Mayflower Grandstand update

Work which will see Plymouth Argyle able to use the upper tier of the Mayflower Grandstand at full capacity will not be able to begin until the summer of 2023, club owner and chairman Simon Hallett has revealed.

The League One club's board of directors have approved a programme intended to solve issues with seat comfort and fans getting into and out of the upper tier.

However, Argyle will again have to operate with a reduced capacity in the upper tier for 2022/23, which Hallett described as 'clearly unfortunate for fans having to tolerate the seating for another season'.

There will also be financial consequences for the club because they will not be able to sell all of the seats for high demand matches.

Argyle announced before the first home League One game of this season against Gillingham last August they would be restricting the number of tickets sold in upper tier of the grandstand.

The decision taken had no impact on the 900 fans who had bought season tickets for that area of the stadium.

The grandstand reopened after a £10 million-plus redevelopment at the start of 2020, shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began.

At the time, a series of test events were held in conjunction with the local Safety Advisory Group and they determined that seating comfort in the upper tier and 'the supporter experience in the concourses' was not up to the standard they wanted.

Now, Hallett has explained in his latest Chairman's Chat on Argyle's official club website how the club will deal with the situation.

Hallett said: "The big renovation programme of the last few years has, of course, been that of the Mayflower Grandstand.

"It has led to continuing issues though with seat comfort and with inadequate egress/ingress that have forced us to reduce capacity in the upper tier.

"We have a programme approved by the board to remedy these issues, but work will not be able to begin until the summer of 2023.

"This is clearly unfortunate for fans having to tolerate the seating for another season, but also represents considerable opportunity cost of unsold seats at a time when we are at full capacity.

"Apart from the upper tier, the hospitality facilities have been a huge success. Match day hospitality has been pretty much full all season, and the reviews by those who have enjoyed it have been fabulous.

"We are booked out now through the end of the season, and I am told that renewals for 22/23 have been extremely promising."

Meanwhile, Argyle will continue to invest in facilities off the pitch at Home Park, with a rolling renovation programme for the plastic seats around the stadium.

They have been in place since the 'horseshoe' of three stands first opened in the 2001/02 season.

Hallett said: "We will be renewing a large proportion of the seats in the stadium. Plastic seats installed 20 years ago are now beyond their useful life, starting to fall apart, and, frankly, look ugly.

"There will be a rolling renovation programme, which we had announced previously, but has been delayed due to supply chain issues. We thank supporters for their patience."

Paid peanuts we got a monkey doing the work....

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

indeed with Brent fatty and the bearded wonder buried under it

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

I remain absolutely bewildered as to why the original plans weren't torn up as soon as Hallett came in and a fit for purpose facility wasn't put in place. We might have been saved the pain of Slasher mincing around in PPE, writing a load of sentimental drivel about the "Old Gal". Incidentally he seems to have disappeared from the scene doesn't he.

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

I remain absolutely bewildered as to why the original plans weren't torn up as soon as Hallett came in and a fit for purpose facility wasn't put in place. We might have been saved the pain of Slasher mincing around in PPE, writing a load of sentimental drivel about the "Old Gal". Incidentally he seems to have disappeared from the scene doesn't he.

I mean, We must have been able to get a new inspired by the old design grandstand for the price we paid to bodge up the old one.

The question still needs to be asked as well. how the hell did they miss that the walk ways were too small for purpose.

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

I remain absolutely bewildered as to why the original plans weren't torn up as soon as Hallett came in and a fit for purpose facility wasn't put in place. We might have been saved the pain of Slasher mincing around in PPE, writing a load of sentimental drivel about the "Old Gal". Incidentally he seems to have disappeared from the scene doesn't he.

It does beggar belief that a substantial engineering project can be gotten so badly wrong. Shorely though the seat ‘comfort’/legroom issue should have been identified early enough? After that, it’s basic maths to figure out how acceptably crowded/uncrowded an area will be, when a full capacity crowd is in situ. Hallett has got a huge amount right since taking full control, but Clodagh is spot on, he shouldn’t have allowed the clowns that drew up these plans to carry the project on through.

A parting shot from the Brent era every time you look up and see those empty seats in a ‘capacity’ crowd.

