Torquay United Fans Forum

Thanks for your comments & opinion Stephen much appreciated.
We could do with a few more at the helm like your good self , maybe in the near future you could be accommodated within the walls of Plainmoor once again , for me & many others that day can't come soon enough, at least we'd know there would be good intentions involved in the daily operations of OUR CLUB.

stephen breed wrote: 01 Mar 2018, 10:35  I made many mistakes but everything I tried to do was in the best interests of the club never about my own ego.

The person who never made a mistake, never made a decision Steve!

Post by merse btpir » Yesterday, 23:42

Can I interject on this subject and say that there are talks going on between the football club and Ian's family and until there is a conclusion of those talks then I don't think it is really fair to pass any sort of judgement because (as yet) nothing has been proposed other than something suggested; or so I have been told.

I would however; agree that it would be a fitting tribute to him to name the pop side after him which would I am sure delight both his family and the supporters. These things cost very little and should it come to pass then money can be raised on subscription to embellish that tribute by way of a plaque or even bust/statue of the man.

In addition I would say to Steve that your views are more than valid; your opinions DO count, and far from in any way or fashion irrelevant to the current situation at the club and certainly lend an air of authenticity to the debate.

Hi Merse

Thanks for your words mate I have tried to answer these questions as honestly and as fairly as I can I hope people have enjoyed reading the replies and it has gone a little way to explaining about my time as c e o and despite what happened it was my greatest ever honour to serve the club and its fans even though it was only for a short period of time. I made many mistakes but everything I tried to do was in the best interests of the club never about my own ego. Stephen

Unread post by Teigngull » Yesterday, 22:48

Hi Stephen.
On a different matter & quite a personal issue with me regarding the very sad loss of Torquay legend Ian Twitchin as he was my schoolboy hero as I've never been a fan of any other club.
How do you feel the the club should honour Twitch ?
I ask because a lot of noise was made about it soon after Ian suddenly passed away & now just about 2 short months on from that sad day in December it all seems to have been conveniently forgotten.
Ian was a loyal servant to Torquay & a long lasting memorial would be a fitting tribute to him would the naming of the pop side after him be a fitting tribute or would you encourage the club to do it a different way ?
Your thoughts would be of great interest to me.
Many thanks for what you have done for TUFC & very best wishes for your future ventures.

Hi Teigngull

Firstly thank you for your kind words much appreciated I think merse comment about this is right b4 any criticism of the club over this I think we will have to wait a little longer as it seams the club are in active communication over this matter. Personally I think the Ian twitchen pop side stand would be the correct way to honour this legend of the club. I had a pleasure of meeting him on a few occasions and he was a lovely fella and spoke about the club with great fondness. I also perhaps think a special match day presentation to his family or a proper unveiling of this accolade would go down well to give all the fans an opportunity to show there appreciation to this man and what he gave to our special club.

One more small point I would like to make as we all know Torquay also lost one of its favourite sons recently in Cedric munslow and even though I was not there to witness it the club marked his passing correctly and in a special way as I did manage to watch it on a you tube video so fair play to Geoff harrop and the club for doing this. I appreciate the club seam to be getting many things wrong but on this matter I am sure the efforts of the club where greatly appreciated.. Once again thanks teigngull for your kind words its hard watching from far away these days but I feel the fans pain in what you are having to endure and just hope and pray that the club can turn around find form and give all long suffering fans something to smile about. One of the best memories I will ever have is that day at Bromley when we stayed up under very tough circumstances something to this day that would put a tear in the eye .... stephen

Can I interject on this subject and say that there are talks going on between the football club and Ian's family and until there is a conclusion of those talks then I don't think it is really fair to pass any sort of judgement because (as yet) nothing has been proposed other than something suggested; or so I have been told.

I would however; agree that it would be a fitting tribute to him to name the pop side after him which would I am sure delight both his family and the supporters. These things cost very little and should it come to pass then money can be raised on subscription to embellish that tribute by way of a plaque or even bust/statue of the man.

In addition I would say to Steve that your views are more than valid; your opinions DO count, and far from in any way or fashion irrelevant to the current situation at the club and certainly lend an air of authenticity to the debate.

