Kettering v Torquay - previous meetings?

Although Kettering and Torquay were both in the Southern League in the 1920s the two clubs were in separate sections - East and West - and never met. The first "meeting" came at the ballot for Football League membership in 1927 which, of course, we won:

Watford FL 44 re-elected to Division Three (South)
Torquay United SL 21 Second vote 26 elected to D3 (South)
Aberdare Athletic FL 21 " " 19 not re-elected
Kettering Town SL 1
Yeovil & Petters U SL 1
Ebbw Vale SL 0

Kettering first sought election to the Football League as early as 1900 when our club was barely a year old. The successful applicants that year were Blackpool and Stockport County. Kettering then joined the Southern League and played alongside the first teams of Southampton, Bristol City, Spurs, Portsmouth, West Ham, QPR, Reading, etc.

The closest Kettering came to being elected to the Football League was in 1975:

Swansea Town FL 43 re-elected to Division Four
Scunthorpe United FL 41 re-elected to Division Four
Darlington FL 32 re-elected to Division Four
Workington FL 28 re-elected to Division Four
Kettering Town SL 20
Yeovil Town SL 8
Wimbledon SL 4
Bedford Town SL 2
Goole Town NP 2
Scarborough NP 2
Gainsborough Trinity NP 1
Nuneaton Borough SL 1
Telford United SL 1
Weymouth SL 1
Boston United NP 0
Chelmsford City SL 0

We finally caught up with Kettering on the field in 1950/51 when their return to the Southern League coincided with Torquay United Reserves last season in that league. Both games resulted in home wins: 3-0 at Kettering; 3-2 at Plainmoor. We finished the higher of the two teams that season.

Here's some pictures of Rockingham Road over the years - from the Southern League official history and Kerry Miller. The structure in the second picture was apparently known as the Tin Hat.