Fan Zone 04/04/2025
- TUST
- Apr 4
- 4 min read
FAN ZONE
TUST's Chair and TUFC board member, Nick Brodrick's column in this week's Herald Express - updated for the latest news.
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UNITED’S MEN AND WOMEN CELEBRATE A DOUBLE WEEKEND OF SUCCESS
IT’S GETTING MIGHTY CROWDED AT THE TOP OF NATIONAL SOUTH
EYE WATERING £5MILLION PLAYING BUDGET BUT FACING RELEGATION
Do we dare to dream? Another 1-0 win on the road, three points behind leaders Worthing while Boreham Wood, one of the hot favourites for a swift return to the National League, seemingly have blown their title chances.
But manager Paul Wotton is keeping his feet firmly on the ground making sure his players keep their eye on the prize.
It turned out to be a happy double weekend as Torquay United Women ran out comfortable 4-0 winners on Sunday against a Bishops Lydeard side which never gave up.
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This is turning out to be a remarkable season. Episode two of Taking Flight, released last week, and well worth a watch, recounts the events of a year ago and to be personally involved with saving this football club will always be something special.
To think Wotton took charge with only one player, Austen Booth, on the books, and he wasn’t destined to stay, shows his skill in putting together a squad, plus a number of decent additions along the way, that is now a serious title contender.
In many ways it is a fairy tale story and with only five games to go it’s anybody’s guess as to how the final table come 5pm on April 26th will look.
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For those unable to make the trip to Aveley it was a nerve racking afternoon listening to the radio commentaries whether that was TUFC radio or Radio Devon. At some points during the second half both media outlets lost power outage going off the air to add to the drama.
It took late sub Cody Cooke to be in the right place at the right time, for the second game running, to prod home what could be such a vital goal.
As someone once said, and often repeated, football is a funny old game. United having gone weeks and weeks without an away win have now won four on the trot: Chippenham (3-1), Tonbridge (1-0), Dorking (1-0) and now Aveley.
It’s well known that Wotton loves a 1-0 win and Saturday’s was United’s third in a row and ninth of the season.
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Last Thursday was non-league deadline day and with United signing three players on loan, underlining the football board’s support for the manager, the squad is now one of the strongest for many a year.
The Yellow Army are pleased to see the return of striker Manny Ilesanmi while goalkeeping cover arrived in the form of Owen Foster from Hull City together with Huddersfield midfielder Cameron Ashia.
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Not surprisingly, the National South league table is the talk of the football world and there are some key matches coming up which will have a major bearing on positions: Worthing (first) v Truro (third) is the standout fixture.
While Worthing remain three points clear, the following three teams are only separated by goal difference. At this stage of the season every point counts, preferably three, rather than performances.
Non-League Crowd Watch: Southend v Oldham 8,395, York v Wealdstone 6,206, Scunthorpe v Southport 4,272, Bury FC v Squires Gate 3,894 (Bury’s win took them to 100 points), Dulwich Hamlet v Dartford 3,334, Whitstable Town v Hartpury Uni (FA Vase) 2,905.
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United’s Women kept up their challenge for promotion with a comprehensive victory at Plainmoor in front of a healthy 243 on Mothering Sunday. It was also a first with Danni Wyatt being the only football board director to appear in a competitive match at TQ1.
Goals came from top scorer Lucy Solloway, Emily Elliott, Ellie Bishop and a stunning 86th minute free kick from Tee Kaptein.
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Stories coming out of Yeovil Town seem to suggest all is not well. Their recently published accounts show that in their promotion season out of National South they lost almost £3m. On top of that two fans have been given two year bans for their social media postings against the owner Martin Hellier.
Hellier, not adverse to responding to his critics, has poured £4m into the club but has announced he has had enough and put the club up for sale. No doubt this story will continue.
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United’s keeper James Hamon has kept sixteen clean sheets this season but Maidstone’s Alexis Andre Jr notched up his twenty first as his side hit four past Boreham Wood.
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Football fans like to think they know what their team’s playing budget is compared with their rivals and in the recent Chairmen’s Chat there was a suggestion that Torquay’s is around its then league position which at the time was sixth.
Just as an indication of what might lie ahead salarysport.com has published a list of League 2 playing budgets: at the lower end Newport County £1,475,188, Bromley £1,460,160, Harrogate Town £1,532,388 while at the top end Port Vale £3,645,600, MK Dons £3,813,160, Carlisle £5,419,000. And despite that sum Carlisle look destined for the National League.
This Saturday United have the chance to complete another double as Chesham come to Plainmoor.
Correction: Many thanks to TUST member Stewart Frazier for pointing out that when we won National South in 2019 we actually lost eight games and not five as last week’s column stated.
And finally, good luck to another TUST member, Dave Sellman, whose other team is AFC Whyteleafe who play their second leg FA Vase Semi-Final tomorrow with a 3-1 advantage. Dave may well be dreaming of a trip to Wembley but tomorrow he’s at Plainmoor.
COYY!
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