Torquay United Fans Forum

I don't know about League 1 mid-table mediocrity I'd just be happy with 20th making it the first season since 1966 that we haven't come straight down again after getting promoted to that division.

Seems a very late start to the season in 2012/2013. Probably because of the World Cup although they may be planning too far ahead as we probably won't be in it. Still if we go on a bit of a roll next season I suppose the late start will give us more time to prepare for our first ever season in the Championship!!

Trojan 67 wrote:Stefano :

Remember the District Schools' Trophies ?

Under 12 : Style's Cup
Under 13 : Ingham Trophy
Under 14 : Webber Shield
Under 15 : Blessington Cup

Under 16 Hudson Bowl only came into existence after the compulsory leaving age was raised to sixteen.

Edit : and of course, the Webber Shield final was always played at Plainmoor.

Yes I remember them although when I was at Homelands we only entered the competitions in the 3rd and 4th years (U14 and U15). We never did anything in them and for the first four years we lost most of the games we played. We only had 60 pupils in a year at that time and it wasn't until the 5th year that we started winning games and in fact won all the games we played. However it wasn't that our rugby oriented games master had suddenly seen the light and obtained his FA coaching badges or that as a group of players we had suddenly overnight become brilliant! In the 5th year for the first time 3 Westhill pupils joined us in a combined team and also most of the good players at places like Audley Park and Tweenaway had already left school at the end of the 4th year. With our games master Alan Harris, a decent bloke, being a Torquay Athletic player football most certainly was not a priority. I see you played for Torre Trojans. Do you remember Kevin and Gary Birch, distant cousins of mine, who both played for Trojans at different times in the late 60's / early 70's? I can remember watching Kevin in a final at Plainmoor in which Colin Lee was also playing.

ferrarilover wrote:Stefano, no no no, you misunderstand, I meant to say, effectively, where have you been all my life? My point was that you seem to know a whole lot about the club, first hand, from many years ago, indicating that you have been a supporter all that time. It would seem odd to me that, even allowing for your advancing years, you had only just stumbled across this site. It would seem even more strange to me that you would go to all the trouble of signing up and posting on my little ol' thread when there are so many more worthy threads out there which could, and perhaps should, have sparked your interest sooner. So, if you didn't sign up specifically to post in this here thread, and you haven't only just become aware of this site, my question remains, why now, why this thread? I'm very glad you are here, it saves me having to give my 'prize' to Troj, who, just recently, was scathingly unfair about my beard!

Welcome Stefano, please stick around.

It looks as though I am a few years ahead of you Trojan but not by much. I started at Homelands in 1963 and being a bit thick left in 1968 to start work. In my fifth year it was the first time we had combined Homelands & Westhill sporting teams. For football I was the captain of course!

That ferrarihoover is a bit of a character isn't he asking how come a guy who knows so much about the club suddenly comes on here posting? I don't profess to know any more about the club than anyone else but I think it was Ferrari on this thread who said he wasn't around in the League 1 days. Only 7 years ago whereas I am 110! Ok I exaggerate! Trouble is with this posting thing it's these modern computers that us old 'uns have got to get our heads around.

Only bothered to post really as I have read this site for ages even before the crash and on this occasion I thought I could add some information to a thread in support of what Trojan had posted as I was actually there when it happened.

Just to put Ferrarilover's mind at rest my first game to watch at the age of 11 years was 7 September 1963 against Rochdale with Dave Hancock securing a 1-0 win, I managed to survive not being crushed in a crowd of 20,000 on 9 January 1965 in a 3-3 draw against Tottenham Hotspur, I made my Western League debut for the reserves on 11 October 1969 in a 2-0 Western League win against the champions that season Glastonbury, I played in a classic FA Youth Cup tie against Argyle in 1969 where we had 1-1 at Plainmoor, 1-1 at Home Park after extra time, then lost 3-1 at Home Park in the 3rd game (the whole Argyle team being full time or apprentice professionals), and I cried when we got relegated to the Conference.

