After 365 days and following a rise of 30 league places in the footballing pyramid, with a Vanarama National League South title thrown in for good measure, there has been a lot to celebrate in Gary Johnson's first year in charge of Torquay United.
When the Gulls decided to part company with Gary Owers - it was vitally important that United chairman Clarke Osborne and managing director George Edwards ensured that they appointed the right candidate. At the time of Owers' departure - the Gulls were 14th place in National League South and there were genuine concerns that they could be in for a lengthy stay in the division, not to dissimilar to the spells ex-league clubs Stockport County and York City have experienced in the league's northern equivalent.
And almost immediately after he left the building, Johnson, who enjoyed a successful and varied career. After starting out as part of John Beck's backroom staff at Cambridge United as the U's rose up through the divisions in late 1980s and early 1990s, his career had included spells with the Latvian national side, Yeovil Town (twice), Bristol City and Cheltenham Town amongst others - with whom he had won five promotions.
Johnson's appointment came shortly after he was dismissed by his previous club Cheltenham after four games into the 2018-19 season, but he didn't allow that to knock him out of his stride as he won his first game in charge away to Hungerford Town 2-0. This was then swiftly followed by a resounding 7-0 win away against Lymington Town of the Wessex League, a game that was streamed live on the BBC's red button service.
His first home game against league leaders Woking, who were ten points ahead of the Gulls at the top of the table at the time, laid down another marker. United trailed the Cards 2-0 at half-time - and Johnson made two substitutions before the break as he replaced Ruairi Keating and Chris Regis with Saikou Janneh and Connor Lemonheigh-Evans - both signed on loan from Bristol City as he made his use of his connection with his son Lee being in charge at , which showed he wasn't afraid to make a big decisions. It was a move that paid off as Janneh set up Jamie Reid for his second goal of the afternoon to secure a creditable 2-2 draw.
For no player could the transformation by Johnson be more evident than for Reid. The one-time Northern Ireland Under-21 international had only found the target once in the 2018-19 campaign and is goal-to-game ratio in the region of one in eight across his Gulls' career.
However, under Johnson's guidance, he finished the season with 32 goals to his name in all competitions, which saw him scoop the National League South Player of the Year award. So far in the 2019-20 campaign back in the National League he has found the back of the net seven times - which places him at the top of the league's goal scoring charts and has seen him surpass his previous highest National League tally of six from the 2017-18 season).
The records then began to tumble as the Gulls set a new club record for unbeaten league games of 16, which ran from Johnson's first game in charge against Hungerford to a 4-0 home win over Slough Town in early January before it was ended a week later at a 3-2 defeat away to Bath City. Their victory over Slough also saw them complete a record 10th successive league win.
It was then a case of mission accomplished on 13th April 2019, when a 2-0 win over Eastbourne Borough, with goals from Lemonheigh-Evans and Jake Andrews sealed the National League South title, as they finished ten points clear of second placed Woking (who United had previously trailed by ten points themselves).
At the time of writing, United have hit the ground running in the National League and are currently 8th in the table. Under Johnson, they also have a record in 49 league and cup games under Johnson of W32 D 7 L 10 - giving him a win ratio of 65%.
Other than Johnson, only Danny Cowley, prior to his departure from Lincoln City for Huddersfield Town, and the late Justin Edinburgh, who oversaw Leyton Orient's recent resurgence, can claim to have such a profound impact at one club in lower league football in recent years.
And it is a club styled very much in his image, with a backroom staff that includes former United defender Aaron Downes, who also served him as both a player and a coach at Cheltenham, as his assistant, his brother Pete Johnson as head of recruitment and Physio Kai Hepworth, who worked with him at Whaddon Road, to compliment first team coach and Under-18's manager Shaun Taylor and goalkeeper coach Phil Osborn.
Long may it continue.
United's records under Gary Johnson:
• Biggest FA Cup win (7-0 v Lymington)
• Most consecutive league wins (10 - 13/11/18 to 05/01/19)
• Most league games unbeaten (16 - 08/09/18 to 05/01/19)
• Most goals (93)
• Best goal difference (+52)
• Most league wins (27)
• Fewest league defeats (8)
• Most points (88)
• Fastest ever goal (10 seconds, Kalvin Kalala v St Albans – away)
