With the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup now underway in France, we will now take a close look at three former Torquay United personnel who have made a significant contribution to the women's game.
Tommy Sermanni:
After starting his career with Albion Rovers in his native Scotland, Tommy Sermanni joined United from Blackpool in 1979 and remained until 1982 when he returned north of the border to sign Dunfermline. Highlights of his stay at Plainmoor included finding the back of the net in a 4-2 win over Manchester United in Tony Brown's Testimonial in December 1981 (David Butler (twice) and Steve Cooper were the other scorers).
He then embarked on a globe-trotting career which has seen him manage the women's national sides of the United States (twice), Australia and Canada and he will be taking charge of New Zealand national side in this summer's competition.
Don O'Riordan:
Having enjoyed a career that took in a variety of different clubs including Derby County, Preston North End, Carlisle United, Middlesbrough, Grimsby Town and Notts County Don O'Riordan was brought to United by Neil Warnock to help him complete the Gulls' 'Great Escape' of the 1992-93 season.
After Warnock decided against taking the manager's job on a permanent basis, the Irishman was installed in the Plainmoor hot-seat in the summer of 1993. In his first season in charge, he led the Gulls to the Division Three Play-offs where they were beaten in the semi-finals by Preston North End.
In his second campaign in charge, the 1994-95 season, he guided United to the 13th place finish, but the departures of a number of key players such as Darren Moore and Paul Trollope, who both went on to play in the top-flight, soon took their toll and he was dismissed in October 1995, following an 8-1 home defeat by Scunthorpe United.
His coaching career then took him far and wide as he returned to his native Republic of Ireland to manage Galway United and Sligo Rovers before he was reunited with Warnock at Sheffield United in 2004. He would later head to China to coach the Chegdu Blades, a team in China who had been bought out by Sheffield United's ownership, in 2007 and his work with the Blades would later see O'Riordan invited to work with the Chinese national women's teams during their 2008 Beijing Olympics campaign.
He then remained in the women's game as he helped to coach the South Africa women's national team before making another return to Ireland to manage Galway United Women in 2014.
Jamie Sherwood:
Former Torquay United youth team player Jamie Sherwood, who was an apprentice under Paul Compton in the mid-1990's, has played in a key role in the development of the women's game in recent years. After managing Cardiff City Ladies in the FA Women's Premier League, he joined the coaching staff of Yeovil Town Ladies in Women's Super League Two in 2014 and became manager later that year after Sarah Lawler stood down.
Under Sherwood, the Lady Glovers emerged a serious force in WSL Two and lifted the league title in 2016 to win promotion to the top-flight of the women's game for the first time ever.
He remained in charge at Yeovil until 2018 when he stood down after it was announced that the Lady Glovers would be making the switch from being part-time to full-time.