It is nice that I still get a buzz when I enter Plainmoor the same as I did when I was 11 years of age. I still always believe that it is going to happen for us, and I hope ferrarilover that when you are 110 you will have the same brilliant memories of a proper football club that I have got!

Trojan 67 wrote:Many thanks stefano for adding further detail. Although it was before my time, we finished runners up to Ipswich during the early/mid 1950's in the former Division 3 South ? Only the champions of the North and South Divisions went up to Division 2 (now the Championship) at that time.

The Cowshed/Mini Stand question regularly crops up in conversation with some insistent it was as late as 1971. I've always known it was it 66/67 but not absolutely sure whether it was the summer of '66 or the summer of '67.

I remember being behind the goal at the Ellacombe End for the opening Division 3 fixture of the 1966/67 season against Reading (Torquay won 3 - 0). I'm just not sure what was behind me, I always thought it was the new Mini Stand. I remember the Cowshed being up at the end of the 1965/66 promotion season from Division 4.

Once again, many thanks stefano.

Cheers Trojan yes it definitely was the Summer of 1967 the Ministand was erected. I was at the school next door then known as Homelands at the time and regularly used to pop in to watch the construction work.

We started our first season back in Division 3 with the Cowshed still at the Ellacombe end and I remember watching quite a few games from there ... and what a brilliant start that 3-0 win against Reading was with an early cool lob from Robin Stubbs on a baking hot August day.

I would agree 1956/57 was the nearest we actually came to promotion to Division 2 (now Championship) but I had ignored it due to earlier debate on this thread that it was only a regional division and not a national one. So close though finishing 2nd on goal difference to Ipswich Town who 5 years later won Division 1 (now Premiership) under manager Alf Ramsay.

What a tense final day that must have been as well to match any we have had in more recent times. Ipswich won 2-0 away (I think at Southampton) while we were held 1-1 at Selhurst Park by Crystal Palace, with the Palace full back Jack Edwards who later became our first team coach in the late '60's clearing the ball off the line in the last minute!

Just to add a little to Trojan's excellent and accurate answer on our highest ever league position, after promotion from Division 4 (now League 2) in 1965/66 we then had three excellent seasons in Division 3 (now League 1). In 1966/67 the highest position we occupied was 2nd towards the end and eventually finished 7th, but it was all very tight and had we won our last two games instead of losing them then we would have been promoted instead of Middlesbrough. That dream was shattered though by a 4-0 hammering by Middlesbrough at Ayresome Park in front of a crowd of 27160 of which I was one of over 1000 Torquay supporters, and then the following week we followed that up with a 4-2 home defeat to already relegated Swansea Town (as they were then). In 1967/68 as outlined by Trojan we did indeed head the division for much of the season and at one point were several points ahead with games in hand, and perhaps the kiss of death was the BBC commentator Coleman who said after our 3-0 Match of the Day win over Bury "It looks as if it's just a case of who is going up with Torquay now!". A disastrous Easter and only 3 wins in our last 12 games saw us slip to 4th and Oxford and Bury went up. Once again had we won rather than lost our last two games we would have been promoted in 2nd place on goal average to Oxford.

1968/69 is the most recent highest position we have held. With everybody else having played in the afternoon on the opening day a Saturday evening 3-0 win over Southport saw us top once again on goal average. We were the only team to have kept a clean sheet on the opening day so as positions were then based on goal average (dividing goals against into goals scored) rather than goal difference we were top of the table with a goal average of infinity. We finished a respectable 6th but were a long way adrift that season of the promoted teams Watford and Swindon Town, but the season was memorable for our 2-1 win at Home Park in our first league clash with Argyle for several years.

Since then it's been a rather downhill trend so I am looking forward to topping League 1 next season.

To answer another question on this thread I think posed by Trojan the old Cowshed was demolished and replaced by the Ministand during the Summer of 1967 following our successful first season back in Division 3.