Torquay United Fans Forum

Gareth Howells scoring the winning penner at Wembley against Blackpool in the play off final in 91 is still one of my top 3 TUFC supporting moments. Quality keeper. Would love to see whether Loram has still got it in his locker. My favourite TUFC player ever.

This is great. As patronising as it is riddled with errors.

I suggest you research how to use apostrophes correctly; "it's use at the end of a list"??? Oh and while we're at it, a split infinitive would be if I had written "how to correctly use apostrophes", where 'correctly' splits the infinitive 'to use'.

Those are just two glaring errors I can be bothered to pick out.

Anyway, nobody is an expert in English grammar anymore, least of all you or I. What's important here is that a young lad, still in school, has made a very commendable effort at a blog and should be applauded for his efforts, rather than given an unnecessary "lesson", especially one that only flirts with constructive criticism. Well done OllieGull, good for you.

I don't think it does any harm for Howe to have to fight to get his place back. He got himself sent off for a stupid tackle, he's missed 4 games and his replacement has done nothing wrong, with the team hitting some great form. There's no question he's the better footballer, but he's also the more rash of the two. Let him learn his lesson on the bench and let Atieno be rewarded for his part in recent success.

There is nothing in the Laws of the Game that says a foul from behind is a yellow card.[/quote]

No, but there is to say its a red;

"Any player who lunges at an opponent in challenging for the ball from the front, from the side or from behind using one or both legs, with excessive force and endangering the safety of an opponent is guilty of serious foul play".

As you will know, serious foul play = red card.

If people are going to bang on about "the letter of the law", then Giggs should have been sent off too. Did he lunge at Aguero "from behind"? Yes. Did he use "one or both legs"? Yes. Did he use "excessive force and endanger the safety of an opponent"? - well, that's where it is open to interpretation and where referees should use some common sense. If i lunged at you like Giggs did in the street, i think you'd agree it was excessive and endangered your safety. Why should that be any different on grass in a football match. If we're applying "the rules", then it's a nonsense to suggest that Kompany's tackle is worse than Giggs' in that context. Giggs' is arguably more dangerous as he made contact at legged Aguero up, who could've landed awkwardly and popped a shoulder or broken something.

I agree that by the letter of the law, Kompany goes, but then so does Giggs. Where's the holy grail that is consistency? People will argue the ref used common sense in not sending Giggs off and i would agree. But if he's entitled to use that common sense in that situation, then why not with Kompany? I don't support either Manchester team, but as a football fan, i was really looking forward to that game and in my opinion, Foy's selective application of common sense has ruined the game as a fair contest.

happytorq wrote:They used to have the final of the primary schools competition there too. As I recall it was called the Bewley Cup.

Very true. To the best of my knowledge the Bewdley Cup Final was played at Plainmoor until at least 1989, when i played for Sherwell Valley against Babbacombe. I remember the game was drawn and we shared the cup, which was quite odd looking back, but then i suppose you couldn't expect 10/11 year olds to play extra time on a full-size adult pitch...

We also used to play Pioneer League cup finals there until at least 1995 and also certain representative matches. The Grammar School also played some 'high profile' games at Plainmoor, such as in the national schools trophy.

All in all i was lucky enough to play on the hallowed turf a dozen or so times as a kid and every time was a memborable and exciting experience. I was always going to be a Torquay fan, but my first game at Plainmoor cemented that permanently in my psyche. I wonder how many other youngsters would become fans if they could play there??

Worthy sentiments Trojan67. R.I.P Dennis.

Being from a slightly younger generation, I was lucky enough to be taught by Chris Penford, both in the classroom and on the football pitch and he was also my head of house at Torquay Boys' - an absolutely terrific bloke and an early hero of mine. He personally came to see me at primary school to tell me he wanted me to join Davys House and left a great first impression that lasts to this day. Coincidentally, I was also taught by his wife at that primary school.

