Dave Smith

Morning Wildebeeste,

Welcome to this forum and I am glad you have enjoyed our history section!

I'm sure some members will have memories of Dave Smith although understandably it is a quiet time of year....

Thanks for a kind welcome, guys. I could spend all night looking at the history pages and keep noticing links between the Gulls and the Spireites. Dave Caldwell is an obvious one and John Turner another but I was intrigued to see Martin Wright on a team photo from the early seventies. I grew up in New Whittington, just North of Chesterfield, and Martin was from Old Whittington. When I was a nipper he once caught the same bus home as me and he gave me a friendly wink when he saw me staring at him in hero worship.

Martin was a very decent striker who once scored a hat trick against Mansfield (and also got one in a 5-0 win against the relegation-bound Gulls in 1972) but was unlucky enough to be a contemporary of Ernie Moss so had few chances at Saltergate. I don't think he was a howling success at Plainmoor, though. On the same team photo the Torquay trainer is Mick Hughes, who was always known as Blodwen (Welsh people being a rarity in Derbyshire) at Saltergate and wore the number 6 shirt with distinction in the sixties in what was, frankly, a pretty poor side.

Might I just add? A player called Mick Squire of TUFC scored one of the finest goals I ever saw at Saltergate. I can't remember the year but it was a Sunday afternoon game and Torquay were 2-0 ahead at half time but lost 3-2. It was exactly like Gazza's famous goal for England against Scotland; a flick over a defender's head and then a volley into the net. I can't remember ever hearing of him again, though. Does anyone know what happened to the man who scored this cracking goal?

Dave has actually posted on this forum on these two threads:

torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?board=20092010&action=display&thread=5299&page=2

torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=7090&thread=9020&page=1#89105

Plenty about him there, both his footballing style and his lively personality!

That generation produced a number of players from Derbyshire / Notts who settled into the licensed trade in South Devon - Smithy, John Sims and John Turner.

Old habits die hard and I have followed Chesterfield since 1963 but if my house and work move to Torquay succeeds as planned I shall spend some time at Plainmoor (or should that be "The Homelands"?) next season, which I am looking forward to even though Torquay's colours are uncomfortably close to those of Mansfield. When did the sun ever shine there and where is the beach, I ask myself?

Rather embarrassingly I get the impression that Chesterfield have seen themselves as a cut above Torquay in recent years and nicked Chris Brandon in 2005 just as they did John Turner in 1980. Turner was named Division 4's best goalkeeper in 1979/80 even though by the time the PFA awards were announced he was at Saltergate in the Third Division. I actually stopped going to Spireites away games this season because of the arrogant and boorish behaviour of some of the travelling fans and of course this manifested itself most despicably in racist abuse of a young Torquay player before the match at Plainmoor in April last year. The fans' forum on CFC's website is awful (spending 10 minutes on there leaves you feeling as if you have been down a sewer) so finding the Torquay history and old programme pages has been a breath of fresh air and I am looking forward to seeing some more history made in the future.

Going back to the ground's title, is TUFC's ground actually in Plainmoor? Could it not just as easily have been known as Ellacombe or Babbacombe since it seems to be on the borders of all three? We looked at a house at the top of Forest Road and the estate agent insisted it was in Upton even though it seemed pretty close to Plainmoor's shops to me. Then again a different estate agent reckons Congella Road (Ellacombe, surely?) is in St Marychurch. What's going on here and since when have Torquay's different districts been interchangeable?

I actually came to town for a job interview in the 1980s (and the weather was just as wet as today. Please someone tell me it doesn't always piss down here) and the first thing I saw when I left the station was the rugby and cricket ground across the road. That would have been a very handy place for a football team to play and a lot easier to find than Plainlandsellababbacombe. Still, it's good to see old-fashioned floodlight pylons still in situ on Warbro Road since they are now quite rare elsewhere, and the new stand looks pretty swish from the outside. Best of all though it is a fine prospect to be able to stand down the side of the pitch. I had a season ticket at Chesterfield's new stadium last season and it was a big mistake not just because it was a relegation season but also because I now understand that when you have your own seat (even though the view may be grand) you are stuck with the same moaning gits every week whether you like it or not. There's a lot to be said for being able to walk up to the other end of a stand whenever you feel like it.

David Caldwell: any thoughts? I believe that in season 1997/8 he was sent off 5 times (2 for Chesterfield and 3 for Torquay) which must be a record, surely. Sheltering from the rain all those years ago on the sea front I looked at a local paper which suggested he was quite popular with the Gulls' faithful. I am sure someone who contributes to this terrific history site can tell me whether that was true.

An estate agent would say that - the "St Marychurch" tag adds about 20% to the asking price!

You're right in that behind the Popside is Plainmoor, behind the away end is Babbacombe and behind the Family Stand is Ellacombe.

The football pitch and the school next to it is Homelands. Some stuff about the ground's history and location in the thread below. Barton Downs is our official geography and cartography expert. He also knows more about the dark side of Plainmoor than I do. I am a Torquay boy not a Babbacombe boy.

www.torquayfansforum.com/index.cgi?board=tufchistory&action=display&thread=3500

I think I will be looking out for the home fixture against Chesterfield on Monday now. One of my most satisfying matches in recent years was the opening game of the 2009/10 season where we beat Chesterfield 2-0 on our return to the league! Mansell sealed the points with a good headed goal at the far post in front of the family stand! The next game at Plainmoor against Chesterfield was at the end of the following season where the Spireites were Champions elect and the point gained from a hard fought draw was enough to put us into the play offs although that wasn't apparent at the time.......

I must say I think the new stand rounds off the view from Windsor Road very nicely. With the ground being up on the hillside it looks as though someone has parked a small ship among the houses.

Glad to see the mystery of Congella and Berea solved, but what's the explanation for Blindwylle and Bampfylde, I wonder? And do Florida and Palermo Roads really lead to those two destinations?