Peter Moore: Disaster can be a success waiting to happen

It was a disaster. I always wanted to be a doctor but my A level results were so bad that there was no chance. Having scraped one A level at the lowest grade and completely failed the other two. Even my safety net of a place at a tech college to study biology was out of the question.

One very poor A level was a waste of time There was only one option, to re-sit. I worked hard for a year, passed my A levels and, by some strange miracle, was accepted into medical school.

I have often looked back and realised that, had I scraped a couple of poor A levels the first time, I would have taken a biology degree and never ended up in medicine. 

I was reminded of how my academic disaster saved my career when I heard that the Bryn Consortium had taken over Torquay United. Ever since Torquay failed to get back into the football league in 2021, they have gone downhill. They never picked up after the playoff final when a perfectly good goal was disallowed before losing the penalty shootout. . (Not that I am in any way biased.) 

The previous owner had a plan to build a new stadium which was always unrealistic. The supporters’ trust was sidelined and finally the owner pulled the plug sending the club into administration. Torquay United nearly disappeared but this crisis led to some local businessmen who had always been supporters stepping in. Leading the consortium is Michael Westcott, a man whose father was the announcer at Plainmoor and who was taken to Torquay United at the age of three. 

The consortium is called “Bryn” after a police dog. As a young journalist Michael Westcott wrote up a famous match when Torquay were facing relegation from the football league. The defender, Jim McNichol, ran into the police dog, Bryn, who bit him. In the injury time added on Torquay scored and survived. It is yet another example of a possible disaster leading to success. With one of our best defenders injured it looked as though we were doomed but the dog bite proved vital for our survival.

The new consortium are experienced businessmen who have admitted that, although they are used to the business world, they are not used to the football world. They have promised to work closely with the Supporters Trust and have brought in the highly experienced Neil Warnock who saved Torquay in 1993. At 75, he no longer wishes to be on the bench but wants to remain in football making this arrangement ideal.

The Bryn Consortium is a model for running a business or any other venture. Nobody can be an expert at everything. Any leader must know their areas of weakness and build a management team importing those skills. Paul Wotton, the new manager, will have Neil Warnock as a mentor. 

It is early days. There will be some difficult times ahead, but the Bryn Consortium looks ideal but would never have happened without the apparent disaster of administration. 

There are many other examples of apparent disasters leading to success. 

I’m sure both Michael Portillo and Ed Balls believed that losing their seats in parliament was a disaster, but both have moved on very successfully. 

If the Beatles had not been turned down by Decca they would never have worked with George Martin. How would their music sound without his influence and support? 

In 1965 the musical Twang!! by Lionel Bart was one of the most expensive flops in West End history. The early closure led one of the stars, Ronnie Corbett to join the satire programme, the Frost Report. It was the first time he worked with Ronnie Barker. The rest, as the cliché goes, is history. 

Another positive came out of my A level disaster, although I could not see it at the time. One of the girls who passed her A levels and had been accepted by her first-choice college gave me huge emotional support when I was feeling a hopeless failure. Last year we celebrated our golden wedding anniversary.