Torquay United OSC

In the light of the recent Government announcement that a reduced number of supporters can attend sporting events, and today's announcement that Torbay is in Tier 2, the Steering Group has considered the safety implications of the Supporters Club having a physical presence at Plainmoor. The general consensus was that this might pose an unnecessary risk, and therefore for now, we will continue to monitor the situation and hope that the proposed vaccination programme will allow greater social mixing in the next few months. As soon as it is safe to do so, the Steering Group will be looking at ways in which the Supporters Club can be re-launched and in a manner that will attract the interest of all supporters.

With the ongoing uncertainty about when football supporters will be able to return to sports stadiums, I wanted to make our members aware that should the absence continue for a large part of this season (at the time of writing some analysts fear it could be another 6 months), the Steering Group will consider extending membership in to the 2021/22 season at little or no extra cost. This decision will be made once we know whether or not it is going to be safe to organise activities and events during the current season. Unfortunately, that seems unlikely in the foreseeable future.. For now, we must continue to act in accordance with Government guidelines and of course do everything we can to keep ourselves, and others, safe.
Andrew Candy
Acting Chairman

At the time of writing, the uncertainty over when and how spectators will be allowed to return to sporting events remains unresolved. A reduction in capacity is inevitable, at least in the short to medium term, and therefore having a season ticket would seem to be a minimum requirement, and as these quickly disappear the remaining tickets could be as hard to source as a Golden Ticket to W***y Wonker's Chocolate Factory. It might also be a good time to reconsider becoming a member of the Official Supporters Club as a way of keeping in touch with life at Plainmoor once football resumes in October. Given the premature end to last season, we hope to relaunch the Supporters Club as soon as the Government guidelines are known and we can firm up our ideas within the rules on social distancing etc. Watch this space and of course, keep safe.
Andrew Candy
Acting Chairman.

Just to let you know that I will be writing a fortnightly column in the Torbay Weekly starting on the 12th June. Hopefully, there will be some interesting news to write about by then.

As the period of “lock-down” continues with no immediate resolution in sight, looking after ourselves and each other must remain the priority for us all. However, I think that it is also important that we maintain a positive frame of mind and use this time to think about ways that we, as supporters, might be able to do to help the Club when the new normality appears. Therefore, if anyone has any ideas or suggestions that might help us and the Club, then please let me know. I can then take these forward and see what can be achieved in conjunction with the Club. As soon as the moment is right, we will all be back at Plainmoor and hopefully, there will be many exciting occasions and events to look forward to. Until then, please stay safe and follow the Government’s instructions on social distancing.

Quick update, since posting 5 minutes ago I have now seen the news that the season has been cancelled.

With the news that all professional football remains suspended for the foreseeable future, and the ongoing uncertainty on whether the 2019-20 season will be completed, I wanted to send my own message to everyone connected with the Club to take care, stay positive and most importantly, to follow all the well-publicised health measures. It is impossible at the moment to know when Plainmoor will be open again to competitive football, but when it does the Supporters Club and the Football Club will undoubtedly celebrate that moment in an appropriate way. From a distance, we have touched on planning a joint venture, but the precise detail won’t be completed until the opportunity to hold social gatherings is far more advanced than it is at the time of writing. For now, it is important that the Club carries on looking after the playing and non-playing staff and anyone else that looks to the Club for support. As supporters, we must be ready to help when the moment arrives for that to be relevant, but for now the message is quite simple, stay safe.

With the news that all professional football has been suspended for the foreseeable future, the Supporters Club will not have a visible presence until matches return to Plainmoor. However, it is still possible to join the Official Supporters Club by contacting our Membership Secretary at [email protected] or by completing the application form on the website. Just a reminder that the membership period is from now and lasts until the end of the 2020-21 season. During this enforced closedown period we will be looking at different ideas for events for both adult members and Junior Gulls and hopefully some of these can be actioned once this terrible virus is under control. Until then, please keep safe and follow all the well-publicised health measures.

I had a very interesting and constructive meeting this morning with Jamie McInnes from the Torquay United Community Sports Trust. We discussed a number of initiatives where we share common aims and hopefully we can work together on these over the next few months to provide some exciting events for our members.

Just recorded a short piece on Breeze Radio about the Supporters Club and what we hope to achieve, how to join etc. Not sure exactly when it will be broadcast but will post again when I find out.

Great evening at Plainmoor meeting the Players and lifting the Trophy, especially if you are a Junior Gull. Thank you Torquay United for organising this event.