The 2010–11 Torquay United F.C. season was Torquay United's 75th season in the Football League and their second consecutive season in League Two. The season runs from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011.
Overview Carrying on their good form from the end of the 2009–10 season, which saw Torquay set a new club record of 691 minutes without conceding a goal, the Gulls won their first four games of the new League Two campaign making it the best ever start to a season in the club's history. Unfortunately, Torquay were finally to concede a goal in the last of those four matches which meant the club record for clean sheets was now established at 998 minutes. Despite making a strong start to the season and spending the whole of August at the top of the table, Torquay's form was soon to dip to the extent that they were only to win another three League matches by the end of the year. Nevertheless, some respite was offered by the cup competitions. Despite the Gulls experiencing early exits in the First Round of the Carling Cup (to Reading) and the Second Round of the Johnstone Paint's Trophy (losing to Swindon Town after first defeating Bournemouth), Torquay again made a strong showing in the FA Cup. Having beaten Mansfield Town, Walsall and Carlisle United in the earlier rounds, Torquay reached the fourth round of the FA Cup where they were eventually beaten 1–0 in an ill-tempered tie with Conference side Crawley Town.
Following the defeat by Crawley, Torquay's League form finally began to improve and a run of just three defeats in their last 21 matches was enough to seal a place in the play-off semi-finals. This was despite the sale of leading goalscorer Elliot Benyon to Swindon and the fact that the Gulls were docked one point by the Football League for fielding loan signing Jake Robinson while still ineligible to play. Torquay saw off their semi-final opponents Shrewsbury Town with relative ease to set up a League Two play-off final clash with Stevenage. However, the Gulls' season was ultimately to end in disappointment with a 1–0 defeat in the final and the departure of manager Paul Buckle for Bristol Rovers just two days afterwards.
League statistics
League Two
Results summary
*Deducted 1 point for fielding an unregistered player.
Results by round
Season diary
July
A busy pre-season fixture list saw Torquay take on a wide variety of teams and, apart from a 3–1 defeat to Championship side QPR (now with ex-Gulls manager Neil Warnock in charge), Torquay managed to win all of their other pre-season matches. These included encouraging displays against another Championship side Bristol City as well as defeats of local rivals Plymouth Argyle and Yeovil Town, both of League One. Among the close season signings, perhaps the most impressive was the ex-Leicester City forward Billy Kee. The young striker scored a total of nine pre-season goals, including a hat trick against Weymouth on his debut and an astonishing four first half goals against Tiverton Town.
Of the trialists on show during these games, midfielder Damon Lathrope (formerly of Norwich City) caught the eye of manager Paul Buckle and was offered a two-year deal. Meanwhile, a familiar face returned to Plainmoor in the form of striker Martin Gritton, who had enjoyed a successful spell with the Gulls between 2002 and 2004. Although still under contract to League Two rivals Chesterfield, Gritton was allowed to join Torquay on loan until January 2011. Another (more recent) fan favourite, Guy Branston also re-joined the Gulls, with the combative defender agreeing a permanent one-year deal having been on loan from Burton Albion for the latter half of the 2009–10 season. However, another Plainmoor hero, Wayne Carlisle, was deemed a free agent after the winger failed to agree a new contract due, in part, to his ongoing struggle with injury.
August
Having finished last season with a club record of 691 minutes without conceding a goal, Torquay were keen to begin the new season in a similar fashion. The Gulls got off to a perfect start in their season opener with a 3–0 win against Northampton at Plainmoor, a win which put the Devon side at the top of the new League Two table. After consecutive 2–0 victories against Lincoln and Bradford, Torquay went into their match away to Port Vale aiming to become only the fourth team in Football League history to post eleven consecutive clean sheets. Unfortunately, Port Vale managed to breach the Torquay defence in the first half, although the Gulls still went on to win the game 2–1. Nevertheless, a new club record of 998 minutes without conceding a goal had been set, and victories in the first four games had ensured the best start to a season in Torquay's history. Those wins made sure that the Gulls spent the whole of August at the top of the League Two table.
With the news that Wayne Carlisle had agreed to rejoin the Gulls, Torquay went into their Carling Cup First Round fixture against Reading full of confidence. The Torquay defence proved as resilient against the Championship side as it had been against every other team it had encountered since the beginning of April, and it was not until the very last minute of extra time that Royals striker Grzegorz Rasiak finally found a way past keeper Scott Bevan. A similar problem was encountered by Bournemouth in their Johnstone Paints Trophy First Round clash with the Gulls. However, this time, with the match going straight to penalties with a 0–0 stalemate after 90 minutes, the Cherries still could not find a way past Bevan and Torquay went on to win the tie 3–0 in the penalty shoot out.
