1930–31 Torquay United F.C. season

Torquay United

1930–31 season
Chairman	Charles Dear
Manager	Frank Womack
Third Division South	11th
FA Cup	Third Round
Top goalscorer	League: Jimmy Trotter (26) All: Jimmy Trotter (28)
Highest home attendance	6,944 v Brentford, 11 October 1930 (Third Division South)
Lowest home attendance	1,745 v Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic, 21 January 1931 (Third Division South)
Average home league attendance	4,373
Home colours
← 1929–30 1931–32 →

The 1930–31 Torquay United F.C. season was Torquay United's fourth season in the Football League and their fourth consecutive season in Third Division South. The season runs from 1 July 1930 to 30 June 1931.

Overview

After finishing no higher than 18th in their first three Football League campaigns, Torquay manager Frank Womack was determined to build a team that would make a more competitive showing in the Third Division South. With that in mind, Womack made several impressive signings during the close season, among them Arsenal centre half Jack Butler and Leicester City keeper Joe Wright.^[1] Finally it appeared that the Magpies had hit upon a winning formula and by early October they were second in the Third Division South table, just four points behind leaders Notts County. Much of the upturn in Torquay's fortunes was due to the scoring prowess of new centre forward Jimmy Trotter who had already scored thirteen goals before the end of October and would go on to score a total of 28 goals in all competitions by the end of the season. Trotter was ably assisted by two more new forwards in Billy Clayson and Albert Hutchinson, who contributed another 25 goals between them. Hutchinson was to eventually prove a very loyal servant to Torquay, remaining with the club up until the outbreak of World War II.^[2]

However, despite their blistering start to the season, Torquay then hit upon a run of bad form towards the end of the year in which they lost six out of seven games and saw them drop to 12th position by Christmas Day. Results began to improve again in the New Year when the talented young outside right Ralph Birkett was re-introduced into the team.^[1] However, despite Trotter, Clayson and Hutchinson appearing to be firing on all cylinders again, it would not be enough for the Magpies to make a challenge for promotion and they would have to settle for an 11th-place finish at the end of the season.

Perhaps Torquay's mid-season slump may have been due to the distractions of the FA Cup which saw the Magpies defeat Southend United and Accrington Stanley to reach the Third Round for the first time in their history. They were rewarded with a trip to Second Division side Bury and, far from being overawed by the occasion, Torquay came back from Gigg Lane with a 1–1 draw, earning a replay at Plainmoor. Unfortunately, despite a battling performance from United which forced the replay into extra time, it was Bury who were to make it through to the Fourth Round.^[1]

It had been by far Torquay's most successful season to date and there was now a sense that the club was finally making progress in the Football League. Frank Womack now had to make sure the season was not to be just a one-off but the start of something bigger and better for Torquay United.

League statistics

Third Division South

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GAv	Pts	Promotion or relegation
1	Notts County (C) (P)	42	24	11	7	97	46	2.109	59	Promotion to the Second Division
2	Crystal Palace	42	22	7	13	107	71	1.507	51
3	Brentford	42	22	6	14	90	64	1.406	50
4	Brighton & Hove Albion	42	17	15	10	68	53	1.283	49
5	Southend United	42	22	5	15	76	60	1.267	49
6	Northampton Town	42	18	12	12	77	59	1.305	48
7	Luton Town	42	19	8	15	76	51	1.490	46
8	Queens Park Rangers	42	20	3	19	82	75	1.093	43
9	Fulham	42	18	7	17	77	75	1.027	43
10	Bournemouth & Boscombe	42	15	13	14	72	73	0.986	43
11	Torquay United	42	17	9	16	80	84	0.952	43
12	Swindon Town	42	18	6	18	89	94	0.947	42
13	Exeter City	42	17	8	17	84	90	0.933	42
14	Coventry City	42	16	9	17	75	65	1.154	41
15	Bristol Rovers	42	16	8	18	75	92	0.815	40
16	Gillingham	42	14	10	18	61	76	0.803	38
17	Walsall	42	14	9	19	78	95	0.821	37
18	Watford	42	14	7	21	72	75	0.960	35
19	Clapton Orient	42	14	7	21	63	91	0.692	35
20	Thames	42	13	8	21	54	93	0.581	34
21	Newport County (R)	42	11	6	25	69	111	0.622	28	Failed re-election to the Third Division South
22	Norwich City	42	10	8	24	47	76	0.618	28	Re-elected 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	Pts	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
42	17	9	16	80	84	0.952	43	13	5	3	56	26	31	4	4	13	24	58	12

