TT GROUNDHOPPING

Alan Wills – @alanjwills

Alan looks back over 2025

Sat 16 Aug 2025 – Maidstone United (A) – D 1-1

The Gallagher Stadium is not a happy hunting ground for Torquay. I had already been there three times and seen three losses, and this was on top of a 1-4 FA Cup defeat in 1990 when Maidstone played at Dartford.

I was feeling a bit more confident this time around though after the opening win against Enfield the previous Saturday.

A few drinks were had outside The Flower Pot pub, with a lovely view of the dual carriageway, before we headed for the stadium, where there was a large number of Gulls fans.

Basking in the August sun, the Yellow Army ultimately left the ground on a high after Jordan Young had scored an equaliser in injury time.

Sat 23 Aug 2025 – Horsham (A) – L 1-2

Our first visit to the Fusion Aviation Stadium near Gatwick Airport was an unhappy one.

We parked at the Park and Ride, and walked over to this sparsely populated out of town stadium. No pre-match beers in the town on this occasion.

United started slowly, and although new loanee winger Josh Phillips looked lively, it was Horsham who took the lead via a direct free kick on the edge of the penalty area just before half time.

A late volleyed equaliser from substitute Ed Palmer seemed to have saved Torquay’s bacon, and we were even pushing for a winner.

But a dodgy backpass in injury time from another substitute Denzel Akyeampong, missed completely by James Hamon, allowed Horsham to seal all three points.

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 – Hemel Hempstead Town (A) – L 1-2

A quick return to the venue where Cody Cooke scored his hat trick and we so very nearly won the NLS Championship back in May.

Pre-match beers at The Fisheries Inn by the canal with our fellow away day travellers was very pleasant, before taxis to the stadium.

Despite the Yellow Army not being there in the numbers there had been at the end of last season, there was good away support as we have come to expect.

A goal down at half time, United had several good chances in the second half, including a Dan Hayfield effort which rattled the crossbar.

Ed Palmer was again the hero for the eventual equaliser, but Matthews-Lewis then got the winner meaning that The Gulls had lost again away from home.

Tue 2 Sep 2025 – Hampton & Richmond (A) – D 2-2

United had a quick chance to put the away form right, but Hampton were the form team in the division and flying high in the table.

After a few pints at The Worlds End with the co-Chairmen and some away day regulars, we walked down to the Beveree Stadium.

A very large number of Gulls fans were present for this vital evening match, and they were spread throughout the unsegregated ground.

Torquay came out of the traps very quickly with a goal for Jordan Young from a Cody Cooke cross, but Hampton then equalised within the first ten minutes of the match.

It was an even contest, but The Gulls managed to take the lead again via a Sam Dreyer header against his old club before half time.

Everything seemed to be on track for Torquay to get their first away win, despite pressure from Hampton, but the home side tapped in the equaliser ten minutes from time and the game finished all square.

Sat 13 Sep 2025 – AFC Totton (A) – L 0-2

Having been embarrassingly knocked out by Bishops Cleeve in the FA Cup 2nd Qualifying Round last season, United had been drawn away again in what looked a very tricky tie against a high flying Totton side.

Totton does have a train station, but the Snows Stadium is actually in the nearby village of Calmore two miles away, so we opted to drive since it was only 45 mins for us from North Hampshire.

The stadium has a nice little bar, but the terraces are very narrow and have no cover. Luckily it wasn’t raining.

There was always a danger it might happen, but inevitably former Gull Scott Rendell scored the opening goal from a header after half an hour.

Torquay were chasing the game after that, but Totton killed it after 65 minutes, and we never looked like getting back into the match.

So, United are out of the FA Cup at the first stage for the second consecutive season.

Sat 4 Oct 2025 – Salisbury (A) – W 1-0

Another short train trip from Hampshire to Wiltshire, and a meet up with the Torquay posse in ’spoons for pre-match entertainment.

A taxi ride to the Ray-Mac Stadium found us in Salisbury’s clubhouse full of Gulls fans with ale on tap as we continued the party before taking our place on the terraces alongside a sizeable contingent in Yellow.

It was a perfect start as Matt Worthington scored his debut goal for The Gulls from a cross by his future bestie Callum Dolan.

