GULLS UNITED

Now that I am returned from the deep south, the journey back took me past Torquay and Exeter. Throw in Plymouth and there we have a nice little trio of football clubs, sited furthest away from the major footballing hotspots. Playing in the periphery, clubs find to hard keep standards high. Plymouth Argyle, the most southerly and westerly club in the Football League plays in League One.
Exeter City are 8th in League Two and Torquay United are slumming at the bottom of the conference; last year they scraped 17th place out of 24 teams.
Founded in 1899 by a bunch of "school leavers", United first played against Upton Cricket Club under the guidance of Sergeant-Major Tomney. The club joined the East Devon League and played at the local Recreation Ground. At the same time the local rugby club, Torquay Athletic, played at Plainmoor, a reversal of the present situation.
In 1904, the rugby club moved to the Recreation Ground and United found itself at Plainmoor. After much negotiation, Torquay Town FC was United with local rivals Ellacombe and Babbacombe. They merged playing in the Southern Football League against reserve sides from Bournemouth, Exeter and Plymouth.
Torquay's home ground is now Plainmoor, a ground they first used in 1921. As Torquay United, they won the Southern League West Division and applied for promotion to the Football League Division Three South in 1927, joining the Football League (at the expense of Aberdare Athletic).
Fittingly they played Exeter City in their first professional league fixture on August 27th.


http://baileyfootballblog.blogspot.co.uk/2014/05/torquay-gulls-beached.html
Plainmoor today. There are plans to move away to a new complex in Torbay, subject to planning etc.