The quiet ‘third man’ at Torquay United

Manager Paul Wotton and Football Adviser Neil Warnock may be the public faces of Torquay United’s on-field revival this season, but the Gulls may not have kept their promotion bid going until the very end without a ‘third man’ – Mike Edwards.

There are several unsung heroes around the Plainmoor dressing-room – physio Regan Miles, kit man Russell Cleave and goalkeeping coach Kenny Griffiths among them (writes Dave Thomas).

They form a close-knit band, behind Wotton’s belief in a never-too-high, never-too-low attitude that helps everyone to ride with the punches that come in a long and arduous season.

United fans see Edwards on match days, setting up and leading the warm-ups before reverting to his touchline role as Wotton’s right-hand man on tactics and substitutions.

But the supporters don’t know much more about him, because he’s happy to stay out of the limelight.

Edwards is the quiet man, maybe even the ‘good cop’ to Wotton’s sterner persona. But no one at Plainmoor doubts his importance.

That’s no surprise, because Hessle-born Mike’s qualifications are as solid as he was as a player.

He overcame two major injuries (knee ligaments/broken leg) to play 630 games for Hull City and Notts County twice, with shorter spells at Colchester, Grimsby and Carlisle along the way.

Despite operating mostly in defence, he scored 33 goals and captained County to the 2010 League Two championship.

He remains a popular figure on Humberside and at Meadow Lane.

Wotton had quite a career himself, but even the Gulls’ boss is ten games behind Edwards in total appearances.

They were both defenders who could do a decent job in midfield, and they both share the same philosophy about the right way to build a team that can win things.

Towards the end of his career, Edwards – he even turned his hand to cooking for the County team when a financial crisis ruled out overnight stops - moved into strength and conditioning work, and then coaching.

He did the same jobs with Wotton at Truro City.

Wotton has revealed that Edwards deliberately tailored United’s fitness programme to produce a squad ready for the Autumn, but also one that would, if anything, get stronger as the season went on.

United went into Monday’s final home league game against Weymouth on a run of seven wins and one defeat in nine matches.

They had conceded just five goals in that spell, with six ‘clean sheets’ – further evidence of Edwards’ input.

He also comes up with many of United’s set-piece moves, and Wotton was quick to give him the credit for the routine which produced Jordan Dyer’s vital winner (1-0) at promotion rivals Dorking Wanderers last month.

Edwards does it all on an agreement that sees him stay with his family in Nottingham for the first couple of days most weeks before rejoining the Gulls in the build-up to matchdays.

He coaches young players in Notts when he isn’t with Torquay.

By now his car must almost know its own way from the East Midlands to the English Riviera!

To say that United’s players like and respect their assistant manager would be an understatement.

And, since Edwards will be 45 this Friday, achieving something special at Hemel Hempstead Town the next day would be a great birthday present...