ON THIS DAY: TORQUAY UNITED 1 WEST HAM UNITED 0 - 1990

After the euphoria of reaching the Sherpa Van Trophy final in 1989, Cyril Knowles quit as Gulls’ manager in September 1989, following a high profile fall out with Chairman Lew Pope.

A bad feeling between the two men had existed for some time, which had been tempered by the revelations that Lew Pope received a £16,000 payment from the Wembley profits and Knowles had also been seen tearing up a piece of paper symbolising his contract.

Former Plymouth Argyle manager Dave Smith, who had led the Pilgrims to promotion from Division Three in the 1985-86 season before heading to Scotland to manage his hometown club Dundee, was named as his successor.

Smith’s arrival led to an improvement in results and the Gulls also enjoyed a fine FA Cup run, which saw them beat Sutton United and Basingstoke Town to earn them a home tie in the third round against West Ham United.

The Hammers are a club that the Gulls have had a number of strong links with. The most notable of these is former manager Frank O’Farrell - a member of the original West Ham Academy - who enticed the likes of John Bond, Ken Brown and Bill Kitchener to Plainmoor in the late 1960’s.

Given the connections between the two clubs, it was then perhaps no surprise that a future Gulls’ manager featured on the day for the Hammers in the form of second half substitute Leroy Rosenior.

At the time of this meeting, the Hammers had just been relegated from the ‘old’ First Division, and their extra class told in the first half.

In After the Jaws of Victory, United’s skipper John Uzzell recalls: “I remember in the changing room before the game Dave Smith got everyone in a circle and we chanted: ‘we can, we will’ as loudly as we could.” Uzzell also recounted in his foreword for Torquay United: A History in 50 Matches.

Ian Bishop’s dangerous runs from midfield, allied with the attacking menace of right winger George Parris and the visitor’s strike pairing of Trevor Morley and Jimmy Quinn meant the Gulls’ rear guard of goalkeeper Kenny Veysey and their defensive quartet of Paul Holmes, Matt Elliott, Phil Lloyd and Uzzell had to be on the top of their game.

In the 29^th minute, Veysey plucked a close range header from Northern Ireland striker Quinn out of the air, which help to set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

At the other end of the pitch, Gulls’ striker Dave Caldwell was enjoyed an often fierce battle with the Hammers’ centre back duo of former England defender Alvin Martin and Tony Gale.

It was a challenge on Caldwell by Martin that set Torquay up for their best chance of the first half, as Caldwell quickly took the resulting free-kick himself and picked out Robbie Taylor who – in turn – set up Uzzell for a effort from 12-yards that he pulled wide.

United probed and stretched the Hammers’ defence down the right hand side through Dean Edwards and Paul Smith and – following a frantic goal mouth scramble on 35 minutes - they forced four successive corners, but they were unable to break the deadlock.

In the second half, with the tie seemingly heading for a replay at Upton Park, Dave Smith made what would later prove to be a decisive substitution, which he described as being ‘tactical’, when he replaced Caldwell with the fresh legs and youthful exuberance of Hirons.

Within three minutes of his introduction, the change paid off for the Gulls as Paul Smith set off on a bursting run out of defence. He then produced a cross which found Taylor, whose miss hit shot landed straight into the path of Hirons, who fired home past Hammers’ keeper Phil Parkes with his first touch of the match.

With nine minutes to go, Hammers’ boss Lou Macari threw caution to the wind - as they attempted to get back on level terms, sending on Rosenior on as a substitute for Parris with nine minutes to go.

In the dying minutes of the tie, Rosenior headed a Steve Potts’ free-kick over the bar and Quinn forced a thrilling save from Veysey, as the Gulls held on to secure a famous win to reach the fourth round of the cup for the fifth time.

The result helped to ensure that the Gulls were ‘forever bursting bubbles’- according to the headline which accompanied the report of the match in the Herald Express, a play on words of the song famously sung by the Hammers followers. 

However, there was to be no repeat of their heroics against the Hammers in their fourth round tie away at Blackpool, which they lost 1-0.

Torquay: (4-4-2) Kenny Veysey; Paul Holmes, Matt Elliott, Phil Lloyd, John Uzzell; Paul Smith, John Matthews, Ian Weston, Robbie Taylor; Dean Edwards, Dave Caldwell (Paul Hirons 74)

Attendance: 5,342

This match features as match 22 in Torquay United: A History in 50 Matches, which is available here: https://torquayunitedahistoryin50.bigcartel.com/product/torquay-united-a-history-in-50-matches

AFTER THE JAWS OF VICTORY

 On May 9, 1987, Torquay United drew 2-2 with Crewe Alexandra to retain their Football League status.

