Following the disastrous 2006-07 season, which saw them relegated from the Football League after 80 years , Torquay United kicked off the 2007-08 campaign as a non-league team in the Blue Square Premier, the Conference in 'old money'.
With only three players under contract (Kevin Hill, Steve Woods and Lee Mansell) the new consortium that purchased the club from Mike Bateson acted quickly to halt the Gulls’ decline in fortunes. Colin Lee was appointed as Chief Executive before Exeter City assistant manager Paul Buckle was brought in as manager.
Buckle wasted no time in building a new team with Martin Rice, Chris Todd and Lee Phillips following him from St James Park.
Former Torquay stalwart Tony Bedeau rejoined the Gulls, after a season with Walsall, and Chris Robertson, Simon Rayner and Matt Hockley all signed new deals with the club.
Experienced midfielder Chris Hargreaves was signed from Oxford United, former England Schools left back Kevin Nicholson joined from Forest Green Rovers and Buckle persuaded his former Aldershot team-mate Tim Sills to move to Plainmoor following his release from Hereford United.
Other new faces included Elliot Benyon and Danny Stevens and former Plymouth striker Chris Zebroski joined on a season-long loan from Millwall.
Buckle's newly assembled squad seemed to click straight away as they lost lost two of their first 17 matches.
The Gulls finished the season in third spot, which, following the introduction of the two up-two down system between League Two and the Conference, set them up for a two-legged affair with local rivals Exeter City, who were looking to escape the Conference five years after their own relegation from the Football League.
Everything seemed to be going to plan after the first leg at St James' Park, which the Gulls won 2-1 through goals from Tim Sills and Chris Zebroski.
In the second leg, everything seemed to be going to plan and when Kevin Hill popped up to mark his club appearance record equalling 473rd game with the goal that put Torquay 3-1 up on aggregate.
A double Wembley appearance looked to be on the horizon for the Gulls, they had also booked their place in that season's FA Trophy final, but the Grecians had other ideas.
Both Hilly and the Gulls were denied a fairytale ending to the afternoon as Exeter struck four times in the last 20 minutes through Ryan Harley, Ben Watson, Richard Logan and Wayne Carlisle to reach the final at Torquay’s expense.
2008-09
After missing out on promotion in his first season in charge, Paul Buckle set about strengthening his squad in a bid to win promotion from the Blue Square Premier League.
Young defender Mark Ellis, who joined the Gulls on loan from Bolton Wanderers during Buckle’s first season, moved to Plainmoor on a permanent basis.
Buckle also moved to strengthen the Gulls’ midfield with the signing of Nicky Wroe, Tyrone Thompson, Lee Hodges and Michael Brough from York City, Crawley Town Plymouth Argyle and Forest Green Rovers respectively.
Northern Irish winger Wayne Carlisle joined from Exeter City after having scored three times for the Grecians in their four meetings with Torquay during the 2007-08 season.
Other new arrivals included goalkeeper Michael Poke, who joined on a season-long loan from Southampton, winger Mustapha Carayol and striker Matt Green.
There were also a number of departures from Plainmoor as Lee Phillips joined Rushden & Diamonds, Kevin Hill signed for Dorchester Town and goalkeeper Simon Rayner moved to Crawley.
After a slow start, Torquay embarked on a 14-match unbeaten run, which started with a 2-1 win over Northwich
A final day victory over champions elect Burton Albion confirmed the Gulls’ entry into the Play-Offs where they would face Histon over two legs.
Goals from Nicky Wroe and Tim Sills gave Torquay a 2-0 advantage after the first leg at Plainmoor. They reached the final despite losing 1-0 to Histon in the return fixture as they prepared to face Cambridge United in the final at Wembley.
The Gulls went into the second visit to the home of football in the space of a year with a side that featured a goalkeeper which a broken jaw, Michael Poke, a centre half in Chris Todd who had returned to action after being diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia earlier in the season and a centre forward with a cracked cheekbone (Tim Sills, who was wearing a protective face mask towards the end of the campaign).
It proved to be a glorious occasion as skipper Chris Hargreaves opened the scoring with a shot from the edge of the area in the first half before Sills rubberstamped the Gulls' return to the Football League when he headed home a cross from Wayne Carlisle to end their two-year exile in the Conference.
2010-11
After setting a club record for the longest run for consecutive clean sheets (seven) towards the end of their first season back in the Football League, Torquay United hit the ground running in the 2010-11 campaign.
The Gulls won their opening four matches of the season, which earned Paul Buckle the Manager of the Month award for August.
Torquay remained in the top half of the table for most of the season and the introduction of a number of loan signings, including Jake Robinson, Gavin Tomlin and Craig Stanley during the January transfer window brought a freshness to the Gulls' squad.
The acquisition of Robinson would provide the Plainmoor faithful with a number of talking points.
Firstly, he marked his debut with a goal against Hereford United in a 3-1 defeat at Plainmoor and after the game it emerged that he wasn't eligible to play as the paperwork for his move from parent club, Shrewsbury Town, hadn't been processed.
It later transpired that Hereford had also fielded an ineligible player (Rob Purdie) and the Bulls received a three point deduction whilst the Gulls had one point chalked off.
Secondly, there was no clause in his loan agreement which prevented him from playing against his parent club, therefore he was free to play against the Shrews when the two sides met in March.
It was a decision that would backfire on Shrews' boss Graham Turner as Robinson netted a brace in the Gulls' 5-0 win over the Shropshire side.
Ironically, the two sides would face each other again in the Play-Offs as the Gulls finished their league campaign in 7th place.
It was Torquay who seized the first leg advantage as they won 2-0 at Plainmoor with goals from Eunan O'Kane and Chris Zebroski.
After playing out a goalless draw at the Greenhous Meadow in the second leg, the Gulls were through to the final where they would face Stevenage, which would be staged at Old Trafford due the Champions League final being staged at Wembley.
Unfortunately for the Gulls, the Play-Off final would be a bridge too far for Torquay, as they lost out 1-0 through a John Mousinho effort, in what would be Paul Buckle's final game in charge before he left to take charge of Bristol Rovers before he was replaced by Martin Ling.
