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Torquay UnitedYou are in: Devon > Sport > Torquay United > Goodbye to the Gulls  Laura Joint, standing on the Pop Side Goodbye to the GullsBy Laura Joint Torquay United have been relegated out of the Football League, 80 years after joining the league in 1927. For lifelong Gulls fans like myself, it's a day we've been dreading - but half expecting - for some time. I remember (vaguely!) the first time my dad took me to Plainmoor to watch Torquay United. It was in the mid-1960s, and we took up what was to become our usual spot high up, towards the back of the Pop Side terracing. If I could see around the people in front of me, I got a good view of the goalmouth at the Ellacombe End. Being knee-high to a grasshopper at the time, I didn't actually see much of the action - but I got the gist of it, and I was hooked. I got to know all the usual faces who also stood in our area, and we gave them nicknames. There was 'shouter' and 'moaner' - guess what they used to do, non-stop, for 90 minutes.  Torquay's squad in 1969 (Getty) United had a good team in the 1960s, and a good manager - Frank O'Farrell, but I was too young really to appreciate this era for the Gulls. As it turns out, this was as good as it ever got. My clearest memories (still) as a United fan are from the 1970s. The players I remember really well, for some reason, are Ian Twitchen, Bruce Stuckey, Dick Edwards, Steve Cooper, Willie Brown, Jimmy Dunne, Les Lawrence and Mick Mahoney. At the end of games, kids could go onto the pitch and pat the players on the back, which I did on the odd occasions when I felt brave enough. The club was very much a part of the community, and my sister and I would stroll in to watch pre-season training at Plainmoor during the summer holidays. At some point during the '70s, I made the momentous move from the Pop Side to the Mini Stand. This was a very scary place. Everyone else seemed a few years older and quite a bit bigger than me…but it was so exciting! In those days, United played their home games on Saturday evenings and the atmosphere seemed so much better. We weren't hugely successful but I'd been watching United long enough not to expect too much in the way of trophies - or promotion, for that matter. And then there were the 1980s - bottom of the league and re-elected twice, and then the 'saved by the police dog' incident on the last day of the 1986-7 season. I remember that game - the 2-2 draw against Crewe - as though it was yesterday.  Playing footy in the 60s, and already a Gulls fan Head in hands one minute, jumping up and down like a lunatic the next as Paul Dobson's injury-time equaliser saved United's bacon. We all stood around saying 'phew, that was a close shave - let's hope it never happens again…' There have been good days, of course. The hugely unexpected visits to Wembley in 1989 and 1991 were like two family days out. Up we all went in a convoy of cars, pinching ourselves that little old Torquay United were playing at Wembley Stadium - albeit in the final of the Sherpa Van Trophy, which they lost against Bolton. And the promotion play-off win against Blackpool (which finished after penalties at about 11pm) has to be my best moment as a Gulls fan. On the way back down the motorway, we stuck on a Simon and Garfunkel tape and sang-along all the way home! A third appearance at Wembley in 1998 ended in disappointment, however, with defeat in the promotion play-off final against Colchester. I've had a lot of laughs watching Torquay, and reporting on them for the local media. I think the biggest laugh I ever had was at my own expense in May 2001. It was the final day of the season and next-to-bottom United were playing at bottom club Barnet. One of them would be relegated come 5 o'clock.  United's promotion parade in May 2004 I ummed and arred over whether my nerves could stand the strain before finally making a late decision to drive up to London. Anyway, to cut a long story short, by the time my sister and I arrived at Barnet, there was a sign near the ground saying: 'Underhill full.' We couldn't get in to see the match! So we paced up and down outside the ground (we weren't the only ones), and listened to the goals go in. We heard us win 3-2 before driving back to Torquay to celebrate in the pub. We were celebrating again when United won promotion on the last day of the season in 2003-4 - what a nice surprise that was. But relegation followed the very next season. And in 2006, United again saved themselves from relegation with a 0-0 draw at home to Boston on the last day of the season. It was awful, sitting through that game, just waiting for the final whistle to blow and hoping the other teams in the relegation scrap didn't win. I watched it with my dad and at the end we said 'this can't keep happening.' And we were right. This year, Torquay's luck ran out, leaving us with with a lifetime of memories. I know United will still be playing football in the Conference, but it just won't be the same. last updated: 09/08/07 Have Your SayAre you a lifelong Torquay United supporter? Do you have any memories to share? Post your views here and read messages from other fans. Danny Margrain Pete Tidy BrianW (Fareham) BrianW (Fareham) will parker mary page o.a.p!! martin hayman torquay David Toop([email protected]) Canada alan merson, London N7 SEE ALSOYou are in: Devon > Sport > Torquay United > Goodbye to the Gulls |
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