Dial PAFC for Murder

In another new off the pitch adventure, Argyle are hosting a Murder Mystery evening on Saturday 8 September. Over a three course meal for £35 diners will unmask the killer or killers in 'Premier League Passions' featuring the usual suspects of the jealous star player, crooked coach and double-dealing manager.

For more information and booking call Andy Budge on 01752 302207

Official Site article

The gloves are off - Yeovil Town

Yeovil Town 1 - 2 Plymouth Argyle (Buszaky, Ebanks-Blake)

Following the disappointment of losing to Torquay the lads came back with a 2-1 win over the other green-clad south west team, Yeovil thanks to Sylvain's penalty and Akos.

At a match governed by Breacker because Ollie was absent due to scouting, Chadwick made a return to the game following his long injury period, the team looked better than their previous two friendly matches. The same team who played at Hull City last season went 1-0 up after 7 minutes thanks to Akos Buszaky and the score remained that way until just after the second half kick off when sloppy defending caused a Yeovil equaliser. It didn't remain that way for long for the referee awarded a penalty for a foul on Norris 3 minutes later. Unlike Weston and Torquay, Breacker didn't use two separate line ups for each half, preferring to bring on subs in the closing three minutes; perhaps this 'league-like play' helped Argyle to look steadier on the field.

There remains one more fixture before the Austrian tour - Cambridge on Saturday - and Argyle are squeezing in an extra match verses Paulton Rovers on Tuesday 31 July.

Ebanks-Blake penalty (copyright M3ZYY)

Awaydays #1 - Torquay United

Following on from last season's ground reviews, is "Awaydays" ground reviews.

The club: Torquay United (The Gulls); Plainmoor

The ground: Basic and small. Terraced on 2 1/4 sides all stands are covered apart from a small section of the away (unterraced) standing. Away fans are divided between standing (behind the goal) and seating (main stand), the terrace is narrow but spacious and you are close to the action, where as the seated area is set farther back behind the dug outs. There is only 1 entrance/exit meaning it can take some time to get in or leave. All 5 stands (the main being two separate structures - one nicked from a former racetrack and never renovated) are in different styles. 5/10

The facilities and food: The refreshment kiosk is rudimentary and slow at serving. They had nearly run out of pasties and pies. The carbonated drinks were warm and covered in grease. The toilets were the traditional pee up a wall type. 4/10

The stewarding/police: They use the same stewards as at Argyle (under a different company) and therefore have been known to be over zealous but the pre-season nature meant the left the supporters alone. The large amount of supporters warranted a big police presence at the train stations and around town, but only a few 'spotters' in the ground. 5/10

The travelling: Plainmoor is a long way from the town centre and main transport terminals but is very close to St Marychurch and Babbacoombe which have regular bus services even if the ground doesn't. A walk from the stations or centre can take between 30-45 minutes up steep long hills. 4/10

The surrounding area (what's there to do outside the ground): Boots and Laces is the Gull's 'clubhouse' right next to the ground, and there are a few pubs nearby. The best thing to do is take advantage of the pub crawl you can do around the Harbour, up the main street to the ground. 5/10

The home fans (their contribution to the atmosphere etc): A local derby but little enthusiasm and Argyle virtually took over the town (and Paignton and Newton Abbot). There were very few supporters around. 4/10

Total score: 27/60

Awaydays League Table:

Torquay United - 27

Who will buy?

The official launch date for the new city centre shop Argyle Centre Spot is July 31st, this coincides with the launch of the new kit and a special "Calendar Girls" calendar (only with blokes!) featuring the staff of Argyle in aid of Sparksy's Have a Ball with Sparksy. Will we see a return of such delights as:



The store will stock the full range of Argyle merchandise currently available at Home Park, plus matchday tickets.

New Kit - pictures

Farty Towels - am I bovvered?

Torquay United 1 - 0 Plymouth Argyle

"It's only a friendly, it's all about fitness, it's a testimonial." Was the attitude of many going into yesterday's match for Kevin Hill's testimonial. And being a testimonial it is not customary to rain of the parade, but on a rare glorious day, it seemed Argyle couldn't manage a light drizzle let allow a downpour. Ollie played 2 completely separate teams for either half, indicating it wasn't important at all, which led to the first defeat at Plainmoor for a long while. And that's where pride becomes a factor. Being the only league team in Devon you would have thought that Argyle could have at least got the first goal for a draw, but it rapidly became a game of disinterest with Torquay looking a sparkier* team.

What really grated was the smug look and gestures from their goalie after the goal. So in the pride stakes 'am I bovvered?' Well yes I am!

*just noticed that pun - sorry!

Follow the Green Brick Wall / Rub of the Greens

Following complains from supporters about the state of Pilgrims' Way memorial wall, Argyle have started a clean up to remove the weeds and dirt from the fan's dedicated bricks. In 2001, the bricks were sold as memorials to the Green Army. Unfortunately they had not been maintained over the years and have been a point of contention with the owners.

Official Site article

The Fanzine "Rub of the Greens" has been given a reprive in order that it can reach 100 editions, with 5 special editions due to be released over the next couple of year.

Pie of the Year 2007/08

The new PAFC Pie of the Year website has launched.

For the followers of POTY, Naked Naughtiness and Topless Pies or those interested in away ground catering, check out www.pieoftheyear.blogspot.com

Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare 0 - 1 Plymouth Argyle (Hodges ) (pre season friendly)

The first of the pre-season friendlies kicked off last night with a win against Weston AFC with a goal by Lee Hodges, and as to be expected from the first full game after holidays, it was nothing spectacular. Players, amongst whom was new trialist Marc-Sebastian Pelzer, were still showing the same weaknesses seen throughout last season with poor shooting and passing. Even if this is a pre-season when fitness matters more, surely basic play should still be worked on?

My Family

For the new season Block 1 of the Devonport stand has been designated a 'family area' with special ticket prices:

2 adults & 2 under 18s - £48.00 (a 'Four-Up' ticket)
1 adult & 1 under 18 - £24.00 (a 'Tandem' ticket)
these prices do not apply to season-ticket holders and are issued on a match-by-match basis, there is no matchday surcharge, and must be purchased via the Box Office only

The recent ticketing news regarding frozen season ticket and matchday prices, and the Mayflower shows that Argyle have made a conscious decision to move forward with its offering of matchday prices - a major factor in the choice of attending according to many. Hopefully more people will take advantage of the offers.

Rovers Return

Ticket prices for the Bristol Rovers friendly on Saturday 4 August are:

Season ticket holders
adults: £10.00
over 65s: £4.00
under 23s: £4.00
under 16s: £4.00

Non season ticket holders
adults: £12.00
over 65s: £6.00
under 23s: £6.00
under 16s: £6.00

How much?!

