Torquay United Fans Forum

Vaguely related, but anyone recall a home game against Scunthorpe that was postponed very late around 10-15 years ago?

A load of us were sitting upstairs in the old Laces bar, looking a bit lost and pondering what to do with what was left of the day when the peace was broken by an irate man in full Scunthorpe regalia stomping to the top of the stairs: "THAT PITCH WAS BLOODY PLAYABLE! YOU BUNCH OF SOUTHERN JESSIES!!"

Unfortunately, he was already halfway down the stairs and probably out of earshot when someone pointed out that it was of course the referee who called the game off, and that he was from Yorkshire.

Still, never let facts and a bit of basic knowledge of the game get in the way of a good North-South rant, eh?

(Posted similar last night but I guess it disappeared in the server change - just saying in case it does reappear and I look like an impatient loon who keeps asking the same question...)

Re. entry to the Popside via the Gulls Nest: I take it the same policy outlined above applies for evening games, but what are the timings?

Thanks.

I didn't like Buckle when he arrived and I didn't like him any more when he left. The style of his departure came as no surprise to me and I was amazed that fans can have been so naive about the man to have felt - and continue to feel - so betrayed. Glostergull speculates that Buckle may be a Grecian at heart but I always got the impression Buckle was primarily a Paul Buckle man at heart.

Having said all that, I would rank him as the best Gulls manager in my 35 years of support.

I always think it's a bit unfair to pick on the Dean Mooneys and Lee Andrews types - Andrews in particular gave his all, it's just that he wasn't good enough, whereas there were others in those poor teams who hid and barely pulled their weight, but no one remembers them and they seem to have got away with it.

So, for me, least favourite rather than worst:

Elliot Benyon - When I think of him, the first image that comes into my head is of him sitting on his arse in or around the penalty area with his hands in the air doing that childish 'Ref!' face. It's not just the diving, it's the fact that he often prefers to go to ground even when he's in a good scoring position. Needless to say, the thought of him signing up for another couple of years doesn't fill me with joy...

Jake Thompson - I've picked on him, but could be any number of those Premiership Academy types who come in on loan, put in one game's worth of an appearance and then sulk because Barcelona aren't immediately on the phone.

Gary Brabin - Memorable largely for launching a thigh-high challenge on a former team-mate against Hull and for a shot from outside the box that went out for a throw-in. Plus the DJ Lotsi 'Hey, Gary Brabin...' song. That still makes me chuckle.

Rhodri Giggs - Dodgy character.

Dave Webb - Well, he did play a couple of games for us.

Favourite rather than best:

Steve Cooper - Hero from my formative years of support. Had the pleasure of interviewing him for the mag we did in the 2003/4 promotion season and he was an absolute gent - even treated Richard Hughes, Marcus Davies and myself to free food at his pub.

Neville Southall - Goalkeeping genius obviously, but I also loved his cranky eccentricity.

Martin Gritton - Good rather than great player, but an intelligent and very sound bloke off the pitch.

Kevin Hill - Say no more.

Chris Hargreaves - Mr 110%. Great leader and a model pro.

Might well be wrong, but I think there were two trips to Ireland; the first being a one-off visit to Don O'Riordan's old club in Dublin, Cherry Orchard, followed the next year by the tour that included a revisit to Cherry Orchard, a game against Bray Wanderers and another club whose name escapes me. Got the programmes at home - the Bray Wanderers one being the pick of the bunch. I don't know Ireland very well but I gather that despite the bucolic-sounding name, Cherry Orchard are located in one of the grimmest corners of Dublin.

Happy to be corrected on any of the above - my memory has been both fried and pickled over the years...

There was also a tournament in Jersey (late-90s Hodges era?) that involved us and a few mainland teams. Think that was more of a youth event, though.

Less exotically, didn't we go to Wealdstone for a pre-season game in the late-70s or am I confusing that with something else?

ferrarilover wrote:The boy wants to be a professional journalist. It's bugger all good him turning in a submission which has confused the word 'imperative' with something else entirely and is littered with grammatical errors, because the Editor will laugh at him and give the job to someone else.

Totally agree.

Would also add that anyone aspiring to be a journalist is going to have to get used to their copy being corrected, amended and rewritten by a sub-editor who will also pull them up if they feel they are having to do too much work.

bixieupnorth wrote:the lame performance and defeat at Colchester when a win would've kept us up was the one that made me most angry, not often I lose my temper at a match, but the display and passion from the team that day made my blood boil, still does!

That day changed my whole relationship with football and Torquay United.

I wasn't so much angry as stunned by the sheer sickening twist of fate - I remember that final day relegation battle being described as having 13 possible outcomes, only one of which would have seen us relegated. The irony that only one year previously I'd made the same journey back from Essex in ecstatic mood only added to the misery and tainted the memory of the Southend game.

