The worrying, deafening silence at Torquay United

Over a week since Torquay United completed their National League South campaign and there is still no word on the future ownership of the football club.

Even more worrying, it is more than two months since Clarke Osborne announced his intention to place United into administration, with the process of finding new owners beginning from that date at the end of February.

Things are happening behind the scenes, of course, but the lack of detail and effective communication from the club, a serious weakness throughout the Osborne regime, has left a huge vacuum that will be filled with spurious speculation.

One of the facts we do have confirmed is the ‘preferred bidder’ being explored by the administrators is a group that does not involve Torquay United Supporters Trust, although TUST chair Nick Brodrick remains open to any future discussions that may arise.

“If the preferred bidders come out into the open and declare who they are, we would be interested in having a conversation with them to see how we could progress things further,” said Brodrick.

“On the other hand, if their due diligence, which we believe is taking place at the moment, throws up something that makes them stand to one side, we would be prepared and willing to step into the breach.

“There is a process to follow but, along with many other supporters, we feel it seems to be pretty slow. It would be helpful, even if the administrators were not able to say much, to have more regular updates that carry a bit more substance.

“When there is no news, people start making up stories, with theories and names banded about. Nobody knows anything, apart from the administrators and those who are the preferred bidders.”

Whatever happens next at Plainmoor, it needs to happen fast.

The National League Annual Meeting is scheduled for early June and Torquay United must have ownership plans in place before that meeting, including a bond to prove the club can complete fixtures. This must be lodged before the meeting commences.

There is also the added component of United’s competitors currently working on recruitment, squad plans, pre-season fixtures and everything else that takes place in the closed season.

It is a situation that has worrying echoes of the Hartlepool play-off final defeat on June 20, 2021. United sadly lost that game and were left lagging miles behind their rivals in the preparations for the subsequent season.

That situation was down to bad luck with a bit of sloppy contingency planning on the side, today’s scenario is potentially all self-inflicted.