Torquay United Fans Forum

Agree with the consensus, lots of positives and would have taken a point before the game. The Torquay of two seasons ago would have rolled over, so it's really pleasing to see us not get intimidated by a physical side or a whistle happy referee.

The Chaney tackle was one of the worst I have seen live, happened virtually right in front of us. When he attempted to walk and couldn't I thought he'd done some serious damage. Landed right on his neck. How he managed to recover and complete the game I do not know, but a solid performance from him. He's not the biggest player but against a very physical side he did his job. The reaction of the Tranmere fans to his collapse was really upsetting, he was clearly in trouble and there was very little concern for the safety of a fellow human being. The tackle was a straight red all day long.

McGinty
Gowling
Chaney
Clarke
Higgins

Hi gang. You may already know that I'm calling time on Highway to Hele. If you didn't know that, the full statement is pinned up on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/highwaytohele

But there is good news. Issue 13 is done and in stock on the website. It features interviews with Ben Gerring and Jana-Kate Richards from TULFC. We also have varying levels of stock of Issues 7, 8, 10, 11 & 12, as well as the black sew-on Rage Against the Machine-inspired patches. The patches and the back issues have been reduced accordingly.

It would be really great if you would consider helping me clear through the back issues and earn back a little bit of the money I've spent over the last three years. If there are gaps in your collection, now's the time to sort it out. Thanks for reading, it's been fun (and hard, but mostly fun).

www.highwaytohele.bigcartel.com

I don't mind it. At least the weird art deco seagull has survived.

It's great that supporters do want to be involved, however I think a lot of this has stemmed from years of lack of confidence in those in power to make strong decisions.

Excellent news.

Did anyone else pick up on the ominous tone of the last sentence of the Herald piece - "possibly one or two departures". Really hoping we get Sparkes signed up now, don't want to see him go elsewhere.

Williams
Reid
Keating
Verma
Lee

To my mind, there were two very obvious variables in today's game that we did not adapt to, whereas Sutton did. One was the wind, the other was the 'keeper situation. I heard Nicho talking on the radio about how they've been training in these winds all week, so they should have known what to do. Now, I'm no football coach but my inclination would be to get the team to keep the ball low against the wind. Presumably this was - or should have been - touched on during the week. With the 'keeper, again I don't have any coaching badges but it seems obvious to me that we should be busting a gut to put pressure - both with attempts on goal and physically during set plays where appropriate - on someone who is way out of their comfort zone.

Whether this is the fault of the manager through miscommunication or the players in poor implementation is up for debate. Probably a combination.

Reid
Williams

Really struggling beyond that.

Fitzpatrick
Chaney
Richards
LRT
Rooney

Sparkes
Verma
Fitzpatrick
Moore
Blissett

Hi gang,

I just wanted to share with you the incredible news that Highway to Hele has been shortlisted for the 'Fanzine of the Year' award by the Football Supporters' Federation. The winner is announced on 5th December.

http://www.fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/ ... -announced

http://www.torquayheraldexpress.co.uk/t ... story.html

I don't really need to tell you how much of an achievement this is, but to see our little zine sat on the same list as long-running counterparts at Stoke, Manchester United and Leeds is quite something. To my knowledge we're only the second non-league fanzine to be nominated for the award. It's a huge honour and testament to the hard work of the writers, photographers, artists and sellers over the last two years. Thank you to everyone who has been a part of our journey so far. There's more to come.

You can still get copies of Issue 11 or four-issue subscriptions from the online shop: http://www.highwaytohele.bigcartel.com

I'm not saying I disagree with some of the ideas here, and I have long thought that more could be done to improve the communication between the club and its fans. I also absolutely see the logic that more people might get involved with the Player Fund if they could see a clear and direct benefit, but I think it's unrealistic to expect the information we're discussing to be divulged so freely.

I'm genuinely not trying to be antagonistic, but truly what is it about football that seems to inspire people to think they need to know absolutely everything about the inner workings of their club? And what is it about (some of) these people that makes them think that even if such information was more readily available, that they are appropriately qualified to interpret it and act upon it? It's easy to criticise the club for their failings, and there are plenty I do agree, but I think a deeper exploration of what we are asking for would really entail - and how great the benefit would be - is worth thinking about. Would donations decrease if Nicho signed a player the fans didn't like, for example? Would rival clubs be able to make assumptions about our wage bill? Would this all entail additional admin costs? I don't know the answers, but I don't think the issue is quite as simple as we might first think.

Perhaps it's a question that could be put to Nicho or whoever at the next Fans Forum, assuming we still do those? Is there scope for greater transparency on the Player Fund, and if not why not? Then we know. Fair and simple.

Enzo wrote:No problem. If I can dig them out of my loft I'll send you the copies I have - if you want - and can send them back once you are done. Not sure of copyright things if you wanted to use any of the articles, but I am sure you will know about things like that. I don't know him, but I still occasionally see the guy who I think was behind Mission Impossible at Plainmoor so I would imagine he logs on here now and again.

That would be amazing if you could, I'd be happy to send them back and I wouldn't be intending to pinch content.

I'll DM you my address in case you can find any. Really appreciate the help.

Thanks Enzo, I hadn't heard of the other two. I have also just stumbled across another one called 'You Wot!', which proffers to be an anti-racist alternative Torquay United magazine. I'd be very interested to read that. I'm hopefully going to be able to get hold of a few copies of some of these from various people, which would be great.

Would you mind if I quoted some of your thoughts above in HTH? If you'd prefer, you can email me directly with some memories of those publications.

I knew this would be a good idea.

Most/some of you will know that a group of us have been busily putting together TUFC fanzine Highway to Hele for over two years now. I thought it was time to take a look back at some of our spiritual predecessors. I'm familiar with Capital Gulls, and I am also aware of the existence of Bamber's Right Foot - however, I have never seen a copy of the latter. I think it would make a fun feature in HTH if we could look back at TUFC fanzines of yesteryear, see what they were all about, and plot how we fit into the lineage.

So, the reason I am posting is because I may need some help in pulling this together. If anyone has old copies of Capital Gulls or Bamber's Right Foot in particular, that they don't mind loaning to us, that would be most helpful. And if you or anyone you know was involved with either of these fine publications - or any others that I'm missing out - it would be really great to feature some opinions and memories of them in HTH.

I hope you'll agree that this is a fun idea, and I hope that there are some of you out there who can remember these two zines! Any help or guidance greatly appreciated - you can message us on here, through the social media platforms or via email which is [email protected]

Ta.