Argyle have announced today that for the fourth consecutive year they are freezing the matchday ticket prices:

All areas except Mayflower Unreserved Seating:
adults: £22.00
over 65s: £15.00
under 23s: £15.00
under 16s: £6.00
a £2 surcharge is levied on all prices except under 16s if tickets are purchase on matchday

Mayflower Unreserved Seating:
adult: £18.00
over 65s: £14.00
under 23s: £14.00
under 16s: £6.00
there is no matchday surcharge on these prices

The timetable of release dates can be found here

Season ticket details can be found here


There have been rumblings for sometimes that ticket prices are too expensive and are a reason for dwindling numbers. One of the debates on BBC Radio Devon's Lunchtime Phone In was regarding a caller who no longer goes to Argyle because "the ticket prices don't match the excessive hype that surrounds Argyle, they are just too expensive for such a club"

The caller was thinly disguised his disappointment at Argyle's lack of success behind his argument regarding ticket prices and in response I emailed back:

The main facts about the former supporter who left Argyle because of the ticket prices and ‘hype’ are that he is a "former supporter" and talks of "hype".
Is he only blaming prices because he is what some may term a ‘glory hunter’?
As a previous texter said, prices have been unchanged for three years – since we came into the Championship and prices are on a par (if not in some cases lower) than other Championship clubs. Argyle managed two promotions almost back to back, which had whipped up a form of hysteria amongst people as everyone wanted to be associated with the success. Now Argyle have settled into the league and they have not been constantly challenging for the Premiership – these people have slipped away. It is unrealistic for Argyle to constantly be winning all the time – that is the nature of sports.
Argyle have gone through many changes since reaching the Championship in managers and squad, each of which has brought swathes of optimism (or ‘hype’), not least with the appointment of Ian Holloway, and when they fail to deliver, we’re back to “same old Argyle”. I challenge people that they should support their team no matter what.
Blaming ticket prices is just a cop out.

But there really are two problems here: people who crave success and people who want value for money and the two-success and ticket prices-are reconcilable.

As another caller stated, that if she wanted to take her grandchildren it would cost her £55.00 a time (although where this calculation came from I'm not sure as - assuming - £15.00 senior + £6.00x4 = £39.00 bought in advance), that it seems expensive and costs do add up. But compare with a trip to the National Marine Aquarium (which recommends 1-2 hours to see everything), the same group's entrance is £31.00 but will be seen as more 'value for money' and the NMA's charitable status helps. This is where my post about the trouble with football (Small Club in Cornwall) being all about money comes in - people resent being, as they see it, "ripped off".

However if the club is to succeed (or even just stay alive) then there needs to be sources of income, and the main source outside of sponsorship, and the buying and selling of players is through tickets. Would a drop in ticket prices to attract back large gates really work if Argyle weren't in the play off positions all season? Certainly increased ticket prices with smaller crowds would never work, which is why I suspect prices have been frozen. There used to a time when there were captive audiences and companies could charge as much as they wanted because people would never have an alternative, but those days are most certainly gone for a lot of industries.

In some ways this season could be a "make or break" for Argyle - another mid-table finish may be or even a relegation may spell the end for some, where as a promotion/play off scenario would certainly blow us away. Come what may.

Small Club in Cornwall

Plymouth Argyle is a contentious topic of discussion which can lead you anywhere - abandon hope all ye who bring it up. Depending on who you are taking to can cause anything from debates to bitching, and there is so much you could talk about.

Start with Home Park itself - you could cover topics such as "how good/bad the pasties are" then someone's bound to say that "Ivor Dewdney's from the van are better"; or "how much more expensive the food prices have got this season"; or "how long the queues are but thankfully the smoking ban means that the concourse'll be so much more bearable" but "how dare Argyle ban smoking from the non enclosed spaces of the ground and not allow you to go outside for a quick smoke and come back in again. I remember the old days on the terraces..."; "how dare the DCMS close our terracing", "why did the board wait so long? After all they knew the 3 years were ending soon", "at least they're putting seats down and not closing it completely", "this proves that phase 2 is never going to happen", "team first, ground later", "so are we settled going into the new season or has Holloway failed to strengthen by buying new players?", "why don't we compete like other teams do?", "why is there so little money", "such and such player is crap and doesn't deserve to wear green", "who chose yellow as the away colour? - Argyle are green, white and black, they ask us to vote and somehow it comes out as yellow?!", "at least they called a vote, normally we get no say", "the communication from Home Park is poor, call themselves a professional club", "look at the way the treat the fans! - the bricks are in a right state and they just ignore our letters and emails" "we've just been sold a pack of lies over the last few years", "this board's got no ambition - sack the board". And so on...

Football faces a big problems.

There are currently several generations of people who are not interested in league football because of its image in the 70s and 80s. Following mass hooliganism, riots and disasters many fans left football in disgust of being associated with it. Thatcher's children left football and football had to chance to survive. In order to do so it cleaned up its act to attract a 'better customer'. And whilst the industry was quite correct in doing so, it has led to another disease taking hold: money.

For a club to survive these days it needs money, and this has taken over from support as the raison d'etre for clubs. Clubs are now having to compete with players who demand more and more recompense for their services. The way the leagues are set up still has a very unbalanced distribution of money. Argyle who have never had a time in top flight football - have never had the benefit of parachute payments etc to provide them with a pot of gold. Football could be said to be a corrupt industry - and examples of 'bungs' and the number of clubs in debt but can still afford expensive players - back this up. Additionally the Westcountry is not a hotbed of footballing talent anyway, unlike clubs outside of the South West who have future stars bred on their doorsteps. Attracting players down to the remotest league club in the country has always been a problem, especially with the modest pay packet we can afford. So clubs have to look else where for funding.

TV: With the advent of Sky Sports (and for a time ITV Sport), and the growing number of sports channels which provide more and more capital than BBC or ITV ever can, a football club has to first compete with the Premiership Clubs and more specifically the 'Big 4' for coverage. Argyle had 2 televised Sky games last season (and the FA Cup quarter on the BBC) and with free to view channels no longer to compete for footage rites, fans are having to pay for subscriptions to watch their team. But this can breed fickle fans - if results are poor, people can seek wins elsewhere and has also led to a generation of so called 'plastic fans' who have never set foot inside their club's stadium, having followed them through the small screen.

Merchandising: Once it was realised that people will pay good money for an Argyle branded whatever, Argyle's merchandising has grown significantly to the point where a permanent city centre shop is being opened. This is one way of getting the club under people's noses, but once again supporters are being 'ripped off' - it costs between £35.00 - £50 to purchase a replica shirt. One thing Argyle are guilt of is the increasing trend to have new kits every season, meaning purchasing two new kits every August (it is obviously not compulsory to do so, but especially amongst younger fans the need to have the latest strip is paramount).

