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Steve Harris

@steveharris84

Steve discusses Zebs

ZEBROSKI

It is often said in football you should never go back to the previous club, however Chris Zebroski proved to be one of the exceptions to the rule when he re-joined the Gulls in the 2009-10 campaign.

A few eyebrows were raised when Zebroski first arrived at Plainmoor on a season-long loan from Millwall, owing to an off-the-field incident from his time as a Plymouth Argyle player during a pre-season tour of Austria. However, during the 2007-08 season, he scored 19 goals in 52 appearances in all competitions, as he finished the campaign as second top scorer behind Tim Sills and emerged as one of the Gulls’ star performers.

His displays for United earned him a move to Wycombe Wanderers in the summer of 2008 when former England caretaker boss Peter Taylor paid the Lions £20,000 for his services. His goal-scoring return of seven goals from 33 league appearances helped the Chairboys win promotion from League Two in the 2008-09 season, at the same time that many of the teammates Zebroski left behind were winning promotion back to the Football League with the Gulls.

While United were re-adjusting to life in League Two, manager Paul Buckle was looking to remould his side for their newly found level and with Zebroski not making the transition from League Two to League One quite as easily as he made the step up between the Blue Square Premier and League Two, a return to Plainmoor appeared to suite both parties.

Zebroski initially returned to Plainmoor on loan in November 2009. He made a bright start on his return, scoring four goals in seven matches – including a brace in a 5-0 win over Darlington on December 12, 2009. The deal was made permanent in January 2010. Zebroski was a number of new faces to arrive at Plainmoor during that particular transfer window, including a young Irish midfielder by the name of Eunan O’Kane and they were later joined by experienced centre back Guy Branston.

In the second half of the 2009-10 season, the Gulls moved away from the foot of the table to finish a respectable 17th place in League Two – thanks in no small part to a club record run of clean sheets towards the end of the campaign.

United then took the momentum of their strong finish to the previous season into the 2010-11 campaign, winning their opening four games which earned Buckle the League Two manager of the month award for August 2010. Zebroski also made a flying start to the campaign on a personal level – netting three goals in those aforementioned four games.

Zebroski finished the season as the Gulls’ top scorer with 16 goals in all competitions; his most notable strike came in the Gulls’ 2-0 Play-off semi-final first leg against Shrewsbury Town at Plainmoor, before O’Kane added a second, which helped United book their place in the final with Stevenage.

The final with Stevenage at Old Trafford, as Wembley was being used to host the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona, saw the Gulls fall to a 1-0 defeat. It also proved to be a swansong for Buckle as he left to take charge of Bristol Rovers and Zebroski was one of a number of players who would follow him to the Memorial Stadium.

Zebroski’s post Plainmoor career has taken in a whole host of different clubs including Cheltenham Town, Newport County and Eastleigh and has been punctuated by several brushes with the law. Indeed, during his time at Plainmoor, he was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid work following a street brawl.

Nevertheless, he remains involved in football as assistant manager with Isthmian League side AFC Croydon Athletic, a club co-owned by former Crystal Palace star Wilfried Zaha and the rapper Stormzy.