WHERE TORQUAY UNITED'S SQUAD STANDS FOLLOWING SUMMER RECRUITMENT

 With the signing of Finley Craske following a successful trial spell, the loan acquistion of Will Jenkins-Davies from Plymouth Argyle and the re-signing of Dan Martin, Torquay United manager Gary Johnson's squad now consists of 20 players. 

As the Gulls head into their final pre-season friendly with Southampton's B side, we will take closer look at the squad that Johnson has assembled.

GOALKEEPER

Mark Halstead, Rhys Lovett

Once again Mark Halstead and Rhys Lovett will be sharing goalkeeping duties again, with Halstead acting as first choice and Lovett as his number two. Halstead established himself one of the leading goalkeepers in the National League in the 2022-23 season, with performances against Scunthorpe United, York City and Wrexham being amongst his stand-out displays. He is surely likely to emerge as a leading keeper in the National League South in the 2023-24 campaign.

In Lovett, the Gulls have a keeper who could possibly feature regularly for the majority of clubs in the division - so he's a more than capable deputy when, or if, required to step in.

DEFENCE

Shaun Donnellan, Dean Moxey, Ollie Tomlinson, Ross Marshall, Finley Craske, Callum Thomas
 

United manager Gary Johnson finished last season playing with a back three consisting of Shaun Donnellan and Dean Moxey with Southampton loanee Nico Lawrence, who has since been loaned out by the Saints to Colchester United in League Two. Johnson has gone with a back three again in pre-season with Donnellan, Ollie Tomlinson, who gained experience of National League South during loan spells with Taunton Town and Chippenham Town, and Finley Craske, who signed following a successful trial following his release by Plymouth Argyle, in the absence of Moxey. 

Ross Marshall is back involved again with the Gulls' squad following eye surgery over the summer.

RIGHT WING-BACK

Jack Stobbs, Dylan Crowe

After making his loan move from Oldham Athletic permanent over the summer, Jack Stobbs looks set to continue in the right wing-back role in the 2023-24 campaign. Stobbs will be looking to add more goals to his game once the seson gets underway after finding the target in pre-season against Exeter City. Dylan Crowe remains as his understudy.

MIDFIELD

Kevin Dawson, Asa Hall, Tom Lapslie, Brett McGavin, Will Jenkins-Davies (loan), Ryan Hanson

In midfield, Johnson has the experienced trio of Kevin Dawson, who previously served under him at Yeovil Town and Cheltenham Town, skipper Asa Hall and Tom Lapslie to call upon. Former Ipswich Town prospect Brett McGavin has started in midfield in pre-season after being was mainly used as an impact sub in the end of season run-in in 2022-23, which saw him come off the bench to score in the Gulls' 5-1 defeat to Chesterfield in their penultimate away game of the campaign.

Former Dover midfielder Ryan Hanson is still with the Gulls and Johnson has added Wales Under-18 international Will Jenkins-Davies on loan from Plymouth Argyle. While following in the footsteps of former Gulls loanee Adam Randell, who has now established himself as a first team regular at Home Park, Jenkins-Davies is more similar in terms of playing style to Connor Lemonheigh and Armani Little, so therefore offers Johnson a different option. 

LEFT WING-BACK

Lewis Collins, Dan Martin

Lewis Collins scored three times in 15 appearances during his loan spell from Newport County, and has been amongst the goals again in pre-season after signing for the Gulls permanently in the close season. He has found the back of the net twice in four appearances so far, including a 20 yard volleyed effort in United's 4-1 win over local rivals Exeter City, which gave the Gulls the lead. Collins can also play up front if either Aaron Jarvis or Brad Ash were unavailable. 

Dan Martin earned himself a new contract in pre-season after proving his fitness and will provide more than capable cover for Collins.

STRIKER

Aaron Jarvis, Brad Ash

The fact that the Gulls have been able to retain the services of last season's leading scorer Aaron Jarvis has arguably been a bigger boost as any new signings that United have made so far. Jarvis netted 18 times in the 2023-24 campaign - which included two hat-tricks, becoming the first Gulls' player to complete that feat since Robin Stubbs in 1965-66; He will be aiming to better that tally in 2023-24.

In pre-season, Jarvis has formed a promising partnership with Brad Ash and have linked up well together so far. This was evidenced in the Gulls' 4-1 pre-season win over Exeter City when Jarvis teed up Ash for the Gulls' second goal.

Ash found the back of the net 18 times in all competitions for Weymouth in the National League South in 2022-23, and could yet overhaul that tally with United. 