Sponsorship. This is one reason why kits are constantly changing - a new sponsor or additional sponsors. Players and stadia have become billboards for all sorts of companies and has lead to the ludicrous situation of stadia named after the sponsor - Walker's Stadium, Ricoh Arena, JJB Stadium , Emirates Stadium to name a few. Thankfully Argyle have not yet succumbed to 'Pasty Park' or 'Ginsters Arena', and it will be a sad day if Home Park ever became anything but.

Sugar Daddies. The majority of the Premiership teams have sold out to foreign investment. This has been debated in leading press publications recently. The lure of big bucks is attractive to billionaires-the Premier League being the wealthiest in the world-and a slice of the respectability and prestige is just too much to resist.

The need for more and more money is taking football further and further away from the reach of the people it was designed to serve in the first place - the fans. Increasing ticket prices, merchandising costs, TV subscriptions, mean fewer people can afford to follow. This leads to lower and lower gates.

Argyle are strange. We secured two promotions within as many years and have established ourselves in the current league and we have improved on our position with every passing year, and this has been done under the prudent guidance of the current board. Yet crowds are falling - or are they returning to their realistic level? There is division amongst supporters about where do we go from here - should we be happy stay put, slowly improving (though of course one day that isn't going to happen) or should be pull out all the stops and get in amongst the pack by taking some risks?

Whatever your view, you will find every Argyle fan has a different, and will find yourself going in circles for years discussing it. But does it matter when to everyone else Argyle are still that "Small Club in Cornwall"?

Home Ticketing Dates

Home ticketing release dates for 2007/08 season:

OPPOSITION	MATCH DATE	ON SALE DATE
Bristol Rovers (friendly)	August 4 2007	July 9 2007
Wycombe Wanderers (CC1)	August 14 2007	July 9 2007
Ipswich Town	August 18 2007	July 9 2007
Leicester City	September 9 2007	July 30 2007
Cardiff City	September 15 2007	August 6 2007
Wolverhampton Wanderers	September 29 2007	August 20 2007
Crystal Palace	October 2 2007	August 20 2007
Coventry City	October 20 2007	September 10 2007
Sheffield Wednesday	November 3 2007	September 24 2007
Norwich City	November 10 2007	October 1 2007
West Bromwich Albion	November 27 2007	October 15 2007
Scunthorpe United	December 1 2007	October 22 2007
Bristol City	December 8 2007	October 22 2007
Queens Park Rangers	December 26 2007	November 12 2007
Stoke City	December 29 2007	November 19 2007
Southampton	January 19 2008	December 10 2007
Hull City	February 2 2008	December 24 2007
Barnsley	February 12 2008	January 2008
Burnley	February 3 2008	January 14 2008
Colchester United	March 4 2008	January 21 2008
Sheffield United	March 8 2008	January 28 2008
Watford	March 22 2008	February 11 2008
Charlton Athletic	April 5 2008	February 25 2008
Preston North End	April 19 2008	March 10 2008
Blackpool	April 26 2008	March 17 2008

Away the Lads - Travel and Tickets Update

Pre-season ticket details:

Weston-super-Mare, Wednesday 11 July, Woodspring Stadium
Pay on the gate
£8.50 adults, £5.50 over 65s, £3.00 under 16s, FREE under 5s

Torquay United, Saturday 14 July, 15.00, Plainmoor
Pay on the gate
£10.00 adults, £5.00 under 16s

Yeovil Town, Tuesday 17 July, 19.45, Huish Park
£8.00 adults, £2.00 students and over 65s, £1.00 under 16s

League travel news:

Once again Air South West and Argyle are offering the all inclusive fly with the team package, which includes flights to the nearest airport with hotel transfer, bed and board and matchday tickets. This will be on offer for both our first two league away games to Hull and Barnsley for £299 (two sharing). For details contact Andy Budge on 01752 302204 or email andy.budge@pafc.co.uk

Comings and Goings

This year's comings (3), goings (4) and contract extensions (=) at Argyle:

4 Tony Capaldi (to Cardiff)
4 Josh Clapham
4 Kevin Gallen (to MK Dons)
4 Scott Sinclair (end of loan)
4 Hasney Aljofree (to Swindon)

3 Kristian Timar
3 Peter Halmosi

= Lee Hodges
= Lilian Nallis
= Gary Sawyer

Demise of a Fanzine

In the modern world of the internet, there seems little room for hard copies. Why print something for money when it can be reproduced on screen for virtually nothing and be seen world-wide?

This has led to the demise of the Argyle fanzine "Rub of the Greens", which folded yesterday following the dwindling number of subscribers. Having only subscribed myself this coming season, I have not had the pleasure of reading it, but several fellow supporters have enjoyed its 90 editions (plus 5 specials).

It has to be said though that Plymouth Argyle supporters enjoy what must be an unrivaled choice in access to information about their team through the plethora of quality internet sites - from the official site run by premium TV, though 5 message boards, Green on Screen (which recently amalgamated with Semper Viridis - and contains a photographic archive of each season's matches and statistics galore), to various other fan run and news pages. Add to that three regional and local newspapers.

However, as yet another fan-run aspect of Argyle dies (along with the Travel Club, Far Post Club, and PAST&D Trust), it is sad that supporters are in some way becoming disconnected from the clubs they love.

Greens on Screen & Semper Viridis

Today Steve and Trevor announced that Greens on Screen and Semper Viridis have amalgamated and one of the best unofficial club sites has now become even better.

You will find the new look site (which, understandably, is still under revelopment) at www.greensonscreen.co.uk

and at the same time, I have decided to bring forward the revamp of this blog by introducing a new layout.

Mayflower Seating

Work to install the new Mayflower unreserved seating is due to start within the next few weeks. Temporary seating specialists SGB will take between 1 and 2 weeks to install 3,500 seats onto the ex terrace.

The Herald article

Squad Reshuffle

A few changes have been made of the squad numbers this season, including:

2 - Connolly (was 22)
14 - Fallon (was 33)
17 - Hodges (was 20)
20 - Summerfield (was 29)
22 - Gosling (was 30)

A full list of the 2007/08 squad appears to the right:

Official Site article

Back to Work

Today the Argyle squad returned from their holiday to pre-season training at Marjon's College., the training pitches at Harper's Park being saved for the full season.

There has been unrest about the training facilities available at Argyle for sometime, with believing that they are not on a par with other Championship clubs. Argyle are lucky to have pitches in the vicinity of Home Park, but these do not offer their own off pitch facilities - the players use the Home dressing room at Home Park for example. Also the pitches are enclosed by tall trees, meaning that the sun rarely gets to the grass.

Ed wrote this article over 1 year ago and it still applies today. One possibility is the Civil Service club, that Argyle are bidding for (more details), or as currently, making use of someone else's facilities. As with everything, it's tre whole package that needs to be correct in order that we can attract the right business and players.

