1929–30 Torquay United F.C. season

Torquay United

1929–30 season
Chairman	Charles Dear
Manager	Frank Womack
Third Division South	19th
FA Cup	First Round
Top goalscorer	League: Joe Pointon (18) All: Joe Pointon (18)
Highest home attendance	8,299 v Plymouth Argyle, 4 September 1929 (Third Division South)
Lowest home attendance	2,730 v Watford, 28 December 1929 (Third Division South)
Average home league attendance	4,271
Home colours
← 1928–29 1930–31 →

The 1929–30 Torquay United F.C. season was Torquay United's third season in the Football League and their third consecutive season in Third Division South. The season runs from 1 July 1929 to 30 June 1930.

Overview

Needing a replacement for Percy Mackrill, who had left the club before the end of the previous season, Torquay United appointed former Birmingham City full back Frank Womack as their new manager.^[1] Womack soon set about putting a together a new squad in an effort to improve upon the lowly finishes of Torquay's first two seasons in the League. Debutants on the opening day of the season included centre half Harry Bruce, inside forward Harry Keeling and the ex-Sheffield United FA Cup winner Dave Mercer.^[1] However, the Magpies made a slow start to the campaign, losing their opening four games, and it was not until the introduction of forwards Joe Pointon and Les Robinson that results slowly began to improve. Effectively displacing Keeling and United mainstay Dan Kelly from the team, Pointon and Robinson ended up scoring a total of 34 goals between them by the end of the season. Robinson became the first Torquay player to score four goals in a League match in the 5–2 win over Walsall in November and, not to be outdone, Pointon repeated the feat in a famous 7–0 victory over Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic the following March. Indeed, it was Pointon and Robinson who scored the goals at Gillingham to secure Torquay's first and only away win of the season.^[2]

However, United's fortunes took a turn for the worse in the New Year when a January storm tore off the entire roof of the Grandstand at Plainmoor. With Torquay's finances already in a perilous state, there was a real possibility of the club going out of business altogether.^[1][3] But, with the help of public donations and some hastily arranged friendlies, Torquay just about managed to avoid financial ruin, although a run of three consecutive 5–0 defeats to Clapton Orient, Brentford and Brighton did not help to improve the spirits of the team or its supporters.

Nevertheless, reason for optimism arrived with that emphatic 7–0 win over Bournemouth at Plainmoor. The match marked the debut of a 17-year old winger from Dartmouth named Ralph Birkett. Although only making a handful of appearances for the Magpies before the end of the season, he would eventually become one of the finest players ever to appear for Torquay United. Ironically, the match also saw the final appearance of another local hero Sid Cann.^[2] The Torquay born full back had put in some impressive performances since joining United and the club had no option but to accept an offer to sell the young defender, as well as fellow full back Fred Corbett, to First Division side Manchester City.^[3]

Despite the emphatic win over Bournemouth, Torquay were still struggling at the bottom of the table as the season drew to a close. Defeat in the final game of the season against local rivals Exeter City would have seen United again having to apply for re-election to the Football League. As it was, a 2–1 victory over the Grecians was enough to see Torquay finish in 19th place, only narrowly avoiding the need for re-election.^[1]

Although, safe for another season, it was clear that Frank Womack and Torquay United still had plenty of hard work ahead of them.

League statistics

Third Division South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Plymouth Argyle (C) (P)	42	30	8	4	98	38	2.579	68	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Brentford	42	28	5	9	94	44	2.136	61
3	Queens Park Rangers	42	21	9	12	80	68	1.176	51
4	Northampton Town	42	21	8	13	82	58	1.414	50
5	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	21	8	13	87	63	1.381	50
6	Coventry City	42	19	9	14	88	73	1.205	47
7	Fulham	42	18	11	13	87	83	1.048	47
8	Norwich City	42	18	10	14	88	77	1.143	46
9	Crystal Palace	42	17	12	13	81	74	1.095	46
10	Bournemouth & Boscombe	42	15	13	14	72	61	1.180	43
11	Southend United	42	15	13	14	69	59	1.169	43
12	Clapton Orient	42	14	13	15	55	62	0.887	41
13	Luton Town	42	14	12	16	64	78	0.821	40
14	Swindon Town	42	13	12	17	73	83	0.880	38
15	Watford	42	15	8	19	60	73	0.822	38
16	Exeter City	42	12	11	19	67	73	0.918	35
17	Walsall	42	13	8	21	71	78	0.910	34
18	Newport County	42	12	10	20	74	85	0.871	34
19	Torquay United	42	10	11	21	64	94	0.681	31
20	Bristol Rovers	42	11	8	23	67	93	0.720	30
21	Gillingham	42	11	8	23	51	80	0.637	30	Re-elected to the Third Division South
22	Merthyr Town (R)	42	6	9	27	60	135	0.444	21	Failed re-election to the Third Division South

