Post by Deleted on Sept 21, 2009 5:46:54 GMT
After harking back to Eric Webber and beyond, we now turn to a manager who should be within the memory of a number of people on this site. And, depending on your viewpoint, you’ll probably either recall him as part of the Golden Years or as the man who couldn’t sustain the good times.
Allan Brown was Frank O’Farrell’s successor and he had enough pedigree to make him one of Torquay United’s biggest managerial appointments. As a player he’d been with Blackpool, Luton and Portsmouth winning fourteen Scottish caps and, were it not for injuries, he could have been a major force in the game. As a manager he’d quickly won Division Four with Luton, only to be sacked when he applied for the job at Leicester which eventually went to O’Farrell. Within weeks he was at Plainmoor and it would be fascinating to learn of the level of anticipation which accompanied his appointment.
Torquay United were 8th in the old 3rd Division when Allan Brown arrived at Plainmoor and, if I'm reading the dates correctly, here’s the first side Allan Brown selected: Donnelly, Bond, Baxter, Brown, Kitchener, Dunne, K.Sandercock, Stubbs, Rowlands, Benson, Scott. As we’ve noted, line-ups are but a snapshot and the main absentees that day were Micky Cave, Alan Welsh and Ron Barnes.
According to the Centenary History “Brown immediately branded O’Farrrell as ultra-defensive and set about rebuilding the team to play the same open attacking style that he had pursued at Luton.” New arrivals included Alan Young, John Rudge, Stuart Morgan (on loan) and, for the final game of the season, Tommy Mitchinson. United finished 6th in 1968/69 although, points wise, they were a mile off promotion. Oddly, even though Allan Brown had improved our position, Luton (7th when he left) finished 3rd. The game between the clubs at Plainmoor in April was watched by over 11,000 including, from memory, a fair number of those new Skinhead types amongst the away support.
John Bond, Ron Barnes, Bobby Baxter and Robin Stubbs departed that summer and I guess some of the newer arrivals lacked the allure of their predecessors. Nonetheless United made a strong start and were 2nd after fifteen games. But that was as good as it got that season. The next month or so brought eight consecutive draws ending in the ignominy of that 6-0 defeat at Argyle on Boxing Day. That was the day when, sat with my dad in the Mayflower, I lost it with a Janner two or three times my age. And – lest we forget - there was also the small matter of the FA Cup defeat at Tamworth. 1969/70 eventually petered out for United and 13th in the third tier – think of that now! – was regarded as a major disappointment.
But, fear not, improvement was in the air. Although Jimmy Dunne and Tony Scott were on their way, we now had Dick Edwards, Cliff Jackson and Mike Mahoney and United sparkled during the first half of 1970/71 finishing the calendar year in 3rd place. Highlights included a win over Fulham in front of the TV cameras (one of the last games my Fulham-raised father saw before his death in the January of that season) and the two big victories over Aston Villa.
Unfortunately, history records that Christmas 1970 was the last time Torquay United truly touched the heights. It’s nigh on forty years ago but, scanning the results, the fall-off now looks incredibly sudden and dramatic. And, for me, it’s rather poignant my father left United on such a high. Although we still managed to finish 10th in Division 3 – a position we’ve never since come close to attaining – there was a sense the ball was over. What was happening?
The end came quickly for Allan Brown just twelve games into the 1971/72 season. For the record here’s the last Torquay United team of the Brown era: Donnelly, Glozier, Jardine, Twitchin, Edwards, Young, Skirton, A Welsh, Jackson, Mitchinson, Stuckey. Sub: Lucas.
There are two questions. Firstly, did Allan Brown succeed or fail? At the time I thought he had failed but, in retrospect, I believe he played his part in maintaining Torquay United as a third division force into a 3rd, 4th and 5th season. Ultimately, perhaps, the club just wasn’t built to perform at that level for any longer.
The second question: what if John Bond had got the manager’s job instead of Brown? Bondy wanted the job when O’Farrell left and soon showed his managerial intentions when he landed a coaching job at Gillingham. He then, of course, went to Bournemouth where he made a habit of signing our best players: Tony Scott, John Benson, Micky Cave, Billy Kitchener and, after Brown’s departure, Tommy Mitchinson. With the advantages of hindsight, you can make a case for John Bond being a very successful Torquay manager. If this had proved the case he may have eventually had bigger fish to catch than Bournemouth. No player exodus to Dean Court – and more seasons in the sun?
