buildings and vehicles are common assets that are leased. Industrial ...
agreement with the
City Council
A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...
. That changed in 2006 when the club purchased the freehold of the ground for £2.7m. Soon after, the club announced it would begin hosting
live music in the summer months, starting in 2007, and the first act to perform there was
Elton John. Other major acts have followed, including
George Michael,
Meat Loaf
Michael Lee Aday (born Marvin Lee Aday; September 27, 1947 – January 20, 2022), known professionally as Meat Loaf, was an American rock singer and actor. He was noted for his powerful, wide-ranging voice and theatrical live shows. He is on t ...
,
Westlife
Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...
, and
Rod Stewart. The stadium also hosts an annual free-admittance carol service in December to celebrate
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
, in association with the Plymouth branch of Christian organisation Faith and Football.
Westlife
Westlife is an Irish pop vocal group formed in Dublin, Ireland in 1998. The group currently consists of members Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne. Brian McFadden was a member, until he left in 2004. The group temporarily di ...
were scheduled to perform again in the stadium on 4 July 2020 for their "
Stadiums in the Summer Tour", but this was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023 Home Park is scheduled to host
Kiss
A kiss is the touch or pressing of one's lips against another person or an object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely. Depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sexual attraction, ...
for their
End of the Road World Tour
The End of the Road World Tour is the ongoing final concert tour by the American rock band Kiss. The tour began on January 31, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, Canada and is set to conclude on December 2, 2023 at Madison Square Garden in New ...
along with
Muse
In ancient Greek religion and mythology, the Muses ( grc, Μοῦσαι, Moûsai, el, Μούσες, Múses) are the inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the ...
as part of their
Will of the People World Tour.
In July 2018, with help from
Plymouth City Council
Plymouth City Council is the unitary authority for Plymouth, Devon. It has traditionally been controlled by Labour or the Conservatives. The council is currently in a state of no overall control, with the Conservatives governing as a minority a ...
, the ground was used to screen
England's World Cup
A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...
semi-final defeat to
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg
, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, capit ...
at no charge for spectators.
During the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, areas of the Mayflower Grandstand, as well as the players' changing rooms, were handed over to the
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust
University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, formerly known as Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust is the organisation which runs Derriford Hospital, and the co-located Royal Eye Infirmary (REI), as well as the Child Development Centre in Plymouth, Devon. ...
to hold routine
antenatal
Prenatal development () includes the development of the embryo and of the fetus during a viviparous animal's gestation. Prenatal development starts with fertilization, in the germinal stage of embryonic development, and continues in fetal devel ...
&
phlebotomy
Phlebotomy is the process of making a puncture in a vein, usually in the arm, with a cannula for the purpose of drawing blood. The procedure itself is known as a venipuncture, which is also used for intravenous therapy. A person who performs a p ...
services, in an attempt to relieve strain on
Derriford Hospital
Derriford Hospital is a large teaching hospital in Plymouth, England. The hospital serves Plymouth and nearby areas of Devon and Cornwall. It also provides tertiary cardiothoracic surgery, neurosurgery and renal transplant surgery for the whol ...
and local GP surgeries. ''"With staff currently working from home and no football in the immediate future, offering up Home Park for the use of the NHS is, we feel, our civic duty,"'' said club CEO Andrew Parkinson.
Records
The highest attendance recorded at Home Park is 43,596 for a
Football League Second Division
The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...
match between
Plymouth Argyle and
Aston Villa on 10 October 1936.
[Attendances](_blank)
Greens on Screen. Retrieved 21 January 2010. This was before the ground was converted to an all-seater stadium, allowing many more people to fit into the stadium. Home Park's record attendance as an all-seater stadium currently stands at 17,511, set at a
Football League Championship match between Plymouth Argyle and
Watford
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...
on 22 March 2008. Home Park's record attendance for a non-competitive match is 37,639, for a mid-season friendly between Plymouth Argyle and
Santos on 14 March 1973. The lowest recorded attendance for a competitive match at Home Park was 944, set on 10 December 1996, for a
Football League Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...
first round tie between Plymouth Argyle and
AFC Bournemouth.
The highest average attendance at Home Park over a League season is 23,290, set in the
1946–47 season. The lowest average attendance at Home Park came in the
1982–83 season, when an average of 4,537 spectators watched each match.
Transport
Adjacent to the Devonport End of the stadium is the
Milehouse
Milehouse is a late Victorian and 1930s suburb of Plymouth. It is now notable for a substantial traffic junction, the vast depot base of the local city bus company, a Wetherspoons pub and an undertaker. Formerly it was famous for the site of ...
Park and ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system ( ...
car park, with numerous services provided by
Stagecoach South West serving the City Centre all the way up to
Tavistock
Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...
.
Target Travel ran three
football special buses on matchdays serving
Plympton
Plympton is a suburb of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England. It is in origin an ancient stannary town. It was an important trading centre for locally mined tin, and a seaport before the River Plym silted up and trade moved down river to P ...
via the
A38,
Plymstock
Plymstock is a commuter suburb of Plymouth and former civil parish in the English county of Devon.
Geography
Situated on the east bank of the River Plym, Plymstock is geographically and historically part of the South Hams. It comprises the vil ...
via
Mutley Plain, and the George Junction Park & Ride to the north of the city. The stadium is on Outland Road, which links to the
A38 dual-carriageway with direct access to
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
and the north of England. On foot, the stadium is approximately 1.6 miles (2.5 km) from
Plymouth railway station
Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is on the northern edge of the city centre, close to the North Cross roundabout. It Is the second busiest station in the county of Devon, and is the largest of the six su ...
and 1.8 miles (2.8 km) from the city centre.
Plymouth City Centre
Plymouth Gov. Retrieved 16 January 2010.
References
External links
– Home Park
Structurae
{{EFL League One venues
Plymouth Argyle F.C.
Football venues in England
English Football League venues
Defunct rugby union venues in England
Sports venues in Plymouth, Devon
Sports venues completed in 1893
1893 establishments in England