Long time no Plainmoor

An impressive stat but then you are normally very good with them.

For me, it was the birth of my twins in 2003 which played havoc with my sleep, time and finances. Fast forward four years and we had fallen out of the EFL and the Buckle revival was underway so took my children to see us play Droylsden on 29 September 2007.

We were surprisingly losing until a Sills header got us on level terms with about 10 minutes to go. With tension building and the game slipping into injury time a long ball in from Nico was headed emphatically home by Lee Phillips right in front of us in the family stand. A magic moment after being away for so long that I will never forget but also the point when my son became a gull.

So to answer your question, it will be almost exactly 13 years if we kick off on 3 October.

Looks like Lester Shapter as referee......

Let's hope so!

Yes it was a sad time for football the 1980's. Violence and disorder was expected even at lower levels, there was Heysel and Hillsborough, and disgraceful scenes at England away games (it was not just an English problem either). At the time of this 1984 Stockport game I was living in Liskeard but soon after moved to Barnstaple. It was the chaotic nature of football at that time that veered me towards the Barnstaple Rugby Union club for my spectator fix. I didn't abandon Plainmoor and was there for epic moments like Bryn the police dog scoring against Crewe (well that is the way it is often put over!), but of course it was a long way to go before the days of the dangerous new link road so a friendly club like Barnstaple RFC with an afternoon of full blooded and good natured sport promised was bound to be an attractive proposition. For TUFC of course the late 80's saw some magical times with Cyril and Wembley and nearly taking the cup holders Coventry on their own ground (I couldn't have missed games like that!), but overall football was in dire straits! Better now, apart from the new handball rule!

I thought it was evens when I first posted this, looked optimistic a few weeks ago but now looking like the record will fall.

Love the old cuttings you put up.

Lew Pope is a real unsung hero for Torquay United. In my youth, I never gave him the credit or accorded him the respect he deserved. He did not have the assured privately-educated confident professionalism of a Tony Boyce or an Alex Rowe and was unfairly regarded as a bit if a joke by most fans of my generation.

But he loved TUFC and ploughed in his time and his money to keep the club afloat - never afraid to get his hands dirty mucking in to do whatever job needed doing. I have often said that we may never have got from the Webb years to the Bateson years were it not for Cyril Knowles. We would not have got from the Webb years to the Bateson years without Lew Pope.

The new "family end". That was just simple benches in the ministand.

No goals from the dream team up front of Benny Laryea and Dean Mooney. What a surprise. We could always pep things up by bringing in Gary Pugh when he wasn't needed by Thanet. Laryea was quick and useless, Mooney big strong and useless. Pugh was not quick or big and strong but useless.

Who, I wonder, was Dean Compton? Paul Compton, Dean Whitehouse or Dean Mooney? Receiving a decent pass from any of those three would have been enough to throw poor Benny off his stride.

1343 in the paper, 1484 the official number. I thought the difference was usually the other way round. Either way, the prediction that crowds would go lower was spot on. Hard times indeed.

Fans to be let back into stadia after lockdown ends! From our perspective I’m thinking it doesn’t matter whether Torbay is in tier one or two as do not think we can get above 2000 fans in the stadium that are socially distanced.

link - Exeter City have released a statement on fans returning which will be of interest to some and I look forward to seeing something from TUFC.