History

On May 1, 1899, Torquay United Football Club was founded. Initially overshadowed by rugby in the local area, the fledgling club certainly had their work cut out grabbing many headlines over the next few years. Their inaugural match, a 5-0 victory against Upton Cricket Club, was played at Teignmouth Road, which was little more than three acres of undeveloped fields.

By 1900, they joined the East Devon League and moved to the Recreation Ground but lost tenancy to Torquay Athletic RFC. After a brief homeless period, they resumed competitive football at Torquay Cricket Club.

Amid rising competition in the town, Torquay United merged with Ellacombe in 1910, forming Torquay Town. Success followed, including an FA Cup run and Devon Senior Cup win. Talks of merging with Babbacombe culminated in 1921 when Torquay United was reborn. They immediately joined the Western League, but their crowning glory came six years later when they gained Football League membership in 1927 after winning the Western League title.

The post-war era saw stability and milestones, including Sammy Collins becoming the club’s top scorer and the adoption of the iconic yellow-and-blue kit in 1954. Narrowly missing promotion to Division Two in 1957 under Eric Webber, the club finally secured promotion from Division Four (after a change to the league structure) in 1960. United were comfortable in their first season in Divsion Three, before dropping back down to Division Four a year later.

1965, Torquay United enjoyed one of its most famous days, as Bill Nicholson’s mighty Tottenham Hotspur arrived at Plainmoor to contest the third round of the FA Cup. Just over 20,000 people witnessed a stunning 3-3 draw, courtesy of a brace from Robin Stubbs. Although the replay at White Hart Lane was a heavy loss, the episode was a fitting end to 15 years of Webber management.

The 1970s and ’80s were challenging, with relegations and financial struggles, but the 90s started memorably, with a Wembley appearance in 1991, where they earned promotion via a dramatic penalty shootout.

No sooner had United escaped the bottom division, they were back in it again, with a managerial merry-go-round resulting in Neil Warnock briefly taking charge to rescue the plummeting Gulls from a double-relegation out of the Football League. Unfortunately, the pattern was set and United finished bottom in 1996, only escaping relegation because Conference Champions Stevenage Borough failed to meet League ground regulations.

The 2000s saw a resurgence under Leroy Rosenior – a man who would earn legendary status after he guided his talented young side to promotion in a thrilling 2003-04 season. Sadly, the return to English football’s third tier was brief, and after only just escaping back-to-back relegations, TUFC failed to heed the warning sufficiently, as they were relegated to non-League football after 80 proud years.

A major revamp behind the scenes rescued the club from the brink of extinction though, and a new consortium containing lottery winner Paul Bristow helped to stabilise a financial crisis at Plainmoor, with former midfielder Paul Buckle named as boss. On the pitch, the Gulls were left disappointed at Wembley again, this time losing the FA Trophy Final to Ebbsfleet. The pain was heightened by a play-off semi-final loss to bitter rivals Exeter City, but the following year was one to savour.

Buckle steered his charges to the fourth round of the FA Cup and a play-off final win over Cambridge, with the jubilant celebrations acclaiming that the Yellows were back in the Football League in double-quick time!

The final year under Buckle ended with United reaching the League 2 play-off final at Old Trafford but Stevenage emerged as single-goal winners, and to make matters worse, United lost their boss – and several players to Bristol Rovers soon after.

However, the 2011-12 season, the first under Martin Ling, saw the new manager brilliantly rebuild his squad, with them only missing automatic promotion on the final day, before losing to Cheltenham in the play-offs.

Sadly, Martin Ling fell ill midway through the next season and Alan Knill took over on a temporary basis, steering the Gulls away from relegation on the final day of a traumatic campaign. Knill was appointed as permanent boss in the summer. The Knill-era though proved unsuccessful in the main, and after finding themselves deep in relegation trouble despite a whole host of new signings, the new year of 2014 saw a returning hero take charge in Chris Hargreaves.

Despite some promise, the mountain was too much to climb, and United suffered relegation to the Conference only five years after escaping it. 

Recent years have been tumultuous, with relegations to the National League South and subsequent rebuilds. Under Gary Johnson, Torquay won the National League South in 2019 and narrowly missed Football League promotion in the dramatic 2021 Play-Off Final against Hartlepool. The 2022/23 season proved to be a difficult one as the Gulls were relegated to the sixth tier once more.

Although inconsistent at times, the first half of 2023/24 seemed to bode well, with The Gulls’ last-gasp 3-2 win over Hemel Hempstead in their last home game before Christmas seeing them going second in the table, with a few nervy looks over the shoulders from leaders Yeovil, to boot.

Come the end of the campaign though, Torquay United’s very existence was under threat.

After Johnson’s departure, Interim Manager Aaron Downes steadied the ship, but after The Gulls were forced into Administration and subsequently deducted a total of eleven points, the Southern League – or no club at all – looked a distinct possibility at times during the closing weeks.

A memorable 2-1 win at relegation rivals Taunton eventually secured their status in the division with a game to spare.

 

Form

This season, the Gulls are back challenging at the top of the National League South and are currently the league leaders with 47 points from 24 games. They are currently on a long 13-game unbeaten run in all competitions, which stretches back to the 2nd November.

In the FA Trophy, the Gulls have beaten Truro City and Horsham so far in the competition, keeping clean sheets in both matches.

Last Six
01/01 – Truro City (H) – Won 1-0
26/12 – Weymouth (A) – Drew 2-2
21/12 – Hemel Hempstead Town – Won 1-0
14/12 – Farnborough (H) – Won 2-0
10/12 – Horsham (H) – Won 2-0 (Isuzu FA Trophy)
30/11 – Enfield Town (A) – Won 1-4

 

The Gaffer

Paul Wotton joined the Gulls in the summer from Truro City.

Wotton enjoyed five successful seasons at Truro City, including winning promotion to the National League South in 2022. He was formerly assistant manager at Plymouth Argyle.

Wotton, who spent part of his early career playing under TUFC Football Advisor Neil Warnock during their successful time at Home Park together, is a true Argyle legend after amassing over 450 league appearances during two spells in a career that also took in spells at Southampton, Oxford United and Yeovil Town.

 

The Skipper

Manchester-born Oscar Threlkeld joined the Gulls in the summer and is club captain.

Comfortable in a number of positions, Threlkeld, arrives at Plainmoor on a one-year contract and brings with him a wealth of EFL experience.

After rising through the ranks at Bolton Wanderers, Oscar went on to establish himself as a firm fan’s favourite at Plymouth Argyle, before moving on to Salford, Bradford and Oldham, as well as taking in a brief spell in Belgium with Waasland-Beveren.

After departing League Two side Morecambe at the end of last season, Threlkeld now returns to Devon to link up with Gulls boss Paul Wotton, who was first-team coach at Argyle during the player’s first spell at Home Park.

 

Key Player

With the second best defensive record in the league, it’s hard not to pick one of Torquay’s back three as their key player, and Sam Dreyer has been a consistent top performer for the Gulls this term.

Centre-back Sam, follows in the footsteps of his father John, who enjoyed a spell on loan with Stuart Morgan’s Torquay side during the 1985/86 season, prior to a superb career in the higher echelons of the English game with the likes of Oxford, Luton, Stoke and Bradford amongst others.

Having started out at Stevenage, moves to Biggleswade, Hendon and Bedford followed, before Dreyer junior earned himself plaudits for his displays for United’s National League South rivals Hampton & Richmond during the 2023/24 season, having made 16 appearances for The Beavers whilst on loan from League One side Peterborough United.