One more Step along the Road

Following their experiment during the 2006 Christmas period, Argyle will be opening a permanent superstore in Drake Circus. Taking the former Calendar Club unit on the upper mall level next to the escalators within the next few weeks, this will be expand Argyle's presence in the city centre beyond the limited selection in Derry's. With such a more permanent setting supporters would hope that it will provide additional services such as match day ticket purchase; more news when Argyle release details.

Mickey Evans's Testimonial Season

Mickey Evans is to have a testimonial season with various events for charity culminatiing hopefully, with a testimonial match at Home Park. Michael made a total of 432 appearances in two stints for the Greens, scoring 81 goals as well as spending time with Bristol Rovers, West Bromwich Albion, Torquay and then premiership side, Southampton. He retired from football last season.

Michael will be supporting the Devon Air Ambulance, the Mustard Tree cancer support unit at Derriford Hospital, the St Vincent de Paul Society, and Friends and Family with further charities hopefully coming.

The first event will be a sporting dinner on 1 December.

A website will be available soon at http://mickeyevanstestimonial.com/
More details to follow once released.

The Small Screen

Sky TV have confirmed their schedule of live football games for the first half of the season. This includes:

Plymouth Argyle v Cardiff City, Saturday 15 September, 17.20 K/O

Full list of televised matches

*Times subject to change

Hasney leaves

Hasney Aljofree completed a transfer to Swindon Town today for a £50,000 3 year contract.

Hasney joined Argyle in 2002 but most recently was dogged with several injuries, not least his trip to Southampton General during the Saints game last September. This has meant he's been kept out of the team and eventual he was usurped from the staring 11 by his replacements.

Hasney now rejoins Paul Sturrock who signed him from Bolton Wanderers in 2000 and we wish him well in his future success.

'Cos you gotta have Faith

...in the curse of Home Park.

Not content with sticking to matches, the power failure curse struck the George Michael concert last night, meaning that the main event started an hour late.

Home Park was rocking to the sound of George Michael last night in the second concert to be held in the stadium. The huge stage dwarfed the grandstand background, taking up nearly all of the Mayflower enclosure and part of the pitch. Though there were fewer people than at Elton John the atmosphere was greater as thousands of people danced and clapped their wasy through Sophie Ellis Bexter and George's sets.

The sound from the stadium could be heard throughout the city and the spectaculat light and visual show that accompanied George were a sight to behold.








So now the new summer use of Home Park has finished there is a lot to do before 4th August - the temporary seating needs to be installed onto the Mayflower terrace, the fences around the pitch re-erected, the pitch needs time to recover from thousands of dancing feet and the miriad of other jobs that need doing before a ball is kicked again.

Please be Seated

It was announced today that the former Mayflower standing enclosure will be seated come next season.

Approximately 3,500 temporary seats will be affixed onto the terracing, bringing the ground capacity to 20,000 and will be unreserved, meaning that supporters who stood together can sit together on a first-come-first-served basis.

Matchday tickets for the Mayflower seating will be a flat rate of £18.00 (adults), £14 (over 65s) and £6 (under 16s) regardless of whether they are purchased in advance on on the day.

In addition, the PA System, which was not working for the last few months of last season, and the tower floodlights will be upgraded.

The new seating will be available from the home friendly verses Bristol Rovers on 4 August.

Let's go Outside...

Tonight's arrangements for George Michael are as follows:

5.00pm - Doors Open
7.00pm - Sophie Ellis Bextor
7.40pm - Interval
8.10pm - George Michael part one
9.15pm - Interval
9.35pm - George Michael part two
10.45pm - Finish

There is NO PARKING at Home Park. Concert goers are advised to use either the George Junction (Roborough) or Coypool (Marsh Mills) park and ride services (£2.50 return fare after 4.00pm) or park in either the Theatre Royal or Western Approach car parks in the city centre and catch a regular service bus to Milehouse.

Following the concert the park and ride buses will depart from the main car park, departure points will be marked for either the George or Coypool.

Travel advice from Plymouth City Council
Travel Advice from Argyle



Your entrance turnstiles are labelled on your ticket, the DEVONPORT stand (blocks 1 - 6) entrances are the ones facing the main car park under the "Plymouth Argyle Welcomes You" sign; the LYNDHURST (blocks 7 - 16) run down the left hand side of the ground, and the BARN PARK (blocks 17 - 23) are around the back - walk past the Lyndhurst to the far end of the ground and turn right. STANDING is on the pitch - you will need to retain your ticket at all times to have access to this area.



Home Park is COMPLETELY No Smoking - this includes in the concourse, toilets, seating and standing areas.

New Kit

I notice that a lot of people are landing here after searching for our new kit.

There has been no confirmation of a release date for our new home or away strip. Keep an eye on the Argyle Superstore or the Official site for launch details.

Fixtures Released

Next season's fixtures for the Coca Cola Championship were released today, find them at:


The Herald
PAFC Official Site
BBC (Full Championship fixtures)

Argyle have been given an away fixture to kick off the season with the joint longest trip to Hull, whilst are home on Boxing Day to QPR.

Download a handy pdf fixtures card

Carling League Cup Round 1

The draw for round one was made today and Argyle face Wycombe Wanderers at home on Tuesday 14 August, 19.45 kick off.

Full round fixtures list from the BBC

A step in the Right Direction

So news that got buried during yesterday's announcement and subsequent reaction about the Mayflower terrace, is that Argyle are looking into improving their training facilities.

As reported in The Herald, the Plymouth Area Civil Service Sports Association Club is currently up for sale. Boasting a vast range of facilities for including social club, function suite, fitness centre, sauna, badminton, basketball, indoor and outdoor Bowls, cricket, darts, 5-a-side football, netball, pool, rounders, rugby, skittles, snooker, 11-a-side football, table tennis and tennis courts, the club is been forced to close this coming September. There have been 20 applicants to buy out the facilities, one of whom is Argyle.

It has been a bugbear of the club that Harper's Park is becoming inadequate for a Championship Club, and the change in location, as well as the potential for something along the lines of a new branch to PAFC ltd (Argyle Leisure maybe), coupled with Home Park's new concert venue status, could bring in new revenue streams. However with the recent collapse in activity on Phase 2, the added burden of the closed terracing, the lack of finance to support the team; could/would anything come of this?

Sit Down, Shut Up

Today the DCMS announced that Argyle had lost its appeal to keep its terracing at Home Park, stating that it must conform to the ground standards for Championship clubs - namely that they are all seater. This decision comes on the back of the announcement that Cardiff City have been granted a reprieve on their terracing sections. Whether this smacks of the DCMS's hypocrisy in action in allowing one rule for one and another rule for the other the current Argyle board's inability to plan ahead and have firm plans for the beginning of phase 2. This is not going to bode well with a lot of Argyle supporters.

