Next stop, the Theatre of Greens
This Saturday, the Parkway squad will make the short trip across the city to face their professional neighbours Plymouth Argyle. The newly promoted League One club will be hosting the annual pre-season fixture due to Covid-19 restrictions still in place.
Last season, over 2,000 fans turned out at Bolitho Park to watch the fixture which has been described as a ‘festival of football’ for Plymouth football fans. The switch to Home Park will keep the tradition alive with the game being streamed on Plymouth Argyle’s You Tube channel for fans to enjoy at no added cost.
Ryan Lowe’s men will be the second pre-season friendly for The Yellows after last night’s 1-1 home draw with St. Blazey, the first time Bolitho Park had seen action in 149 days and on Saturday, the pre-season bandwagon continues. For the players, the chance to play at Home Park albeit without a crowd, will always be a fantastic experience and chairman Mark Russell agrees: “The Players are very much looking forward to visiting Home Park on Saturday. We are obviously disappointed that we couldn’t welcome the Pilgrims to Bolitho Park however, the current environment has made that impossible and the safety of both Parkway and Argyle fans has to come first.”
Despite the disruption Covid-19 has caused across the local football scene, the strong bond between both clubs remains the same and ensuring this pre-season friendly is played, is testament to that bond. The fans, who play a huge part in this fixture will be able to watch the game for free across a number of platforms will be the ultimate winners as football slowly returns to the city. The chairman explains: “We look forward to the game and thank all at PAFC for streaming the game live so both sets of supporters can watch the game. A big thank you must go to the Argyle board and staff for making this game possible even if its behind closed doors.” The chairman added: “We very much look forward to continuing to work with Plymouth Argyle over the coming seasons and we wish Ryan and his team all the very best in League One next season”
Plymouth football is in a healthy position and both clubs will look to build on this with the new football season just around the corner. For now, it will be all eyes on the tele this Saturday as once again Plymouth’s ‘Festival of Football returns.’
*The game will kick off at 1pm and can be found on Plymouth Argyle’s YouTube channel