Beacon Park, Plymouth Albion, 1919-2003
It was a 'magical place' for former Bath and England hooker Graham Dawe, who enjoyed many good times on this iconic Devon ground.
Home to Plymouth Albion for 84 years, Beacon Park had a slope on a par with that of Bedford’s Goldington Road, and was so crammed in, a visiting prop from Westcombe Park once got off the bus and took one look at the pitch and said, “f****** hell, it’s square”. That anecdote was shared by long-time Albion boss Graham Dawe who remembers Beacon Park, now a collection of residential streets, as a “magical place”, not especially for its aesthetics but the matches that were played and won there.
When Albion moved to Beacon Park in 1919, the playing surface was said to be as sticky as the jam that was made at the nearby Co-op factory, where visiting players used to change and shower until an appropriate facility was built at Beacon Park itself.
In season 1927/28, a supporters stand was opened at a cost of just over £283 and it was put to good use when Leicester Tigers came to town six years later, a then-record crowd of 3,000 turning up to watch the men from the East Midlands. Not prepared to let time pass them by, Albion continued to improve the facilities at Beacon Park, and in 1934, the club became the first in the West Country to have a scoreboard with an integral clock.
After six full seasons without rugby due to World War Two, rugby returned to Beacon Park in 1948/49 and the club continued to invest in the ground, spending £1,000 on drainage and levelling the troublesome slope, a job the Luftwaffe had failed to do despite its many terrifying raids on the city. In 1962, Albion paid off the RFU loan they had taken out to purchase the land and the ground was officially theirs. A new clubhouse and changing facilities followed shortly after. By now, the place, in line with the times, was swinging.
Prior to the club’s Centenary Season of 1976/7 disaster struck when the main grandstand blew down in gale-force winds during a sizzling hot summer. Delays with the insurers meant rebuilding work didn’t start until a couple of months into the season.
Other than the installation of new floodlights in 1985, Beacon Park did not undergo any significant changes in the 1980s/90s but, in playing terms, it was a tumultuous era.
When leagues were introduced in 1987, Plymouth Albion were placed in Courage League Three and one promotion was followed by two relegation seasons, which led to a restructure and the arrival of Dawe as Chairman of Rugby. Results improved and, between 2000 and 2002, Albion gained promotion twice and set a new National League record of 41 consecutive victories.
Before a crowd of almost 2,780, Albion played their last-ever game at Beacon Park against Otley on 26 April, 2003. Flanker Chris Capaldi crossed the line after just 14 seconds for what must surely be the quickest try ever scored on the ground. Albion never looked back and signed off in style with a 50-13 win.
Albion began life at their new ground at Brickfields against the same opposition, and are still there now, eighteen years later. A ubiquitous suburban housing development occupies the land where Beacon Park hosted rugby for 84 years and it is doubtful that any of the residents of Barlow Gardens know who their street is named after: former fly-half Tom Barlow. As someone who only donned the green, white and cherry strip for four seasons (2000-04) that’s quite some honour, but he did score 928 points in that time, a club record which is yet to be beaten.
