TT BLOG

Chris Wade – @tufcchris

BRETT MCGAVIN

One of the players to cause the most debate across the last two years at Torquay United was Brett McGavin.

A player of, at times, mercurial talent joined the club from Ipswich Town in the July of 2022. He had enjoyed a successful season on loan at Kings Lynn in 2021/22, albeit in a side that was ultimately relegated from the National League. He had built up a series of loans to gain experience, including stints at Bury Town, Concord Rangers and Ayr United. But he was a regular in that Kings Lynn team and had played 36 times, scoring 3 goals in that season. He was one of several players that arrived at Plainmoor that summer that looked good in their YouTube highlights reel, but was joining from a team that hadn’t been successful.

What struck you straight away about the 22-year-old was his tall but slight physique. Already known to Torquay fans after spanking a shot over Shaun MacDonald during the 2021/22 season (this became his trademark in the season just finished), he was one of a number of promising players brought in to try and refresh the squad after losing the likes of CLE and Armani Little.

He started well enough, striking a close range finish into the corner in an early appearance at Halifax. His range of passing in early appearances was impressive, but it was his lack of physical strength and pace that caused many supporters to be concerned. He was a regular presence throughout his first season at Plainmoor, without ever progressing into a player that could be relied upon.

With our relegation and dropdown to the National League South, the challenge of coming straight back up was on. McGavin was to be a key figure in that quest, and the Gull’s Eye View boys were in full excited mode, with Dom betting Tom a pint that McGavin would get to 10 goals this season. This was to be a fun sub-plot to the season!

A series of outstanding goals followed in 2023-24, sadly coming up one short of Dom’s target of 10. Starting the season in the centre of a midfield four, he soon moved to a position where he was protecting the back four and taking the ball off the centre backs. This gave him the opportunity to use his range of passing far more, but also reduced his influence in attacking areas.

But this didn’t stop the flow of screamers. Goals at Plainmoor against Chelmsford, Welling and Yeovil were all of a similar edge of the box theme, and after two more outside the box goals at Eastbourne, he delivered my personal favourite of the season, an early free kick at home against Weymouth. Up stepped McGavin, a full 25 yards from goal, he shaped the shot perfectly, curling the ball into the absolute top bins. A stunning hit. The goals dried up into 2024 until another screamer at Taunton in the NLS saving match in April. Another true strike from well outside of the box.

He is very much a player that I have enjoyed watching in a Torquay shirt and one who I would personally have liked to see stay on. Any player that can score goals of the quality that he can, is a player that I want. However, I equally understand that questions over his overall influence on games and the way that his pace (or lack of) would slow attacks down. He did become a ‘Marmite’ player in recent months.

What does the future hold for him I wonder? He has the technical ability to be a player in the Football League, but his lack of pace could continue to hold him back. I would think that a move to the National League may well be next.

So long Shooter.

BRETT MCGAVIN – “My time at Torquay has come to an end, it’s time for a new chapter for me and my family. I can’t thank the staff, players and fans enough for making Torquay my home for 2 years. I wish the whole club good luck for whatever comes next and getting back to where you belong”

Clive Hayward – @Byehorse

First impressions were great. On a sunny Spring afternoon in Kings Lynn in 2022 Torquay took 3 points from the Norfolk strugglers despite an absolute screamer from Brett McGavin, their rangy midfielder on loan from Ipswich Town. My mate Roy and I celebrated our rare away win with a bus trip to Hunstanton the following morning. Never let it be said Torquay fans don’t know how to enjoy themselves.

Second impressions were very decent too. Come July Brett was in a Torquay shirt and he looked a decent player in pre-season friendlies at Buckland and Exmouth. He picked out lots of long passes which were generally squandered by toothless Torquay teammates.

But first appearances can be deceptive and 2 years in football is often an eternity. As Ipswich contemplate Premier League football, Brett is surplus to requirements as the big Plainmoor rebuild begins.

Brett’s 22/23 National League campaign brought crushing disappointment, and no more so with the realisation that our Great White Hope just wasn’t up to the rigours of National League football. I think I got there earlier than most, but it gives me no joy to say that. Brett played 33 games and despite a well-taken equaliser at Aldershot he finished with back-to-back relegations on his CV.

He featured 41 more times in 23/24, as we flirted with further humiliation and only avoided demotion to Southern League football in the last week of the season.

Granted, he scored that important goal at Taunton and more than a handful of others, most of which came from range and warmed up those poor frozen souls in the Family Stand. Give him time and space and he strikes a lovely ball.

But for me, it was never enough. Even at home, he was normally ponderous in his movement and when as so often this led to a loss of possession he was so easy to bypass I often wondered if his middle name was Kingskerswell. Away from home he seldom imposed himself and was a massive part of our repeated failure to defend counter-attacks.

Torquay have failed to get the best out of many players over the years- Klaidi Lolos being the latest egregious example- but although I wish Brett no harm it would surprise me if he does fulfil his undoubted potential.

It must have been difficult to stay motivated at times last season but I don’t think there was a huge lack of effort on his part. Quite simply, I am not at all sure his body allows him to get around the park quickly enough to be consistently effective. He is only 24 but has often reminded me of a 38 year old who can still read the game well but whose legs have gone.

There are levels of football where you can get away without any athletic ability but I don’t think Brett has found one yet.

Maybe the proliferation of substitutes in the modern game will ultimately lead to “special teams” as they have in the NFL. If there was a version of football that allowed people to come on just to take free kicks Brett could still become a hot property. But I don’t see it.

He seems to have been popular amongst his team-mates and I hope he proves me wrong.