The board are now holding emergency discussions about what will happen to the paddock come the start of the new season. Will they install temporary seating or close it permanently? Once again we have to play the waiting game.

BBC News announcement
The Herald announcement

All Aboard for George Michael

As with the Elton John concert, there will be no parking (except disabled persons) at Home Park for the George Michael concert on June 17.

Concert goers are advised to park at either Park and Ride sites (Coypool or The George-quite appropriate-Roborough, or in city centre car parks, and take public transport to Central Park.

Note, there are slight changes in arrangements from the Elton concert.

Travel advice from Plymouth City Council
Travel Advice from Argyle

The waiting game

It seems that a lot of an Argyle supporters time is spent waiting for things to happen at Home Park, and this summer is no different. We are still waiting for:

- news about whether the Mayflower Terrace will still be open next season. We are awaiting a decision by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, who have granted Cardiff a reprieve because of their new stadium plans, however as Home Park's phase 2 is currently dead in the water there is no knowing what will be the result. Argyle knew that this was due to happen this season, and contingency plans should have been made a long time ago.

- any signings. Holloway has signed on Halmosi and Timar and offered Gallen a year's contract, however there seem to be no plans to seek new players. The general consensus of opinion is that 'dead wood' will be cleared out, but as we have seen, there are too few players at current. Should no new signings be made we'll have to sign the barman as goalkeeper

- a release date for the new kits. Estimates from the superstore suggest they won't be available until August - 2 weeks before the new season. This is being blamed on the late announcement of the sponsor.

So as one season drags into another, into another, although the club has moved forward in the league, the wheels of progress off the pitch move very slowly. And it's frustrating.

Tickets please!

Details of ticket prices for the following preseason fixtures have been released:



Torquay United, Saturday 14 July, 15.00, Plainmoor
adults £10, under 16s £5
pay on the gate
(supporters' coach - if demand is sufficient - adults £10, under 16s £8 will depart Home Park at 15.00, bookings must be made via Argyle's box office)

Yeovil Town, Tuesday 17 July, 19.45, Huish Park
adults £8, students and over 65s £2, under 16s £1

PAFC Official Website

Put that light out!

As I discussed in this post in December the smoking ban will affect football stadia. Argyle confirmed just before the end of the season that Home Park will become smoke-free. Today, as reported in the Herald, Argyle confirmed some more details:

From the Elton John concert, Home Park is TOTALLY smoke free. That means that once supporters have entered the turnstiles, they shall NOT be permitted to smoke ANYWHERE. Additionally, once supporters are within the stadium, they will NOT be permitted to leave and re-enter. Stewards do not have the authority to issue fixed penalty notices, but the club will take action against supporters who ignore the ban, this can result in a £250 fine or ejection from the ground.

As witnessed at the Elton concert, which was supposed to be the first day of the new rule, they were frequently flouted by concert goers lighting up on the concourses and seating areas (even though smoking has been banned in the seating areas for some time). It is going to take some people a lot of getting used to - but unfortunately there is no choice

New Look

Premium TV, the owners of the majority of league club's official pages, are slowly revamping each clubs website and this morning the new look Argyle site has gone live.

Although confusing to start with, especially the busy-ness of all the adverts, and the extra clicks needed to get to the data; the amount of information provided has increased, is more logically located and there are some new sections. It is still under construction, meaning some sections are not available yet, it remains to be seen whether this incarnation will be kept updated.

PAFC Official Website

Pre-season

Argyle's pre-season matches are:

Wednesday 11 July, verses Weston-super-Mare, Woodspring Stadium, 19.30
Saturday 14 July, verses Torquay United, Plainmoor, 15.00 (Kevin Hill's Testimonial)
Tuesday 17 July, verses Yeovil, Huish Park, 19.45
Saturday 21 July, verses Cambridge United, Abbey Stadium, 15.00

Sunday 22 July - Sunday 28 July, pre-season tour, Austria
including Genclerbirligi Ankara (Monday 24 July*) and Hapoel Tel Aviv on (Friday 27 July*) ^†

Wednesday 1 August, verses Truro, Treyew Road, 19.45
Saturday 4 August, verses Bristol Rovers, Home Park, 15.00
Monday 6 August, verses St Blazey, Station Road, 19.30

^† Hapoel Tel Aviv are have been the Israeli champions 13 times and 12 times national cup winners, whilst Genclerbirligi play in the Turkish premier league.

*dates subject to change

Pie of the Year

The final standings for this year's football ground pie league have been compiled into a helpful book, containing every pie review, comments, clubs' responses and a few surprises, including Gordon Sparks and a certain club's manager.

Download your copy here

69/1

The current odds for Argyle to win outright promotion next season range between 33/1 and 69/1, making us the 5th least likely to go up next season. It'll be interested when the odds for relegation are released, but currently the bookies see us having yet another "mid-table obscurity" season. Is this all we can expect next year? Is Argyle finally being seen as 'a stable Championship Club' or 'a club with no ambition'?

Bye Bye Derby

Derby County 1 - 0 West Bromwich Albion

Derby have secured their place in Premiership football following their play off win against West Bromwich at Wembley today after Pearson scored the only goal of the game.
This means that next season's Championship line up looks like this:

Barnsley
Blackpool
---------
Bristol City
Burnley
Cardiff City
Charlton Athletic
---------
Colchester United
Coventry City
Crystal Palace
Hull City
Ipswich Town
Leicester City
Norwich City
Plymouth Argyle
Preston North End
Queens Park Rangers
Scunthorpe
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield United
Southampton
Stoke City
---------
Watford
West Bromwich Albion
Wolverhampton Wanderers

Ups and Downs

This year's promotions and relegations around the championship are:

PREMIERSHIP

6 Sheffield United
6 Wigan Athetic
6 Charlton Athletic

CHAMPIONSHIP

5Birmingham City
5Sunderland
5Derby
= West Bromwich Albion
= Wolverhamption Wanderers
= Southampton

6Southend
6Luton
6Leeds

LEAGUE ONE

5Scunthorpe United
5Bristol City
5 Blackpool
= Yeovil Town
= Nottingham Forest
= Oldham Athletic

Home Park Arena

Elton John's concert has come and gone, and for the first time Home Park was transformed into an arena. With the combination of the three 'new' stands and pitch seating, Home Park makes an ideal venue as long as it doesn't rain! It was a strange experience being able to take alcohol out of the concourses and to wander about at will - even on the pitch. Not being designed for concerts, the acoustics may have come unstuck, but this proved to be no problem at all.
The near sellout (not that much higher than Home Park's proper capacity) provided an electric atmosphere and it's hard to to draw comparisons with match days and what could be achieved in terms of crowd noise and spectacle.