What a fine gentleman he is. Is the calamitous prick still dithering around, trying to get some other sucker to pay for his ice rink?

He seems to be doing very well thank you very much, despite his hotel empire going tits up owing creditors £4 million and STILL having not built anything anywhere.

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On the food, the vans are packed up well before 2:30pm currently although the garbage you get in an Ivors isn't a hell of an upgrade on the clubs offer.

This past week I have had a couple of really decent ones at Aunt Avices on the St Kew Highway and one from the Tinners Bakery down in Helston. Nice to see some people are still putting in the effort

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

I remain absolutely bewildered as to why the original plans weren't torn up as soon as Hallett came in and a fit for purpose facility wasn't put in place. We might have been saved the pain of Slasher mincing around in PPE, writing a load of sentimental drivel about the "Old Gal". Incidentally he seems to have disappeared from the scene doesn't he.

when you mean slasher are you referring to bango back in his silver suit mincing about in a workers flouresent lime jacket pretending he knew what he was doing lol…I think he finally got the tin tack..in football club terms left by mutual consent .

RegGreen wrote:

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

I remain absolutely bewildered as to why the original plans weren't torn up as soon as Hallett came in and a fit for purpose facility wasn't put in place. We might have been saved the pain of Slasher mincing around in PPE, writing a load of sentimental drivel about the "Old Gal". Incidentally he seems to have disappeared from the scene doesn't he.

when you mean slasher are you referring to bango back in his silver suit mincing about in a workers flouresent lime jacket pretending he knew what he was doing lol…I think he finally got the tin tack..in football club terms left by mutual consent .

There was a definite purging of the superfans, including the club president when Hallett took the reins. Say what you like about Webby but you do see him at away games every now and then.

Bungo seems to have vanished into thin air, his twitter feed seems to consists purely of him complaining to public transport operators?

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

He seems to be doing very well thank you very much, despite his hotel empire going tits up owing creditors £4 million and STILL having not built anything anywhere.

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bag of shit that’s how he earns his money by making things go tits up & not finish any plans what so ever complete utter shyster more failed business better 56 bankruptcies & dissovlements and still cracking on absolute shyster

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

RegGreen wrote:

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

sufferedsince 68 wrote:

The Grandstand should have been knocked down from the start, its another hangover from the Brentmare era sadly.

I remain absolutely bewildered as to why the original plans weren't torn up as soon as Hallett came in and a fit for purpose facility wasn't put in place. We might have been saved the pain of Slasher mincing around in PPE, writing a load of sentimental drivel about the "Old Gal". Incidentally he seems to have disappeared from the scene doesn't he.

when you mean slasher are you referring to bango back in his silver suit mincing about in a workers flouresent lime jacket pretending he knew what he was doing lol…I think he finally got the tin tack..in football club terms left by mutual consent .

There was a definite purging of the superfans, including the club president when Hallett took the reins. Say what you like about Webby but you do see him at away games every now and then.

Bungo seems to have vanished into thin air, his twitter feed seems to consists purely of him complaining to public transport operators?

I will say and his still wanker plebby

Earwegoagain wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

no doubt whatsoever

Earwegoagain wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

As I say the vans have been gone by 2-15/30 these past weeks. Occasionally you can get lucky with the one up Outland Road anything near the ground forget it. feck knows what it be like when they can actually fill the upper mayflower....

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

As I say the vans have been gone by 2-15/30 these past weeks. Occasionally you can get lucky with the one up Outland Road anything near the ground forget it. feck knows what it be like when they can actually fill the upper mayflower....

Funny that, we arrived at Barn Park end at 2.30 and no vans, my bhey said "I can smell pasties" and you could, I must have been hungry to even want a Dewdneys let alone a Ginsters.

Earwegoagain wrote:

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

As I say the vans have been gone by 2-15/30 these past weeks. Occasionally you can get lucky with the one up Outland Road anything near the ground forget it. feck knows what it be like when they can actually fill the upper mayflower....

Funny that, we arrived at Barn Park end at 2.30 and no vans,  my bhey said "I can smell pasties" and you could, I must have been hungry to even want a Dewdneys let alone a Ginsters.

