Torquay United Fans Forum

The date was 15th February 1964, when Oxford United beat first division Blackburn Rovers 3-1 in the F A Cup 5th round and Leeds United were in division two.

It was an important match as Torquay and Lincoln were placed 6th and 7th respectively, both level on points and very much involved in the promotion race. The game ended 2-2 and I remember Jack Swindells missing a penalty for us.

Great picture of Sincil Bank.

Things have not always been so bad for Torquay United. Fifty years ago today they travelled to Brighton & Hove Albion and recorded a 1-0 victory in front of 11,265 people, which took them to second place in the old third division with only 5 games to play.

On the previous Saturday evening at Plainmoor, Torquay had beaten the then second placed club, Bristol Rovers, 2-1 before a crowd of 14,171. This victory was Torquay’s 13th consecutive league win at home. How times have changed.

Unfortunately, Torquay lost 4 of their next 5 games and finished the season in 7th place.

On Good Friday evening the National League table could provide interesting reading.

At present, it would appear that 4 clubs are fighting to avoid the 2 remaining relegation places, assuming that North Ferriby and Southport are already doomed. However, this could easily rise to 2 out of 6 due to the fixture arrangements as follows:

Braintree v Guiseley
Lincoln v Torquay
Solihull Moors v York
Woking v Macclesfield

Predicting results at this time of the season can be a lottery but I would expect Braintree and York to win. If Woking beat Macclesfield, it would mean that only 1 point separates Guiseley, Solihull Moors, York, Woking and Braintree, with 3 games to play.

Now comes the tricky part as Torquay must win at Sincil Bank. If Woking win and my other 2 predictions are correct, the 4 teams immediately above Torquay would each have 48 points, with Guiseley on 49. Defeat for Torquay would result in a deficit of 4 points but a victory followed by a win at home to Braintree on Easter Monday would give them a realistic chance of staying up. Torquay’s goal difference is currently superior to each of the other 5 clubs and this could prove vital at the end of the season.

On current form this is clearly stretching optimism to the limit. However, a draw at Dover followed by victory in Torquay’s final match at home to North Ferriby would give them 52 points, which should be enough.

Sixty years ago Torquay United finished the season as runners up to Ipswich Town on goal average, thus missing out on promotion to the old second division.

As most of you will know, Torquay needed to beat Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in the final match of the season but could only manage a 1-1 draw. On the same evning the reserves hosted a Western League match against Weymouth and I attach a copy of the programme.

On page 3, Colin C Crocker suggests it is not a lot to ask for gates of 15,000 at Plainmoor the following season, provided we are in division two.

The following sentence reads "Many of you owe a great deal to the name of Torquay United - the greatest advertising value any town can have for nothing."

How times have changed and perhaps the local council should take note when discussing the possible sale of the freehold of Plainmoor!

I was very sorry to learn that former Torquay United left back, George Allen, passed away in his sleep on 13 July 2016.

He joined Torquay from Birmingham City in January 1962 and was a regular member of the first team until the end of the 1964/65 season, when he retired from league football and joined Bideford Town.

As I began watching Torquay United in 1962, I saw many of his games and he was an excellent left back. He had a touch of class and was a composed defender.

I remember the F A Cup tie against Barnet in November 1963, when goalkeeper Terry Adlington was injured and played as a forward in the second half, scoring once in the 6-2 victory. As there were no substitutes in those days, George took Adlington’s place in goal.

In the classic cup tie against Spurs the following season, George Allen had to mark the twenty year old outside right Jimmy Robertson, who played for Scotland against Wales in October 1964. Robertson’s main assets were his speed and directness, and it was a rare experience to see George Allen troubled by an opponent, albeit an international winger.

George Allen made 134 league appearances for Torquay. He did not score a goal but at that time full backs were strictly defenders.

I attach a copy of the article which appeared in the Birmingham Mail.

http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/sport/f ... e-11628191

I can find no mention of George Allen’s death on this site or any other related site, which is a shame.

I only learned of his death when someone decided to place a copy of his funeral order of service for sale on eBay for £9.99!

North Ferriby is a village and civil parish in the Haltemprice area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Population 3,893.

We were lucky. We could have been playing the full Ferriby team!

[quote="Plymouth Gull"]JOINT 65th: Torquay United 5 - 0 Chester City - 1963/64

6 points, 1 vote

Division Four
30th November 1963
Plainmoor
Attendance: 4075

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Another I cannot find any other information on, so hoping whoever voted for it can help us out!

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I saw this match and remember that no goals were scored in a mediocre first half. I moved to the Babbacombe end for the second half, where a rejuvenated Torquay scored all their goals and outplayed Chester.

If I had donated a sum in the region of £2m towards the cost of a new stand I would not be happy to learn that my club would be moving to a new ground five years later.

Which other sporting institution in the Torbay area would use Plainmoor and who would pay the cost of maintaining the stadium. The 1,750 capacity Bristow’s Bench would surely become a white elephant and the cost of dismantling the stand and rebuilding it elsewhere would be prohibitive.