However, this was no ordinary game as the Gulls equalised late on through Paul Dobson, in extra time which was added on after defender Jim McNichol required treatment for being bitten by a police dog named Bryn. Dobson’s late effort stopped United becoming the first ever club to be automatically relegated from the Football League, as Lincoln City went down instead.

Far from being a stay of execution for United, it provided them with a shot at redemption as the subsequent seasons saw them enjoy one of the most successful spells in the club’s history.

In the following 1987/88 season, they narrowly missed out on promotion under the late Cyril Knowles. This was followed up with their first Wembley appearance in 1989 against Bolton Wanderers in the Sherpa Van Trophy final, after beating Wolverhampton Wanderers against the odds in the Southern Area final. In the 1989/90 season, they claimed one of the greatest FA Cup scalps in their history when they beat West Ham United in the third round. Over a year later, the Gulls won promotion through the Play-offs against Blackpool in 1991 – becoming the first side to win a Football League Play-off final on penalties.

These events were followed by numerous highs and lows in the 1990s and the 2000s, including a return to Wembley in 1998 in the Play-offs, their final day relegation decider against Barnet in 2001, their first automatic promotion in 38 years under Leroy Rosenior in 2004, as well as their first ever relegation from the Football League and subsequent return under Paul Buckle in 2009.

After the Jaws of Victory carries on from where the 2019 Netflix documentary on the club’s ‘great escape’ left off, as Steve Harris interviews 12 players who all made their mark for the club between 1986 and 2010.

The players featured include McNichol, Chris Myers, Dave Caldwell, John Uzzell, Darren Moore, Don O’Riordan, Alex Watson, Paul Gibbs, Kevin Hill, Alex Russell, Martin Gritton and Chris Hargreaves. Together they share not only the stories of their respectively stints at Plainmoor, but also tales of encounters with World Cup winners, meetings with legendary managers and he crossing of paths with a number of the game’s contemporary figures.

Copies are available from the author at steveharris84@btinternet.comand the book is on sale at www.torquayunitedahistoryin50.bigcartel.com/product/after-the-jaws-of-victory

                                              

ROONEY'S SUCCESSOR WILL NEED TO BOX CLEVER

 The word 'potential' has always been associated with Plymouth Argyle throughout its 139-year history and that potential has helped a number of well-known managers during that time, with Wayne Rooney being the most recent example. 

When England's second highest goalscorer took charge of Argyle in the summer of 2024, it could be argued that he needed Plymouth Argyle as much as Plymouth Argyle needed him. After seeing Ryan Lowe and Steven Schumacher leave for Preston North End and Stoke City respectively, the Pilgrims' progress up through the leagues had stalled following the appointment and dismissal of former England Under-20 coach Ian Foster. Whilst Rooney didn't need the job in a financial sense, he saw the role as a chance to resurrect his reputation as a manager in the wake of his dismissal by Birmingham City. 

Despite the scepticism that initially greeted his appointment, there were times when it looked as though it might have worked out for him. During the course of September and October, the Pilgrims secured impressive home wins over Sunderland, Luton Town and Blackburn Rovers. However, a series of heavy away defeats, which contributed to their poor form on their travels which saw them only pick up two points in 13 games - leaving them bottom of the Championship at the time of his departure. 

In spite of Rooney's failings, one thing shouldn't be forgotten and that is that the Championship is one of the hardest leagues to manage in. With clubs being relegated from the Premier League receiving millions of pounds in parachute payments, many bounce back at the first attempt, but others aren't so lucky and end up falling further. Then there are other well-resourced clubs with fanbases far in excess of the Pilgrims.

Therefore clubs like Argyle, who are amongst the clubs with the lower budgets in the division, need to 'box clever' in order to compete with likes of Leeds United, Burnley, Sheffield United and Sunderland. 

During their previous spell in English football's second tier, between 2004 and 2010, the Pilgrims acted quickly to dismiss Bobby Williamson early in the 2005-06 campaign. Williamson had taken over from Paul Sturrock in 2004 and Argyle were in danger of relegation. Nevertheless, they moved quickly to appoint Tony Pulis, who steered the Pilgrims to safety before returning to Stoke City and then passed the managerial baton onto Ian Holloway. 

Survival will be the aim for Rooney's successor, with former manager Schumacher emerging as the fan's favourite to succeed him. With his backroom staff of assistant Mike Phelan and first team coach Simon Ireland and even Director of Football Neil Dewsnip being tipped to leave, he will have the carte blanche to bring in his own backroom team and he will need to hit the ground running.