Torquay United Fans Forum

Me too, I was there as a spotty teenager.

I vividly remember news of the third round draw filtering into school one day in December 64 and the place went mad. I was already a committed fan as my maternal grandfather first took me to see the likes of Don Mills, Sammy Collins and Ronnie Shaw (I sat next to his daughter, Susan at primary school!) in the fifties. Grampa was a lifelong fan having played for Babbacombe (one of the two sides to amalgamate and form United) so I didn't really have much choice!

I recall getting to the ground mid morning so I was one of the first people in the queue outside the old 'greenhouse' gates at the Babbacombe end of Marnham Road. Of course, that meant waiting for hours but when I got in I sprinted to the railing exactly half way along the pop side and I got my place right at the front!

Then the crush began. There was a level area all along the front of the pop side a bit like the one there now but the difference from today was that anybody could stand anywhere. In normal matches the crowd might be two or three deep at the front, then there was a gap and then the terraces would house the rest. Of course, that gap was filled for the Spurs match so anybody on the level and at the back of this part of the pop side wouldn't have seen too much.

On a separate subject, in those days some fans used to bring in wooden orange boxes to stand on to improve their view and nobody batted an eyelid. A lot of the younger ones had wooden rattles (I think based on bird scarers). The club mascot, Norman? used to make batches of them and hand them out to us lads every now and then. Imagine someone coming to a match now with a wooden box and a wooden hand implement designed to be violently rotated either to the front or above the head. Security would have a field day.

Some older fans still wore trilby hats too so I had to be careful in choosing my vantage point until I reached six foot tall!

I'm afraid to admit that I was one of the invaders after the third goal but I didn't get far as I quickly realised that I might lose my place and climbed back over the fence. At the final whistle it was bedlam and I remember wandering around Cary Park afterwards talking to anybody and everybody.

Then came the replay and our headmaster had given stern warnings about not 'mitching' off (not his words!) to go to White Hart Lane so with that and my parents breathing down my neck at home, I had no chance of being there - ah well.

Yes, Stubbs was a legend although he couldn't match Sam Collins' goal scoring record so I'll leave that one there. I saw nearly all his home goals and many away ones too and the one that sticks out for me was a curler into the far top corner away at Luton (we still lost 3-2).

I've moved this comment from the match thread as it is more relevant here:

Robin Stubbs with a belter away at Luton back in the 60's, we still lost that one 3-2. And what about Mickey Cave's thunderbolt to win 1-0 at Aston Villa - surely one of our most memorable results as well?

Les Lawrence once scored one from about a mile out (o.k I'm looking through rose tinted glasses) at the Babbacombe end and, more recently, David Graham scored with a delightful volley on the turn at the Ellacombe end. I can't remember the opposition in those matches but others will, no doubt.

Finally, how about that Rene Howe curler in our 4-2 win at Burton a couple of seasons ago?

Yes, Young's goal was a wonder strike but straying off topic......

,,,,,so was that by Robin Stubbs with a belter away at Luton back in the 60's, we still lost that one 3-2. And what about Mickey Cave's thunderbolt to win 1-0 at Aston Villa - surely one of our most memorable results as well?

Les Lawrence once scored one from about a mile out (o.k I'm looking through rose tinted glasses) at the Babbacombe end and, more recently, David Graham scored with a delightful volley on the turn at the Ellacombe end. I can't remember the opposition in those matches but others will, no doubt.

Finally, how about that Rene Howe curler in our 4-2 win at Burton a couple of seasons ago?

Briscoe

I also saw O'Connor's reaction at the end. He buried his head in his shirt for quite a while and was clearly upset.

As far as I am concerned, he has played wholeheartedly ever since his arrival and he, for one, should hold his head up high rather than feel any responsibility for the mess we are in.

Bengull

Thanks for a good read, it was painful to work my way through it, not because of the writing style but because of the content, it really felt like reading an obituary.

I've supported TU since the 1950's. My maternal grandfather introduced me and what better person as he had played for Babbacombe which team later merged with Torquay Town to form the United that we follow. So it was in my blood whether I liked it or not.

At my age, I had hopes of seeing out my days watching my club still in the League but what chance of that now? I don't think that there is likely to be a quick fix to the recurrent problems this time and we will languish in the underworld along with all those other ex League sides (14 out of 24 in the Conference premier alone).

In reality, we didn't do too badly in the old days even though to my way of thinking the only time of any consistency was the first O'Farrell era. We seem to have had a precarious existence ever since, lurching from crisis to crisis and, like a cactus, occasionally flowering only to wither away just as quickly. How many times have we been promoted only to fall straight back again (rhetorical one that - don't bother to look it up as it hurts just to think about it).

Mostly now, I'm reminded of Michael Palin's Barstonworth Ripping Yarn, we seem to be becoming a poor copy.

Ah well, I won't stop attending if only because I want to take my grandson along one day soon just as my grandfather did for me all those years ago....
...and there is always the next match!

Just watched the Sky highlights and will Hargreaves be in trouble for his 'handshake' at the end? There were clearly some angry words and hand waving from the ref after CH had said goodbye.

After doing my match day routines I sat in the bench to watch the rest of the first half and my first reaction to the sending off incident was that we'd won a free kick for arm up by the Newport player! The rest has been well aired by others so no further comment on that.

Another reflection, at half time I went up to buy a cuppa in the restaurant in the family stand. I gazed idly out of the window onto the green next to the swimming pool to see two police dog handlers exercising their German Shepherds. What a pretty pass when we have to have these in attendance for such a match - I despair

Re Aldershotgull's post,

How much do you think Thea doesn't care?

How deep has she dug into her purse?

I'll grant you one thing though, you both care enough to have been there.

28,000 gate at Villa park that day. When we scored the Holt End started to empty. Muggins thought that they had given up hope and gone home but no, those were the days when you could freely circulate around a ground. Suddenly there seemed to be an awful lot more fans in our area than there were at the start of the match. Our celebrations at the end were slightly muted as it was time for discretion being the better part of valour!

How tall was Andy Donnelly?

Same applies to us, they will be dreading it if our revival is real