Almost a year ago, when covering Torquay United away at Tonbridge Angels for BBC Radio Devon summariser Gulls striker Martin Gritton summed up United's plight by saying that they had 'hit rock bottom - only to discover rock bottom had a basement.'
The Gulls had not long been placed in Administration by former chairman and owner Clarke Osborne and following their 4-1 defeat to the Angels in Kent, commentator Harry Salvidge quipped that 'rock bottom has a basement, and the basement is flooding.'
At the time, United had been hit with a ten-point deduction for filing for Administration, which was later followed by another one point deduction for an administrative error. However, thankfully a 2-1 win over Taunton Town in their penultimate league game of the campaign guaranteed their safety under the guidance of interim manager Aaron Downes - making their 5-0 win over Havant & Waterlooville on the final day of the season academic.
Thankfully, the Bryn Consortium, headed by co-chairman Michael Westcott and Mark Bowes-Cavanagh, became the Gulls' new owners and set about the repairing the damage, with the help of football advisor Neil Warnock and new manager Paul Wotton, of course, and now United are looking up, rather than down.
At the time of writing, the Gulls recently returned from Tonbridge Angels' Longwell Stadium, this time with a 1-0 win, courtesy of Jordan Young's tenth goal of the season, as he found the back of the net after Matt Jay's initial shot bounced back off the post. The win helps to keep United on course for promotion, as they are currently sixth in a league which is incredibly tight.
For Young. should the Gulls win promotion, it would be a second promotion from National League South for him, as it would for teammate Jay Foulston - the duo were both title winner's with Yeovil Town in 2023-24.
In the wake of their victory over the Angels, United host Salisbury FC before heading to fellow promotion chasers Dorking Wanderers, as the 2024-25 campaign enters its final furlong.
Hopefully come the end, we could all be saying that the clubs have climbed the staircase and are heading towards the penthouse suite of promotion to the National League and, in time, possibly even the Football League.
What a difference the atmosphere was compared to a year ago.
