Conference National Side Torquay United, nicknamed The Gulls were founded in 1899 by a group of school leavers under the guidance of Sergeant major Edward Tommey. The side played in local leagues at the Recreation Ground, in 1910 they moved to their current home Plainmoor.
The Gulls, who play in a distinctive yellow and navy kit, entered the football league in 1927 and have spent their entire time in the lower divisions.
It wasn`t until the 1958/59 season that they first won a promotion, finishing 3rd in Division 4, unfortunately they were relegated two seasons later. The team had to wait almost 10 years for their next promotion when they returned to the 3rd division in 1968, again finishing third. They remained there for 3 seasons before retuning to the basement league.
The 1970`s consisted mainly of mid table finished and the 1980`s saw the side flirting with relegation to non-league football and they had to apply for re-election to stay in the football league in 1984/85.
Things improved towards the end of the decade and the club reached the play off finals in 1987/88 where they went down to Swansea, it was a season in which the team also reached the semi final of the Frieght Rover Trophy.
Just over a year later, the team reached Wembley for the first time where they faced Bolton in the Sherpa Vans Trophy final, unfortunately the lost 4-1. Two years later the club were promoted to the 3rd division again after winning a play off final against Blackpool. Sadly, they were relegated again a year later.
The team went on to reach the play offs in both 1993/94, where they lost to Preston in the semi final and in 1997/98 when they lost 1-0 to Colchester in the final at Wembley.
After narrowly avoiding relegation to the conference in 2000/01 the Gulls went on to gain promotion to the newly formed league 1 in 2003/04 , sadly they couldn`t sustain their status for long and were relegated again after just one season.
Last season the unthinkable happened and the lovely Helen Chamberlains favourite team were relegated to the Nationwide Conference for the first time in 80 years. The Gulls have made a great start to the new campaign however and currently sit proudly in 2nd place.
They will be tough opponents for the seagulls; they have already disposed of league 1 opposition in the first round when they beat Yeovil 4-1 in front of the TV cameras at Plainmoor.
It promises to be an interesting encounter to say the least
Player to watch
Lee Phillips
Vital Brighton Prediction
Torquay 0 Brighton 1
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