TT BLOG

Dom Roman

@DomRoman

This Good Friday game was touted as a possible promotion decider at the start of the season between the two heavyweights of the National League South. Well in the end only one team have thrown their weight about, where as we are left licking our wounds, hoping for new owners and hoping to grab enough points to avoid a late season relegation scrap. Let’s refresh our history with the Glovers….

THE 80s AND 90s

Torquay’s first fixture against Yeovil Town was not until November 1984. The Glovers were a struggling Conference team that year and Dave Webb’s team beat them 2-0 in the 1st Round proper. The next fixtures were during the 1988-89 season when the teams drew each other in the 2nd Round of the FA Cup, United having beating Fareham in Round 1. The first tie at Huish Park finished 1-1, and four days later Cyril Knowles’ team won the replay 1-0 at Plainmoor. Torquay then lost 5-1 to Sheffield Wednesday in the 3rd Round at Hillsborough. In 1992 Yeovil came to Plainmoor for another 1st Round FA Cup tie and this time soundly beat United in a game that included two red cards, two penalties and a total of 7 goals on a terrible afternoon for the Yellows under Paul Compton.

The Fixtures

17th November 1984 – Torquay United 2-0 Yeovil Town – FA Cup 1st Round

10th December 1988 – Yeovil Town 1-1 Torquay United – FA Cup 2nd Round

14th December 1988 – Torquay United 1-0 Yeovil Town – FA Cup 2nd Round Replay

14th November 1992 – Torquay United 2-5 Yeovil Town – FA Cup 1st Round

THE 2000s

11 years passed before the teams met again and in 2003-04 we faced Gary Johnson’s newly promoted team, who had pushed into the Football League after winning the Conference with an impressive 95 points and 100 goals. The two sides met in a hotly anticipated match in September 2003 at Huish Park, and it was Leroy Rosenior’s United team who came out victorious. David Graham scoring a tidy first, before Jo Kuffour finished the Glovers off with a sweet second half back-heel. The return fixture was in April and with United chasing promotion a big crowd filled Plainmoor. Yeovil grabbed an early 2 goal lead, but United rebounded with centre backs Craig Taylor and Steve Woods scoring in reply. It was a sizzling atmosphere and occasion that afternoon, one you can definitely pencil under the heading of ‘the good old days’.

There was time for two more games during that decade, but with the clubs in different divisions these were both Cup ties. United triumphing 4-3 in the Football League Trophy in September 2004, new striker Akinfenwa bagging an extra time winner and then getting a red card as well. The next visit of the Glovers was in November 2007 in the FA Cup 1st Round. By then Yeovil had leapfrogged us into League 1, whilst United got to grips with a 1st season in the Conference. On a perfect day on the BBC for the Gulls, Chris Todd and Danny Stevens both scored twice in a fabulous 4-1 victory. This is one of my favourite Cup games as a United supporter, and FA Cup progress would continue under Paul Buckle in the following years. 16 years later we start in a sobering 2nd qualifying round…

The Fixtures

27th September 2003 – Yeovil Town 0-2 Torquay United – Division Three

3rd April 2004 – Torquay United 2-2 Yeovil Town – Division Three

28th September 2004 – Torquay United 4-3 Yeovil Town – Football League Trophy

11th November 2007 – Torquay United 4-1 Yeovil Town – FA Cup 1st Round

2019-2023 – NATIONAL LEAGUE

The fixtures between the two teams again halted at this point, with Yeovil pushing up the leagues whilst Torquay United moved between the Conference and League Two…before dropping back down to the Conference again. There was a meet up wedged in during October 2012 in the Football League Trophy. But then in 2019 Yeovil Town were relegated down to the National League, and with Torquay winning the NLS, it was time for the fixture to become a regular Xmas/New Year occurrence, this time with Gary Johnson in charge of the Gulls. Since then there has been 8 games between the clubs, 4 wins for Yeovil, 3 wins for Torquay and one draw.

Notable games out of those 8? Well the 2019 Boxing Day 6-2 hammering in the rain at Huish Park still makes me shudder now, such was the misery of that afternoon. But exactly a year later on Boxing Day 2020, United turned the tables with a 6-1 drubbing at Plainmoor, unfortunately with Danny Wright getting injured it turned out to be somewhat bittersweet – but Torquay had moved clear at the top of the NL table, so it was the perfect Xmas present. Since then there has been late goals – Yeovil winning 2-1 on New Year’s 2021, and of course Dan Holman scoring a beauty to snatch 3 points at the death in 2022. Last season’s games saw United failing to hold onto a lead on Boxing Day 2022 and then getting turned over 2-0 in a turgid return fixture, with Gary Johnson taking a swipe at the Yellow Army afterwards as pressure mounted on him to leave.

The Fixtures

16th October 2012 – Torquay United 2-2 Yeovil Town (Yeovil 5-4 on pens) – Football League Trophy

26th December 2019 – Yeovil Town 6-2 Torquay United – National League

1st January 2020 – Torquay United 0-2 Yeovil Town – National League

26th December 2020 – Torquay United 6-1 Yeovil Town – National League

2nd January 2021 – Yeovil Town 2-1 Torquay United – National League

26th December 2021 – Torquay United 3-0 Yeovil Town – National League

2nd January 2022 – Yeovil Town 1-2 Torquay United – National League

26th December 2022 – Torquay United 1-1 Yeovil Town – National League

1st January 2023 – Yeovil Town 2-0 Torquay United – National League

2023-2024 – NATIONAL LEAGUE SOUTH

Both teams would drop down to the NLS in 2023, and our first meeting on 7th November was a sobering night to be a Torquay United supporter, as the confident Glovers travelled purposely down to Plainmoor and bossed us from the off, eventually running out 3-1 victors. A couple of weeks later we did exact some revenge with a FA Trophy win that included a fine strike from Callum Dolan, and ended Yeovil’s unbeaten run. Unfortunately the first game was a better indication of how both our seasons would go, and it looks like the league games between the two will halt again in 24-25.