Torquay United Fans Forum

ferrarilover wrote:One post, one f**k ing post, and he's going to win MOTM.

Well said Farmer, absolutely correct in all respects.

Matt.

The Farmers Friend wrote:Increasingly as I get older and the world around me continues to change at a rapid pace, often for the worse, I find that supporting United is a reassuring bit of continuity in my life and a comforting link to my Paignton upbringing (although that sounds a bit melodramatic, as I now only live 25 miles up the road!).

It's never really bothered me too much that Torquay are likely to always be a small club, but when I was younger I harboured dreams that somehow we'd win the FA Cup or go on some mad run through to the top flight like Orient or Carlisle. The Evil Alliance of Murdoch and the Premiership have put paid to that flight of fancy, but having seen how the grotesque commercialisation of football has corrupted the sport and so many teams, they're welcome to it. I'm genuinely glad that we're never likely to be troubled by fly-by-night mercenary players or flooded with obedient football consumers from hundreds of miles away, happy to be treated as cash cows by wealthy people with little interest in football. At Plainmoor, it's still pretty much the football I grew up with - and better in a lot of respects.

austrianandygull wrote:For me watching United kills two birds with one stone so to speak. On the one hand ( or the first avian to meet it's untimely demise ) i love football to death. Not just Torquay but i'll watch anything as long as a ball is being kicked, excluding someone being leathered in the knackers down a dark alley on a night out in Barnsley which i HAVE actually witnessed, OR if women are kicking it. Can't watch that either. Football is one of the biggest things in my life and being affiliated to particular teams like Torquay gives me a sense of pride, identity and belonging. For some of you it may be difficult to comprehend how someone whose only connection with Devon is going on holidays there ( although i did used to work near Newquay for a bit ) can have so much passion and love for a club in an area i've never lived in. I can understand that, but i support the Gulls as fervently as the most ardent and i'm bursting with pride at that. I live for matchdays and if i didn't live so far away i would be there every game. I know some of you go to every away game but you've got subsidised travel with Breedy and the travel club so it's not comparable.

Nothing beats being there on the terraces ( or in the seats depending ) singing on the lads and watching live football unfold before your very eyes. There is the banter between you and the opposition fans, in fact many have been bewildered when i have responded to their question i always get asked, "how long did it take for you to get here then?". Especially the Chesterfield fan who asked me at our FA Cup game last season! I said, "5 minutes mate, i live here"! I thrive on the anticipation of the matchday and the uncertainty of what might happen. I love the history of our game and the visits to grounds old and new. Visiting a new ground gives me the greatest pleasure and i always have a ritual of walking all the way round it, visiting the club shop and buying a programme. You just can't beat it. Torquay are my team and nobody can tell me any different.

My second avian to be culled, humanely i may add or more appropriatly, the second reason i like going to football is to visit new places as i love travel, visiting new places and geography basically. I will try and get to a ground early so i can have a look around the town i'm in and visit some places. For example Hereford is lovely and i went to the cathedral last time to see the MAPPA MUNDI and stuff and also generally enjoy the tudoresque architecture. Jesus i sound like Partridge now! It's not so good when you have to go somewhere like Accrington where the only place worth a look is the interior of your own rectum.

RussianGull wrote:I love watching Torquay United because of the Boots and Laces, the half time pasty, the 50/50 draw, the proximity to the pitch, the highs, the many lows, the 0-0 draws, the Devon derby(s), the coastal train from Exeter to Torre, and the cheeky punt on Mansell to score first.

usagullmichigan wrote:brucies answer should be interesting.