With their place in the FA Trophy fourth round now assured, Torquay United manager Gary Johnson heads into the Gulls' festive fixtures with Yeovil Town - home and away - and Weymouth after overseeing one of the best starts in the club's history.
United have taken 32 points from a possible 42 points from their opening 14 National League fixtures - a feat which has only ever been achieved twice before.
It was a record first set in the 1990-91 season when, under the guidance of Dave Smith, United went on an unbeaten run of 14 games, which included nine wins and five draws. This was also part of a then club record run of 15 league games unbeaten, which included a 1-1 draw at home to York City on the final day of the 1989-90 campaign. That record was eventually beaten in January 2020, as the Gulls went 16 games without defeat under Johnson enroute to winning the 2018-19 National League South title.
The last team to complete the feat was Paul Buckle's then new look Gulls' side of the 2007-08 season, who made a flying start to life in the Blue Square Premier. Like Johnson's current crop, Buckle's class of 2007-08 also won ten, drew two and lost two of their opening 14 league fixtures, as the club looked to bounce back from relegation from the Football League in 2007 at the first attempt.
These figures are by far and away United's best points return after 14 games since three points for a win were introduced in 1981. Remarkably the next Gulls' side on this list in terms of points won is Chris Hargreaves' team of the 2014-15 season. Under Hargreaves, who captained United to promotion under Buckle in 2009, United won eight, drew three and lost three of their opening 14 National League encounters, which saw the Gulls pick up 27 points. This raised hopes of an immediate return to the Football League, following a second relegation from the Football League in 2013-14, before fading to a 13rd place finish.
Hargreaves' men are followed on this list by a side managed by another former promotion winning captain. Wes Saunders, who captained the Gulls to play-off glory in 1991, oversaw a points return of 26 from 14 games as United fell short of reaching the play-offs in the 1999-00 season.
The late Cyril Knowles' two-legged play-off finalists of the 1987-88 campaign and Leroy Rosenior's team of the 2002-03 season, his first campaign in charge, are next on the list with 24 points.
If the three points for a win criteria had been introduced when the Gulls were first elected into the Football League in 1927, other sides in United's history would feature higher in this list. Eric Webber's team of the 1959-60 season, who secured United's first promotion as a Football League club, won ten of their opening 14 Division Four fixtures, and drew one and lost three of the other four. This return would have translated to a points haul of 31, if three points for a win been applied to the campaign.
Three years earlier in Webber's reign, in the 1956-57 season, United missed out on promotion from Division Three South to Alf Ramsey's Ipswich Town on goal average. The foundation of their title challenge came from a strong start to their campaign, which saw United win seven, draw five and lose two of their opening 14 fixtures, which earned them 19 points - a figure that would translate to 26 points using three points for a win.
Webber's successor Frank O'Farrell oversaw a run of nine wins, two draws and three defeats from United's opening 14 games of the 1965-66 season, which would amount to 29 points using modern calculations. Another promotion was sealed at the end of the campaign, United wouldn't be promoted automatically again until the 2003-04 season, and it proved to be start of the most successful era in the club's history.
In the 1990-91 campaign, United won the 1991 Division Four play-off final Blackpool on penalties under Smith's successor John Impey, while Buckle's men of 2007-08 would lose in the play-off semi-finals to Exeter City. However, Johnson will be aiming to ensure United can go one better in the 2020-2021 season and clinch the National League title.