In: Kevin Dawson (Gloucester City), Jack Stobbs (Oldham Athletic), Bradley Ash (Weymouth), Lewis Collins (Newport County), Callum Thomas (Under-18s), Finley Craske (Plymouth Argyle), Will Jenkins-Davies (Plymouth Argyle, loan)

Out: Frank Nouble (Yeovil Town), Ali Omar (Larne), Ben Wyatt (St Albans City), Olaf Koszela and Alex Moyse (Dorchester Town), Jack Winsor (Bideford), Lewis Brooks, Jacob Mensah

Torquay United's record in pre-season in 2023-24: 

Vs Reading Under-21s W 5-0 Asa Hall, Lewis Collins, Brett McGavin, Aaron Jarvis (2 1 pen)
Vs Bristol City L 2-6 Brad Ash, Aaron Jarvis
Vs Plymouth Argyle D 1-1 Brad Ash
Vs Exeter City W 4-1 Lewis Collins, Brad Ash, Jack Stobbs, Asa Hall (pen)

TREVOR FRANCIS - ONE IN A MILLION

There are two things that former England striker Trevor Francis will be associated with. 

One is the fact he became Britain's first £1million footballer when Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough signed him from Birmingham City in 1979 and the fact he featured in the theme tune on the closing credits for the TV sitcom Only Fools and Horses. 

However, there is a third factor that is often overlooked when it comes to Francis, who was born in Plymouth in 1954, namely the fact that he is arguably the finest talent ever to emerge from Devon and the South West. 

Even more remarkably, he never played his club football in the region.

After first emerging as a young talent with Plymouth Schools, it was Birmingham City who would secure the signature of Francis. He made his debut for the Blues at the age of 16 years and 139 days, becoming their youngest ever player - a record he would hold until it was beaten by Jude Bellingham in 2019. 

Francis soon made the footballing world sit up and take notice of him when he netted four goals against Bolton Wanderers when he was just short of his 17th birthday. He went on to score 119 goals in 280 games for Birmingham and even had a loan spell in the NASL (North American Soccer League) before a certain Mr Clough signed him for Nottingham Forest for the well documented fee he has become synonymous with. 

Forest had just won the League title and the League Cup and were looking to add the European Cup to their silverware collection. At the time of his arrival at the City Ground, Francis wasn't eligible to play for Forest until the final, where they faced Swedish side Malmo in Munich. His first taste of European football proved to be a memorable one, as he headed home a cross from the left from John Robertson to score the game's only goal to secure a first European Cup for Clough's side. 

Francis missed Forest's second European Cup triumph against Hamburg in 1980 through injury and later left the City Ground in 1981 to join Manchester City for £1.2 million. His form for City earned him a call-up to Ron Greenwood's England squad for the 1982 World Cup and was on target in their group games with Czechoslovakia and Kuwait. He would be capped 52 times by England and scored 12 goals. 

His next move saw him head abroad as he moved to Italy to join Genoa based Sampdoria for £700,000. In the 1984-85, Francis helped Il Doria to win the Coppa Italia for the first time ever and he would also end the campaign as the competition's leading scorer with nine goals in 11 games- becoming the first English player to finish as the top scorer in any Italian competition. 

One of his teammates in that Sampdoria side was former Liverpool and Scotland midfielder Graeme Souness, and his next move would see him become one of the many Englishman who Souness signed for Glasgow Rangers during the time when English clubs were banned from playing in Europe due to the Heysel ban on his return to Britain in 1987, following a brief spell with Atalanta. 

He later returned to England to sign for Queens Park Rangers in 1988, and he later became player-manager of the West London side. His stay at Loftus Road only lasted for just over a year until he was dismissed and replaced by Don Howe. 

Francis then joined Sheffield Wednesday as a player under Ron Atkinson and he helped the Owls to win the Rumbelows Cup in 1991 and promotion back to the top-flight in the 1990-91 season. 

Following Atkinson's departure for Aston Villa in the summer of 1991, Francis was appointed manager of Wednesday and led them to a third-placed finish in the 'old' First Division in the 1991-92 campaign - prior to the formation of the Premier League in 1992-93. 

He then memorably led them to the finals of the Coca-Cola Cup and the FA Cup in 1993, where they were beaten by Arsenal on both occasions. 

Francis eventually retired from playing at the age of 40 and remained in charge at Hillsborough until his dismissal in 1995. A year later, he returned to St Andrews to become manager of Birmingham City. Whilst he never managed to lead the Blues back to the top-flight, he did manage to guide them to the Worthington Cup final in 2001, where they lost on penalties to Gerard Houllier's Liverpool before he was sacked in the October of that year. 

His final managerial role saw him manage Crystal Palace between November 2001 and October 2003.  

He later worked as a pundit for Sky Sports and BT Sport and he died recently of a heart attack at the age of 69.

 

 

SOUTH WEST FRIENDLY REVIEW

With Torquay United opting to play a number of pre-season friendlies behind closed doors, I opted to take in a number of other local friendlies to fill the void. 

Here's a summary of the matches that I chose. 

