In recent times much has been made of the links between Bristol City and Torquay United, especially under the managerial reigns of Gary Owers and Gary Johnson.
The Gulls' links with Ashton Gate were particularly strengthened following the appointment of Johnson, whose son Lee was in charge of the Robins until the summer when he was replaced by Dean Holden. Over the course of their two respective managerial stints, the Gulls have loaned George Dowling, Connor Lemonheigh-Evans (four times), Jake Andrews, Opi Edwards, Robbie Cundy, Saikou Janneh and, most recently, Louis Britton.
However, a connection with another of United's South West neighbours has been revived with the loan signing of Adam Randell from Plymouth Argyle. Randell, 20, made his debut for the Gulls on the opening day of the season against Stockport County, after coming off the sub's bench. He then followed this up with his first goal for the club away to Bromley, with a shot from the edge of the penalty area which went in off the post.
Randell is the latest in a long line of players who have made the journey from Home Park since John Uzzell and John Matthews were signed for the Gulls by the late Cyril Knowles in 1989. While Matthews remained with Torquay for just one season - Uzzell became a regular for the Gulls, and even had a spell as joint caretaker manager with Wes Saunders during the 1991-92 season before he was forced to retire after suffering a horrific facial injury in a clash with Brentford's Gary Blissett.
Uzzell was later joined at
Plainmoor by Tommy Tynan and Peter Whiston, who were brought to Torquay by
former Pilgrims' boss Dave Smith ahead of the 1990-91 campaign, which would see
the Gulls promoted via the Play-Offs- as they defeated Blackpool 5-4 on
penalties after drawing 2-2 over 90 minutes and extra time. Tynan finished the
season as United's joint-top scorer with 19 goals and Whiston later moved onto
Exeter City, Southampton and Shrewsbury Town.
The next player to make the journey down the
A38 was Argyle's all-time appearance holder, Kevin Hodges, who joined Torquay
initially on loan during the 1991-92 campaign and later made the move
permanently in the following season after he was released by Peter
Shilton. On arriving at Plainmoor, he joined another former Pilgrim who
had also been let go by Shilton in the form of ex Brentford and Millwall
defender Danis Salman- who briefly worked as the Gulls' youth coach.
Hodges later went to hold the title of youth
coach himself, and, in 1996, he was appointed as manager of the Gulls,
following the departure of Eddie May; one of his first acts on taking charge
was to bring in Steve McCall as part of his backroom staff from Argyle.
Although, due to his age, McCall wasn't the
quickest or the most mobile, the one time Ipswich Town starlet- who played for
the Tractor Boys in their 1981 UEFA Cup triumph against AZ Alkmaar- still
managed to combine playing with coaching the youth side and assisting Hodges
with the first team.
He even managed to roll back the years in the
Gulls' Third Division Play-Off semi-final second leg against Scarborough, in
the 1997-98 season, with a stunning long range strike from the edge of the
penalty area.
Two of his midfield colleagues in that side
were Gary Clayton and Chris Leadbitter, who had both helped the Pilgrims win
promotion through the Play-Offs under Neil Warnock in the 1995-96 season.
The next batch of Green cast-offs would help
form the backbone of one of the most successful Torquay sides in recent
times: Leroy Rosenior's automatic promotion winning side of the 2003-04 season.
Martin Gritton was the first player to be
brought to Plainmoor from Home Park by Leroy when he signed for the Gulls
at the start of the 2002-03 campaign.'Gritts' finished the season as the
Gulls' top scorer with 16 goals and was voted as runner-up in United's Player
of the season award.
He would later be joined at TQ1 by Kevin
Wills, Joe Broad, Craig Taylor and Brian McGlinchey. The latter
two both joined the Gulls following successful loan spells and both
featured in the Gulls' starting line-up in their final day victory over
Southend United, which clinched Torquay's first automatic promotion in 38
years. Centre-back Taylor captained the Gulls' side during that season and
left back McGlinchey was regarded as the 'final piece in the jigsaw' of that
team as he made the spot on the left hand side of the defence his own.
Following their promotion triumph, Martin
'Buster' Phillips became the next Pilgrim to become a Gull. Phillips, who had
been hailed as Britain's first £10million footballer by Alan Ball when he moved
from Exeter City to Manchester City in 1995, became one of the select band of
players to have represented all three of Devon's professional clubs and
remained at Plainmoor until 2007- when he was forced to retire after being
diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome.
During his three years with the Gulls, he also appeared alongside another of his former Argyle team-mates Mickey Evans, who made 14 appearances for the Gulls and scored once during the 2006-07 season- after making the move from Home Park- before hanging up his boots.
Later that season Ryan Dickson and Reuben Reid joined the Gulls on loan as they failed to avoid being relegated from the Football League for the first time in their history. Dickson would later return to the Gulls in the 2018-19 season before joining Truro City in the summer of 2020.
The following campaign saw Scott Laird join the
Gulls on loan from the Pilgrims at the start of a career which would be mainly
spent with Stevenage and Preston North End.
Former Torquay assistant manager Lee Hodges arrived
at Plainmoor in 2008, and helped the Gulls win promotion back into the Football
League and before joining Truro City as a player before being appointed as
manager in 2011.
Current Burnley striker Ashley Barnes can often be seen on Match of the Day on most Saturday nights striking fear into numerous Premier League defences for Sean Dyche’s Clarets. However, this is a far cry from the loan spell he spent at Plainmoor in the 2009-10 season, where he failed to find the back of the net in six appearances.
Fast forward four years and Plymouth-born Luke Young made the switch to Plainmoor after making over 100 appearances for the Pilgrims – after he was released by John Sheridan. Young proved to be something of a cult hero for the Gulls, as he won the club’s player of the year award three out of the four seasons he spent with United (2014-15, 2016-17 & 2017-18) until he joined Wrexham following the Gulls’ relegation from the National League in 2018.
Young was later joined by right-back Durrell Berry who initially joined on non-contract forms under Chris Hargreaves before returning towards the end of Paul Cox's brief reign at Plainmoor. He then played a key role in the 2015-16 'great escape' under Kevin Nicholson before a broken leg sustained at Dover Athletic curtailed his career.
In his final season at Plainmoor, Young was joined by another two players who both joined United from the Pilgrims. French goalkeeper Vincent Dorel, a former understudy to Luke McCormick, was brought in a caretaker manager Robbie Herrera following a goalkeeping crisis and Dorel soon made the position his own. The other Pilgrim who joined the Gulls was young striker Alex Fletcher, who hails from Newton Abbot, who made a handful of appearances on loan from Argyle before returning to Home Park.