With the side currently enjoying so much success, it was perhaps no surprise that other clubs began to take an interest in the Torquay players. After turning down an offer from an unnamed League One side for defender Mark Ellis, manager Paul Buckle was relieved to reach the end of the summer transfer window without losing any of his squad.
September
In recognition of Torquay's impressive start to the season, Paul Buckle was named League Two Manager of the Month for August. However, after a near perfect August, September was to prove something of a reality check for the Gulls. With Torquay's clean sheet record ending against Port Vale in their previous match, a 2–1 defeat away to Southend in their first game of the month put to an end a twelve match unbeaten run in the League which had stretched back to March. This was then followed up by two successive 0–0 draws at home to Accrington Stanley and away to Stevenage. Although these results seemed to suggest the Gulls had got their defensive house back in the order, they were now struggling to find the back of the net. With summer signings Billy Kee and Martin Gritton yet to register on the goalscorer charts, and Elliot Benyon out injured for the Accrington game and on the bench for most of the Stevenage match, the Gulls were starting to look a little light up front, despite the best efforts of the versatile Chris Zebroski who was being employed as both winger and striker.
One new face who appeared during the month was full back Danny Senda. The ex-Millwall and Wycombe defender had impressed Paul Buckle after recently playing in reserve team games against Exeter City and Forest Green. Unfortunately, his debut match, at home to Macclesfield, coincided with a further downturn in the Gulls fortunes when they were beaten 3–1. A chance to make amends came three days later with another home match, this time against former Conference rivals Aldershot. However, with midfielder Damon Lathrope leaving the field injured after only 14 minutes on his first League start, Torquay could not find a way past a resolute Shots defence and were eventually sunk by a Marvin Morgan goal in the 86th minute.
With just 2 points taken from a possible 15, Torquay were fortunate to still find themselves in the play-off positions at the end of September having begun the month at the top of the table.
October
After being informed by chairman Simon Baker that the club's playing budget had been cut, Paul Buckle now found his options limited as he attempted to revive Torquay's flagging league campaign. In his efforts to "shuffle the pack", Buckle would now have to delve into the loan market and also make some tough decisions with the current squad members. Most significantly, after first being dropped for September's match against Aldershot and then again for the trip to Crewe Alexandra, club captain Nicky Wroe was placed on the transfer list. It was also made known that the club would be open to offers for defender Kieran Charnock who had struggled to break up the central defensive partnership forged by Mark Ellis and Guy Branston.
With Wroe and Charnock on the transfer list, new faces began to appear with the aim of freshening up the side. First through the door was Joe Oastler on loan from Queens Park Rangers. Capable of playing as both a midfielder and defender, Oastler joined Torquay on a one-month deal. Later in the month, two more loan signings arrived at Plainmoor within twenty four hours of each other. Winger Romone Rose became the second loanee from Neil Warnock's QPR, signing a three-month deal, while the young Wolves striker Ashley Hemmings joined Torquay, like Oastler, on a one-month contract.
On the pitch, Torquay struggled to get back to the early season form which saw them spend the whole of August at the top of the League Two table. Although a creditable 1–1 draw away to in-form Shrewsbury Town seemed to point to an improvement in the team's performances, the Gulls were then to crash out three days later to Swindon Town in the Second Round of the Johnstone Paints Trophy (although, the fact that several of Torquay's first choice regulars were rested for the match indicated that the League Trophy was not high on Paul Buckle's list of priorities). Astonishingly, Torquay then managed to scrape only a 3–3 draw away to Crewe and then lose 4–3 at home to Bury, despite going 2–0 ahead in both matches. However, a corner of sorts appeared to have been turned in their match away to Gillingham when, at 1–0 down with 94 minutes of the match played and with newly installed club captain Lee Mansell sent off four minutes previously, a Kevin Nicholson free kick somehow managed to sneak past Gills keeper Alan Julian and salvage a 1–1 draw with the final kick of the game. The Gulls took their good fortune with them into their final game of the month at home to Morecambe, where they ran out 3–1 winners and achieved only their first victory in ten league games. With an upturn in their on-field performances, Torquay were now able to look forward to November with renewed optimism.
November
The revival which seemed to have been sparked by Kevin Nicholson's last gasp equaliser at Gillingham began to gather momentum during November. In contrast to the previous season, the Gulls were quickly developing into a formidable outfit on the road and this proved crucial during a month in which three of Torquay's four League Two fixtures were away from Plainmoor. After a convincing 2–0 victory over former Conference rivals Oxford United, the Gulls were disappointed to only pick up one point in a 1–1 draw away to Stockport. However, the performance of the month was probably the impressive 3–1 win over promotion-chasing Wycombe Wanderers at Adams Park, a result which saw Torquay move above the Chairboys into sixth place in the League Two table. Conversely, the only home league fixture of the month resulted in a lacklustre 1–1 draw with relegation-threatened Barnet.