On this day

Two games in two days used to be quite common at Christmas and Easter. Last time for us was 1994.

This was the third and last time we played Saturday / Sunday - the others being January 1974 (due to the power crisis) and April 1983.

Wed 20/09/22 A v Watford Reserves Southern Lge L 0 - 2
Thu 21/09/22 H v Clevedon FA Cup q W 3 - 0 Thompson, Miller 2
Fri 20/04/23 H v Guildford United Southern Lge D 2 - 2 Hill, Nettesonne
Sat 21/04/23 A v Southampton Reserves Southern Lge L 0 - 3
Fri 28/03/24 A v Aberaman Southern Lge W 2 - 0 Miller, Rodgerson
Sat 29/03/24 A v Ebbw Vale Southern Lge W 1 - 0 Babbage
Fri 18/04/24 A v Swindon Reserves Southern Lge W 2 - 0 Burton, Scott
Sat 19/04/24 A v Exeter Reserves Southern Lge W 2 - 1 Scott, Rodgerson
Fri 26/09/24 A v Mid Rhondda Southern Lge L 0 - 3
Sat 27/09/24 A v Pontypridd Southern Lge L 0 - 3
Fri 27/02/25 H v Mid Rhondda Southern Lge W 2 - 1 Pearson, Bolt
Sat 28/02/25 H v Aberaman Southern Lge W 1 - 0 Pearson
Fri 10/04/25 A v Swindon Reserves Southern Lge L 0 - 3
Sat 11/04/25 A v Newport Reserves Southern Lge L 1 - 2 Kirkpatrick
Mon 13/04/25 H v Taunton Southern Lge L 0 - 3
Tue 14/04/25 A v Taunton Southern Lge L 1 - 2 Bolt
Fri 25/12/25 H v Taunton Southern Lge W 5 - 0 Leslie (pen), Appleyard 2, Marlow, Pither
Sat 26/12/25 H v Bath City Southern Lge W 7 - 2 Appleyard 3, Bell 2, Chambers 2
Fri 02/04/26 A v Taunton Southern Lge W 5 - 1 Marlow 2, Appleyard, Bell, Pither
Sat 03/04/26 H v Bristol R. Reserves Southern Lge L 1 - 3 Marlow
Mon 05/04/26 A v Bath City Southern Lge W 2 - 1 Appleyard, Bell
Tue 06/04/26 A v Pontypridd Southern Lge L 3 - 6 Hughes 2 (2 pens), Pither
Wed 30/03/27 H v Newport Reserves Southern Lge W 2 - 1 Griffiths, Pattison
Thu 31/03/27 A v Taunton Western Lge W 1 - 0 Griffiths
Fri 08/04/27 A v Ebbw Vale Southern Lge W 2 - 1 Griffiths, Pearcey
Sat 09/04/27 A v Barry Southern Lge W 4 - 2 Griffiths 2, Pattison, Andrews
Fri 15/04/27 A v Poole Town Western Lge L 1 - 2 Griffiths
Sat 16/04/27 H v Poole Town Western Lge W 4 - 2 Pattison 2, Marlow, Griffiths
Fri 06/04/28 A v Luton Town League L 0 - 5 10,397
Sat 07/04/28 H v Coventry City League L 2 - 3 3,275 Budd, Griffiths (pen)
Tue 25/12/28 A v Fulham League L 1 - 2 20,327 Thomas
Wed 26/12/28 H v Fulham League D 1 - 1 6,028 Mackey
Fri 29/03/29 A v Plymouth Argyle League L 0 - 4 13,040
Sat 30/03/29 A v Coventry City League L 1 - 2 12,788 Kelly
Wed 25/12/29 A v Newport County League L 1 - 2 3,337 Corbett
Thu 26/12/29 H v Newport County League W 3 - 2 5,928 Kelly, Robinson 2
Mon 21/04/30 H v Merthyr Town League W 4 - 0 3,337 Hill, Pointon 3
Tue 22/04/30 A v Merthyr Town League L 0 - 3 1,612
Thu 25/12/30 A v Luton Town League L 1 - 3 7,553 Hill
Fri 26/12/30 H v Luton Town League D 1 - 1 6,619 Hutchinson
Fri 26/12/30 H v Luton Town League D 1 - 1 6,619 Hutchinson
Sat 27/12/30 H v Newport County League W 3 - 0 4,561 Wright, Trotter, Waller
Fri 25/12/31 H v QPR League L 2 - 3 4,999 Clayson, Birkett