Allan Brown was Frank O’Farrell’s successor and he had enough pedigree to make him one of Torquay United’s biggest managerial appointments. As a player he’d been with Blackpool, Luton and Portsmouth winning fourteen Scottish caps and, were it not for injuries, he could have been a major force in the game. As a manager he’d quickly won Division Four with Luton, only to be sacked when he applied for the job at Leicester which eventually went to O’Farrell. Within weeks he was at Plainmoor and it would be fascinating to learn of the level of anticipation which accompanied his appointment.
Torquay United were 8th in the old 3rd Division when Allan Brown arrived at Plainmoor and, if I'm reading the dates correctly, here’s the first side Allan Brown selected: Donnelly, Bond, Baxter, Brown, Kitchener, Dunne, K.Sandercock, Stubbs, Rowlands, Benson, Scott. As we’ve noted, line-ups are but a snapshot and the main absentees that day were Micky Cave, Alan Welsh and Ron Barnes.
According to the Centenary History “Brown immediately branded O’Farrrell as ultra-defensive and set about rebuilding the team to play the same open attacking style that he had pursued at Luton.” New arrivals included Alan Young, John Rudge, Stuart Morgan (on loan) and, for the final game of the season, Tommy Mitchinson. United finished 6th in 1968/69 although, points wise, they were a mile off promotion. Oddly, even though Allan Brown had improved our position, Luton (7th when he left) finished 3rd. The game between the clubs at Plainmoor in April was watched by over 11,000 including, from memory, a fair number of those new Skinhead types amongst the away support.
John Bond, Ron Barnes, Bobby Baxter and Robin Stubbs departed that summer and I guess some of the newer arrivals lacked the allure of their predecessors. Nonetheless United made a strong start and were 2nd after fifteen games. But that was as good as it got that season. The next month or so brought eight consecutive draws ending in the ignominy of that 6-0 defeat at Argyle on Boxing Day. That was the day when, sat with my dad in the Mayflower, I lost it with a Janner two or three times my age. And – lest we forget - there was also the small matter of the FA Cup defeat at Tamworth. 1969/70 eventually petered out for United and 13th in the third tier – think of that now! – was regarded as a major disappointment.
But, fear not, improvement was in the air. Although Jimmy Dunne and Tony Scott were on their way, we now had Dick Edwards, Cliff Jackson and Mike Mahoney and United sparkled during the first half of 1970/71 finishing the calendar year in 3rd place. Highlights included a win over Fulham in front of the TV cameras (one of the last games my Fulham-raised father saw before his death in the January of that season) and the two big victories over Aston Villa.
Unfortunately, history records that Christmas 1970 was the last time Torquay United truly touched the heights. It’s nigh on forty years ago but, scanning the results, the fall-off now looks incredibly sudden and dramatic. And, for me, it’s rather poignant my father left United on such a high. Although we still managed to finish 10th in Division 3 – a position we’ve never since come close to attaining – there was a sense the ball was over. What was happening?
The end came quickly for Allan Brown just twelve games into the 1971/72 season. For the record here’s the last Torquay United team of the Brown era: Donnelly, Glozier, Jardine, Twitchin, Edwards, Young, Skirton, A Welsh, Jackson, Mitchinson, Stuckey. Sub: Lucas.
There are two questions. Firstly, did Allan Brown succeed or fail? At the time I thought he had failed but, in retrospect, I believe he played his part in maintaining Torquay United as a third division force into a 3rd, 4th and 5th season. Ultimately, perhaps, the club just wasn’t built to perform at that level for any longer.
The second question: what if John Bond had got the manager’s job instead of Brown? Bondy wanted the job when O’Farrell left and soon showed his managerial intentions when he landed a coaching job at Gillingham. He then, of course, went to Bournemouth where he made a habit of signing our best players: Tony Scott, John Benson, Micky Cave, Billy Kitchener and, after Brown’s departure, Tommy Mitchinson. With the advantages of hindsight, you can make a case for John Bond being a very successful Torquay manager. If this had proved the case he may have eventually had bigger fish to catch than Bournemouth. No player exodus to Dean Court – and more seasons in the sun?
