TorquayFans.com | Torquay United Fans Forum

Latest topic on the OS indicates Knill is trying to sell the area to potential players.
http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 73801.aspx

This has me puzzled as we all know it is very difficult to recruit players to the South West. The question for me is why?
Apart from family ties I cannot see for the life of me why somebody would pick any other club in League 1 or 2 over Torquay for what the area provides.

I have wondered this for many years now. Strange because I would jump at the chance to move to Torquay over somewhere such as Rotherham etc!

Richinns wrote:Latest topic on the OS indicates Knill is trying to sell the area to potential players.
http://www.torquayunited.com/news/artic ... 73801.aspx

This has me puzzled as we all know it is very difficult to recruit players to the South West. The question for me is why?
Apart from family ties I cannot see for the life of me why somebody would pick any other club in League 1 or 2 over Torquay for what the area provides.

I have wondered this for many years now. Strange because I would jump at the chance to move to Torquay over somewhere such as Rotherham etc!

I seem to remember Buckle making a big thing of this. I think he said that if he could persuade a player to come down for talks then they would usually sign, it was getting the player to make the trip to Devon in the first place that was the difficult bit.

Depends on the age of the players I would think Richinn -younger players might prefer a bigger urban area/or to be near to one,for the social/nightlife etc;older married players will have kids settled at school,partners with jobs etc and might be prepared to move to a club within reasonable travelling distance,but would have to uproot completely to come down here.Most players have a sufficient income to buy a decent property in the area they live in so even if the club they play for is in a district such as you describe, they can live in better outlying districts and enjoy a decent quality of life/environment. Property prices and cost of living will often be cheaper too.

Lovely if you've half a brain, but not so attractive for virtually comatose footballerz more interested in the nightlife and easy birds than country walks and the beach.

Matt.

Yeah, theres no easy birds in Torquay are there?!!

Many birds in Torquay are quite happy to fly around dropping loads of sh*t on people, and, since most of these birds are Gulls, they wouldn't give a good impression of the club. Obviously, young players from upcountry would much prefer the carpet-bombing pigeon sh*t in places like London and Birmingham.

Plus the fact 21 of 23 away games is 2hours+ on a coach and most of them 5-6 hours. Getting peopel to move from busy cities with everything on their doorstep to an outpost 4-5 hours away from home, their friends and family is not an easy challenge.

and if you think it is, how come Plymouth, Exeter and Torquay 3 clubs with no 'major' club on their doorstep, 2 of them with reasonable supporter bases have NEVER been any good. Even when football was fair, none of us have ever been any good. None played in the top flight, none won a trophy of any relevance and most of the time players don't just play for one of us, we pass the parcel.

royalgull wrote:and if you think it is, how come Plymouth, Exeter and Torquay 3 clubs with no 'major' club on their doorstep, 2 of them with reasonable supporter bases have NEVER been any good. Even when football was fair, none of us have ever been any good. None played in the top flight, none won a trophy of any relevance and most of the time players don't just play for one of us, we pass the parcel.

Brilliant post!

royalgull wrote:and if you think it is, how come Plymouth, Exeter and Torquay 3 clubs with no 'major' club on their doorstep, 2 of them with reasonable supporter bases have NEVER been any good. Even when football was fair, none of us have ever been any good. None played in the top flight, none won a trophy of any relevance and most of the time players don't just play for one of us, we pass the parcel.

Never thought of it like that but you're right.
The vitriolic hatred some fans feel towards their near neighbours upcountry always surprises me and it always surprises them when I say we don't really have that, it's more like sibling rivalry for the three Devon clubs. But this really explains it, it's out of necessity - we really are a band of brothers, each wearing the others' hand-me-downs.

'The vitriolic hatred some fans feel towards their near neighbours upcountry always surprises me and it always surprises them when I say we don't really have that, it's more like sibling rivalry for the three Devon clubs. But this really explains it, it's out of necessity - we really are a band of brothers, each wearing the others' hand-me-downs.'
You can put yourself in a band if you like, Philgull; & I'm not adverse to talking to Grecian fans cos I live in the neighbourhood. But please never include me in the same sentence as the Home Park lot. Thanks !!!!!!!