Devon's great stadiums

Anywhere in the country let alone the world. Whatever sport you can imagine, stadiums matter! They are thriving architectural hotbeds where heroes are made and fans clamber in their masses to seats willfully cheering on their sporting heroes.  
So... That’s why we’ve decided to focus on Devon’s five best sporting stadiums, which, when you look at them, you can picture crowds willing on their favourite stars to all sorts of great glory.  
In no particular order we start with:  
Sandy Park – Quite possibly one of the biggest sporting attractions in the country, Sandy Park is an award-winning conference centre and sports stadium home to Gallagher Premiership team Exeter Chiefs.  
This humble 15,600-seater sports arena may not be the biggest around but when the             crowd get going to cheer their team to victory, you can hear every decibel that little bit louder. Also, this ground has international experience, having been one of thirteen stadiums to host pool matches in the 2015 Rugby World Cup hosted by England & Wales  
County Ground - It can be hard to establish which stadium I am talking about when you say ‘County Ground’ due to their being many different sports grounds with that name but this particular former multi-purpose stadium turned housing development was the former home of the Exeter Chiefs from 1905 (when they were formerly Exeter Rugby Club) all the way up to 2006 when they moved to the now well known ‘Sandy Park’  
The reason this ground made the list is its rich luxurious history. As well as hosting top class Rugby (such as New Zealand’s first game of their first ever tour of Britain), the County Ground has hosted events for the coronation of Edward VII in the form of a public sports day, a horse show and a military tournament alongside greyhound racing and motor speedway.  
Plainmoor - Arguably one of the jewels in the Devon sporting crown, the next stadium on our list is Plainmoor. This is a ground that has hosted Torquay United for the past 102 years since 1921 and you could perfectly describe the club in the same way you could describe the stadium. Quaint, cosy and not overly extravagant but filled with a rich history and full of people with a community spirit that hold their local team close to hearts, willing them on to do well at every opportunity. 
Having previously been named Torquay Town and merging with local rivals Babbacombe six years prior to form the now named Torquay United. £150 was spent to build a new grandstand terrace for Torquay’s first ever season in the Football League when they were accepted under the management of Percy Mackrill in 1927.  
Home Park – Next on the list is a place that goes by the nickname “The Theatre of Greens” and that’s Plymouth Argyle’s home ground, aptly named Home Park. This 17,900-capacity stadium was built in 1892 and has been hosting matches since 1901. It has seen a whole host of important sporting occasions in both high and low moments.  
From playing in front of their lowest record attendance since being in England’s lowest professional football league tier followed by shortly after facing a winding up order in 2010, selling their ground back to Plymouth City Council and having to rent it off them in 2011 to playing against Brazil and Santos’s Pele winning 3-2 against them in a friendly at this very stadium in March 1973 and most recently achieving promotion back to England’s second tier of the Football League ‘The Championship’ in the 2023/24 season under manager Steven Schumacher. Home Park is a stadium that defines a big part of Devon sporting culture, especially in Football.  
Bolitho Park – The last but by no means least stadium on this list is Bolitho Park. Home to Southern League Premier Division South side Plymouth Parkway. This club, although still relatively new to the football scene, has already established themselves as an inviting looking outfit since they were founded in 1988 by Stuart Cadmore. With a 3,500-capacity stadium (250 seated) that have housed their home matches since late August 2003 its seen glimpses of glory in the clubs 35-year history such as entering the FA Vase and reaching the second qualifying round at their first attempt  
For such a team that’s not even half a century old to have such a quaintly cosy ground where your home supporters can cheer you on to all sorts of glory has to be credited with a respectable level of praise. You can tell that the people connected with the club have bright hopes for its future in football