Pre-Season Friendlies

[dazgull]

I have only been Taunton once for a match so would like to go there again. Saw them play Tiverton several years ago now and saw the match at Tivvy with very big crowds.

If it could be the same day Somerset are home in a championship that would be excellent. Cricket in afternoon, the Gulls in the evening......excellent!

[AustrianAndyGull]

Can't we do a tour of Yorkshire and then i can watch a county game at Headingley and then say a friendly v Wakefield at night?

As a side issue Daz, do you watch Somerset because you are from Somerset or because it is by default your nearest county that has a cricket team? I know Devon have a minor counties team but do you not support them and support Somerset instead? Just curious mate.

[dazgull]

Excellent idea of going to Yorkshire for a tour........just dont go to Harrogate though.

Im cricket mad Andy and i used to play in the Devon League for Bovey Tracey, who have had many Devon games there over the years. So yes watched some Devon games when they played there. It was in my early teens I started going to watch Somerset with family and friends....Sunday League matches with Ian Botham, Viv Richards and Joel Garner were great days out. Have continued going to one day games over the years and a Twenty/Twenty game is very entertaining. There are a lot of Somerset members living in Devon who go regularly.

[AustrianAndyGull]

If you get the chance go to Scarborough for the Yorkshire cricket festival and see the magnificent men from the white rose county play. I watch Derbyshire a bit purely as when they play at Chesterfield i'm 5 minutes away but i support Yorkshire.

[dazgull]

Have been fortunate to go to a couple od sunday league games after watching Torquay play away on the saturday. Brightons last season at the Goldstone, Somerset played sussex the day after and day after Torquay were at Darlington wennt to Chester-le-Street. Got some strange looks me and my mate in Torquay shirts that day......

Have been to a few county grounds but never been to Yorkshire. Great one day win for Somerset there last week

[HRG]

Fine then, I'll just have to be excited about the Hereford game enough for everybody.

HUZZAH!!

[happytorq]

Fine then, I'll just have to be excited about the Hereford game enough for everybody.

HUZZAH!!

no no. I'm excited about it too, since it'll be my first Torquay game for years.

Huzzah!

[GazTheGull]

confirmed friendly against Taunton on 26th July, 7:45pm kick off

https://x.com/InsidePlainmoor/status/339461806680588288

[AustrianAndyGull]

Is there any reason why this Taunton friendly has been arranged less than 24 hours before the friendly at Hereford?

[taxilady]

Well, Taunton's on the way to Hereford.,......just a couple of away days?

[AustrianAndyGull]

Taunton is on the way to Carlisle too but i don't see us rocking up at Brunton Park. :na:

[Dutchgull]

Possibly being used for the youth / fringe guys ??

[supergulls]

Alan knill has said he is going to run with a squad of 17-18 players this year so even if he uses 3 or 4 fringe players with a few youth team you would still expect those 4 to be required for the bench the next day which is hardly ideal.

[stefano]

There has been some interesting stuff on 2 of the other 3 Torquay fans forums (there are now 4 since the start of the very interesting Sheffield Gulls Forum run by a guy from Chesterfield who now lives in Sheffield) in the last couple of weeks about our pre-season tour of what was then West Germany prior to a successful 1967/68 season, where we led the division for most of the season only to fall away at the end and finish 4th.

We returned from Europe undefeated, with wins against Dorsten (5-1), Lippstadt (2-0), and draws with Bonn (1-1) and Bayer Leverkusen (1-1).

An interesting suggestion is that the club should now be planning to arrange a re-match with Bayer Leverkusen at Plainmoor for the 50th anniversary of our game in Germany. Why not? It's 4 years away and I'm sure the Germans will have nothing in their diaries for July 2017, and we have a connection with them having played them in Germany so a re-match or 'second leg' on the 50th anniversary would be quite fitting. We might also manage to persuade them that away goals count double so we start with an advantage!

Back in 1967 Leverkusen and ourselves were about the same standard in our respective leagues, with Leverkusen playing in the West German Second Division and us being one of the best teams in the English Division 3 (now League 1). Since those heady days of the 1960's we slipped away to become very much an average Division 4 (League 2) side (with even a couple of seasons in non-league), while Leverkusen went in the opposite direction becoming not only a top side in the Bundesliga but also one of the top teams in Europe.

But why not? Argyle played a Santos team containing Pele and 4 or 5 others from the 1970 Brazil World Cup winning team and they had no previous history with them. Make the approach to the Germans now then four years to plan.

[stefano]

Home game against newly promoted Yeovil Town on 16th July. Good attractive one should be a decent crowd.