Prior to that, I'd only missed one home game in around eight years, gone to obscure pre-season friendlies and youth games, plus plenty of away games, made sure I got married on a day when United couldn't possibly be playing etc. etc. but thereafter decided I was no longer going to put my life on hold for something as unreliable as a lower league football team.

Fair play to those who continue to do so, though.

bengull wrote:In al honesty I think the match day experience compares favourably to some other places in the league, I'm thinking... Exeter.

Pains me to say this, but I'd have to disagree with that one at least.

I live in Exeter, and through some good fortune was in a position to enjoy to some pre-match hospitality at our game there in January.

Whilst there, I sneaked into the St James Centre bar, which is a light and pleasant place, very much a shrine to their club, with a good selection of ales and ciders. A group of supporters from their Trust, I think, also have a table set up on matchdays with two guest ales and a heated unit doing pasties, sausage rolls and pies. As well as obviously giving an even wider choice of drinks, this relieves the pressure (and thus queues) on the main bar and the food outlets inside the ground.

Outside of that is another covered outdoor bar (ideal for smokers, I guess), doing St Austell ales and Thatchers, I think. Next to that is a food bar from Kenniford Farm doing locally produced burgers, sausage baps etc. etc.

We enjoyed a really nice meal with good beer again in their upstairs hospitality area, with Chris Todd putting in an appearance. To be fair, I've no idea how that compares with what's on offer at Plainmoor - corporate hospitality isn't normally my world.

Whilst our programme has improved a lot, I would still say there's is better.

I've lived in Exeter for 17 years, and when I first moved here there wasn't a lot to seperate us and them as football clubs. The decay of the late Bateson years didn't help, and things have definitely moved in the right direction for us since the current board took over, but we (fans and the board) could learn a lot from the way City have worked hard over the last 7-8 years to make themselves central to the community they represent.

None of which changes the fact that their away end is a disgrace.

Might be worth trying 'Collectable Adge' in Calstock. He's a programme and football memorabilia dealer who (last I heard, anyway) specialises in match tickets. He's an Argyle fan but always had a good stock of other west country clubs.

hector wrote:It is like Macclesfield last year, like Lincoln in 1987 who dropped like a stone to spare us...in fact the only time they had been bottom of the league that year was the final seconds of the season after Dobson equalised.

Barnet in 2001 as well. I vaguely recall they beat Blackpool 7-0 at some point in the new year that season. Fourth from bottom having never been lower going into that last game weren't they?

I think there have been others that have slid dramatically and gone out too, and that's what worries me - that there's a certain inevitability about this, the old 'turning a tanker' analogy.

I had no feelings either way about Alan Knill, although his comments about 'playing football' concerned me. We really needed a proven fire-fighter in the Ian Atkins mould, although finding such a manager is probably easier said than done.

DTG wrote:I have never witnessed such incompetence.

Have you moved back to England then?

Never been to Accrington for football but went through it a couple of years ago on a special excursion train.

First thing I saw on the outer edge of town was a 70s/80s estate with windows boarded up and a burned out house.

Further along the line a first for me (in this country, anyway): some graffiti of the scrawled white paintbrush variety in Polish. No idea what it said, but the style and exclamation mark at the end suggested it wasn't 'Welcome to the Calder Valley!'

Not long after that we caught up with some local kids. The sight of some vintage 1950s BR rolling stock usual prompts a gawping stare, people fidddling to find camera phones or even a cheery wave. These kids' first reaction was to frantically look for some stones to throw at us.

As we passed over the impressive viaduct, I looked down and saw blackened houses, boarded up shops and the flashing lights of two police cars speeding down the road. And it was raining.

I've been to some places in my time but I then made a mental note never to come to Accrington if I could avoid it.

I've supported the club since the dawn of time, through seven world wars etc. etc. and the only player I've ever shouted anything less than encouragement at is Benyon. Chiefly because, Gulls shirt or not, he's a diver and a whinger. I had an outburst at him after one of his dives last night, but otherwise I stick to encouragement or silent stoicism. Digressing slightly, but it always annoys me that Lee Andrews was given so much grief and is so remembered when at least he was a trier who didn't try and hide, unlike all those forgotten lightweights in that terrible side.

In a small crowd the moaners and abusive types stand out more, and for some reason they tend to be the type who come rain or shine. There's a poisonous, rat-faced bloke who stands near me on the Popside. He never even claps when we score - regardless of how well we're doing. He had plenty to say last night, and you can see he sort of revels in it. When we beat Wimbledon 4-0 last season he looked furious - ruined his evening...

austrianandygull wrote:Ich verstehe nicht Mick! I'm not Australian mate but to all you Devon yokels Ich bin ein Auslander most certainly!

Nein, du bist ein Marmeladinger!