‘The main thing is that we still have a club’

If one supporter symbolises the love and passion for Torquay United, Paul Bastard is that man. Born and bred in Torquay, Paul has followed the club for many decades.

He commutes to every game, home and away, from where he now lives in the Manchester area and all that matters to him, and all of us, is that we still have a club to support after this administration crisis has passed.

“The main thing for Torquay United is that we still have a club,” he said. “We’ve got the ground and can always re-form, as long as we have a group of players wearing the yellow shirt of our club.

“We’ve got our own ground, so if the worst came to the worst, we wouldn’t be homeless. We are going to new clubs in this league and there are still nice grounds to visit, and nice people to meet.

“Obviously, we don’t want to be relegated because that will make things more difficult, but the main thing is to have a club.

“Times are hard and there are not many clubs who are not concerned about their ownership at one point. Even the big clubs have these problems and the win at any costs attitude, irrespective of who owns the club, doesn’t work. The perfect owner should care deeply about the club but that is hard to find.”

One of the many things that has become increasingly rare in modern football is the sight of homegrown talent progressing to the first-team arena at their local club.

As Paul happily admits, the 1960s and 70s were special times at Plainmoor, with footballers from South Devon playing for United, and it wouldn’t be such a bad thing for this to become a more regular theme once again.

“I would love to see more local players representing the club and I don’t mean the golden days of the Northcott brothers and Ernie Pym because they weren’t all local, even back then,” said Paul.

“Robin Stubbs was signed from Birmingham City and we had the West Ham contingent under Frank O’Farrell. Under Gary Johnson, we’ve had players from the London area.

“We’ve always had players from further afield but the crowd does enjoy watching homegrown talent and to sing ‘he’s one of our own’. It was nice seeing the Taunton goalkeeper Dan Lavercombe because he certainly fits that bracket.

“I’d like to see more local players, as there is the added bonus that we don’t have to pay for their accommodation because they can live at home. Players like Will Jenkins Davies and Ollie Tomlinson fit that bill.

“I’d like to see the players more integrated into the community and more of them in the Gulls Nest after games.”

In these difficult and uncertain times at Plainmoor, the levels of vitriol from the terraces has, sadly, grown and it is, once again, a scourge of the modern game.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion, of course, but Paul argues that there is a better way to voice your discontent and to always remember that no footballer wants to make a mistake.

He said: “We all have our thoughts as fans, the same as journalists, and perhaps in the past we were more reticent to voice our opinions and journos didn’t put the boot in as much. Everyone was more discreet in the past but people are more impatient now.

“It is almost an affront to their being when we lose. People talk about a ‘humiliating defeat’ but humiliating for whom? We are all in the same league, so where is the humiliation?

“We’ve lost at home to Truro and to Taunton Town. We’ve lost to Weymouth and used to play the reserves, but we are now in the same league as these clubs, so I’m not sure about the word ‘humiliation’.

“You win games, and lose games, but the players never mean things to go wrong on the pitch. Some of the bile shouted at the players is quite distressing, just as the triumphalism over opponents can be too much.”

Whatever happens over the weeks and months to come, Torquay United must continue to be a football club, because fans like Paul Bastard deserve nothing less.