Exmouth Town 1    Truro City 2,     July 7, 2023

My first choice of friendly saw Kevin Hill's Exmouth Town take on Paul Wotton's Truro City at Southern Road. 

Both managers are fine servants to football in the South West, as Hill is Torquay United's record appearance holder with 474 appearances in all competitions, whilst Wotton is Plymouth Argyle's joint-second appearance holder with 491 in all competitions. 

The hosts took the lead on 26 minutes through their number 14, but the visitors came from behind in the second half as Andrew 'Rocky' Neal and Will Dean both found the back of the net with strikes from distance.

Buckland Athletic 0    Yeovil Town 4,     July 8, 2023

The following day I decided to take a look at another of the Gulls' prospective National League South opponents in the form Yeovil Town, who travelled to Newton Abbot to face Buckland Athletic of the Western League. 

The Glovers brought a sizeable away following with them, and new owner/chairman Martin Hellier was also in attendance. 

Yeovil took the lead in the seventh minute through a free-kick from the edge of the penalty area from Jordan Stevens after Benjani junior had been fouled.

Ex Gulls striker Jared Lewington came the closest to scoring for Bucks on 26 minutes when he created space for himself with a neat flick, which enabled him to elude Glovers’ defender Ollie Haste, before volleying over the bar.

The Glovers were forced into making a change in the 31^st minute when right-back Morgan Williams limped off, after surviving a heavy challenge earlier, and was replaced by youngster Jacob Shore.

A minute later, Yeovil doubled their lead when Malachi Linton had a shot in the box which Jake Hyde got the final touch on.

In the second half, Glovers boss Mark Cooper made wholesale changes, which saw the introduction of a number of former Gulls, including Jamie Sendles-White and Frank Nouble, who spent the final weeks of the 2022-23 season at Plainmoor, and former midfielder Matt Buse featured as a trialist at right-back.

Eight minutes after the restart, the Glovers added a third when a cross from the left from Alex Whittle found its way to Nouble who curled the ball home.

With four minutes to go, Yeovil extended their lead to four when Jordan Maguire-Drew found Matt Worthington who found the bottom corner with a low drive as the Glovers underlined their status as National League South title contenders.

Buckland Athletic 0    Exmouth Town 4,    July 11, 2023

It was a return to Homer's Heath to witness Buckland face Exmouth Town who, of course, play in a league above them in the Southern League Division One South - and the visitors ran out as 4-0 winners.

Exmouth took an early lead on five minutes through a 20 yard strike from Mike Landricombe. 

The visitors then doubled their advantage four minutes before half time when Callum Shipton tapped home a cross from the left. 

In the second half, a penalty from James Richards in the 53rd minute increased Exmouth's lead to three before they rounded off the scoring on 77 minutes when Ben Steer raced onto a through ball from Ace High and calmly slotted home. 

Liskeard Athletic 1     Huddersfield Town 13 

Thirteen proved to be unlucky for Liskeard Athletic as Huddersfield Town found the back of the net 13 times against them in the final match of their pre-season tour of the South West. 

The Terriers, who are managed by former Torquay United and Plymouth Argyle boss Neil Warnock, had already faced Bodmin Town and Tavistock earlier in the week and ran out as winners in emphatic fashion.

Kian Harratt netted a hat-trick from the sub's bench while Josh Koroma, Jack Rudoni and Sorba Thomas all bagged braces. Danny Ward, Jaheim Headley, Tyreece Simpson and Ben Jackson all scored a goal apiece. 

However, Liskeard did come out of the game as midfielder Max Gilbert struck with a long range strike from 25 yards in the 26th minute, which made it 2-1 to Huddersfield at the time.

LIONESS KATIE TO FLY THE FLAG FOR CORNWALL AT WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

 There will be representation from Cornwall in Sarina Wiegman's Lionesses squad for the 2023 Women's World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in the form of Brighton and Hove Albion Women's Katie Robinson. 

Her journey to being selected for a major tournament began for Robinson, who turns 21 whilst the tournament is still in progress on August 8, when she started playing grassroots football in her hometown Newquay. She was then given the opportunity to hone her skills at the Cornwall Girls Advanced Coaching Centre and playing for the Plymouth Argyle boy's Centre of Excellence. 

Her next move saw her join Bristol City Women's academy and she made her debut for the Robins during the 2018-19 season. She joined her current club Brighton and Hove Albion in 2020 and her performances for the Seagulls attracted the attentions of Wiegman

She received her first call-up for friendlies against Japan and Norway in November 2022 and made her debut for the Lionesses when she came off the bench to replace Nikita Parris against Norway. 

If selected for the Lionesses in the tournament she will become the third footballer to appear in a major tournament, after Nigel Martyn, who kept goal for the England men's team in Euro 2000, and Chris Morris, who appeared for the Republic of Ireland men's team at Euro 88 and Italia 90.