Why was Torquay United formed?

Anyway, good to see you posting again, welcome back.

I am sure Jon will provide more detail and dates but in short 1899-1910 Torquay United. 1910-1921 merged with Ellacombe and renamed Torquay Town. Then Babbacombe came on board and we have been Torquay United since 1921.

This summary made me think about when each of the other two clubs - Babbacombe and Ellacombe - were formed. No doubt Jon has probably told us on umpteen occasions so apologies for not committing this to memory.

There's no mention of either club in the centenary history's results chart for 1899/1900. Nor did the first Torquay United appear to face Babbacombe or Ellacombe until playing friendlies against each during the 1904/05 season.

But there's a Wiki article about Ellacombe FC and it appears to be a pretty good one (making you wonder who wrote it). It doesn't give a precise foundation date - merely "around the turn of the 20th century" - yet indicates Ellacombe were the inaugural Torquay and District League champions in 1903/04 (when Torquay United were busy playing in the East Devon League).

Lo and behold there's also a Wiki article for Babbacombe FC giving a formation date of 1903. They then joined the Torquay and District League for 1904/05 and won it immediately.

Each Wiki article is worth a look and both acknowledge the centenary history and one of Mike Holgate's books as sources. There are references too to the proposed three-way merger of 1910 which ultimately involved only Torquay United and Ellacombe (although Babbacombe ended up ground sharing at Plainmoor).

Now, thinking it through, isn't it appropriate that the names of two ends at Plainmoor reflect the other clubs in the eventual and protracted amalgamation process? Geography, more than history, made that the case but it's still worth pondering. Those early years are cetainly a fascinating subject and you can go deeper and deeper. I am just reading an early Torquay Athletic handbook from 1925 and it states they secured the use of their own ground in Manor road and football and other sports were also played there. This was 1880 and just what was meant by football is open to question. The following year they moved into a field in Warbro Road, now known as Plainmoor.

Hopefully Jon may be able to give us more of an insight. For me that period between 1899 and 1903 is particularly fascinating in the way that the three clubs emerged. As for others, the various post-1903 league tables in the centenary history don't indicate any other clubs from Torquay itself featuring save for the brief participation of Torquay Tramways.

I wonder how long it took for other clubs in the town to enter the Torquay and District/South Devon League? The T&D tables in the book for 1907-1910 refer to "division one". Am I right in assuming it was a single division competition? Or was there a second division?. Furthermore, do we know which other town clubs were playing league football by 1914? Or indeed by 1925?

A final thought, which again we may have discussed before, is that Torquay appears to have left Paignton football behind in 1910. There were plenty of fixtures between Torquay United and Paignton, both friendlies and league games, between 1900 and 1910. Then both the newly-formed Torquay Town and Babbacombe switch to Plymouth football presumably leaving Paignton in local football. That was for once and for all you assume.

There's a theory doing the rounds in another place that the great Sheffield United team of the late 1890s may have proved the inspiration for the naming of our club. Indeed, if you look at the records, the Sheffield club were one of the first Uniteds - if not the first - and certainly the most pre-eminent of the day.

Interestingly Torquay are one of the oldest Uniteds in professional football. Most, for whatever reason, were so named after 1899.

But there were others knocking around. One was Exeter United who were one of our early opponents in the East Devon League. Could they have been the inspiration instead? Or was it just a case of somebody making a moving plea to unite the footballers of the town against that other code?