Other Uses
The stadium has also hosted matches involving the England national team at various levels. The England Amateur team played a match against their Welsh counterparts in 1914. Home Park also hosted three England Under-23 matches in the 1960s and 1970s. A 6–1 win against Belgium in 1962, a 4–1 win against Bulgaria in 1970 and a 0–0 draw with Poland in 1973. The ground hosted a unique match in 1966 between representative sides of the Football League and Irish Football League. A crowd of 35,458 were in attendance as the Football League, featuring seven members of the 1966 FIFA World Cup winning squad, were 12–0 victors. Home Park has also been used for purposes other than football. Before Argyle moved in, the site was used for rugby union matches, and it hosted an athletics meeting in the early 20th century.
On 5 October 1977, Home Park hosted Manchester United's European Cup Winners' Cup first round second leg tie against AS Saint-Etienne of France. United won the game 2-0 (3-1 on aggregate). Despite being based nearly 300 miles away at Old Trafford in Manchester, United had played their "home" tie at Home Park as UEFA had ordered them to play at least 120 miles from Old Trafford due to hooliganism incidents at the first leg in France, for which they had initially been expelled from the competition completely and only readmitted on appeal.
Plymouth Argyle were limited in what they could do with the stadium throughout the 1900s because of a long-standing lease agreement with the City Council. That changed in 2006 when the club purchased the freehold of the ground for £2.7m. Soon after, the club announced it would begin hosting live music in the summer months, starting in 2007, and the first act to perform there was Elton John. Other major acts have followed, including George Michael, Meat Loaf, Westlife, and Rod Stewart. The stadium also hosts an annual free-admittance carol service in December to celebrate Christmas, in association with the Plymouth branch of Christian organisation Faith and Football.
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