Top 100 Torquay United Players

Post by **Trojan 67** » 17 Feb 2015, 22:28

Plymouth Gull wrote:
The next player to feature on the list is someone who didn't actually cross my mind, but I am delighted to see him feature, and with a respectable number of votes too. It'sâ€¦

Wayne Carlisle

The one player who with his many end of game goals in the 2008/09 season made our play-off final appearance possible.
Then there was let the ball roll on in front a bit while looking up and across the line followed by THAT ball into Sills.

tomogull · Post by **tomogull** » 17 Feb 2015, 22:55

Rjc70 wrote: Indeed it is. My grandfather and mum's favourite player. Would be more than happy to hear more first hand accounts, tomo. Probably fairer to say, in mum's case, most fondly remembered player. Glad to see he got so many votes.

I'm really not THAT old Rjc. Well ...... I kid myself I'm not !!! Ronnie played on the right wing and was a great favourite of the fans on the Pop side, his bald head reflecting the winter sunshine. He was a tricky winger and laid on many of Sammy Collins' goals with pinpoint crosses (Sammy was lethal in the air). He was an out-and-out winger. In those days, it was never heard of for wingers to drop back to help out full backs ! We had wing halfs - e.g. Dennis Lewis - to do that job ! I see Ronnie was a Magpie (pre Gulls days) for 12 seasons. I hadn't realised he'd scored 99 goals. I remember a Cup match against Birmingham when they were a top Div 1 (Premier) side. We lost 7 -1 but it was Ronnie who put the one past the great Gil Merrick. He wasn't in my top ten players ..... but if Plymouth Gull had asked for our top dozen players, he would have been there. I'm sure other fans will have good memories of Ronnie Shaw.

Really enjoying this thread. Plymouth Gull 'drip feeding' the players like this makes it really interesting. Two of my top ten have now turned up - Reg Wyatt & Terry Adlington (is that the only photo you could find of him, sprawled in the back of the net, PG ??). I'm surprised that one of my top ten hasn't already turned up with just a few votes so it seems that he is more fondly remembered than I thought he'd be.

Rjc70 · Post by **Rjc70** » 17 Feb 2015, 23:06

Thanks tomo. Greatly appreciated.

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 18 Feb 2015, 16:51

There were other photos, Tomo, but I wanted an action shot

.

Moving on to the next Gull on the list, and it's another player from some time ago. It's

Ken Brown - 9 points

Time spent at club: 1967-1969
Gulls Appearances: 42
Gulls Goals: 1

Ken Brown was another one of those players who came through at a club and stuck with them for the most part of their career. Brown's career started in London with West Ham United (pictured), and he played for the Hammers for 14 years. In his time at the London outfit, Brown made not far off 400 league appearances. It took a while to break into the first team, but once he did, he didn't look back. England came calling, and Brown made one appearance for his country, a win over Northern Ireland at Wembley. Brown also won the FA Cup in 1964, and played alongside Bobby Moore as part of the side that won the European Cup Winners Cup.

After a testimonial with the club, Brown followed John Bond to Plainmoor for £4,000 in 1967. Over two years, Brown made over 40 league appearances, and scored once for United, before departing for Hereford United. Brown stayed in football, having managerial roles at Norwich City, Shrewsbury Town and then Plymouth Argyle.

samuel · Post by **samuel** » 18 Feb 2015, 17:26

Ken Brown, another classy player. had presence. The West Ham connection was very fruitful especially with 'Muffin Man'Bond. There was some really nice football played then - and hardly and diving or cheating. My step-dad was always enthusing about Ron Shaw but unfortunately I never saw him play.

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 19 Feb 2015, 07:51

Sharing the spot with Ken Brown on 9 points is an ex-forward, who featured many times for the Gulls. It'sâ€¦

Les Lawrence - 9 points

Time spent at club: 1977-1982
Gulls Appearances: 215
Gulls Goals: 54

Les Lawrence began his football career at Stourbridge as a youngster, before joining Shrewsbury Town. He played 19 games for the Shrews over the 1975/76 and 76/77 campaigns, before a short spell at Telford in 1977. He then joined Torquay United that summer. Lawrence was the Gulls top scorer in the 1978/79 season, hitting the net 19 times. He went on to play regularly at Plainmoor, making over 200 appearances in league and cup. In 1982, he moved on to join Port Vale, making just 8 appearances without finding the net. His best goal to game ratio came at Aldershot, as he found the net 22 times in 39 games in the Fourth Division, as the Shots finished in 5th place.

Lawrence went on to have spells with Rochdale, Burnley, Peterborough and Cambridge before he dropped into the non-league scene with Kettering and Aylesbury. In total, Les played around 340 league games, finding the net 90 times over a 12 year run in the League.

Mo Gull · Post by **Mo Gull** » 19 Feb 2015, 09:56

My dad was a big fan of Lawrence.

I'm impressed with how many older players are getting recognition on this list. My fear was that it would be only players from the last 10 years that get acknowledged - this being a web-based poll - but it's great that there's many more out there - some i know very little about.

I'm embarrassed to say I'm eagerly waiting to see where Tom Kelly comes in the list.

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 19 Feb 2015, 14:36

We are now entering the players that beat the double-figure mark, and to kick us off, it's a player I was quite surprised picked up so many votes, but I still rated him in his first stint as a Gull. It'sâ€¦

Martin Gritton - 10 points

Time spent at club: 2002-2004, 2010-2011
Gulls Appearances: 115
Gulls Goals: 26

Martin Gritton began his career down the road at Plymouth Argyle in 1998, and made around 45 league appearances over four years. During his time at Home Park he spent time on loan at Yeovil, Shelbourne and Torquay. He made 5 league appearances for United, and made that move permanent in September 2002. He made around 100 appearances in his two years as a Gull, scoring 25 times. In December 2004 Grimsby bought him for a small fee, where he scored 6 league goals in around 50 appearances.

