Ne plus ultra

[wivelgull]

(dedicated to all those who give their favourite players as Robin Stubbs, Colin Bettany, Reg Wyatt....)

Excerpt from my Journal: April 9th., 1967

....caught a bus up to Plainmoor last night in the spring evening. Torquay United challenging for promotion, playing Bristol Rovers, also challengers. Normally there's a crowd of approximately 6,000 for a league game; now crowds of unexpected dimensions form outside the turnstiles to enter the ground. The queues stretch across the wasteland by the swings which is outside the ground [i.e. where the swimming pool is now]. When we enter, the ground is already very full. In fact, the official attendance was later given as nearly 14,000: 13, 839 to be precise. The game was a masterpiece of theatrical drama: tension, excitement, changes of fortune, hopes, fears, realisations, climaxes. United won 2-1 with goals scored by Barnes (a rebound headed into the net) and the inside-left, Stubbs (a sharp breakaway latching on to a through ball, squeezing between two defenders, and sending a hard, low shot which entered the right side of the net). Enough to give United the victory and place them in a very handy position for the elusive promotion place. Afterwards walked happily to the Rising Sun for a couple of drinks.....

Anyone else remember this?

[Gullscorer]

Happy days of our youth! Could be another fifty years, if at all, before we see such large crowds at Plainmoor again.

But I don't remember the Rising Sun..

[gateman49]

Yes, I remember it well, it was, and still is, one of the largest league crowds in all my years on the gates. Was it an Easter fixture? I seem to remember it being on the Monday or Tuesday of Easter week so the crowd was swelled by exiled locals home for the Bank Holiday.

My hands were probably sore that day although they were colder and more sore one Christmas for an Argyle match (did Mal Lucas get a goal for us?). It started to snow as we were letting people in and this time the queue was so long in Marnham Road that the police asked us to let fans in through the exit gate as the turnstiles weren't quick enough. So I left my stile and stood there by the open exit gate with a policeman. He maintained order in the queue while I took the money. He even gave me his helmet to use as a cash container for the takings as I just chucked the money in! That gate was well over 10,000 if I recall correctly.

Ah well, thanks for the memory!

[stefano]

Yes, I remember it well, it was, and still is, one of the largest league crowds in all my years on the gates. Was it an Easter fixture? I seem to remember it being on the Monday or Tuesday of Easter week so the crowd was swelled by exiled locals home for the Bank Holiday.

My hands were probably sore that day although they were colder and more sore one Christmas for an Argyle match...

The Bristol Rovers game was on a Saturday evening two weeks after Easter. The Easter weekend had set Torquay up nicely for a push towards promotion with home wins against Oldham Athletic 4-0 (crowd 8500) and Swindon Town 1-0 (crowd 9900), and then there were two creditable away draws at Swindon Town 0-0 and Oxford United 2-2 (two Robin Stubbs goals), before the next home game against Bristol Rovers, where the crowd rose to 14171. Only 3 home games after that, with crowds around the 10000 mark, and Torquay managed to lose two of them (results which had they gone the other way would have seen the club in the second tier).

Argyle at home 2 seasons later was a massive 15660 for a midweek game, and the snowy memoroes of Gateman was 2 seasons after that on Boxing Day 1971 when Mel Lucas and a John Rudge penalty gave Torquay a 2-1 win, a game that would probably be called off these days for safety reasons but in those days consideration was given to the 12807 who had made the effort to get there and who had been cooped up at home for the last couple of days so allowing the game to go ahead was social care at it's best ....

[Behind-the-Gulls]

Yes was there-got to the match late with my dad due to traffic congestion,think I may have missed a goal-was one scored early on?

[gateman49]

Re the Argyle snowy match, the gate was obviously 12807 ish, with emphasis on the 'ish' as there wouldn't have been any way of accurately counting the true attendance given that I, and possibly others, had to let people in away from the turnstiles with their mechanical counting mechanisms!

[Glostergull]

I well remember that game.. the one thing being only 9 at the time was that when there were long queues the turnstile couldn't cope at the far end of the Marnham road/ Warboro road end. and they queued up the lane behind the houses. many a football was kicked into the lane in those days and much later until the away stand was built in the 90's.

[tomogull]

Gawd - I wish I had a memory like Stefano's. I have difficulty remembering last week's game - did we lose against Cheltenham ?? Actually, it was an easily forgettable performance.

I do remember the long queues for the Bristol Rvrs match and queueing for ages to squeeze into the Cowshed or its inferior replacement - not sure when the Cowshed was eventually taken dowm or collapsed. I know we won but without Wivel's diary notes, I wouldn't be able to remember the score. Not sure about the Rising Sun though, but maybe one of the Plainmoor pubs was called the Rising Sun back then. Stefano is right - three or four games to go and we were well set up for promotion to Div 2 (second tier back then) and we blew it.

[AdelaideGull]

Ah jumpers for goalposts! I think the Rising Sun used to be on the left hand side of St Paul's Road as you walked down from Plainmoor - at least there WAS a pub there about 50 metres up the road (on the other side) from the Union. I should know it as it was next door to my Grandma's house (she lived at No 7). Bit too young to remember the Rovers game and indeed the last game I got to was the Rovers game in 2013.....

Talking of local landmarks and that era, goes anyone remember the Cosy Cafe on St Marychurch Rd - at the top of Forest Rd? That's where all of the players used to gather for their cooked breakfasts after training!!! I can remember the likes of John Bond, Smithy, Ken Brown and Jimmy Dunne tucking into their grub with a fag for afters!!!

Miss Plainmoor, miss United but don't miss the weather.....

[wivelgull]

The Rising Sun (now The Old Mill) was at the very top of Belgrave Road.

[Kit_robin]

The Rising Sun (now The Old Mill) was at the very top of Belgrave Road.

Actually now JDs bar. Not sure what it's like, haven't been in there since it was the mill.

[bringbackthecowshed]

The pub in St Pauls road was The White Hart. The old Rising Sun in now called DT's. An excellent pub, I always go there when Torquay are featured in a televised game.

[Gullscorer]

For those who want to delve into Torquay United history as far as players are concerned, this is interesting: http://www.neilbrown.newcastlefans.com/ ... rquay.html

[wivelgull]

Ah!!!! Ernie Pym!! Truly one of the forgotten greats.

Whizzing through the Newcastle list I was astonished to find that Tony ('call me Anthony') Bedeau made 305 - yes, THREE HUNDRED and five appearances for United. Usually (poor old Tony) he was pretty crap but, occasionally, just once in a while, he would have what we senile delinquents in the Pop called 'a cocaine moment' where he would play like someone on loan from Barcelona. It always lasted for just one game - but it was enough to get him a trial at Sunderland (and Barnsley, too, I think).

[samuel]

This is my exact diary entry for the day of the match: Saturday 8th April 1967 - The 915th day without missing a Torquay United home match.
Woke up at 8 oclock. Didn't go out on bike. Heard marvellous news for Torquay. Mansfield lost at home to Swansea and Middlesbrough lost away to Grimsby. Watched Grand National, first twenty horses fell at Canal Turn. Went up Plainmoor. Saw Torquay beat Bristol Rovers 2-1 and are favourites to go up with Queens Park Rangers. Eurovision song contest won by Sandy Shaw. Went to bed at 11.45.
Weather:
Morning: Dull, weak sunshine. Cloudy
Afternoon Quote (spots of rain)