Source: rsssf.com

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	H	H	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	H	H	A	A	H	A	H	A	H	A	A	H	A	H	A
Result	L	W	W	L	D	W	W	D	W	W	L	W	L	W	L	L	L	L	W	L	L	D	W	W	D	D	L	L	W	D	W	W	D	W	L	W	D	L	W	L	D	L
Position	15	7	3	6	11	6	5	4	3	2	3	3	3	3	3	7	9	9	8	9	12	10	10	9	9	8	10	12	11	11	9	8	9	7	10	8	8	10	8	10	10	11

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

Match of the season

BURY 1–1 TORQUAY UNITED
FA Cup Third Round
Gigg Lane, 10 January 1931

Wright Wright Hill Clayson Butler Smith Waller Hutchinson Trotter Keeling Bell

BURY	TORQUAY UNITED

TORQUAY UNITED:
GK	1	Joe Wright
RB	2	Jim Wright
LB	3	Dick Hill
RH	4	Billy Clayson
CH	5	Jack Butler
LH	6	Bob Smith
OR	7	Harry Waller
IR	8	Albert Hutchinson
CF	9	Jimmy Trotter
IL	10	Harry Keeling
OL	11	William Bell

In keeping with a season which had perhaps exceeded many expectations, Torquay United found themselves in the Third Round of the FA Cup for the very first time in their history. Having first seen off Third Division South rivals Southend United and Accrington Stanley of the Third Division North in consecutive away 1–0 victories, the Magpies then had to make another long trip up north to face Second Division side Bury. With the Lancashire team currently lying in 7th place in Division Two, few would have expected Torquay to have gained any kind of result when they visited Gigg Lane.

The side chosen by Frank Womack reflected the changes he had brought to the team for this season with only Bob Smith, Harry Waller and Harry Keeling having played for the Magpies during the previous campaign. This was a notable match for Bob Smith as he was making his 100th appearance for the club, the first player to reach that landmark for Torquay United and he was, in fact, an ever-present for the Magpies this season appearing in all 46 games.^[2] Protecting Joe Wright's goal was his namesake Jim Wright and Dick Hill while former Arsenal centre half Jack Butler was flanked in the midfield by Smith and Billy Clayson. Clayson was unusually playing in the right half position having been replaced in his more accustomed role of inside forward by Harry Keeling in the previous match, an away trip to Gillingham. Having scored two goals in that game, Keeling retained his position in the forward line forcing Clayson to make the switch into midfield, pushing Jim Wright into the right back position at the expense of Jack Fowler. Taking the outside forward positions were Harry Waller and William Bell with Albert Hutchinson and potent centre forward Jimmy Trotter completing the forward line. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Trotter who forced an unlikely replay by scoring his 18th goal of the season so far.^[2]

With the replay taking place at Plainmoor four days later, Trotter scored once again to take the match into extra time. However, on this occasion the Shakers superiority prevailed and eventually won the tie 2–1 in extra time. Ironically, Bury were knocked out in the next round by Torquay's local rivals Exeter City.^[1] As for Torquay, it would be another seventeen years before they would reach the Third Round of the FA Cup again.