In three weeks' time it happens all again with George Michael, but in the meantime all the pitch seating has to be removed to allow the pitch to recover.

Up-Pool

Blackpool 2 - 0 Yeovil

For the first time in 29 years Blackpool have made it in to second tier of the football pyramid, with their 2-0 victory over Yeovil at the League One play offs. Blackpool join Bristol City and Scunthorpe who were automatically promoted in the Championship for the 2007/08 season.
Williams' and Parker's goals either side of half time kept Yeovil out, with Blackpool dominating the possession In the first half and Yeovil unable to find the back of the net in spite of coming close a number of times.
For Argyle, Blackpool and City are two teams which could threaten to do a "Colchester" and rapidly climb up the Championship table, and if Argyle fail to meet the challenge with another mid-table finish with cause wide consternation.

Elton John

Tomorrow sees the first concert to be held at Home Park, namely Elton John, and preparations have been in full swing for some time as many changes have had to been made to the ground. Firstly the Mayflower terrace has had to been gutted to make way for the stage - the crash barriers and pitchside fence have been removed as has the protective cage around the tunnel. Over on the Lyndhurst the front rows of several blocks have been removed to create disabled viewing areas and again the pitchside fencing has gone to allow access to the pitch. The pitch has been overlayed with a protective 'breathable' covering ready for the seating, and the top car park now houses the production village.

Some pictures can be found here (PAFCTalk) and here (Official Site)

As you should be aware there is NO PARKING available at Home Park tomorrow, and there will be traffic warden patrols in the surrounding streets. Concert goers must use the Park and Ride facilities.

Additionally the traditional car boot sale held on Sundays in the upper car park is cancelled this week.

Soccer AM

Ian Holloway's interview on Soccer AM this Saturday:

In part 1 he talks about Plymouth's season and his reasons for coming here:



and in part 2 he discusses his forthcoming autobiography, available from 17 September:

Extra Time

Plymouth Argyle have extended the "early bird" special prices opportunity to thus Sunday (20 May). Season ticket prices can be found here.

Halmosi, Timar and Clapham

Argyle announced today that Peter Halmosi and Kristian Timar have signed from their respective clubs. Halmosi's £400,000 deal, as agreed before his loan spell, is a record for Argyle, whilst Timar signed a two year deal worth £75,000. Meanwhile goalkeeper Josh Clapham, who never made an appearance between the sticks for the first team, though appeared twice on the bench, has been released; unfortunately for him McCormick and Larrieu kept him out of the spotlight and we never got to see him perform.

Halmosi signs
Timar signs
Clapham released

Keep up with Argyle's Comings and Goings here

Stadium Review #22 - Wembley

Ground Information: Wembley Stadium Capacity 90,000

Appearance: Certainly impressive, rising up on the horizon along Olympic [Wembley] Way and perched in its lofty position makes you feel very small. The iconic arch can be seem from miles around. Externally the stadium is clad in silver panels with vast windows and sweeping curves, but marred by the stark concrete surroundings of the walkways and car parks, and the continuing construction work. Internally the concourses are of airport proportion, huge cavernous corridors with outlets lining both sides. The seating area is huge but 'cosy', the height and closeness of the tiers make the wrap round sides draw in. The size of the stadium is confirmed when supporters the other side look as small as ants. Being a new ground, the whole place is 'clean' and 'fresh'. 10/10

View: Excellent, the stand is quite shallow in incline but at the same time the rows are seperated enough so that your individual view is unobscured, except if people decide to stand up. 8/10

Getting there: Wembley is a public transport destination, so don't expect car parking in vast quantities. For a large stadium, it does get hidden especially when the 'round the houses' roads in and out make you lose all sense of direction, however it is signed from the North Circular and M25. There are two tube stations serving the area - Wembley Park is the closest and at the end of Olympic Way and Wembley Central a good walk away. There are lots of instrial estates offering supervised parking for around £10. 6/10

Facilities (toilets, TVs etc): The concourse is huge and has separate 'stalls' for food, bar, programmes, souvenirs etc. The bars are efficient with an in/out queuing system, but for a stadium that boasts a toilet per 34 people, they are still small, cramped and crowded. The PA and TV system are excellent and announcements are made five minutes before each kickoff. There are additional toilets accessible from outside the stadium. 6/10

Food and Drink: Expensive and not that nice. The pie was a true disaster, at £4.50 the whole thing fell apart into a huge heap, beer is £3.50 a pint and water £1.80 and tasted like tap water. 5/10

Stewarding/Police: The stewarding and policing was far over the top for the occasion, but they were practicing for bigger events. Some of the stewards are very forthright and abrupt in their manner. You cannot enter the seating area without showing your ticket again, and you will be heavily directed out of the stadium at the end of the game. 6/10

Surrounding area (what's there to do outside the ground): Not much. There are a couple of pubs up Olympic Way in Wembley but they get very crowded, plus the usual take aways and banks. 4/10

Home fans (their contribution to the atmosphere etc): There are no 'home fans'! This epends on who is playing and who is attended. For a "big" game such as the FA Cup the atmosphere would be electric. As it was the two sets of supporters were not that vocal. -/10

Total score: 45/70

Stadium League Table:
Pride Park (Derby): 65
Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday): 58
Poltair Park (St Austell): 57 [non league]
Stadium of Light (Sunderland): 55
KC Stadium (Hull): 54
Wembley Stadium: 45
= Portman Road (Ipswich): 51
= Ricoh Arena (Coventry):51
= Carrow Road (Norwich): 50
= Walkers Stadium (Leicester): 50
Underhill (Barnet): 49
= St Andrews (Birmingham): 48
= Molineux (Wolves): 48
= Loftus Road (QPR): 46
= The Hawthorns (WBA): 46
= Elland Road (45)
= Turf Moor (Burnley): 45
Kenilworth Road (Luton): 44
Deepdale (Preston): 43
Ninian Park (Cardiff): 42
Roots Hall (Southend): 41
London Road (Peterbrough): 36

Season Review

One of the best ways to look back on this season and seasons gone is through the best unofficial site around Greens on Screen. packed full of information, GOS has in depth analysis, photos and audio clips of every match in each season, a select view of the best from each previous season, as well as a wealth of other Argyle related information.

End of Season Report

"Tried hard, with better results than last year, but still making the same mistakes. Has not attained targets set more than 10 years ago"

So the Championship season is now over for Argyle, and we get approximately 90 odd days before the 2007/08 campaign kicks off, with a few friendlies to tied us over and an Austrian tour.
There is no disputing the facts that since reaching the Championship three years ago, Argyle have succeeded their previous year's placings-ending 17th, 14th and 11th respectively-and this is a great achievement in itself. But what have Argyle really achieved?