My sincere condolences to their family.

i don't know if this needs a separate thread, or indeed has been discussed elsewhere (i can't find it if it has). but i heard about this on talksport yesterday and it seems, on the face of it, an incredibly good idea;

http://www.hartlepoolunited.co.uk/page/SeasonTickets

£100 per season ticket (£50 for kids), based on the condition that 4,000 were sold (they've sold 5,700) guarantees somewhere around £500k income (not sure how many were kid's tickets) and then they've got to be hoping that if at least 70% of holders turn up every game, the match day revenue will plug the gap left by the bargain tickets. It's a gamble, but their chairman gave an intelligent interview and it seems they have done their homework to make it a calculated gamble. At very least, they atmosphere should be good!

I applaud this initiative and I wonder how a similar sort of scheme, taking into account things like differing capacities, bottom lines, playing budgets etc might work at Plainmoor, both in terms of revenue and in getting more people through the door, as everyone always agrees is the priority. these ideas are no doubt discussed by supporters of lower league clubs up and down the land, but hats off to the monkeyhangers for having the courage to actually do it.

Thanks for the welcome gents.

If I can make it, I will be definitely be in the yellow end!

Trojan 67 wrote:As an add on to some schools' finals being played at Plainmoor, the one South Devon League cup final to be played at Plainmoor was the Dartmouth Cup final (for Division 1 teams).

Am I right in saying that local finals at Plainmoor ceased to happen in the later years of Mr Bateson's tenure ?

Back in the day, it was every local football playing schoolboy's dream to play at Plainmoor in a cup final.

For me, it happened many times, but that's another story.

As this appears to be a good thread to 'out' us 'lurkers', I thought I'd throw my hat in the ring, especially as there are a few things in discussion that I might be able to add to...

Firstly, as my name suggests, I am the prodigal son of an existing poster. I first came to hear of this site about a year ago when my mother started complaining about the amount of time the old boy was spending on that "bloody football thing"...apart from amusing me greatly, it also piqued my interest... Secondly, please accept my apologies in advance for any unforeseen breaches of etiquette - although I've been reading this a while, I don't know the first thing about contributing in an acceptable fashion. Also, as I live in Birmingham and still (try to) play amateur football every Saturday, my attendance at matches is limited to Boxing Day fixtures (when at home) and any other festive occasions when I happen to be back in the good old 'bay. I do however still love to follow the Gulls and so this is a great site for doing so from a distance, in addition to the OS, FLS and so on - I am aware of the limitations of having too many opinions when you can't get to games... It's great to have a way to keep up to date with everything going on at the club, especially as there seem to be many very knowledgeble folk regularly posting.

Anyway, to the point in hand re: local finals at Plainmoor and also Torre Trojans... I played for Trojans in the early-mid '90s in the Pioneer League from u11 to u15s (or u16s - I'd need to check the trophies as my memory is already hazy) and we certainly played our cup finals at Plainmoor. We beat Buckland Athletic to the double every year, which must have made them sick and so I can say that local finals were at Plainmoor until at least 1995. As Trojan 67 says, it was indeed a dream come true to play on the 'hallowed turf' and one which I had held from an early age - one of my earliest and most vivid memories of supporting United was the momentous night when we beat Spurs at Plainmoor in the league cup (1st leg of a tie in '87 I think) when "The Dude", Derek Dawkins scored the winner. Fortunately, it wasn't too long before the dream came true as (and looking back this is incredible) the Torbay Area Primary Schools XI played their home games there, for whom I am proud to say I was selected. Many of you will remember one of my teammates in that side, Garry Monk, who obviously played for United and is now at Swansea. I also played there in the 1989 Bewdley Cup final for Sherwell Valley School vs Babbacombe Primary, as a very excited 10-year-old. No wonder the pitch seemed so massive and we did play on the full pitch!

Also, from another post, I definitely remember the Styles Cup, which I won with the TBGS first year (now known as Year 7) team, but my memory fails me with some of the others.

Anyway, I may be tempted to raise my head above the parapet another time, but if not, I will certainly continue to read. Fingers crossed for the remainder of the season and, if my season is finished by then, I will be making the trip to the DVS for the Rotherham game with 2 very good friends who are Millers fans.