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Just a thread to post about anything to do with other clubs in our division as i'm not sure we have one plus I wanted to say....................................................

CHESTERFIELD 3-0 UP AT H/T AND LOST 4-3!!

What fun i'm having!!

Also last week v Mansfield there was a bit of trouble after the game. It was in our local rag.

Torquay United's most successful period was during the 1950s and 1960s, when clubs such as Fleetwood, Morecambe, Dag & Red, Wycombe, and Wimbledon, were non-league nonentities. These are now relatively successful League Two clubs, playing against the likes of Portsmouth, Bristol Rovers, Plymouth Argyle, and Northampton, all clubs with experience of football's second tier, which is somewhere the Gulls have never been!

Obviously the fortunes of clubs can change greatly from season to season (look at Northampton now, compared with their success last season). I think this is partly due to increased transfer activity and the loan system; there's a much greater movement of players around the clubs than there was years ago, which can sometimes mean that managers practically have to build a new squad from scratch between one season and the next. This is less of a problem for clubs in favourable geographic locations with plenty of neighbouring clubs and nearby areas of sizeable populations, not to mention the easier access to funding from billionaire investors who fancy their chances in football. But none of this is good news for clubs on the nation's fringes, such as Plymouth, Carlisle, and Torquay, who, without the opportunities available to the rest, will always struggle more to attract players.

Of all these fringe clubs, I believe only Argyle, with its larger population catchment area, can boast any consistent success at Championship level despite their geographical location. Torquay United, on the other, hand, will always be a relatively small club. We know that, with our lack of resources and our geographic and demographic disadvantages, most Torquay managers will have to struggle more than those of other clubs for success. Our greatest successful seasons have been near-promotions from what is now League One, and there have been very few of those. This season, if we can avoid relegation to the Conference, we can deem that to have been a success, for Alan Knill and for the club. Even so, a late challenge for a play-off place is not beyond the bounds of possibility; with a quarter of the season gone, we are only ten points below the play-off places. A little end-of-season excitement here would be a welcome bonus, and could become a reality with our full support...!?!