Hi Stephen.
On a different matter & quite a personal issue with me regarding the very sad loss of Torquay legend Ian Twitchin as he was my schoolboy hero as I've never been a fan of any other club.
How do you feel the the club should honour Twitch ?
I ask because a lot of noise was made about it soon after Ian suddenly passed away & now just about 2 short months on from that sad day in December it all seems to have been conveniently forgotten.
Ian was a loyal servant to Torquay & a long lasting memorial would be a fitting tribute to him would the naming of the pop side after him be a fitting tribute or would you encourage the club to do it a different way ?
Your thoughts would be of great interest to me.
Many thanks for what you have done for TUFC & very best wishes for your future ventures.

Post by Scoutman » Yesterday, 18:38

Having read Mr Breeds post where he states that the |Exeter Trust model has had horrendous issues can I ask him what they were. I was under the impression that the club, not the Trust, requested a PFA loan in June 2014 which was paid back in August 2014. There was a possibility of another loan in December 2014 but the Trust was able to provide the club with the necessary funds. Their Trust has been able to provide the club with stability and being able to keep the club going their academy has developed players with high transfer values - Grimes £1.8m, Watkins £3m and now Ampadu to Chelsea for which a tribunal will set a fee £??m. Their Goalkeeper Pym played for England under 20s. Their football in the community is second to none and all with a Trust of 3,000 plus. If these are horrendous issues I would love our club to have a successful Trust.


Hi Scoutman

This comment just seems to follow me around regarding the broken model comment. Ok this was over 3 years ago and at the time Watkins ampadu ect were not part of any Exeter equation. That night at the museum was highly charged atmosphere the club was in dire straights and not that far from the wall that's the blanket bottom line we all know the story we then stepped up and stopped this happening. I was a member of the trust board for a while and a member after then for many years I have a lot of time and respect for the work they do and have supported them through my time as CEO and have met with the board on more than one occasion since I left my position . I am in no way anti trust but there are as many cons as there are pros to trust ownership at the moment Wrexham are a great example of how a trust can be a success well run with a major base of volunteers there are other good examples.

However Exeter city at that time were struggling and have encountered numerous issues regarding financing the club PFA loans and I don't think it was a secret at the time drawing Manchester united in the cup certainly helped the club survive. of course on paper they look now like they are doing great you pointed out big money for players and several cup draws as well have gone a long way to make them the club that they are. However even up to last season they served notice on their long time manager and seem to be in conflict with the football board you only have to go on their fans forum or do a bit of googling to know that. End of the day I am nothing to do with the club any more and my opinions don't really count for anything I did this Q&A because I was asked to see if I didn't mind and I have done that and hope people have found an interest in my answers. Stephen

Unread post by MellowYellow » 26 Feb 2018, 20:07

Steve

Given the financial circumstance at the time, how did you plan to remain full-time. Surely if relegated (as you thought we would be) the aim would still be to balance the books which given loss of revenue would mean at the very least a "watering down" of Torquay's full time status. I am a little surprised that no conversation occurred on this subject.



Hi Mellow

The plain fact is the board never sat down on this matter choosing to make the decision as and when relegation would have been confirmed either way. I remember being asked this question on radio Devon the bottom line was in my opinion the moment you go part time to me that's almost to admit to fail . If you are or almost always been part time then that's fair enough but being full time all through your clubs life and suddenly having to make this drastic change would have sunk the club further into the mire . That by the way is only my opinion the clubs board may have felt different but as the conversation never really happened no plans where ever put in place.. stephen

Having read Mr Breeds post where he states that the |Exeter Trust model has had horrendous issues can I ask him what they were. I was under the impression that the club, not the Trust, requested a PFA loan in June 2014 which was paid back in August 2014. There was a possibility of another loan in December 2014 but the Trust was able to provide the club with the necessary funds. Their Trust has been able to provide the club with stability and being able to keep the club going their academy has developed players with high transfer values - Grimes £1.8m, Watkins £3m and now Ampadu to Chelsea for which a tribunal will set a fee £??m. Their Goalkeeper Pym played for England under 20s. Their football in the community is second to none and all with a Trust of 3,000 plus. If these are horrendous issues I would love our club to have a successful Trust.

