My Plymouth adventure had been in the pipeline for a little while, after my fellow groundhopping pal Matt Harrison (main man on the excellent LostBoyos site) had informed the Twittosphere of his intentions to head down to Plymouth, mainly intent on watching his beloved Swansea City visit Argyle on the Sunday evening. After a few conversations, it was decided that I was going to be there too, and we had a football double-header lined up for the weekend, the first of which being Plymouth Parkway vs Weymouth on the Saturday afternoon.
I love travelling, it's one of the main reasons groundhopping hooked me so quickly. The combination of football, travelling, meeting new people, it's a dream. Having said that, 4 hours on a stuffy train is never fun, no matter how good a mood I'm in. From New Milton, I had to change at Southampton Central, Westbury, Taunton and then off at Plymouth, my final destination. I arrived in the 'Ocean City' at about 12:15, and after a text I'd received from Matt earlier in the morning, went hunting for our hostel with the intentions of dumping my bag and moving on to Bolitho Park for the game. A short 20 minute walk later (everywhere I walk seems to take about 20 minutes), and I was on the doorstep of my accommodation for the next two nights. With my luck perfectly in tow, the door was locked and nobody was about. No matter, I'd just have to lug my suitcase around with me for a little longer.
I walked back into the town centre (another good 20 minutes) and caught the number 29 bus towards Crownhill. Unfortunately, what with the game kicking off at 2, I was in with a monumental challenge if I was to make the game whatsoever. After realising I had no idea where the ground was, or where to de-bus for that matter, I found myself slightly panicked. A quick call to Matt didn't help proceedings, although he was able to point me in the right direction.
I finally arrived at Bolitho Park, and yes, I was late, managing to miss the opening ten minutes or so. With my admission paid, and my luggage dragging behind me, I began a lap of the ground. Spotting Matt in the far corner looking rather worse for wears, I went to greet him. As it turned out, he'd drunk a rogue cider and the heat wasn't helping matters, so he quickly went searching for a bottle of water (later turning into the miracle working lager) and some shade, whilst I grabbed a few photos and enjoyed the game unfolding in front of me.
Originally founded in 1988 after a group of players from a local Plymouth side decided to form their own side, the club soon became known as 'Ex-Air Flyers' following the agreement of a sponsorship deal with Exeter airport. By 1992, they had become EAF Plymouth FC following their acceptance into the Devon League, before becoming the Plymouth Parkway we know them as today before the 1993/94 campaign was underway. In 2006/07, they became founder members of the South West Peninsula League, and have remained there since. In fact, they were crowned as champions of the division last season, but haven't been promoted for reasons I'm not aware of.
I love travelling, it's one of the main reasons groundhopping hooked me so quickly. The combination of football, travelling, meeting new people, it's a dream. Having said that, 4 hours on a stuffy train is never fun, no matter how good a mood I'm in. From New Milton, I had to change at Southampton Central, Westbury, Taunton and then off at Plymouth, my final destination. I arrived in the 'Ocean City' at about 12:15, and after a text I'd received from Matt earlier in the morning, went hunting for our hostel with the intentions of dumping my bag and moving on to Bolitho Park for the game. A short 20 minute walk later (everywhere I walk seems to take about 20 minutes), and I was on the doorstep of my accommodation for the next two nights. With my luck perfectly in tow, the door was locked and nobody was about. No matter, I'd just have to lug my suitcase around with me for a little longer.
I walked back into the town centre (another good 20 minutes) and caught the number 29 bus towards Crownhill. Unfortunately, what with the game kicking off at 2, I was in with a monumental challenge if I was to make the game whatsoever. After realising I had no idea where the ground was, or where to de-bus for that matter, I found myself slightly panicked. A quick call to Matt didn't help proceedings, although he was able to point me in the right direction.
