The curtain came down on a era for Torquay United this week as Lee Mansell moved onto pastures new after eight years at Plainmoor to join Bristol Rovers.
Since he was brought to south Devon by Ian Atkins from Oxford United, Mansell's time with the Gulls has been characterised by a series of highs and lows.
In his first season, he experienced what was a second consecutive relegation from Football League- he had been relegated from League Two with Oxford in the 2005-06 season- as Torquay dropped out of the Football League, largely down to the master class of mis-management of the ill-fated Chris Roberts era.
However, in the summer of 2007, the Gulls were reinvigorated by the arrival of the present owners, who bought out Mike Bateson, and Paul Buckle was installed as manager and set about building a side that would eventually win promotion from the Conference.
Buckle's first season in charge saw Mansell received an FA Trophy runners-up medal, but in his second he was part of the Gulls' side that clinched their return to the Football League in the Conference Play-Off final against Cambridge United in 2009.
Mansell, who was deployed in the centre of midfield or at right back during his tenure with the Gulls, then played a key role in helping re-establish Torquay in the Football League and was handed the captain's armband by Buckle in February 2011.
Later on in the season, Mansell led the Gulls out in the League Two Play-Off final at Old Trafford against Stevenage, which United lost 1-0 and proved to be Buckle's last match as manager before he headed up the M5 to take charge of Bristol Rovers.
Several of the Gulls' squad followed Buckle to the Memorial Stadium, but Mansell remained at Plainmoor and retained the captaincy under Buckle's successor Martin Ling ahead of the 2011-12 season.
Mansell would enjoy the finest campaign of his career under Ling, he scored 13 goals from midfield- making him the club's second top scorer, won the club's Player of the Year award and was named in the League Two PFA team of the season.
Unfortunately, the one prize that alluded him was promotion as the Gulls were beaten on aggregate by Cheltenham Town in the semi-finals of the Play-Offs, after missing out on automatic promotion of the final day of the regular campaign.
This proved to be the pinnacle of his time at Plainmoor as two years of struggle followed, which culminated in an unwanted second relegation of his eight years with Torquay.
At the age of 31, he is probably at the stage where a new challenge in his career would be seen as a welcome one- and the security of a two-year contract with Bristol Rovers would suit him and his young family better than the one-year deal he was offered by Gulls' boss Chris Hargreaves.
With the Conference fixture list due out a week today, there are going to be two fixtures that the Plainmoor faithful are going to be looking out for more than any others.
