MATCH PREVIEW: Chippenham Town vs Torquay United | National League South | Tuesday 4th March 2025
Harry Minton previews our game against Torquay United
The Saturday-Tuesday run continues for the Bluebirds as this Tuesday night we welcome the Devon giants, Torquay United, to The Thornbury Surfacing Stadium.
Last Time Out
Last time out, our boys in blue welcomed St Albans City to The Thornbury Surfacing Stadium, who currently sit in the bottom four. It was a cagey first half, with the only notable opportunity falling to Harry Parsons from a quick Luke Spokes free kick. Parsons cut inside on his right foot before curling his shot just wide of Michael Johnson’s right post.
Chippenham’s number nineteen then had a similar chance on his opposite foot in the second interval, this time forcing a save out of Johnson from just outside the penalty area. The visitors then scored a controversial goal to take the lead in the sixty-fifth minute when it looked like it had deflected off the hand of Zane Banton, though regardless, play was allowed to continue. Banton found his teammate, Aidan Dausch, free in the area, who calmly slotted the ball past Will Henry in goal. Despite the protests from the Bluebirds, the goal was allowed to stand.
Gary Horgan’s side continued to create chances, none coming much better than when Tom Mehew forced a save out of Johnson from the edge of the area. The keeper parried the ball into the path of Alex Bray. Bray definitely didn’t want to see his effort again as he fired over the bar with an open goal to aim at from inside the six-yard box. A point was rescued in injury time, much to the relief of the Bluebirds, when Spokes’ corner was delivered to the back post, where Jac Poffley got his head to it and guided his effort into the top corner of the net. Nothing Johnson could have done in goal as the unbeaten run was extended to five.
Our Opponents
The original Torquay United was formed in 1899 by a group of school leavers under the guidance of Sergeant-Major Edward Tomney, and they played their first match against an Upton Cricket Club XI on a local farmer’s field situated at the top of Penny’s Hill on Teignmouth Road.
After a season of friendlies, the club joined the East Devon League and moved into the Recreation Ground, which would be their home for the next four years, as Plainmoor, at the time, was occupied by Torquay Athletic Rugby Club. The Gulls then also ground-shared with Torquay Cricket Club after Athletic secured the lease on the Recreation Ground from them and league rivals Ellacombe took over the lease of Plainmoor, leaving Torquay United homeless for the first time in their history.
It was during this time, though, that the club won its first honour, the 1909 Torquay and District League.
During the 1910s, United merged with Ellacombe to become known as Torquay Town, with the club also moving into Plainmoor, where they still play today, and joining the Plymouth and District League, which they did end up winning in the 1911/1912 season. At the turn of the next decade, though, the name was changed back to Torquay United after merging with the local club Babbacombe.
In 1923, the Devon outfit finished sixth in the Southern League and applied for election to the Football League. Sadly, they didn’t receive a single vote. However, they were much luckier at the end of the 1926/1927 season, where this time they were elected into the Football League and placed in the Third Division South.
In 1954, Torquay changed the usual colours of their home strip from black and white stripes to the gold and blue shirts that they are well associated with today. The change of kit colour seemed to give the Gulls a change in fortune, as the following season, they had arguably their finest moment in the FA Cup. After overcoming non-league opposition at the time in Cambridge United and Blyth Spartans in the first and second rounds, respectively, they were drawn in a highly anticipated third-round tie away at Elland Road against second-division side Leeds United. Torquay, still in the lower leagues, managed to take Leeds to a replay back at Plainmoor after securing a 2-2 draw in Yorkshire. Fans back in Devon witnessed a famous night as Torquay United went on to dump Leeds out of the FA Cup, winning by four goals to nil. They would narrowly lose at home by a goal to nil to first-division side Huddersfield Town in the next round. 21,908 were in attendance at Plainmoor that day, which is still a club record for the highest-ever home attendance.
There was another magical FA Cup run for the Devon-based side about ten years later, in 1965. A dramatic 3-3 draw at Plainmoor against Tottenham in the third round took the club to a replay at White Hart Lane, where, unfortunately, they were totally outplayed and defeated by five goals to one.
