Saying farewell to Holmesy

As you can imagine, it was standing-room only at the funeral of former Torquay United favourite Paul Holmes.

There were tears, of course, for a much-loved man whose life was cut short at only 56.

Few mourners did better than Helen Chamberlain - Gulls fan, TV celebrity and good friend of Paul’s – who was pretty emotional even before the service, but still managed to give a moving and affectionate tribute. She wasn’t the only one.

It was a suitably loving service, put together by Paul’s wife Kate and their large family, which included his parents.

His 82-year-old father Albert was also a pacy right-back who played 514 games for Chesterfield without once being booked. It was a privilege to meet them.

But Paul would not have wanted us to say Goodbye without a smile on our faces. And so it proved.

He would have approved of the way that the day turned into not just a compliment to him, but also a reaffirmation of the club where his career (Doncaster, Torquay, Birmingham, Everton, WBA and Torquay again) took off and eventually ended.

Here’s just some of the ex-Gulls players who were there – his long-standing friend Sean Joyce, Tony Bedeau, Paul Smith, John Uzzell, Russell Musker, Stuart Jones, Phil Lloyd, Tom Kelly, Richard Thompson, Paul Compton, Kenny Veysey, David Woozley, John Gayle, Robbie Herrera, Mark Forrester, Tommy Wheeldon, Matt Hockley, Steve Tully, Jimmy Aggrey, Chris Curran, Darren Moore, John Turner...and if I’ve missed anyone out, I apologise.

Many had travelled a long way to be there, and many more sent messages regretting that they couldn’t.

But as the ‘wake’ went on at Plainmoor, and United supporters later joined the reception, the talk turned, as Paul would have wanted, to happy memories of times where so many young men, most of them away from home for the first time, grew up.

More than one recalled the camaraderie and team spirit that, down the years, often helped their Torquay teams to match and beat wealthier clubs from further afield.

Listening in were members of the new board who will shortly complete their takeover of TUFC.

Thankfully, they’re all Gulls fans who live in or around South Devon.

They know that they may not please all of the people all of the time, and what happens when the whistle blows is out of their hands.

But they also know what makes the club tick, and they’re determined to tap into it at every turn.

Paul, whose shoot-out penalty helped to beat Blackpool and win promotion to what’s now League One at Wembley in 1991, was sometimes dismayed at the level he was watching over the last couple of years.

But he kept coming, even during the last few weeks of his life. Let’s hope, if the first step back up the ladder is won next season, it’s a chance to raise a glass to him again.