Hi I'm Graham the new 'Gulls fanatic', an honour bestowed on me by Gemini FM. I jumped at the chance to enter the competition and thought I could easily meet their expectations as the main task they set was to prove "how far you would go" to win the prize of a season ticket, new away shirt, scarf, the chance to write this column, and to broadcast match reports on Gemini FM. I'm 22 and I have been supporting Torquay for 10 years. To become the Gulls fanatic I had to do an interesting task in Exeter city centre. To prove my passion for the yellows I had to hold a microphone with a speaker in the city centre and chant Torquay songs to the adoring public!!! (listen to the audio on my pages at geminifm.co.uk) To say the least it was a nice way to start the week with a couple of people not seeing the funny side of my task.
So for this season I will be reporting on my away day travels and Buckles' boys. Because of work commitments I can not make every single home game but I will be making the effort to go to a lot of away games and report back to the fans on my experience at all the different grounds up and down the country.
With pre-season out of the way everybody has had enough time to have a look at the clubs new signings and to see if the squad has gelled over the summer. With leaders in the team such as Hargreaves, Todd, Mansell and Wroe to name but a few; will the team be able to use the experience from last season to maybe go one better this time around? The goalkeeper problem seems to have been resolved with Michael Poke spending the season at Plainmoor from Southampton. It is hard to believe that he is only 22 but he commands his area and organizes the defence like a veteran.
New attacking options in Mustapha Carayol (from MK Dons), Wayne Carlisle (from Exeter), Matt Green (with Oxford last season) will surely test even the most hardened defence. Not forgetting Dsane, Stevens, Benyon and last seasons top scorer Sills. Will the Gulls top the 75 league goals scored last season???
The end of last season was seen as a disappointment by many but in Buckles first season in charge who would have thought we would have been in the play offs and a trip to Wembley for the FA Trophy final would have been on the cards? Yes it wasn't the nicest way to end a promising season but the club has come on leaps and bounds in just 12 months and we are all back to cheering a club we can be proud of.
The new board has stabilized the action behind the scenes and has given Buckle the freedom to run the team in his own way.
The end of the season marked an end of an era for lifetime players Kevin Hill and Matt Hockley. It was only fitting that Hilly broke the record appearance at Wembley. If only he could have lifted the trophy as a goodbye!! I am sure you will all join me in saying good luck to Hilly and Hockers for the future and a massive thank you.
Let the season begin and I will catch you here after the re match with the 'Fleet.