Plymouth v Newcastle United – An away fan’s guide.
Posted on April 18th, 2010 | 96 Comments |
Doubt reins as to just how the team will get there as the current ban on flights from UK airports remains in place and makes it increasingly likely that the team will either have to travel by train or coach rather than the charter flight originally planned. It also leaves many fans who are hoping of jumping on a domestic flight to limit the impact on their week in limbo and face the possibilty of not having enough time to arrange alternative plans and animosity should be aimed towards Sky TV and the football league for making the shocking and downright awful decision to move the longest away trip of our season to a Monday night. You may be able to tell that I am less than happy about the treatment our fans that have filled away ends up and down the country have recieved.
With the journey from Newcastle weighing in at over 400 miles, it is sure to be a very very long day stuck on a coach or in a car should the flight ban remain in place. If your lucky and the dust does settle enough to catch a domestic flight, then i’m sure you’ll be the envy of many! Taking into account the distance, combined with some notoriously busy roads and weekday traffic hotspots, I would estimate at least an 8 hour journey from start to finish.
We’ll start of heading out of the Toon down the A1 then onto the M1 at Leeds. Follow the M1 down past Nottingham and leave at J23a (A42/M42). It will turn into the M42 after a while and you’ll need to be aware that around Birmingham airport can be pretty sticky for traffic. Follow the M42 all the way to the end where you will pick up signs for the M5 south. Follow the M5 south for around 140 miles – it really is a long journey! When you reach the end of the M5 at Exeter you will merge with the A38 and start seeing signs for Plymouth. On entering Plymouth, turn left onto the A386 (towards Plymouth). When this road splits into two, keep on the left hand side (still sign posted Plymouth) and after about a mile you will see the ground on your left. The ground is well signposted ‘Plymouth Argyle Home Park’ on the way into Plymouth.
There is a farly decent sized car park at the ground which is free to use. It does however use a first-in, first-out system and is usually full around 30 minutes before kick-off. I expect it to be full earlier than this as coaches will usually take priority. If that car park is full, there is some street parking to be had if you head away from the city centre.
If your looking for a drink and something to eat, and chances are that you will need it by the time you get there, then options are quite limited. If you manage to park in the car park, then a left-turn out of there and a 10 minute walk will bring you to a Wetherspoons called The Britannia. It is away fan friendly although singing football songs is not tolerated and it can be very busy. It must be a theme for Wetherspoons as I got barred from one of their outlets for singing England songs a while ago! Failing that, alcohol, soft drinks and snacks (quite possibly a good ol’ pasty) should be available from inside the ground.
If this game wasn’t moved then I would have gone, and that could be a reason for part of my bitterness. It shouldn’t detract from that god awful decision though and I am sure those that do manage to make the trip, or those that live a bit more locally, will have a great time and make enough noise to compensate for us that aren’t lucky enough to be there.
Howay the Lads!
NUFCBlog Author: toonsy
toonsy has written 643 articles on this blog.
Looks like a quality Stadium….proper retro.