Memories

I sigh every time I go into my study and gaze at the Torquay Team photo of 1954/55 on my wall in the days of Div 3 South.

D. Lewis Smith J V A Jeffreies Smith H G Norman
R Shaw S Collins E Webber (manager) H Dobbie D Mills Smith J T

I started going to Plainmoor when I was 7 in 1947. I lived in Windsor Road then and used to go up by myself and stand in the cowshed
When my mother died a few years ago I found a Reserve Team Sheet in her belongings, ( which I regret I have mislaid) v. Cheltenham in the Southern league. It cost me the grand sum of 1d. (that's old pennies)
One of my favourite memories was actually going to Leeds United for the F A Cup game,(was it 1955?). We lived near Nottingham at the time and my father managed to get some complimentary tickets for the whole family as he was friendly with Eric Webber. I think we were probably the only Torquay supporters there. We obviously weren't expected to do much and took a fair bit of banter from the very friendly Leeds fans. We were absolutely over the moon to come away with a draw. Don Mills had the game of his life. How things have changed!

Now living in N Devon and don't get to many games now. Driving hour and a half each way and 2 hours in the ground getting a bit much for me now. Listening to the commentaries and seeing the results, I don't think I'm missing much. At least we oldies have some happy memories from the past. The young supporters of today only have a slow but steady decline to remember.

Great stuff - wish we had that degree of success today! Accepting they are not all with us now, it would still be good to see updates on those great players to learn how they are?

Jon, thanks for that news clip of the highlights at Leeds. I'm afraid I had a damp eye after watching it several times! Unfortunately I was unable to go to the replay. However I did manage to get to the Huddersfield game. I have never been so scared in my life. How on earth they managed to get 22,000 into Plainmoor I will never know. Once again Eric Webber had obliged with complimentary tickets and I was standing in what was then known as the Enclosure. This was the small strip between the main stand and the touchline. For a 15 year old, being squashed in that crowd like a sardine was quite frightening. I don't remember much about the game.
I suppose my previous post was a bit negative. (It's very difficult to be positive about the club these days). Of course there have been some memorable moments in what I call "the modern era". I have been to new Wembley twice and to Old Trafford once. Over the years United have been to various finals several times, which is more than most clubs in the lower divisions can say. From my point of view 17th May 2009 (was it only 8 years ago?) was the highlight. I shall remember the Tim Sills goal for the rest of my life. Probably one of the best goals ever scored at Wembley. As Wayne Carlisle took the ball down the right wing, with Sills making forward progress into the penalty area, Carlisle put over an inch perfect cross which Sills met with a powerful header that was a goal all the way. I always feel Carlisle never got the praise that was due for that cross.
Do you remember Setanta TV? They tried and failed to establish a football channel on TV and were responsible for broadcasting that game. Luckily I was a subscriber and recorded it on video tape which I still have. I have kept my video player just for that! How sad I hear some say!

The last time we managed to win an FA Cup match......where have those six years gone......different times everyone...different times...

I saw this posted on FB and thought to myself - Yea those were good times and why not reminisce after all there's bugger all to be excited about these days.
Great bit of footage, not the sterile non events we have to tolerate these days, from a an era when we had footballers at the club.