Far from being a stay of execution, Torquay United’s final day survival in the 1986-87 season, which was aided by the intervention of Bryn the Police Dog, ended up giving the Gulls a shot at redemption.
Each of the three sides were also looking to stop their own individual rots. The Gulls had fallen on hard times following the heady days of the Frank O’Farrell and Alan Brown era of the late 1960s and early 1970s – when they missed out to promotion to the ‘old’ Second Division.
They had needed re-election to retain their Football League status in the 1984-85 and 1985-86 seasons after the late Tony Boyce, who had been chairman of the club for 20 years, sold up to former Chelsea defender Dave Webb in 1984.
During this period, Webb combined the role of manager with becoming the club’s first managing director as he passed the managerial reins over to John Sims, for just 30 days, and then to Stuart Morgan, who had previously been a youth team coach at Bournemouth with Webb and appeared on loan for United in the late-1960s. They also fielded a number of players recruited from local amateur football and saw the capacity of Plainmoor reduced to 4,999 – following a fire in May 1985.
However, following Webb’s departure from the club in 1986, Morgan did manage to acquire some useful players on a modest budget including striker Paul Dobson and defenders Tom Kelly and Jim McNichol. He also managed to re-sign mercurial winger Mark Loram on loan from Queens Park Rangers after Loram failed to settle at Loftus Road.
Burnley, league champions as recently as 1960, were keen to avoid earning the tag of becoming the former winners of the ‘old’ First Division to be relegated from the Football League. The days of Jimmy McIlroy and Jimmy Adamson must have seemed like a distant memory to most Clarets’ fans – and they were a long way from the top-flight status that they currently enjoy under Sean Dyche.
However, McIlroy could still be found at Turf Moor reporting on the Clarets’ fortunes for the Burnley Express newspaper.
Meanwhile Lincoln were looking to avoid a second successive relegation after being demoted from the ‘old’ Third Division in the season before.
As well as seeing the Gulls host Crewe, the final round of Division Four fixtures would also see Burnley play host Leyton Orient whilst Lincoln entertained Swansea City.
Such was the level of interest generated in East Lancashire that a crowd of 15,000 poured into Turf Moor causing kick off to be delayed by 15 minutes.
At Plainmoor, the Gulls made a slow start and found themselves 2-0 down by half-time as Peter Bodak and future England international David Platt struck in the 39th and 43rd minutes respectively.
Early in the second half, Jim McNichol pulled one back for the Gulls – however, he would later have a more significant part to play – which proved to be a timely boost as Burnley had taken the lead against Orient through Neil Grewcock.
Meanwhile at Sincil Bank, Lincoln were losing to Swansea, thanks to a strike from veteran Scottish midfielder Tommy Hutchinson, which meant an equaliser was now a necessity for United.
Finally, United were handed a life-line – in a bizarre twist of fate - when Bryn the Police Dog broke free of his handler, PC John Harris, and sunk his teeth into McNichol’s leg, which resulted in more extra time being added on.
To show that there were no hard feelings, McNichol even shook Bryn’s paw after the game and chairman Lew Pope presented him with a steak.
However, achieving the great escape wasn’t enough to keep Stuart Morgan as he was replaced by former Tottenham and England defender Cyril Knowles in the summer of 1987.
Knowles’ arrival heralded an immediate change in fortunes as they defeated Wrexham 6-1 on the opening day of the 1987-88 season, in which Dobson – scorer of the crucial goal against Crewe – grabbed a hat-trick.
This was then followed up a memorable 1-0 win over Knowles’ former club Spurs, who included the likes of Ray Clemence, Gary Mabbutt, Ossie Ardiles and Chris Waddle amongst their ranks, in the Littlewoods Cup. The game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw when Derek ‘the Dude’ Dawkins struck with a late winner – unfortunately Spurs won the second leg 3-0 at White Hart Lane.
Dawkins also combined playing with coaching the club’s youth side, where one of his charges was a 16-year old winger from Halesowen who had been rejected by Birmingham City called Lee Sharpe.
Sharpe, who chronicled his spell at Plainmoor in Chapter three of his 2005 autobiography My Idea of Fun, made 19 appearances and scored three goals in all competitions for the Gulls before joining Manchester United for a fee which eventually rose to £185,000 – a record for a teenager at the time.
At the end of the 1987-88 season, United reached the Play-offs for the first time in their history where they were beaten 5-4 by Swansea City over two legs (in the days before play-off finals were contested at Wembley).
What was more remarkable about their achievements of the Gulls under Knowles during his first campaign in charge was that it was achieved with more or less the same team that he had inherited Only Sharpe, Phil Lloyd, a defender who had followed him to Plainmoor from his previous club Darlington, player-assistant manager Sean Haslegrave and barnstorming Scottish striker David Caldwell had been added to the side by Knowles.
The following 1988-89 season saw United finish mid-table in the league, but it was in the Sherpa Van Trophy where they would excel. The Gulls reached the Southern Area final of the competition where they faced a Wolverhampton Wanderers side – spearheaded by Steve Bull and Andy Mutch – who were heading back towards a level of respectably.
After losing the first leg 2-1 at Plainmoor, very few people gave United a chance of causing an upset at Molineux in the second leg. However, the Gulls managed to upset the odds as they kept Bull and Mutch quiet and won 2-0 thanks to a free-kick from Mark Loram and another effort from Wolverhampton-born Dean Edwards, who had stood on the terraces at Molineux as a youngster.
The game at Molineux was also notable for the performance of goalkeeper Kenny Allen, who had been called out of retirement to play by Knowles due to a shortage of goalkeeping options.
In the final United were beaten 4-1 by Bolton Wanderers, despite taking the lead through Edwards, but in the eyes of many reaching Wembley was an achievement in itself.
Early in the following 1989-90 season Knowles left the club and was replaced by former Plymouth Argyle manager Dave Smith. Smith’s appointment saw an upturn in fortunes as the Gulls’ league form improved and they even managed to knock West Ham United out of the FA Cup at the third round stage through a goal from young striker Paul Hirons.
With additional finance made available following the takeover of the club by Mike Bateson in 1990, Smith laid the foundations for the side that would contest the 1991 Division Four Play-off final against Blackpool under his predecessor John Impey.
After drawing 2-2 against the Tangerines at the end of normal time and extra time, the Gulls triumphed 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out to win promotion for the first time since the 1965-66 season.
And they achieved it with a side that featured Mark Loram and Chris Myers, who were both part of the team that drew 2-2 against Crewe in 1987. This achievement, and the others that preceded it, can be traced back to that May afternoon when an act of ‘canine intervention’ came to United’s aid when they needed it most.
A full account of the Gulls' great escape and other matches featured in this article can be found in Torquay United: A History in 50 Matches at https://torquayunitedahistoryin50.bigcartel.com/product/torquay-united-a-history-in-50-matches
