Plainmoor Stadium

Plainmoor is an association football stadium located in the Plainmoor suburb of Torquay, Devon, England. Since 1921, the stadium has been the home of Torquay United Football Club, who currently compete in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. During the first half of the 2018-19 National League South season, the stadium also hosted Truro City games.

History

At the time of Torquay United's formation in 1899, Plainmoor was the home of Torquay Athletic Rugby Football Club. In 1904, the rugby club secured the lease of the Recreation Ground, where United had been playing, and United's Torquay and District League rivals Ellacombe moved into the vacated site at Plainmoor, leaving United homeless.

In 1910 United merged with Ellacombe to become Torquay Town. Ellacombe's Plainmoor ground became the home of the new club, and the shared home of local rivals Babbacombe.

Torquay Town and Babbacombe finally merged and became Torquay United (again) in 1921. In 1927 United were elected into Division Three South of the Football League.

A new wooden grandstand costing £150 (around £8,958.33 today) was erected for United's inaugural season in the Football League; it had previously stood at Buckfastleigh Racecourse, where its twin can still be seen today. The roof of the stand was blown off during a gale in 1930.

Very little changed for the next fifty years as the ground saw generations of supporters move through its turnstiles. During the 1954/55 season over 21,000 fans watched Torquay's 0–1 defeat at the hands of Huddersfield Town. The same season also saw United become one of the first lower division clubs to introduce floodlights to their ground.

David Webb came to Plainmoor in 1984 and prompted a few cosmetic changes to the terracing. Then on 16 May 1985, just six days after the Bradford City stadium fire, a third of the old grandstand was destroyed during an early morning blaze. Nobody was hurt, but as a result, the ground's capacity fell to below 5,000. In

This page also has a version in other languages :  Плейнмур Стадион (russian)