Source: "Football Club History Database". 
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal average.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted

Results summary

Overall								Home						Away
Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv
42	10	11	21	64	94	0.681	31	9	6	6	50	38	1.316	1	5	15	14	56	0.250

Source:

Pld = Matches played; W = Matches won; D = Matches drawn; L = Matches lost; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; GAv = Goal average; Pts = Points

Results by round

Round	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	41	42
Ground	A	H	H	A	A	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	A	H
Result	L	L	L	L	D	D	W	L	W	L	D	D	L	W	D	L	D	W	L	L	W	W	L	L	L	L	L	D	D	L	W	L	L	W	D	L	L	D	W	L	D	W
Position	18	19	22	22	22	22	21	21	16	19	19	17	18	17	16	17	16	16	16	19	16	15	15	15	18	18	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	19	20	19	19	19	19

Source:
Ground: A = Away; H = Home. Result: D = Draw; L = Loss; W = Win; P = Postponed.

Match of the season

TORQUAY UNITED 7–0 BOURNEMOUTH & BOSCOMBE ATHLETIC
Third Division South
Plainmoor, 8 March 1930

Bayes Womack Fowler High Cann Smith Birkett Kelly Pointon Keeling Waller

TORQUAY UNITED

BOURNEMOUTH

TORQUAY UNITED:
GK	1	Archie Bayes
RB	2	Frank Womack
LB	3	Jack Fowler
RH	4	Stan High
CH	5	Sid Cann
LH	6	Bob Smith
OR	7	Ralph Birkett
IR	8	Dan Kelly
CF	9	Joe Pointon
IL	10	Harry Keeling
OL	11	Harry Waller

Having not won a match since the previous December, few would have expected Torquay United (currently lying 19th in the Third Division South table) to get much out of the visit of 6th placed Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. The Plainmoor faithful had already witnessed a 5–0 thrashing from Clapton Orient back in January, and the travelling fans were treated to two more defeats by the same scoreline in their next two away matches. Not many then would have been expecting the Magpies to record their biggest League victory to date when the Cherries came to town.

Helping himself to four of the seven goals that day was centre forward Joe Pointon, doubling his tally for the season so far, although he would go on to score another ten goals before the end of the campaign. Dan Kelly and Harry Waller scored the other three between them while the Torquay defence held firm behind them, despite the 41-year old Frank Womack selecting himself at right back. (In fact, this was manager Womack's sixth match in succession and he ended up playing in every game for the rest of the season, even appearing as an inside forward when Torquay were themselves victims of a 7–0 humiliation at Walsall in April).^[2]

The match also has a unique place in history as it was the only time that two of Torquay's greatest ever home-grown players appeared together. Born in Babbacombe, Sid Cann had joined the Magpies the previous season at the age of 16 and quickly developed into an extremely effective full back, eventually displacing the more experienced Willie Brown from the team. In his second season he had proved his versatility by being able to fill in at centre half, a role he fulfilled in this game.^[2] Unfortunately, this was to be Cann's last match for the Magpies before leaving for Manchester City. Ironically, the same game saw the debut of another local lad with Ralph Birkett, a 17-year old amateur from Dartmouth United, appearing on the right wing.^[3] Birkett had a storming debut for Torquay setting up four of United's goals and the youngster signed a professional contract with the club shortly afterwards.^[1] While Cann's move to a First Division side was a major accomplishment for a Torquay player, Birkett would go on to eclipse his achievements when, after three full seasons for United, he would sign for Arsenal and then Middlesbrough before eventually appearing for England in 1935.^[1][3]

Results

Third Division South

31 Aug 1929	Watford	2 – 0	Torquay United	Vicarage Road
				Attendance: 11,558

4 Sep 1929	Torquay United	3 – 4	Plymouth Argyle	Plainmoor
	Hill Keeling		Craig (pen.) Matthews Bowden Leslie	Attendance: 8,299

7 Sep 1929	Torquay United	1 – 3	Coventry City	Plainmoor
	Hill			Attendance: 5,250

11 Sep 1929	Plymouth Argyle	5 – 0	Torquay United	Home Park
	Leslie McKenzie Sloan Black			Attendance: 9,827

14 Sep 1929	Clapton Orient	1 – 1	Torquay United	Millfields Road
			Pointon	Attendance: 12,561

18 Sep 1929	Exeter City	0 – 0	Torquay United	St James Park
				Attendance: 5,745

21 Sep 1929	Torquay United	2 – 1	Brentford	Plainmoor
	Robinson			Attendance: 5,012

28 Sep 1929	Bristol Rovers	2 – 0	Torquay United	Eastville Stadium
				Attendance: 6,581

5 Oct 1929	Torquay United	5 – 2	Brighton & Hove Albion	Plainmoor
	Cann (pen.) (pen.) Pointon Robinson			Attendance: 3,934