At the beginning of this season Argyle were managerless with Pulis returning to Stoke. Pulis ensured Championship survival after the baffling Williamson era-"I had a job to do and I did it"-and he did. Pulis' brand of football (hoofball?) was widely critictised at the time, and it makes you wonder what would have happened if he'd stayed, for Stoke, until their last game, had been around the playoff zone. People will site that Stoke have the players, the location and the money, and that is something that Argyle have never been able to compete with. The shackles of being a "small club" with no ambition, stuck miles from anywhere are ones that the Greens will have to wear for a long time yet.

Then came Ian Holloway. Like a hurricane he came in and shook everything up, there was wide spread optimism, we were winning game-not drawing 1-1, 0-0 or losing-Ollie talked of Premiership football, and then the Argyle curse stuck. Key players in our wafer thin squad were getting tired quickly and injuries mounted up. Then discipline took its toll as the yellows and match band started racking up. The old cracks that appeared since the Sturrock era reappeared. Play on the pitch started to resemble the 'old Argyle'-corners were no longer threatening, possession went awry, gaping holes in the defence let in too many opposition goals. It is very hard, to the armchair manager, to reconcile why these shortcomings have never been addressed as they crop up time and time again. The air of optimism was swept away, when the transfer window opened, there were no takers.

But then came a welcome distraction, Argyle finally had a decent FA Cup run, getting to the quarter finals and missing out, unfairly as many critic saw, on a place in the semis. But what toll did that take. It has been said that Cup games interfere with the league, and the added games and rescheduling of league matches finally took its toll in the "week of hell" of April when Argyle lost three matches in a row (Ipswich, Burnley and Leeds), including the now infamous 4-0 defeat at Burnley that has left a long lasting bitter taste in many an Argyle fan's mouth. If any Pilgrims' supporter is expecting a repeat next year, forget it. The amount of moaning Holloway has done since the Cup games had buried any future ambition in that direction.

And that's what it's all down to - ambition. 10 years ago, Argyle were in exactly the same position (not league position, as we weren't even in this league) as they are today: a declining fan base, small budget, Home Park's development stalled, midtable obscurity. Argyle managed 5 wins in a row to end this year's campaign and proved that it can be achieved, and no doubt our progress on the field has come on leaps and bounds in such a short time, but it's what is happening off the pitch that is hindering our further progression. As it stands, Plymouth, along with Hull, are going to have to wait some time before they stop being the two largest cities in England never to have top flight football teams.

League			HOME					AWAY
Pos	Pts	P	W	D	L	F	A	W	D	L	F	A	GD
11	67	46	10	8	5	34	26	7	8	8	27	36	+1

FA Cup
3rd round	Peterborough	1	1	Plymouth Argyle
3rd round replay	Plymouth Argyle	2	1	Peterborough
4th round	Barnet	0	2	Plymouth Argyle
5th round	Plymouth Argyle	2	0	Derby County
Quarter Finals	Plymouth Argyle	0	1	Watford

Carling League Cup
1st round	Plymouth Argyle	0	1	Walsall

12 minutes

According to a survey conducted by The Times newspaper, British blokes think about football every 12 minutes. Following the infamous 'men think about sex every 7 seconds' (which by the way isn't true - no one has actually done a survey to prove or disprove this), the activities of 11 men and a ball come are a high preoccupation for blokes. The study was conducted among 2,000 fans of Premiership clubs and found that they contemplate football 80 times in a day, and 7% thought about the game once every minute. Women know that football is an obsession for guys and we feel no more shame in it than them thinking of shoes and fashion, but it's not hard with rolling sports news channels, dedicated sports channels, teletext, Internet forums, blogs, newspaper reports etc. It's a social thing that many men would miss if they ever, God forbid, had to give it up.

By the way, only 92 days 20 hours 38 minutes 26 seconds until the start of the 2007/2008 Championship season.

Stadium Review #21 - KC Stadium

Ground Information: KC [Kingston Communications] Stadium (Hull City FC) Capacity 25,404

Appearance: The Kingston Communications [known as the KC] stadium was opened in 2002 so is one of the new breed of stadia that have been growing around the UK. The KC is a now 'new traditional' bowl design with a wrap-round undulating roof with one side being slightly higher than the surrounding three. Externally the stadium is clad with grey/silver and has blue and yellow stairways and spaceframe room. Hull rigorously separate home and away supporters, meaning that the away end is heavily fenced in from the car park through to the turnstiles - upon leaving, all away supporters must walk up to the car park to get out. Internally, as the stadium is shared between Hull City and Hull RLFC the colours are 'neutral' black, white and amber of both clubs. 8/10

View: New all seater stadia give the spectator a better deal, as (in most cases) all seats have unobstructed views. The away following is normally housed in behind the goal, offset towards a corner. 7/10

Getting there: A part from Hull being nearly in Norway, the stadium is well signed from the main A Road into Hull, you cannot get lost. Hull train station is about 15 minutes' walk way in the centre but through some decidedly dodgy looking street. The queues for the bus after a match get extremely long. 6/10

Facilities (toilets, TVs etc): The concourse is on the first floor so that you are half way up the stand and contains three sets of toilets (two male and a female) and one refreshment bar, there are TVs showing Sky Sports pre-match and live match broadcasts during play. They had run out of pies by half time and there were only 300 odd supporters. 6/10

Food and Drink: Hull do a "pie and a pint" deal which gives you a half price pie with every pint purchased, but the normal refreshments are available too. They have very good pies - the best of the season. 6/10

Stewarding/Police: The stewards were very friendly, they wanted to keep my novelty hat, and were content to allow the supporters on the back three rows to remain stood throughout the game. It did take 10 police and stewards to take one supporter out though. 7/10

Surrounding area (what's there to do outside the ground): Not much, the pubs nearby aren't really recommended, and the walk into town is a bit far. You can sit in the parkland surrounding the stadium and visit the "zoo". 4/10

Home fans (their contribution to the atmosphere etc): The away end is right next to the more vocal supporters to your left. As the game had no real meaning and Hull were guaranteed survival because of Leeds demise there was a lot of friendly banter between fans and some unusual unity in the chanting. The home fans clapped Argyle before and after the game and outside the stadium, which is very commendable to them. However there is one way to kill an atmosphere - miss a penalty. Even after Hull celebrated Ebanks-Blake's miss, the remainder of the game until Argyle's goal was conducted in near silence. A very strange sight. 10/10

Total score: 54/80

Stadium League Table:
Pride Park (Derby): 65
Hillsborough (Sheffield Wednesday): 58
Poltair Park (St Austell): 57 [non league]
Stadium of Light (Sunderland): 55
KC Stadium (Hull): 54
= Portman Road (Ipswich): 51
= Ricoh Arena (Coventry):51
= Carrow Road (Norwich): 50
= Walkers Stadium (Leicester): 50
Underhill (Barnet): 49
= St Andrews (Birmingham): 48
= Molineux (Wolves): 48
= Loftus Road (QPR): 46
= The Hawthorns (WBA): 46
= Elland Road (45)
= Turf Moor (Burnley): 45
Kenilworth Road (Luton): 44
Deepdale (Preston): 43
Ninian Park (Cardiff): 42
Roots Hall (Southend): 41
London Road (Peterbrough): 36

The run away ground is Derby's Pride Park, I wonder if new Wembley can top that come Sunday?

