Unless you are a fan of one of their traditional rivals, namely Exeter City, Plymouth Argyle or Weymouth, then it is difficult to dislike either Torquay United and Yeovil Town.
However, since the 2019-20 campaign, the pair have played in the same league as each after only previously crossed swords as divisional opponents in the 2003-04 season, which was Yeovil's maiden campaign as a Football League club.
In their first meeting of the season in September 2003 at Huish Park, Torquay returned to Devon as 2-0 victors with goals from David Graham and Jo Kuffour.
When the two sides met again at Plainmoor later on that season in front of a near capacity crowd of 6,156 in April 2004. The Glovers raced into a two-goal lead with Darren Way and Jake Edwards finding the target before United skipper Craig Taylor pulled one back with a free-kick shortly before half-time. The Gulls drew level in the second half through Steve Woods who slotted home after seeing his 59th penalty saved by Steve Collis.
At the end of the campaign, the Gulls clinched automatic promotion for the first time in 38 years, while Yeovil finished eighth - narowly missing out on a Play-off spot.
The following 2004-05 season saw the pair were drawn together in the first round of the LDV Vans Trophy. On that occasion, only two league places separated the two sides as the Gulls lay 23rd in League One, after winning automatic promotion in the previous 2003-04 campaign, and the Glovers were top of League Two.
A crowd of 1,610 poured into Plainmoor to see Torquay take the lead through Jo Kuffour on 17 minutes before Latvian international Andrejs Stolcers, who had represented his country in Euro 2004 during the close season, levelled for the visitors three minutes before half-time.
Early in the second half, two goals from skipper Craig Taylor and Bayo Akinfenwa, his first for the Gulls, in the 53rd and 59th minutes respectively gave Torquay a 3-1 lead.
However, the Glovers, famed for claiming a number of higher division scalps during their non-league days, weren’t to be undone as strikes from Adrian Caceres and Bartosz Tarachulski saw Yeovil level at 3-3 and sent the tie into extra time.
With four minutes remaining, and the game set to be heading for penalties, Akinfenwa scored a late winner for the Gulls.
Then, as part of his celebration, ran into the Family Stand behind the goal and sat down in an empty seat, a decision which earned him a red card as Torquay played out the final four minutes with ten men, but they still hung on to their slender advantage to win.
Torquay would exit the competition in the next round following a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Northampton Town and at the end of the season.
The two sides would swap divisions at the end of the season as a 2-1 defeat at Colchester on the final day of the campaign saw the Gulls relegated to League Two, whilst the Glovers clinched the League Two title with a 3-0 victory over Lincoln City in their final fixture.
Two years later, both Torquay and Yeovil would experience further contrasting fortunes as the Gulls lost their Football League status for the first time in 80 years whereas the Glovers found themselves one game away from a place in the Championship after reaching the League One Play-Off final where they were beaten by Blackpool.
Their paths would cross again in the first round of the following season’s FA Cup, the most recent encounter between the two sides, which saw Torquay win 4-1 as Chris Todd and Danny Stevens both scored doubles to cancel out Marcus Stewart’s opener for Yeovil.
In the 2012-13 season, by which time the Gulls had re-established themselves as a Football League club, they met again in the rebranded Johnstone's Paint Trophy at Plainmoor. They drew 2-2 with Ryan Jarvis netting a brace for United and James Hayter doing the same for the Glovers before Yeovil won 5-4 on penalties. At the end of the campaign, Gary Johnson, then in his second spell in charge at Huish Park, guided the Glovers to an unlikely promotion to the Championship, as they beat Brentford 2-1 in the League One Play-off final, while Torquay avoided relegation from League Two.
However, the subsequent 2013-14 season would see the Gulls relegated from the Football League for a second time. Nevertheless, they wouldn't face Yeovil in a competitive fixture until the 2019-20 campaign, which followed their National League South title triumph under Gary Johnson. The Glovers had gone into a sharp decline since their promotion to the Championship and experienced three relegations between 2014 and 2018 - which saw them return to non-league football after 16 years in the Football League.
At Huish Park on Boxing Day 2019, Yeovil recorded their biggest ever win over the Gulls with a thumping 6-2 win, which was followed by a 2-0 victory at Plainmoor on New Year's Day. The Glovers would finish the 2019-20 campaign in 4th place - which cemented their place in the Play-offs in a National League that was decided by PPG (Points per game) following its suspension due to the Covid-19 pandemic, where they were beaten by Barnet.
The following 2020-21 campaign saw the Gulls enact a modium of revenge on Yeovil, as hit the Glovers for six on Boxing Day 2020 at Plainmoor - in a game that saw them lead 4-0 at the half-time interval. It was Torquay's biggest ever win over the Glovers, but Yeovil secured a 2-1 win over United in their re-match at Huish Park on January 2, 2021. The Gulls would go on to reach the National League Play-off final, where they were beaten 4-3 on penalties by Hartlepool United after drawing 1-1 in normal time.
The two sides once again met on Boxing Day in 2021-22, which saw United win 3-0, with goals from Ben Wynter, Jack Sparkes and Joe Lewis in a game which also saw the Glovers reduced to ten men after Sonny-Blu Lo-Everton was dismissed for an off-the-ball challenge on Tom Lapslie.
In the return fixture on January 2, 2022, the Gulls came from behind to win 2-1 at Huish Park. A long range strike from Jordan Barnett had given Yeovil the lead before Connor Lemonheigh-Evans scored directly from a corner and substitute Dan Holman slotted home in the 89th minute, as the Gulls completed their first ever double over the Glovers. United would finish the season in 11th place, and the Yeovil one place below in 12th.
When the two sides met again in the 2022-23 season, both sides were fighting to avoid relegation by the time they met once again on Boxing Day. Mark Ellis headed the Gulls in front in the first half before Malachi Linton came off the bench to equalise in the second half.
The return fixture on New Year's Day saw Yeovil win 2-0 with late goals from Matty Worthington and Jordan Maguire-Drew.
At the end of the campaign, the Gulls and the Glovers were relegated to National League South, Torquay finished 21st and Yeovil finished 22nd, and both sides find themselves in contention for promotion back to the National League in 2023-24.