12 Oct 1929	Swindon Town	2 – 1	Torquay United	County Ground
			Robinson	Attendance: 6,058

19 Oct 1929	Southend United	1 – 1	Torquay United	The Kursaal
			Robinson	Attendance: 8,269

26 Oct 1929	Torquay United	2 – 2	Luton Town	Plainmoor
	Hill Keeling			Attendance: 4,755

2 Nov 1929	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	4 – 1	Torquay United	Dean Court
			Smith (pen.)	Attendance: 6,770

9 Nov 1929	Torquay United	5 – 2	Walsall	Plainmoor
	Robinson Hill			Attendance: 4,463

16 Nov 1929	Queens Park Rangers	1 – 1	Torquay United	Loftus Road
			Waller	Attendance: 2,360

23 Nov 1929	Torquay United	2 – 4	Fulham	Plainmoor
	Cann (pen.) Robinson			Attendance: 4,380

7 Dec 1929	Torquay United	2 – 2	Crystal Palace	Plainmoor
	Hill			Attendance: 3,400

14 Dec 1929	Gillingham	0 – 2	Torquay United	Priestfield
			Robinson Pointon	Attendance: 3,310

21 Dec 1929	Torquay United	0 – 1	Northampton Town	Plainmoor
				Attendance: 3,730

25 Dec 1929	Newport County	2 – 1	Torquay United	Somerton Park
	Morris Thomas		Corbett	Attendance: 3,337

26 Dec 1929	Torquay United	3 – 2	Newport County	Plainmoor
	Kelly Robinson		Martin Seymour	Attendance: 5,928

28 Dec 1929	Torquay United	4 – 0	Watford	Plainmoor
	Robinson Kelly Hill			Attendance: 2,730

4 Jan 1930	Coventry City	4 – 1	Torquay United	Highfield Road
			Hill	Attendance: 12,782

11 Jan 1930	Norwich City	2 – 0	Torquay United	The Nest
				Attendance: 8,864

18 Jan 1930	Torquay United	0 – 5	Clapton Orient	Plainmoor
				Attendance: 4,132

25 Jan 1930	Brentford	5 – 0	Torquay United	Griffin Park
				Attendance: 10,497

8 Feb 1930	Brighton & Hove Albion	5 – 0	Torquay United	Goldstone Ground
				Attendance: 9,964

15 Feb 1930	Torquay United	1 – 1	Swindon Town	Plainmoor
	Keeling			Attendance: 3,473

22 Feb 1930	Torquay United	1 – 1	Southend United	Plainmoor
	Robinson			Attendance: 3,429

1 Mar 1930	Luton Town	3 – 1	Torquay United	Kenilworth Road
			Hill	Attendance: 7,239

8 Mar 1930	Torquay United	7 – 0	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	Plainmoor
	Pointon Waller Kelly			Attendance: 3,443

22 Mar 1930	Torquay United	1 – 3	Queens Park Rangers	Plainmoor
	Hill			Attendance: 4,335

29 Mar 1930	Fulham	1 – 0	Torquay United	Craven Cottage
				Attendance: 11,038

2 Apr 1930	Torquay United	2 – 1	Bristol Rovers	Plainmoor
	Pointon			Attendance: 3,267

5 Apr 1930	Torquay United	2 – 2	Norwich City	Plainmoor
	Kelly Pointon			Attendance: 3,921

9 Apr 1930	Walsall	7 – 0	Torquay United	Fellows Park
				Attendance: 2,492

12 Apr 1930	Crystal Palace	4 – 2	Torquay United	Selhurst Park
			Keeling Pointon	Attendance: 9,555

19 Apr 1930	Torquay United	1 – 1	Gillingham	Plainmoor
	Keeling			Attendance: 3,472

21 Apr 1930	Torquay United	4 – 0	Merthyr Town	Plainmoor
	Hill Pointon			Attendance: 3,337

22 Apr 1930	Merthyr Town	3 – 0	Torquay United	Penydarren Park
				Attendance: 1,612

26 Apr 1930	Northampton Town	2 – 2	Torquay United	County Ground
			Pointon Keeling	Attendance: 4,100

3 May 1930	Torquay United	2 – 1	Exeter City	Plainmoor
	Pointon			Attendance: 4,993

FA Cup

First Round 30 Nov 1929	Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic	2 – 0	Torquay United	Dean Court

