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Steve Harris – @steveharris84

Where are they now – The 2009 Wembley heroes

If it happened in the higher echelons of the game, then surely Torquay United’s Blue Square Premier Play-off final victory over Cambridge United would have been made into a film, or at the very least spawned a Netflix documentary!

With a goalkeeper with a broken jaw (Michael Poke), a centre back still in remission after being diagnosed with Leukaemia (Chris Todd) and a centre forward (Tim Sills), not only did Paul Buckle’s Gulls of 2009 show tremendous character, they also did it in style.

Skipper Chris Hargreaves gave Torquay the lead in the first half with a shot from the edge of the penalty before Sills headed home to double United’s lead in the second half from a Wayne Carlisle that will forever be immortalised by Setanta commentator Steve Bower’s line: ‘Carlisle, he checks instead, he’s looking for Benyon – SILLS!’.

We will now take a look at what the team who featured under the Wembley Arch are up to now.

MICHAEL POKE returned to Plainmoor for a third loan spell in the 2009-10 season and later joined Brighton and Hove Albion in the summer of 2010. He rejoined the Gulls on a permanent basis in 2012 and stayed for two years. He later had spells with Portsmouth, Eastleigh and Woking and later became goalkeeper coach at Fratton Park – a position which he held until 2022.

LEE MANSELL remained a mainstay of the United side under Paul Buckle who would hand him the captain’s armband in 2011, a role which he would also fulfil under his successor, Martin Ling. He was named in the PFA League Two team of the season in the 2011-12 campaign and remained at Plainmoor until United’s second relegation from the Football League in 2014 when he joined Bristol Rovers. After a spell as manager of hometown club Gloucester City, he is currently working for the PFA.

CHRIS ROBERTSON continued to be a mainstay in the centre of United’s defence until he earned himself a £60,000 move to Preston North End in January 2012. Spells with Port Vale, Ross County in his native Scotland, AFC Wimbledon and Swindon Town followed before he dropped into non-league with Ilkeston Town in 2019. He then wound down his career with Grantham Town and Coalville Town as well as loan spell with Quorn Town.

CHRIS TODD featured at Wembley after being diagnosed with Chronic Myeloid Leukaemia earlier in the season, and stayed at Plainmoor until January 2010 when he signed for Newport County, initially on loan before making the move permanent. He then moved onto Forest Green Rovers and Eastleigh, and became player manager of the latter. He would later have a stint as assistant manager of Truro City under Lee Hodges and managed Gloucester City before returning to Plainmoor as youth team coach, which he combined with working with the first team. Todd then moved to Yeovil Town as assistant manager to Chris Hargreaves and then Mark Cooper before briefly returning to Eastleigh as Director of Football. He is currently working as assistant first team coach at another of his former club’s Newport County.

KEVIN NICHOLSON also made the step up to the Football League was another member of the Gulls’ side who made it into the PFA League Two team of the season (Mansell, Bobby Olejnik and Eunan O’Kane were the others). A hugely popular player, Nicholson left the Gulls in 2014 and appeared for Kidderminster Harriers and Bath City prior to his appointment as player-manager of the Gulls in September 2015. He oversaw two ‘great escapes’ in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons before his dismissal in August 2017. A return to management with Cornish side Mousehole followed before he linked up with Exeter City, where he is currently working as assistant manager.

WAYNE CARLISLE famously provided the cross that led to United’s decisive second goal and remained with the Gulls until January 2011 when he retired from professional football. He later went into coaching and worked as an assistant manager under Steve Tully at Truro City and performed the same role at Exeter City, Rotherham United and Bristol Rovers under Matt Taylor.

CHRIS HARGREAVES memorably captained the side on the day and left the club in January 2010 to return to one of his former clubs Oxford United. After retiring from playing, he then made his name as a coach with Exeter City and AFC Bournemouth before he was appointed as successor to Alan Knill in January 2014, but he was unable to keep the Gulls in the Football League in 2013-14. He left the club in the summer of 2015 and later had a spell as academy manager and assistant manager at Bristol Rovers. Hargreaves briefly returned to management with Yeovil Town in 2022 and is presently working as a scout for Brighton and Hove Albion.

NICKY WROE received an England C call-up midway through the campaign and stayed until January 2011, when he joined Shrewsbury Town who United would defeat in the 2010-11 League Two play-offs. He enjoyed a solid Football League career with Preston North End and Notts County before he returned to non-league football with FC Halifax Town in 2016, and later appeared for Bradford Park Avenue, Boston United and Curzon Ashton.

DANNY STEVENS stayed with the Gulls until the end of the 2012-13 season when he was released by Alan Knill. He made a brief return under Chris Hargreaves in 2013-14 and later appeared for Whitehawk.

ELLIOT BENYON would finish the 2009-10 season as the Gulls’ leading scorer, and also won the club’s player of the year award. His goal-scoring exploits earned him a £125,000 move to Swindon Town in the January 2011 transfer window. After failing to replicate his form with the Robins, he joined Southend United and returned to Plainmoor in the summer of 2013, following his release by the Shrimpers. Benyon then became a prolific goal scorer in non-league football and mostly recently appeared for Hanwell Town.

TIM SILLS famously wrote his name into Torquay United folklore when he headed home, but he would leave the Gulls to move to Stevenage in January 2010. Sills would return to Wembley to face Cambridge United again in 2014 with Gosport Borough in the final of the FA Trophy. In 2019, he was appointed as manager of Hamworthy United, who he led to the Wessex League title in the 2021-22 season. He left the Hammers in 2022 to manage Wimborne Town, who he guided to the Southern League Division South title in 2023-24.

SUBS

MUSTAPHA CARAYOL is currently playing for Peterborough Sports in a career which has taken spells with Nottingham Forest and Ipswich Town as well as stints abroad with Apollon Limassol in Cyprus and Adana Demirspor in Turkey.

LEE HODGES left the Gulls to join Truro City in 2010, whom he would later have two spells as manager of (2010-2013 & 2016-2018). He also served as assistant manager to Chris Hargreaves during his time in charge at Plainmoor.

TYRONE THOMPSON was released by Paul Buckle at the end of the 2009-10 campaign and would appear for a host of former league clubs in non-league including Mansfield Town, Grimsby Town, FC Halifax Town and Lincoln City. He has also worked as a player’s agent.