I finally arrived at Bolitho Park, and yes, I was late, managing to miss the opening ten minutes or so. With my admission paid, and my luggage dragging behind me, I began a lap of the ground. Spotting Matt in the far corner looking rather worse for wears, I went to greet him. As it turned out, he'd drunk a rogue cider and the heat wasn't helping matters, so he quickly went searching for a bottle of water (later turning into the miracle working lager) and some shade, whilst I grabbed a few photos and enjoyed the game unfolding in front of me.
Originally founded in 1988 after a group of players from a local Plymouth side decided to form their own side, the club soon became known as 'Ex-Air Flyers' following the agreement of a sponsorship deal with Exeter airport. By 1992, they had become EAF Plymouth FC following their acceptance into the Devon League, before becoming the Plymouth Parkway we know them as today before the 1993/94 campaign was underway. In 2006/07, they became founder members of the South West Peninsula League, and have remained there since. In fact, they were crowned as champions of the division last season, but haven't been promoted for reasons I'm not aware of.
The football itself was a typical pre-season encounter, and the blistering heat certainly played some role in slowing down the tempo of the game. Obviously the referee wasn't over this year's Brazil World Cup, as he scheduled in a couple of water breaks similar to those we had seen in Belo Horizonte and so on. Well, either that, or he had the player's safety in mind as it was a tad warm.
Parkway's opponents for the afternoon were Weymouth of the Southern Premier League, a team I know reasonably well because of Bashley's participation in the same division during the previous few seasons. It didn't take long for the game to see it's first goal, as Jordan Copp raced through to put the visitors ahead after just 12 minutes. A few minutes later, and the hosts found themselves back in front. A horrible mix up in the Weymouth back four allowed the wonderfully titled Levi Landricombe some space, and he cooly lofted the ball over Weymouth player/manager Jason Matthews and into the back of the net. Soon after the interval and Parkway flipped the game on its head as Danny Lewis nudged them in front with a powerful header, but his goal was only to be cancelled out by a Shane Krac equaliser and a wonderful winning goal from Conor Jeavon late on in the half.
Parkway's opponents for the afternoon were Weymouth of the Southern Premier League, a team I know reasonably well because of Bashley's participation in the same division during the previous few seasons. It didn't take long for the game to see it's first goal, as Jordan Copp raced through to put the visitors ahead after just 12 minutes. A few minutes later, and the hosts found themselves back in front. A horrible mix up in the Weymouth back four allowed the wonderfully titled Levi Landricombe some space, and he cooly lofted the ball over Weymouth player/manager Jason Matthews and into the back of the net. Soon after the interval and Parkway flipped the game on its head as Danny Lewis nudged them in front with a powerful header, but his goal was only to be cancelled out by a Shane Krac equaliser and a wonderful winning goal from Conor Jeavon late on in the half.
After the game, I spent some time chatting with Matt, as well as James Spring, Sam Moors (Weymouth fans down for the afternoon) and Ry Sonley about all things football, before we made the executive decision to head back to the accommodation and find out what else Plymouth had to offer. I wasn't leaving without a photo with Weymouth captain Stewart Yetton though, and I soon grabbed the man to get the snap.
I have to admit, Bolitho Park just hit me as a bit of a hidden gem. Nestled in the trees, it really is a lovely place to watch a game of football. With some friendly people behind the scenes, and some good quality football to watch on the pitch, I have almost no complaints. The only thing I would say is they could have turned down the thermostat on the sun for us, because we really did bake.
Cheers for being good to us Plymouth Parkway, and good luck for the season ahead.
Sheridan
I have to admit, Bolitho Park just hit me as a bit of a hidden gem. Nestled in the trees, it really is a lovely place to watch a game of football. With some friendly people behind the scenes, and some good quality football to watch on the pitch, I have almost no complaints. The only thing I would say is they could have turned down the thermostat on the sun for us, because we really did bake.
Cheers for being good to us Plymouth Parkway, and good luck for the season ahead.
Sheridan