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Steve Harris

@steveharris84

Steve looks back 27 years to a memorable game at Plainmoor

WES SAUNDERS TESTIMONIAL – 18/05/1997

With players moving between clubs more often nowadays, testimonials are increasingly being seen as a thing of the past.

Not since Torquay United faced Plymouth Argyle in Kevin Hill’s testimonial on the eve of the 2007-08 campaign has Plainmoor hosted such an event.

However, not all testimonials played at the home of the Gulls have been awarded for ten years of loyal service. Other individuals to receive one include former physio Norman Medhurst (the night of a thousand caps which saw a Ron Greenwood England XI face a Bobby Robson England XI), John Uzzell (A Torquay-Plymouth Argyle XI vs Coventry City), but perhaps the most intriguing testimonial match was Wes Saunders testimonial in 1997.

At the time, Saunders was still United’s record signing following his £60,000 transfer from Dundee to the Gulls in 1990 and he captained the Gulls to victory at Wembley in the Division Four Play-off final against Blackpool 12 months later. Sadly, injury forced his retirement from professional football at the end of the 1992-93 season, but Chairman Mike Bateson decided to awarded him with a testimonial in recognition of his service to the club.

It was a surreal moment in time, which saw Torquay United and 90s culture collide as a Torquay United XI went head to head with a Premier XI, featuring Chris Evans, then presenter of TFI Friday – a Channel 4 show that embodied the spirit of Cool Britannia, and Paul Gascoigne, arguably the country’s highest profile footballer at the time.

How Evans came to be involved is unclear – possibly through his friendship with Gazza – but Gazza had been Saunders’ boot boy at Newcastle United as a youngster. A couple of Saunders’ former Magpies teammates Chris Waddle and Peter Beardsley also featured along with Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson and Gulls fan Helen Chamberlain, then at her height of her fame as presenter of Soccer AM and two other of Gazza’s great pals Danny Baker and Jimmy ‘Five Bellies’ Gardner.

The Torquay United XI featured many of Saunders’ teammates from his time at Plainmoor, including the late Paul Holmes, John Uzzell, Matt Elliott, Mickey Holmes, Sean Joyce, Mark Loram and Dean Edwards, as well several of the Gulls’ first team of the time such as Matthew Gregg, Alex Watson, Charlie Oatway, Rodney Jack and Garry Nelson.

However, my own memories of the match are something of a blur. The Premier XI won 8-6 in front of a crowd of 5,770, I remember Helen Chamberlain scoring a penalty and I also have a feeling Rodney Jack netted a brace and Gazza showed more than a few glimpses of the ability that saw him light up Italia 90 and Euro 96. Several weeks later, he would feature for England in Le Tournoi – a four team tournament involving the Three Lions, France, Brazil and Italy – staged a year before the World Cup in France which Gazza wasn’t selected for.

Saunders would return to the club as manager in 1998 after Kevin Hodges’ departure to Plymouth Argyle where he signed Chris Waddle early in the 1998-99 season. He also worked as Gazza’s agent for a brief period.