Rail travel is looking slightly hazardous as, at time of writing, industrial action is planned for this matchday.  Even if the trains are running, they take about 3 hours from Cheltenham and the last train back is at 18.10 – the station in Plymouth is around a mile and a half from Home Park.

By road, the postcode for the stadium is PL2 3DQ.  If you arrive early, there is free parking very close to the stadium (same postcode).  The car-park operates on a first come, first to leave basis – so late arrivals could find it’s a slow getaway after the game.  There is street parking within a 10-15 minute walk of the stadium.

The journey from Nailsworth to Plymouth by road is about 2 hours 30 minutes (around 148 miles).

Supporters Club Coaches – For full details of Away Travel click here: – FGR Away Travel – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com).  For further information, including pickup point locations click Away travel arrangements 22/23 – Forest Green Rovers Supporters Club (fgrsc.com).  Book your coach ticket with your match ticket from FGR.  25% discount for FGR Supporters Club members.  Supporters Club Members need to book by phone to get their discount – phone 0333 123 1889 Monday to Friday, between 9am and 3pm.  Please try to book as early as you can.

Home Park is also known as ‘The Theatre of Greens’!  Home gates are averaging over 15,000 this season, so it’ll be largely full.  Away fans are housed in part of the all-seated Barn End behind one of the goals.

Coach prices are £32 adult, £16 u-18 (discounted by 25% for SC members).

Match ticket prices are Adult £23, Over 65 £19, u-23 £14, u-18 £9, u-12 £8, u-8 £2.

There have only been two competitive meetings between FGR and The Pilgrims.  One was back in November 2019 at The New Lawn.  Plymouth came out on top with a 1-0 victory.  The return game at Home Park never took place because of the covid pandemic and Argyle were promoted that same season after spending just one campaign in League 2.

The second meeting came last August in the return game.  Plymouth had a comfortable 3-0 win with 2 first half goals and another in the 63rd minute.

Last season Plymouth had a good season, finishing 7th in League 1, and missing the play-offs by just a single place and 3 points.  They will probably have been disappointed, though.  With 5 games to go, the play-offs looked assured.  But no wins in their last 5 matches (including a humiliating 5-0 defeat at home to MK Dons in their final game) meant they fell short.

This season they have been flying.  They are in 2nd place in the league (behind Sheffield Wednesday) – 2 points clear of Ipswich in 3rd place.  It was beginning to look like a 3-horse race for the League 1 automatic promotion places until Plymouth lost away to Barnsley 3-0 last weekend (a Nicky Cadden free-kick adding Barnsley’s third).  The result gives the Tykes a lot of hope that they can join the fight for automatic promotion as they have a couple of games in hand.

Despite Plymouth’s defeat in their last outing, it’ll be a very tough match for Rovers.  Plymouth have won all of their home games so far, except for a 2-0 loss to Port Vale in December and a 0-0 draw with Morecambe.  Sheffield Wednesday, Ipswich and, most recently, Derby County have all been beaten 2-1 in Plymouth this season.  They have the best home record in the league and they have scored more goals than any team other than Ipswich.  If there is a reason to be hopeful, it’s that Plymouth’s defence is the leakiest of the top teams in the league.  They rely on simply outscoring their opposition!

Plymouth’s Player of the Season last season was their goalkeeper, Michael Cooper.  With just 48 goals conceded over 46 matches, Plymouth’s defence was one of the least generous in League 1 last season.  Just 23 years old, Cooper is a graduate of Plymouth’s academy.  He was also named in the League 1 team of the year last season.

Plymouth’s Young Player of the Year last season was 21 year old Adam Randell.  Randell is another product of Plymouth’s academy.  Last season was his breakthrough season, playing in 23 games, scoring once.

Plymouth made a few signings last summer.  The one that caught the eye was the loan signing of Finn Azaz from Aston Villa.  Azaz was on loan at Newport County last season (scoring once against FGR), and he scored against Rovers in Nailsworth in August.  He has 7 goals this season and is a silky smooth attacking midfielder.

Ryan Hardie is in his 3rd season as a Pilgrim and is their leading scorer.

Keeper, Michael Cooper, is making his mark

Midfielder Adam Randell (number 20) was Young Player of the Year last year

Aston Villa midfielder Finn Azaz is on loan at Plymouth

Ryan Hardie (number 9) leads Plymouth’s goalscoring with 13 goals this campaign.  But Plymouth have numerous attacking options – Niall Ennis (number 11 – 9 goals), Birmingham loanee Sam Cosgrove (number 16 – 8 goals) and midfielder Bali Mumba (number 17 – 5 goals), to name a few.  Plymouth have had 13 different goalscorers this season.

The club have played at Home Park since the club were founded in 1901.  The stadium has a capacity of over 18,000, with many of the stands (including the away end) recently renovated.  Home gates have been significantly improved this season over last, reflecting how well the club is doing.

The club takes its nickname, “The Pilgrims”, from the ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ who sailed on the Mayflower from Plymouth to America in 1620.  It is the Mayflower that  features on the club crest.  The club has always played in green and white apart from in the late 1960s and early 1970s when they played in white.

The city of Plymouth is the largest in England with a League club that has never hosted top-flight football.  They are the most southerly and westerly League club in England and the only professional club named Argyle.  Why Argyle?  One explanation is that the club was named after the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, an army regiment with a strong football side of its own.  Other theories are closer to home!!  The Argyle Tavern, where the founder members may have met, or maybe a local street, Argyle Terrace.  Nobody’s sure!

The club has spent most of its existence bouncing between the 2nd and 3rd tiers of the EFL.  However, since 2000, they have had to endure 3 spells in the 4th tier.  An insolvency in 2010/11 came before their longest period in the 4th tier (6 seasons).

Plymouth’s 18,000 capacity Home Park

John Francis Leslie (17 August 1901 – 25 November 1988), known as Jack, was the only black professional player in England when he played for Plymouth Argyle. Joining them from Barking Town in 1921 he went on to play for Plymouth for 14 seasons.  He was an outstanding player, scoring 137 goals.

Leslie won a call-up to the national team in 1925 to play for England v Ireland in the Home Nations Championship.  However, the invitation was subsequently withdrawn.  It seems that this may have been because of belated objections to his colour by members of the FA who had been unaware of his ethnicity.  It would not be until 1978 that Viv Anderson would become the first black player to appear in an England shirt.

After hanging up his boots, Leslie worked as boot room manager at West Ham cleaning the boots of Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters.

In December 2019, the new boardroom at Home Park was named the Jack Leslie Boardroom and in 2020 crowd-funding raised £100,000 for a statue of Jack that is due to be unveiled this season.

Jack Leslie in the 1920’s …..

….. and as boot room manager at West Ham