Results

Third Division South

FA Cup

Club statistics

First team appearances

Nat	Pos	Player	Total		Third Division South		FA Cup
			Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
	GK	Joe Wright	45	0	41	0	4	0
	GK	Laurie Millsom	1	0	1	0	0	0
	DF	Jack Fowler	38	1	37	1	1	0
	DF	Dick Hill	32	1	28	1	4	0
	DF	Jim Wright	30	1	26	1	4	0
	MF	Bob Smith	46	1	42	1	4	0
	MF	Jack Butler	35	2	32	2	3	0
	MF	Arthur Phoenix	18	0	18	0	0	0
	MF	Stan High	16	1	16	0	0	0
	MF	Wilf Freer	4	0	3	0	1	0
	MF	Arthur Weightman	4	0	4	0	0	0
	MF	Don Hewitt	2	0	2	0	0	0
	FW	Albert Hutchinson	46	11	42	11	4	0
	FW	Jimmy Trotter	42	28	38	26	4	2
	FW	Billy Clayson	39	14	35	14	4	0
	FW	Harry Waller	34	7	30	7	4	0
	FW	William Bell	32	7	28	6	4	1
	FW	Ralph Birkett	20	3	20	3	0	0
	FW	Fred Fisher	7	1	7	1	0	0
	FW	Harry Keeling	6	3	4	3	2	0
	FW	Robert Mackie	6	2	6	2	0	0
	FW	Leslie Burrows	3	1	2	0	1	1

Source:^[2]

Top Scorers

Place	Position	Nation	Name	Third Division South	FA Cup	Total
1	FW		Jimmy Trotter	26	2	28
2	FW		Billy Clayson	14	0	14
3	FW		Albert Hutchinson	11	0	11
4	FW		William Bell	6	1	7
=	FW		Harry Waller	7	0	7
6	FW		Ralph Birkett	3	0	3
=	FW		Harry Keeling	3	0	3
8	MF		Jack Butler	2	0	2
=	FW		Robert Mackie	2	0	2
10	FW		Leslie Burrows	0	1	1
=	FW		Fred Fisher	1	0	1
=	DF		Jack Fowler	1	0	1
=	MF		Stan High	1	0	1
=	DF		Dick Hill	1	0	1
=	MF		Bob Smith	1	0	1
=	DF		Jim Wright	1	0	1
			Own goals	0	0	0
			TOTAL	80	4	84

Source:^[2]

Transfers

In

First appearance	Nat.	Pos.	Name	From
30 August 1930		FW	William Bell	Leicester City
30 August 1930		MF	Jack Butler	Arsenal
30 August 1930		FW	Fred Fisher	Notts County
30 August 1930		DF	Dick Hill	Millwall
30 August 1930		FW	Albert Hutchinson	Luton Town
30 August 1930		FW	Robert Mackie	Coleraine
30 August 1930		FW	Jimmy Trotter	Sheffield Wednesday
30 August 1930		GK	Joe Wright	Leicester City
13 September 1930		FW	Billy Clayson	Scarborough
27 September 1930		DF	Jim Wright	Okehampton F.C.
18 October 1930		MF	Don Hewitt	Coventry City
15 November 1930		MF	Arthur Weightman	Newark Town
23 November 1930		FW	Les Burrows	Bristol City
17 December 1930		MF	Wilf Freer	Birmingham City
25 December 1930		MF	Arthur Phoenix	Bath City

Out

Last appearance	Nat.	Pos.	Name	To
31 January 1931		FW	Les Burrows	Released
7 March 1931		FW	Harry Keeling	Swindon Town
28 March 1931		MF	Stan High	Accrington Stanley
6 April 1931		DF	Dick Hill	Newark Town
25 April 1931		FW	William Bell	Released
2 May 1931		FW	Fred Fisher	Mansfield Town
2 May 1931		FW	Robert Mackie	Released
2 May 1931		MF	Arthur Phoenix	Mansfield Town
2 May 1931		MF	Arthur Weightman	Mansfield Town

Source:^[2]

References

External links

• "Torquayunited.com". Archived from the original on 27 December 2009. 
• "TFF History Room". Archived from the original on 26 February 2011. 
• "TUFC History". Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. 
• "Football Club History Database". 
• "Statto.com". 
• "Historical Football Kits".