Torquay United F.C.

Torquay United Football Club is an English association football club based in Torquay, Devon. The club participates in the National League, the fifth tier of English football, having been relegated from League Two in the 2013–14 season. They are based at Plainmoor and are currently managed by player-manager, Kevin Nicholson.

History

Formation to World War One

The original Torquay United was formed in 1899 by a group of school-leavers under the guidance of Sergeant-Major Edward Tomney. The newly founded club played its inaugural match against an Upton Cricket Club XI on one of Farmer John Wright's fields, which was situated at the top of Penny's Hill, on Teignmouth Road on the site of modern Parkhurst Road.

After a season of friendlies the club joined the East Devon League and moved into the Recreation Ground, their home for the next four years, Plainmoor being occupied by Torquay Athletic Rugby Club at this time in a reversal of the current situation. In 1904 Athletic secured the lease on the Recreation Ground from underneath United and Torquay and District League rivals Ellacombe took over the lease of Plainmoor leaving United homeless for the first time in their existence and facilitating a return to the farmers fields on Teignmouth Road, however the club was on the move again when the fields were sold to be developed into what would later be known as Parkhurst Road. United soon found another home, sharing with Torquay Cricket Club in nearby Cricketfield Road (a site still used for football in the modern day by South Devon League side Upton Athletic) for four years and during that time won their first honour, the Torquay and District League title in 1909.

Torquay

Coordinates: 50°28′N 3°32′W / 50.47°N 3.53°W / 50.47; -3.53

Torquay /tɔːrˈkiː/ is a seaside town in Devon, England, part of the unitary authority area of Torbay. It lies 18 miles (29 km) south of the county town of Exeter and 28 miles (45 km) east-north-east of Plymouth, on the north of Tor Bay, adjoining the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay and across from the fishing port of Brixham. In the 2011 UK Census, Torquay's population was 65,245, about half of that of the whole of Torbay.

The town's economy, like Brixham's, was initially based upon fishing and agriculture, but in the early 19th century the town began to develop into a fashionable seaside resort, initially frequented by members of the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars while the Royal Navy anchored in the bay. Later, as the town's fame spread, it was popular with the crème de la crème of Victorian society. Renowned for its healthful climate, the town earned the nickname of the English Riviera.

Torquay was the home of the writer Agatha Christie, who was born in the town and lived there during her early years. The town contains an "Agatha Christie Mile", a tour with plaques dedicated to her life and work.

Torquay, Victoria

Torquay is a township in Victoria, Australia, which faces Bass Strait, 21 km south of Geelong and is the gateway to the Great Ocean Road. It is bordered on the west by Spring Creek and its coastal features include Point Danger and Zeally Bay. At the 2011 Census, Torquay had a population of 10,142.

History

Wathaurong Aborigines lived in the area before white settlement. From the 1860s picnickers began to frequent the location, which was originally known as Spring Creek, after the watercourse along its south-western edge, but it was named Puebla in the 1882 Victorian Municipal Directory. James Follett, who settled there in 1871, came from Torquay, the seaside town in Devon, England, and at his suggestion the name Torquay was officially adopted in 1892. The Post Office opened on 20 August 1894. On 3 April 1908 the Spring Creek bridge was built, connecting the town to Anglesea.

In 1891 the Joseph H. Scammell sailing ship struck the reef near Point Danger in Torquay and subsequently became wedged on the reef and as a result the ship broke up in the heavy seas. The cargo of the Scammell was washed onto the beach of Torquay and was looted, the anchors of the Scammell are still on display at the Torquay front beach and the Torquay boat ramp.

Torquay (disambiguation)

Torquay is the name of several settlements in former countries of the British Empire, all named after the town of Torquay in Devon, England.

Settlements

Australia

Canada

United Kingdom

Politics

Other