NEW GULL PROFILE
Sam Jones – @samuellejones
Sam talks about the newest Gull
When the incoming was announced, everyone expected it to be former Yeovil defender Jake Wannell moving down to the Bay. But the club hoodwinked us, and announced the #incoming of the brilliantly named goalkeeper Toby Savin. After sitting on Wigan’s bench for all of last season, Toby has joined the Gulls for the 26/27 season. But who exactly is the man who was so obviously born to be a Goalie?
CAREER SUMMARY
Toby was born in Southport in 2001 to parents who are presumably called Mustby and Hastoby. He bounced around a number of academies, including Southport, Everton and Wigan’s before settling at Accrington Stanley’s in 2017. He made his professional debut for the club in 2019 in a 2-1 EFL Trophy win against Fleetwood Town and kept his first clean sheet a couple of months later in a 3-0 win over Oldham in the same competition. A short loan to Stalybridge Celtic followed, but he was called back after only 1 appearance due to injuries at his home club. He stayed at the Stanley until 2024, making 112 appearances in total before leaving to join Shrewsbury. Fun fact, in the 2022 season he was the back-up to now England and Man City goalie James Trafford.
The next couple of season were fairly nomadic for Toby. Despite being on Shrewsbury’s books for two seasons, he couldn’t nail down the starting job and saw loans to both Barnet and Halifax in that time. After he was released by The Shrews in 2025, he then spent a year on Wigan’s bench before moving south to join the Gulls.
HIGHLIGHTS
He’s a goalie, so couldn’t find much…but here he is making a decent save for Halifax against Woking:
TALKING ABOUT TOBY
Jimmy Ball on Toby signing for United – “I think the boys a League One Goalkeeper…he’s raring to go. I couldn’t be happier”
SAVIN STATS
DATE OF BIRTH: 4TH May 2001 – 25 YEARS-OLD
BIRTHPLACE: SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND
HEIGHT: 1.94M
POSITION: GOALKEEPER
L1 25-26 STATS: APPEARANCES 0, CONCEDED 0, CLEAN SHEETS 0, YELLOW CARDS 0, RED CARDS 0
MOST LIKELY/LEAST LIKELY
Most Likely To
- Be our First Choice going into the season. Jimmy is talking him up as a Football League goalie, so would be astonishing if he doesn’t start.
- Be Savin lots of shots…hopefully.
Least Likely To
- Avoid the daft jokes if he doesn’t play well. “You have Toby Savin that”…(To Be Saving? Get it?).
CONCLUSION
We are becoming nominative determinism FC down in the Bay. We already have Jimmy Ball and Toby Savin, but who next? Former Belgian defender Mark de Man? Colchester full-back Fin Back? Portsmouth legend John Utaka? The possibilities are endless. Toby joins the Gulls as our Number One next season, and the early vibes are positive. He’s only 25 and has made 125 appearances already in professional football, including over 30 in League one. It does surprise me that he has dropped this far down the Leagues, especially when he’s from the North of the country. Either he’s a bit of a Mark Halstead or a player who wants a shot to be Number One at a club on the up. Lets hope its the latter…
COYY – Sam
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