According to BBC match statistics, Torquay had 13 shots, none of which were on target!

Halifax, and possibly Kidderminster. will soon be overtaking us.

I see that Nicky Wroe scored Halifax Town's second goal against Dover Athletic.

The 30 year old has had his loan from Notts County extended to 9th January. I wonder whether Kevin Nicholson ever contacted his former colleague? Perhaps the wage demand was too high or Wroe's current form does not warrant a place in the relegation threatened Torquay side?

Interesting article on the official club site.

http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 41653.aspx

It is good to see the chairman and player-manager paying a surprise birthday visit to the best manager in our club's history. However, I am surprised and disappointed that the writer is apparently unaware that Frank O'Farrell enjoyed a distinguished playing career for West Ham United and Preston North End.

If Kevin Nicholson can get anywhere near the success Frank O'Farrell achieved as a manager, particularly with Torquay United, it would indeed be a miracle!

Hector wrote: [Someone, stood near me yesterday, shouted that CH was the club's worst ever manager. Now anyone with half a braincell knows that there are plenty of other former managers who could lay claim to that (dis)honour, not least Hargreaves's predecessor. Our history is littered with crap managers: Bob John, Jack Edwards, Musgrove, Impey, Compton, May, Saunders, Cornforth, Kubik, Knill for a start.]

I agree with your list of poor Torquay United managers, with the exception of the late Malcolm Musgrove, who was recommended to the club by Frank O'Farrell.

The previous manager, Jack Edwards, had taken Torquay from 18th place in division 3 on 9 October 1971, to 21st position in division 4 by the end of January 1973, and we faced the prospect of having to apply for re-election at the end of the season. Malcolm Musgrove took over and although we only finished 18th, the quality of football improved significantly. This continued into the following season and at the end of December 1973 we were in 4th place, 3 points ahead of the next side. Unfortunately, we finished the season in 16th place, only 1 point behind Exeter, who were 10th, but there were a number of entertaining games at Plainmoor.

In 1974/75, Torquay made a reasonable start and were 4th after 14 games. Unfortunately, we then began to slide down the table but it should be remembered that the club was suffering a severe financial crisis. Remember the urgent meeting with Torbay Council at Oldway Mansion and the selling of all the club's houses.

In March 1975 we sold goalkeeper Mike Mahoney to Newcastle for around £35,000, and brought in 4 players who strengthened the side considerably. We won 6 of our last 9 games and the future seemed brighter.

Torquay began the next season poorly, especially away from home where we conceded 20 goals in our first four games. However, from 1 November we were remarkably consistent and finished in 9th position, our highest place in division 4 during the seventies. If only we could have found a good striker to partner Willie Brown!

We opened 1976/77 with a home win against Huddersfield and then won 4-0 at Doncaster. We knocked Bournemouth and Burnley out of the League Cup, and on 13 November 1976, Torquay were 16th, only 3 points behind the club in 7th place. Disaster struck the following Saturday when Hillingdon Borough won 2-1 at Plainmoor in the F A Cup first round. Exit Mr Musgrove.

Previous posts have suggested that the attitudes of certain players contributed to Musgrove's downfall but he was the manager in charge and should have exerted control.

Musgrove's overall record for Torquay was:-

Games 188 W61 D58 D69 Win%32.45

He also took Torquay to the 3rd round of the League Cup in 1975/76 and 1976/77. Dizzy heights indeed for a club with such a wretched record in this competition.

Malcolm Musgrove was by no means one of Torquay United's best managers but his hands were tied by financial constraints. I do not consider that he warrants a place in your list and in my opinion the adjective used by you is inappropriate in his case.

I regularly watch BBC Songs of Praise and today Thea Bristow made an appearance in celebration of the 20th anniversary of the National Lottery.

She refers to some of her charitable donations and the cameras visit Plainmoor to see the Bristow Bench. The programme can be seen on BBC iPlayer and for those not wishing to view the whole episode, the feature commences at 25:37 minutes and continues until 28:50.

She mentions the purchase of some woodlands and as I no longer live in Torbay I shall be pleased if someone will advise me where these woods are?

I have just read page 7 of the Lincoln City v Torquay United programme dated 30th August 2014 (See download from an earlier thread), which reveals that Torquay United has massive plans for the redevelopment of Plainmoor. I quote:-

"PLANS FOR THE FUTURE

The club are looking to buy the houses behind the away end and building an extension to the away end and also to acquire the school (Westlands) and build a bigger grandstand to increase the capacity to around 9,000."

Clearly the future for our football club is not so bleak. Where did Lincoln City obtain this news? It's not April Fools Day!

Perhaps we also have masses of money to buy a whole new squad of players! Oh dear the transfer deadline has just ended!

gullsfanatic1986 wrote:The club wont drop the prices down even further, I spoke to julia who runs the shop and she said there is no way they can match it or get anywhere near it. So feel free to buy away

I meant Sports Direct might reduce the prices even further if the response to them is low! They clearly purchased the shirts in bulk at a relatively low cost and want to offload them as quickly as possible.