Torquay United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon. This list details the major honours and achievements won by Torquay United as well as records set by the club, the players and the managers.[1]
Torquay United won their first honour in 1909 as champions of the Torquay & District League before winning the Plymouth & District League (when they were known as Torquay Town) in 1912. After merging with Babbacombe and reverting to the name of Torquay United, the club won the Southern League Western Section in 1927 as well as finishing runners-up in the Western League during the same season.
Since being elected into the Football League in 1927, Torquay United have yet to progress any further than the third tier of English football. United's highest ever League finish was when they were runners-up to Alf Ramsey's Ipswich Town in the Third Division South in 1957. After the Football League was expanded into four nationwide divisions in 1958, Torquay have spent most of their existence in the bottom section. However, United have won automatic promotion to the third division on three occasions (1960, 1966 and 2004) and promoted via the playoffs just once (in 1991). The 1991 Division Four play-off final was the second time Torquay United had played at Wembley Stadium having been runners-up to Bolton Wanderers in the 1989 Sherpa Van Trophy Final. Torquay would make a third appearance at Wembley in 1998 but were beaten again by Colchester United in the Division Three play-off final. Despite being relegated to the Football Conference in 2007, Torquay found themselves at the new Wembley Stadium the following year for the 2008 FA Trophy Final. Unfortunately, Torquay were destined to be the losing side again, being beaten this time by Ebbsfleet United. However, the club's fifth appearance at Wembley for the 2009 Conference National play-off final resulted in a victory against Cambridge United and ensured the club's return to the Football League after a two-year absence.
Torquay United have reached the fourth round of the FA Cup on seven occasions and the third round of the League Cup on four occasions. The club also progressed to the final of the short-lived Third Division South Cup in 1934 before losing to local rivals Exeter City. Unfortunately, despite also reaching the final again in 1939, the match was never played due to the outbreak of World War II. On a local level, Torquay have won the Devon Senior Cup twice (once under the name of Torquay Town) and the Devon Professional Bowl (and its successor the Devon St Luke's Bowl) on fifteen separate occasions.
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Further information: List of Torquay United F.C. players |
The player with the most appearances for Torquay United is Kevin Hill who made his 474th appearance for the club during the 2008 FA Trophy Final. He beat the previous record of 473 which had been held by Dennis Lewis since 1958.[2] Only three other players, Ron Shaw, Tommy Northcott and Ian Twitchin, have made more than 400 appearances for United.
All competitive first team matches are included. Appearances as substitute are in brackets.
| # | Name | Years | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Kevin Hill |
1997–2008 | 417 (58) | 26 (4) | 15 (1) | 16 (4) | 474 (67) |
| 2 |  Dennis Lewis |
1947–1958 | 443 (0) | 30 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 473 (0) |
| 3 | Tommy Northcott |
1949–1952 1957–1966 |
410 (0) | 25 (0) | 8 (0) | 0 (0) | 443 (0) |
| 4 | Ian Twitchin |
1970–1981 | 400 (26) | 15 (0) | 20 (5) | 0 (0) | 435 (31) |
| 5 | Ron Shaw |
1947–1958 | 384 (0) | 28 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 412 (0) |
| 6 | Lee Mansell |
2006–2014 | 339 (9) | 21 (0) | 5 (0) | 16 (1) | 389 (10) |
| 7 | Sammy Collins |
1948–1958 | 356 (0) | 23 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 379 (0) |
| 8 |  Tony Bedeau |
1995–2006 2007–2008 |
327 (81) | 20 (4) | 9 (0) | 17 (11) | 373 (96) |
| 9 | Don Mills |
1949 1952–1962 |
342 (0) | 23 (0) | 2 (0) | 0 (0) | 367 (0) |
| 10 | Colin Bettany |
1957–1965 | 335 (0) | 16 (0) | 10 (0) | 0 (0) | 361 (0) |
Sammy Collins has held the club's goalscoring record since 1958 with 219 in all competitions. Ron Shaw, Tommy Northcott and Robin Stubbs are the only other players to have scored more than 100 goals for Torquay.
All competitive first-team matches are included. Appearances, including those as a substitute, are in brackets.
| # | Name | Years | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Other | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sammy Collins |
1948–1958 | 204 (356) | 15 (23) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 219 (379) |
| 2 | Tommy Northcott |
1949–1952 1957–1966 |
136 (410) | 13 (25) | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | 150 (443) |
| 3 | Robin Stubbs |
1963–1969 1971–1973 |
121 (238) | 8 (12) | 4 (13) | 0 (0) | 133 (263) |
| 4 | Ron Shaw |
1947–1958 | 99 (384) | 7 (28) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 106 (412) |
| 5 | Ernie Pym |
1957–1965 | 83 (284) | 10 (15) | 1 (8) | 0 (0) | 94 (307) |
| 6 | Steve Cooper |
1977–1984 | 76 (234) | 7 (17) | 4 (15) | 3 (5) | 90 (271) |
| 7 | Albert Hutchinson |
1930–1939 | 80 (317) | 2 (15) | 0 (0) | 2 (6) | 84 (338) |
| 8 | Don Mills |
1949 1952–1962 |
81 (342) | 2 (23) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 84 (367) |
| 9 | Jack Conley |
1939–1951 | 72 (156) | 2 (12) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 74 (168) |
| 10 | Geoff Cox |
1957–1967 | 62 (261) | 4 (17) | 2 (8) | 0 (0) | 68 (286) |
Only seven players, Tony Bedeau, Rodney Jack, Gregory Goodridge, Taiwo Atieno, Jake Gosling, Jamie Robba and, most recently, Samir Nabi, have been capped while playing for Torquay United. However, a number of players have gone on to represent their countries after leaving Torquay. The earliest of these was Dartmouth born Ralph Birkett who played for United for three years before leaving for Arsenal in 1933 and eventually being capped by England in 1935. Future Liverpool manager Don Welsh also developed his career at Plainmoor before receiving the first of his three England caps in 1938.
In the 1980s, a young Lee Sharpe broke into the Torquay first team before being signed by Manchester United and subsequently appearing for England, while Keith Curle was also capped after playing for United. Matt Elliott, Paul Hall, Darren Moore and Paul Trollope have all represented their countries after leaving Plainmoor in the 1990s while, more recently, Jamie Ward was selected for Northern Ireland in 2011. In addition, several players have had loan spells at Torquay before being capped at international level, notably Steve Bould, Ívar Ingimarsson, Alan McLoughlin and Jason Roberts.[3]
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
| # | Name | Fee | Paid to | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Leon Constantine |
£75,000 | Peterborough United | 10 December 2004 | [4] |
| 2 | Eifion Williams |
£70,000 | Barry Town | 25 March 1999 | |
| 3 | Wes Saunders |
£60,000 | Dundee | July 1990 |
| # | Name | Fee | Received from | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rodney Jack |
£600,000 | Crewe Alexandra | 17 July 1998 | |
| 2 | Matt Gregg |
£400,000 | Crystal Palace | 15 October 1998 | |
| 3 |  Bobby Olejnik |
£300,000 | Peterborough United | 18 June 2012 | [5] |
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Further information: List of Torquay United F.C. managers |