United threatened to add to their lead, and Jordan Young missed a penalty, but three points is three points and a first away win of the season was finally achieved at the sixth attempt.

Celebrations ensued in the City that night. We even bumped into the Dutch branch of the Yellow Army whom had travelled over from Amsterdam for the occasion.

Sat 18 Oct 2025 – Chesham United (A) – L 0-1

A big weekend in London for me with the football sandwiched between two music gigs on Friday (EMF) and Saturday (Nova Twins).

Travelling from Euston, I bumped into fellow TorquayTalk contributors Clive and Tom on the Metropolitan line and we made our way to the end of the line at Chesham.

The George and Dragon was our destination where we met up with members of the Dan Hayfield Appreciation Society for DHAS Day. It was a short walk to The Meadow through suburban streets where we sampled the famous homemade cakes and savoury snacks on the terraces with the Chesham Ultras.

Ultimately, Chesham scored ten minutes before half time and then time wasted for the rest of the match, which we saw at Plainmoor last season. There was a glimmer of hope with Sonny Fish coming on as substitute to make his long awaited debut, but I had to leave early to get to the gig, and I’m glad I did.

Sat 25 Oct 2025 – Dorking Wanderers (A) – L 1-3

We caught the train to the Surrey town of Dorking and went directly to the Halloween themed “The Old House” pub opposite Westcott and Williams DIY shop, meeting up with Gulls fans from all over the country.

Fortunately, Meadowbank Football Ground was only a short walk away, and just inside was their fan zone where we met up with more members of the Yellow Army.

The performance on the pitch was nowhere near as good as our last visit though, as with top scorer Jordan Young dropped to the bench we never looked like getting the upper hand against a Dorking side that raced into a 3-0 lead by half time.

United missed another penalty in a better second half, this time from Louis Dennis, but did get a consolation from a Jordan Young free kick. However, they didn’t really look like clawing back the three goal deficit.

Sat 29 Nov 2025 – Chelmsford City (A) – W 2-0

I missed the Farnborough and Maidenhead away wins as I was away on holiday in Poland. I watched Farnborough on the stream in our “local” The Loggers, and listened to the Maidenhead game after seeing Wizla Krakow lose at the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium. So, I was ready to get back on the road with my beloved Gulls to Chelmsford after seeing our 7-0 demolition of Eastbourne the previous Saturday at Plainmoor.

After making my way to Chelmsford by train, I met up with the Musketeers and other away day regulars from Torquay at The Original Plough. We taxied to the stadium and the Yellow Army were segregated this time in a seated area with some standing behind the advertising hoardings, watching the action from the other side of the running track.

The first half was goalless, but both sides had chances.

18-year old loanee Kieron Wilson entered the fray around the hour mark and hit a perfect shot into the top right hand corner, then Jordan Young made it 2-0 to The Gulls from a free kick.

Tom Lapslie came on for Chelmsford and showed his tough tackling side by scything down Jay Foulston, but Torquay hung on for their fifth win on the bounce.

Sat 20 Dec 2025 – AFC Totton (A) – L 0-1

I did say that I wasn’t going back to Totton after the FA Cup defeat a few months ago, but after a few weeks off I was keen to go and cheer on the Gulls once again.

Tom took the wheel this time to carry all four Musketeers 45 minutes down the down to the southern part of Hampshire.

We did venture out to a local pub this time around to seek out pre-match refreshments, and ended up at the rather unrefined Saxon Inn in a nearby housing estate to meet up with the Wades, the Haywards, Tom Kelly and Joe Uglow.

A friendly local pointed us towards a short cut back to the Snows Stadium, and we joined up with more members of the Yellow Army in the under-stand bars and on the open terraces, such as Roger from the Hampshire Gulls, and three generations of the Bittlestone family.

Looking at the positives from this match, we created lots of chances, had five cleared off the line, several goal bound shots saved brilliantly by the goalkeeper, and saw the returns of Callum Dolan and Cody Cooke.

Unfortunately, a decent showing counted for nothing as we couldn’t break through the ten men of Totton, after their goal just before half time, even after being awarded a penalty which was hit well over by Jordan Young.