I cant for the life of me understand why Dewdneys are so popular they are the shittest pasties ive ever had.... doesnt even have a crust

The Mayflower should have been completely torn down, the ground excavated right back and down to the ground level of the horse shoe and replaced by a proper two tier stand that actually extends the whole length of the ground and has a roof that actually covers more than just one third of the seats.  What brent left us with is not only very not fit for purpose but it looks stupid and lop sided.

Angry wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

As I say the vans have been gone by 2-15/30 these past weeks. Occasionally you can get lucky with the one up Outland Road anything near the ground forget it. feck knows what it be like when they can actually fill the upper mayflower....

Funny that, we arrived at Barn Park end at 2.30 and no vans,  my bhey said "I can smell pasties" and you could, I must have been hungry to even want a Dewdneys let alone a Ginsters.

I cant for the life of me understand why Dewdneys are so popular they are the shittest pasties ive ever had.... doesnt even have a crust

They are dreadful. Greasy, over seasoned and usually disintegrate half way in. They are however better than the reheated crap the club knocks out. Its Ron by the entry to the Life Centre isn't it? Are they much of an improvement?

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

Angry wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Jethro wrote:

Earwegoagain wrote:

Sick to the gills of hearing how fecking fantastic the hospitality is in the grandstand yet year after year we get empty promises about the catering for the other 12,000 poor saps that fill the majority of the ground. I queued for about twenty minutes for the girl in the kiosk to get through the six fans in front of me to pay £3.80 each for two pasties that weighed about five  ounces each and looked like and tasted like they had been filled with dog shit, they were dry, brown and must have been in the hot cabinet since about 9am this morning. If we hadn't been away on Friday I would have sworn they were reheated. Simply not fooking good enough and I will be complaining to the club.

Why I treck into town then up to Home Park to get a pasty
would never eat any of the shite the club sell.

There's a reason the vans outside do a roaring trade before and after the game.

Cause inside the foods a joke.

We were going to buy one at Yelvy but that was closed due to bank holiday and no vans were at Barn Park end so they had us bang to rights. Thing is why can't they even serve a ginsters shit sandwich without it being kept about four hours longer than it should have? The same pasties were being given out at half time ffs! The club is missing out on tens of thousands of pounds worth of sales in a season. Where is the Dickler to justify this shit show? Knoshing SI on zoom no doubt.

As I say the vans have been gone by 2-15/30 these past weeks. Occasionally you can get lucky with the one up Outland Road anything near the ground forget it. feck knows what it be like when they can actually fill the upper mayflower....

Funny that, we arrived at Barn Park end at 2.30 and no vans,  my bhey said "I can smell pasties" and you could, I must have been hungry to even want a Dewdneys let alone a Ginsters.

I cant for the life of me understand why Dewdneys are so popular they are the shittest pasties ive ever had.... doesnt even have a crust

They are dreadful. Greasy, over seasoned and usually disintegrate half way in. They are however better than the reheated crap the club knocks out. Its Ron by the entry to the Life Centre isn't it? Are they much of an improvement?

Virtually identical to an Ivor, shame they grind the meat up so it's unidentifiable personally I quite like the suet crust.

Ron's has been gone many years ago. Brouught out by brother Ivor. I like Ron better, brought them at St Levens gate shop or in town at the cafe in Royal Parade

Tgwu wrote:

Ron's has been gone many years ago. Brouught out by brother Ivor. I like Ron better, brought them at St Levens gate shop or in town at the cafe in Royal Parade

Is that right? I thought they had a disagreement many years ago and weren't on speaking terms to this day.

Clodagh Rubbish wrote:

Tgwu wrote:

Ron's has been gone many years ago. Brouught out by brother Ivor. I like Ron better, brought them at St Levens gate shop or in town at the cafe in Royal Parade

Is that right? I thought they had a disagreement many years ago and weren't on speaking terms to this day.

Ron's vans were outside Argyle only a few years ago. You are right about the fall out which happened in the sixties or seventies. Ivor was a great mate of my grandparents and as kids me and my siblings used to go into the factory in Cornwall st and make our own pasties with Mary Dewdney, great memories. Ivor has been dead many years probably since the eighties and Mary has been running the show since then (that is if she is still alive). I know Ron had a shop down St Bureaux maybe Ivor kept them running in Ron's name I really don't know about that.