Steve

Given the financial circumstance at the time, how did you plan to remain full-time. Surely if relegated (as you thought we would be) the aim would still be to balance the books which given loss of revenue would mean at the very least a "watering down" of Torquay's full time status. I am a little surprised that no conversation occurred on this subject.

Unread post by Richinns » less than a minute ago

Hi Steve

Now that we are all but confirmed relegated - can I ask if in the first season you guys were preparing from the same fate? (before the miraculous escape) and if so did your calculations lead to an automatic choice of going towards being either fully or partially part-time?

Thanks bud


Hi Richard

Hope you are well

A very good question that fact is We did start to prepare for relegation as I personally did not think we would stay up you are always hopeful but I certainly didn't think we had the players to turn it around. What I did not bank on was the incredible team spirit that seamed to manifest under Kevin and the do or die attitude that seamed to manifest its self from nowhere. It was always our intention to stay full time so the conversation never really happened re part time and when it went win after win after the end of feb even the thought of part time was way out the window. stephen

Hi Steve

Now that we are all but confirmed relegated - can I ask if in the first season you guys were preparing from the same fate? (before the miraculous escape) and if so did your calculations lead to an automatic choice of going towards being either fully or partially part-time?

Thanks bud

Rich

Post by torregull » 19 Jan 2018, 09:04

How influential was Peter Masters on decisions made by the Board during your time at the club-what's your opinion of him?

Hi Torregull

I will probably not make myself to popular with this answer but I personally found Pete Masters great. He was a help to the board and certainly not the man he seams to have been labelled with here. HIs opinions of the trust are based on his experiences with the Truro equivalent but to my knowledge he didn't ever express to me a blanket dislike for any member of trust of trust motives and actions. He was a man I could go to ask advice and I did on more than one occasion. I think people have to look at what he has done for Truro as a club they would be dead if it was not for him. As for influence well the board did take on board his opinions yet Dave merve and others are very strong characters in there own right so personally I don't think they would have been overly influenced by anybody. If I had a choice right now I would take Pete Masters as the owner of the club for one simple reason he is a winner.. stephen

Post by SBG » 19 Jan 2018, 08:38

Steve

Can you say what happened - what was the issue/final straw that suddenly happened - such that you were ostracised and no longer spoken to for the last 2 months of your tenure. I cant believe


Hi SBG

I can only answer this to a point. I have already alluded to the fact that there was a huge information leak from the club and what do you do in that situation you surround yourselves with the people that you think you trust best or plant stories to see if they come back to you via unorthodox routes. The basic fact that the board kept everything to themselves I was taken out of that Loup which by the way in the end proved it was not me as the chairman found to his cost towards the end of his reign. It was a very tough time for me personally simply because the last 2 months the team really picked up and I should have been able to enjoy that battle and win against relegation rather than walk about with a big target painted to my front and back .. stephen

Post by kevgull » 19 Jan 2018, 07:38

Hi Steve,
We can’t change the past but we can change the future.
How concerned are you with regards to the current management setup/ league position and what advice would you give TUFC supporters?

Just for the record, I think you have and will always have the club at heart. Forget the comments of the 2 or 3 abusive fans and remember those who were grateful that you took up the challenge and are honest enough to tell us about the good and not so good decisions that any inexperienced CEO might have made.
COYY!!

Hi Kev

My opinion is that the current set up simply isn't working the results sadly speak for themselves. However I am not in the blame owers camp for everything if he is having to work under the same constraints as the previous manager then take this from me no manager would be able to succeed. The league position is awful and sadly Torquay will not stay up this season I also happen to think that the league below will be no picnic despite the fact that torquay will be one of the biggest teams in in the league you have to fight fight and more fight to win that league and I doubt the club or the present manager have the stomach for that as they are showing at the moment.


As for advice well that's simple stick together as you can see on this forum there are major divisions in the fan base strike no strike back the club don't back the club trust or no trust people are very clever at dividing the fans here remember there is far more safety in numbers than not. If you all go in one direction then you will be amazed at what you can achieve. The main reason our board failed was division in the ranks everybody having different agendas sadly that is the best recipe to fail... stephen