That's all folks!

Hull City 1 (Elliott 61) - 2 Plymouth Argyle (Halmosi 45+1, Ebanks Blake 59)

So Argyle end their league with 5 consecutive wins, and their first win at Hull for some time. An unchanged side from the Preston game managed to come up trumps in a game with little to play for except pride - Hull's survival guaranteed by Leeds' relegation. A scoreline of 4-2 might have been if Ebanks-Blake had won the dubious penalty, and both teams hadn't had goals disallowed for offside.
The game saw some really good banter between both sets of fans, especially with the mutual hatred of Leeds that permeates through many clubs' fan base, and at some points the football seemed a distraction, but we all know how to kill an atmosphere dead - miss a penalty. After the initial jubilation by Hull, the stadium was deathly quiet for the remainder of the first half. Even when Argyle scored in stoppage time the celebrations were somewhat muted. It is a rare event when the home crowd will applaud the away following.
Once again Argyle showed that they can get a bit big-headed and cocky when winning, sitting back leads to the opposition taking their chances, as Hull's goal came just 3 minutes after Argyle's second. This lead Argyle to begin to flounder, allowing Hull to permeate the defence, and not taking advantage of the gaps in Hulls. However the Pilgrims (who are now incidentally the only Pilgrims in the league due to Boston's demise) clung on to victory, and have again finished higher than the previous season.

Ginsters

It has been confirmed today that after weeks of idle speculation, rumour and counter rumour that Ginsters have signed another 2 years as official Plymouth Argyle sponsor.
Official confirmation
The use of a Cornish firm has ruffled many feathers over the last few years, in that some believe that Argyle are ignoring the fact that we are in Devon. My only misgiving is that the red logo does nothing for a green kit, and now we have a yellow and green away kit, and a predominantly green home shirt, this is going to clash even more.

Fore!

Play golf with Argyle.

For those of you who like nothing better than spending hours getting your ball out of a bunker or the rough, once again Argyle are offering the chance for you to play 18 holes at Elfordleigh. £250+VAT for a team of 4 (or 3 + a player) on 6 July. More information can be found here.

I'm only good at crazy golf - if I cheat.

They think it's all over...

...but it ain't just yet!

Although yesterday was Argyle's last home game of the season, there is still one game to play against Hull next Sunday (k/o at 13.00). With Leeds almost certainly relegated, once more Argyle only have pride and league position to play for. The Hull game promises to be a party atmosphere, with many supporters participating in an end of season fancy dress.

Redressing the Balance

Plymouth Argyle 2 (Ebanks-Blake 77 pen, Hayles 85) - 0 Preston North End

Holloway sought to redress the balance after Argyle's 3-0 defeat at Deepdale and Argyle rose to the challenge. For a team that are chasing Premiership dreams, North End gave a lackluster performance of pedestrian pace. From kick off Argyle bossed PNE around like a small child, who only managed to show snippets of interest. North End were pinned in their end with a succession of corners and the Lillywhites responded with a plethora of faked fouls, which for once referee, Dermot Gallagher, didn't fall for. But for all the battling and counter attacks, neither team could find the back of the net, thanks to both keepers including Romain Larrieu, who made his first start between the sticks since Christmas. Argyle had to wait until Ebanks-Blake fired home a dubious penalty awarded for handball, to take the lead late in the second half. Hayles followed that up with the decider on 85 minutes when he rounded Lonergan and slotted the ball in from a tight angle and Preston's game was over. Argyle had nothing to play for but pride, however they gave one of the best performances of the season to make this their 4th successive win in addition the the officials were excellent for once.

This was the last home game of the current campaign, and first team league football will not be played on Home Park's pitch until 11 August. And as was usual for the end of the season, the squad gave a lap of appreciation after the match, however after giving a rousing speech, Holloway stayed behind to shake the hand of every supporter who cared to wait, which must have taken hours.

Players of the Year

Lillian Nalis and Gary Sawyer have been honoured as the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year respectively.

New Kit Revealed.

Following the new yellow away kit, the new home strip was revealed today:

The End is Nigh

Tomorrow's match verses Preston will be Argyle's last home match of the current campaign with next Sunday's games at the KC Stadium marking the end. As is traditional, the Player of the Season and Young Player of the Season awards will be presented prior to kick off. Many people will agree that there have been at least 4 players competing for both trophies, which a lot of supporters choosing Nalis and Ebank-Blake respectively.

But once the last fan has left Home Park the work for next season will begin, with the ground being repaired and painted, the Elton John and George Michael concerts in May and June, and the final decision on the Mayflower terracing will be apparent. Behind the scenes Holloway will already be thinking about his squad and several comings and goings are expected.

Then a week on Sunday we can all reflect on what has happened since last September.

Aljofree is free

Hasney Aljofree has returned from his loan at Oldham Athletic.
Aljofree has had a hard season due to sucessive runs of injuries, not least his trip to hospital during the Southampton game at St Mary's last autumn. It will be interesting to see if Hasney chooses to stay at Argyle this summer.

South-end of the line?

Plymouth Argyle 2 (Ebanks Blake 6, Hayles 90) - 1 Southend United (Clark 25)

With Luton relegated for definite, there is a real relegation scrap between Hull, Leeds and Southend, and whilst it wasn't as sweet as buring Southend on Saturday, taking three points from their hopes was just as good. Fully confident supporters chanted "Southend aren't going down" right up to the 90th minute when Hayles scored the winning goal.
Argyle didn't make easy work of it either, our 6 minute lead came thanks to some very nifty footwork outwitting the defender right on the Southend goal line by Halmosi brought a cross right to SEB who knocked it into the net. But as usual they fell asleep for a while causing Southend to equalise in a controversial goal from a controversial free kick through to a possible foul on McCormick. Southend immediately woke up and caught the spark to threaten the goal on several occasions with Argyle responsing at the other end, neither team able to get the ball in. And so it was right through the second half, until Hayles sunk the ball set up by Fallon.

So exactly who gets relegated goes down to the last game of the season, and Argyle may have a say in that in an indirect wasy, a win for Hull may send Leeds down, whilst a win for Argyle may send Hull down. Which is the lesser of the two evils?