Club statistics

First team appearances

Nat	Pos	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	Archie Bayes	18	0	18	0	0	0
	GK	Harold Gough	18	0	17	0	1	0
	GK	Laurie Millsom	7	0	7	0	0	0
	DF	Jack Fowler	29	0	28	0	1	0
	DF	Sid Cann	28	3	27	3	1	0
	DF	Fred Corbett	22	1	21	1	1	0
	DF	Frank Womack	20	0	19	0	1	0
	DF	George Goucher	6	0	6	0	0	0
	MF	Bob Smith	41	1	41	1	0	0
	MF	Harry Bruce	29	0	28	0	1	0
	MF	Stan High	28	0	28	0	0	0
	MF	Bill Hunter	6	0	6	0	0	0
	MF	Cecil White	5	0	5	0	0	0
	MF	Bill Clitheroe	1	0	1	0	0	0
	MF	Harry May	1	0	1	0	0	0
	FW	Joe Hill	33	8	32	8	1	0
	FW	Harry Waller	30	5	29	5	1	0
	FW	Dave Mercer	29	0	28	0	1	0
	FW	Joe Pointon	28	18	27	18	1	0
	FW	Les Robinson	24	16	23	16	1	0
	FW	Harry Keeling	22	7	22	7	0	0
	FW	Dan Kelly	19	5	19	5	0	0
	FW	Andrew Martin	13	0	13	0	0	0
	FW	Jack Burn	7	0	7	0	0	0
	FW	Ralph Birkett	6	0	6	0	0	0
	FW	Harry Rice	3	0	3	0	0	0

Source:^[2]

Top Scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	FW		Joe Pointon	18	0	18
2	FW		Les Robinson	16	0	16
3	FW		Joe Hill	8	0	8
4	FW		Harry Keeling	7	0	7
5	FW		Dan Kelly	5	0	5
=	FW		Harry Waller	5	0	5
7	DF		Sid Cann	3	0	3
8	DF		Fred Corbett	1	0	1
9	MF		Bob Smith	1	0	1
			Own goals	0	0	0
			TOTAL	64	0	64

Source:^[2]

Transfers

In

First appearance	Nat.	Pos.	Name	From
31 August 1929		MF	Harry Bruce	Gillingham
31 August 1929		MF	Stan High	Leicester City
31 August 1929		FW	Harry Keeling	Notts County
31 August 1929		FW	Andrew Martin	Rochdale
31 August 1929		FW	Dave Mercer	Shirebrook
4 September 1929		FW	Jack Burn	Worcester City
4 September 1929		FW	Harry Rice	Shrewsbury Town
4 September 1929		DF	Frank Womack	Worcester City
7 September 1929		MF	Harry May	Unattached
11 September 1929		FW	Joe Pointon	Brighton & Hove Albion
11 September 1929		FW	Les Robinson	Thames
18 September 1929		DF	Fred Corbett	Worcester City
19 October 1929		DF	George Goucher	Nottingham Forest
26 December 1929		MF	Bill Hunter	Walsall
8 March 1930		FW	Ralph Birkett	Dartmouth United
29 March 1930		MF	Cecil White	Leeds United

Out

Last appearance	Nat.	Pos.	Name	To
7 September 1929		MF	Harry May	Released
11 September 1929		FW	Harry Rice	Evesham Town
9 November 1929		FW	Andrew Martin	Released
7 December 1929		FW	Jack Burn	Hereford United
18 January 1930		MF	Bill Hunter	Released
25 January 1930		DF	Fred Corbett	Manchester City
15 February 1930		MF	Bill Clitheroe	Released
1 March 1930		FW	Les Robinson	Released
8 March 1930		DF	Sid Cann	Manchester City
29 March 1930		GK	Harold Gough	Retired
19 April 1930		FW	Dan Kelly	York City
19 April 1930		MF	Cecil White	Wigan Borough
3 May 1930		GK	Archie Bayes	Retired
3 May 1930		MF	Harry Bruce	Colwyn Bay
3 May 1930		DF	George Goucher	Shirebrook
3 May 1930		FW	Joe Hill	Newark Town
3 May 1930		FW	Dave Mercer	Released
3 May 1930		FW	Joe Pointon	Bristol Rovers

Source:^[2]

References

External links

• "Torquayunited.com". 
• "TFF History Room". 
• "TUFC History". 
• "Football Club History Database". 
• "Statto.com". 
• "Historical Football Kits". 

Torquay United Football Club The club Records and statistics Seasons Managers Players Grounds Plainmoor

Torquay United F.C. seasons 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 99–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011-12 2012-13 2013-14

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