After Grimsby, Gritton had spells with Lincoln, Mansfield and Macclesfield. He scored 13 times in 40 starts at Macclesfield over an 18 month spell, before Chesterfield signed him in 2009. In 2010, Gritton returned to Plainmoor on a short term loan, making 3 starts and appearing a further 9 times off the bench, but he failed to score. Martin's career ended with spells at Yeovil and Stockport County, leaving the Hatters in 2012.

samuel · Post by **samuel** » 19 Feb 2015, 20:51

Liked both Lawrence and Gritton. Les was a firm Plainmoor favourite. His Afro hair was so big he could trap a ball with it. I seem to remember Grits scoring against his old club (the green slime) at Plainmor and wagging his finger at their bench when he did. May be wrong.

madgull · Post by **madgull** » 19 Feb 2015, 22:54

What position (joint, of course) are we on now?

taxilady · Post by **taxilady** » 19 Feb 2015, 23:43

joint 24th I think

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 20 Feb 2015, 11:48

Joint 25th, first post has now been updated. Five players each picked up 10 points, so here is number 2. It's a player who didn't stay around for too long and as with a couple of previous players, has gone onto have a career at a much higher level than our club. It'sâ€¦

Liam Rosenior - 10 points

Time spent at club: 2004
Gulls Appearances: 10
Gulls Goals: 0

Liam Rosenior began his career at Bristol City as a trainee, before moving to Fulham for £55,000 in 2003. In March 2004, Liam came to Torquay to play for his Dad, and Gulls legend Leroy Rosenior. Liam joined the squad for the run-in in which United won automatic promotion thanks to a final day win at Southend, a day that will not be forgotten by the fans that were there, I'm sure. His debut came against Cambridge United, as the Gulls romped to a comfortable 3-0 win. In his 10 appearances, Liam featured on the right side of midfield, and played a part in a run of form that saw just two defeats.

Liam didn't return to the club again for our season in League One, and ended up staying with Fulham until 2007, making over 75 league starts for the London outfit. He moved to Reading in 2007, making over 60 league appearances for the Royals over 3 years. He had a loan spell at Ipswich in 2009/10, featuring regularly for them. In October 2010, Rosenior moved to Hull City, where he still plays regularly now. He played a key role as the Tigers won promotion to the top flight a couple of years ago, and they have stayed there since.

It is clear that we stand out like a sore thumb compared to the rest of the teams he has played for, and despite making so few appearances for United, Liam had undoubted quality that has seen him feature regularly at the top of the domestic game, including an FA Cup Final last summer.

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 20 Feb 2015, 22:01

The third player sharing this spot was a bit more recent than the past two, and he will be remembered fondly by most Gulls fans. It'sâ€¦

Guy Branston - 10 points

Time spent at club: 2010-2011
Gulls Appearances: 69
Gulls Goals: 2

Branno is a classic lower league journeyman, and has amassed an impressive 19 different clubs over his career. He started out at Leicester as a trainee, and was sent on loan at various clubs such as Rushden & Diamonds, Colchester and Plymouth Argyle. He eventually moved to Rotherham for £50,000 in 1999, and made nearly 100 league appearances for the Millers over five seasons. After a couple more loan spells, he moved to Sheffield Wednesday on a free. Just 10 league starts later, Guy was moving again, this time to Oldham Athletic. The following season saw him rock up at Peterborough, before joining Notts County in 2008. One appearance later, he was released, and joined Kettering Town.

His spell with Kettering was a success, and prompted a return to League football with Burton Albion. After 6 months, he was loaned to Torquay, and that's where his career started with the Gulls. He was influential as the Gulls survived an instant return to the Conference, even so that he came second in the Player of the Year award that year. He signed permanently in the summer, and was a hero at centre half as Paul Buckle's side reached the playoffs. Unfortunately that ended with a Final defeat to Stevenage, and Branno left to join Bradford that summer.

After Bradford, Guy had spells with Rotherham, Aldershot before ending his career with Plymouth Argyle.

Plymouth Gull · Post by **Plymouth Gull** » 23 Feb 2015, 11:02

Another player to pick up 10 points was a player long before my time. It'sâ€¦

Micky Cave - 10 points

Time spent at club: 1968=1971
Gulls Appearances: 114
Gulls Goals: 17

Micky Cave began his career at Weymouth, where he was born, before moving to Torquay United in 1968. The midfielder didn't score that regularly, finding the net 17 times over three years in the Bay. In the summer of 1971, Cave moved to Bournemouth for £15,000, where he made close to a century of league appearances. He then had a spell with York City, again making nearly 100 appearances, before rejoining Bournemouth in 1977.

In 1978, Cave made the move over to the NASL (North American Soccer League) with Seattle Sounders, before joining Pittsburgh Spirit, a team who played in an indoor league. Cave had a great scoring record there, scoring 24 in 27 games. He then went on to play for a couple of other indoor league sides, before returning to Pittsburgh in 1981.

Unfortunately, Micky passed away at the age of 35 through accidental carbon monoxide poisoning. Since his death, he has had the Player of the Year trophy at Bournemouth named in his honour.

taxilady · Post by **taxilady** » 23 Feb 2015, 13:22

the first player on my list, & my favourite. When he blasted the ball, it was best to run...very powerful shot ! Got hit once in the Mini Stand when he missed the goalmouth; RIP Micky.

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