2018 England

Plymouth Argyle’s stadium is called Home Park and it is one of the stadiums mentioned that could host games in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup should England’s hosting bid be successful. Originally, Home Park was built and opened in 1893, but due to severe damage, it was renovated in 2001. The construction cost to renovate this stadium amounted to around £11 million.

The stadium has a capacity of just over 20000 and consists of four main stands. These are the Lyndhurst, Devonport Enclosure, Barn Park End and Mayflower. The first three were re-built in the 2001 renovation. They are joined together and are all-seaters. The Mayflower was the oldest stand in the Home Park and was the only one that still consisted of terracing. Due to Government regulations, Plymouth were forced to install seats on this stand.

Lately, there have been plans to upgrade the stadium to the required modern standards, but as yet no implementation has started. On the 22^nd December 2006, the club purchased Home Park fully, as it had been leased by Plymouth City Council until then. Initial plans of further redevelopment were scrapped and currently, new plans of redevelopment, that also include an expansion to the stadium, are being drafted.

2018 World Cup Games in Plymouth

This stadium has not staged any England international game so far. Two England U23s matches have been played in Home Park in the 1970s, and also a game in the Cup Winners’ Cup between Man Utd and Saint-Etienne in 1977. Home Park will require big investment and redevelopment if it were to have a chance of staging games in the 2018 World Cup. However, ten years is more than enough to carry out such operations on this stadium. Promotion to the Premier League would also help Plymouth to make their stadium a realistic venue for World Cup 2018, both financially and also to prove that the stadium is capable and safe to host big games.