In May 1988, one of Torquay’s players, Lee Sharpe, transferred to Manchester United for £180,000, which is still one of the biggest transfer fees received in the club’s history.
Over the next twenty years, Torquay would see themselves lose at Wembley on three separate occasions. The first time they tasted defeat was in the 1989 Football League Trophy Final, as a crowd of 46,513 saw Bolton Wanderers pick up a 4-1 victory. In the 1997/1998 campaign, The Gulls lost in the Third Division (equivalent to League Two) playoff final, 1-0, to Colchester United, also at Wembley. In the club’s first season out of the Football League since 1927, in the 2007/2008 season, they made it to the FA Trophy final in the capital. However, once again, the side from the South West came away empty-handed after falling to a one-nil defeat at the hands of Ebbsfleet United, with former Torquay player Chris McPhee netting the winner that day at Wembley. After three attempts at Wembley, however, The Gulls finally came out as winners in 2009, winning 2-0 against Cambridge United in front of 35,000 fans to secure promotion back to the Football League.
The club’s return to professional football was short-lived, as they were relegated again from League Two in 2014 and haven’t returned to the EFL since. Even worse, the Gulls were relegated again in 2018 to the sixth tier of English football, the National League South.
Torquay achieved promotion back to the National League at the first time of asking in the 2018/2019 season, winning the league. In one of the last games of the season, in the first-ever meeting between the two sides in Wiltshire, it was, in fact, the Bluebirds who came out on top with a 2-1 victory, thanks to goals from Dean Evans and Nick McCootie either side of halftime. The closest the Gulls have come to getting promoted back to the EFL was in 2021, where they met Hartlepool United in the National League Playoff Final at Ashton Gate. After a 1-1 draw, thanks to a last-minute equaliser from Torquay keeper Lucas Covolan, the Pools sadly prevailed in a penalty shootout to win promotion to League Two.
Torquay United was relegated back to the National League South in 2023, and after fighting off an eleven-point deduction after the club needed to bring in administrators, the Gulls eventually survived, finishing in eighteenth. Meanwhile, this season, it’s a much more joyful time to be a Torquay fan as the club currently sit just inside the promotion playoff places in seventh.
Head 2 Head
As previously mentioned, the first time this fixture played out was in 2019, ending in a 2-1 victory for our Bluebirds. The only other meeting between the Bluebirds and the Gulls at The Thornbury Surfacing Stadium was last season. It was a good start for the visitors, who went 1-0 up just after ten minutes when former Chippenham striker Bradley Ash held the ball up well for Will Jenkins-Davies to finish with aplomb for Torquay.
The goalscorer, though, was then shown his marching orders in the second half for his late challenge on Will King, and Chippenham not long after found their equaliser when Matt McClure bundled home a Craig Fasanmade effort from virtually on the goal line, as Gary Horgan’s side secured a hard-earned point on a cold, blustery evening in Wiltshire.
And then, of course, earlier in the season at Plainmoor, it was the home side who ran out 3-0 winners in what was a poor first-half showing from Chippenham, as they conceded all three goals in the first twenty minutes. Goals came from Lirak Hasani, Ed Palmer, and Dan Hayfield to secure the points for the Gulls that night in September near the start of the season.
Ones to Watch
Two players to definitely look out for from the opposition going into Tuesday’s game are former Bluebird Jordan Young, who has scored nine goals in all competitions since signing for Torquay in October, and Cody Cooke, another player to keep an eye on. He was the fourth-highest goalscorer in the league last year during his time with Bath City and so far this season has thirteen goals to his name.
Round-up
If you wish to join us at The Thornbury Surfacing Stadium on Tuesday evening, then the ticket prices are as follows:
Adult: £16
Senior Citizens: £12
Junior (16-17): £6
Child (5-15): £4
This game will, of course, have segregation between both sets of supporters. Hopefully, the boys can extend their unbeaten streak to six games.
COME ON YOU BLUEBIRDS!!!