Sat 26/12/31 A v QPR League L 1 - 3 24,133 Hutchinson
Fri 25/03/32 A v Bristol Rovers League D 1 - 1 10,729 Cooper
Sat 26/03/32 H v Gillingham League W 1 - 0 3,038 Stabb
Mon 26/12/32 A v Leyton Orient League W 4 - 1 5,549 Flavell, Stabb 2, Bird
Tue 27/12/32 H v Leyton Orient League D 1 - 1 4,873 Stabb
Mon 17/04/33 H v Northampton League W 5 - 1 3,553 Birkett 2, Welsh, Stabb, Orr
Tue 18/04/33 A v Northampton League L 0 - 2 4,049
Mon 25/12/33 H v Swindon Town League W 2 - 0 4,082 Steele, Stabb
Tue 26/12/33 A v Swindon Town League L 0 - 2 10,953
Fri 30/03/34 A v Leyton Orient League L 1 - 4 12,522 Lievesley
Sat 31/03/34 A v Coventry City League L 1 - 3 12,848 Hutchinson
Tue 25/12/34 H v Crystal Palace League W 7 - 1 2,893 Beedall, Hutchinson 3, Morgan 2, Flavell
Wed 26/12/34 A v Crystal Palace League D 2 - 2 19,025 Jones, Flavell
Fri 19/04/35 A v QPR League L 1 - 5 6,082 Flavell (pen)
Sat 20/04/35 A v Millwall League L 2 - 4 6,636 Beedall, Hutchinson
Wed 25/12/35 A v Newport County League W 6 - 1 5,459 Lowery 3, Clarke 2, Beedall
Thu 26/12/35 H v Newport County League W 3 - 2 5,233 Beedall, Dobbs, Clarke
Mon 13/04/36 A v Exeter City League D 1 - 1 8,671 Hutchinson
Tue 14/04/36 A v Bristol Rovers League L 0 - 3 3,258
Fri 25/12/36 H v Cardiff City League W 1 - 0 4,582 Morton
Sat 26/12/36 A v Reading League L 1 - 5 15,275 Brown
Fri 26/03/37 A v Crystal Palace League D 0 - 0 15,370
Sat 27/03/37 H v Newport County League L 1 - 2 4,212 Morton
Mon 27/12/37 H v Bournemouth League D 0 - 0 5,054
Tue 28/12/37 A v Watford League L 0 - 4 5,138
Fri 15/04/38 A v Brighton & HA League D 1 - 1 14,376 Hutchinson
Sat 16/04/38 A v Bristol City League L 0 - 2 17,167
Fri 07/04/39 A v Newport County League L 0 - 1 14,677
Sat 08/04/39 A v Walsall League L 0 - 5 5,737
Tue 25/12/45 H v Exeter City War League W 3 - 1 Griffiths 2, Kernick
Wed 26/12/45 A v Exeter City War League W 2 - 0 Griffiths, Kernick
Fri 19/04/46 A v Bristol Rovers War Cup L 1 - 3 C Smith
Sat 20/04/46 H v Swindon Town War Cup W 4 - 1 Conley 4
Wed 25/12/46 A v Crystal Palace League L 1 - 6 11,786 Mercer
Thu 26/12/46 H v Crystal Palace League W 2 - 1 7,584 Phillips, Harrower
Fri 04/04/47 A v Watford League D 3 - 3 8,923 Conley 2, Cothliff
Sat 05/04/47 H v Notts County League L 1 - 2 4,064 Kernick
Fri 26/12/47 A v Bristol Rovers League W 2 - 0 16,859 Shaw, Conley
Sat 27/12/47 H v Bristol Rovers League L 1 - 2 7,148 Hill
Fri 26/03/48 A v Brighton & HA League L 1 - 2 18,425 Jones
Sat 27/03/48 H v Bournemouth League L 0 - 1 9,818
Mon 18/04/49 A v Crystal Palace League W 1 - 0 12,140 Lewis
Tue 19/04/49 H v Crystal Palace League W 2 - 0 7,552 Mills, Conley
Mon 26/12/49 A v Bristol City League D 0 - 0 24,162
Tue 27/12/49 H v Bristol City League D 3 - 3 12,258 Shaw, Conley, Lewis
Fri 07/04/50 A v Brighton & HA League L 1 - 2 16,517 Conley
Sat 08/04/50 A v Notts County League D 1 - 1 43,456 Shaw
Mon 25/12/50 A v Swindon Town League L 1 - 2 7,039 D Lewis
Tue 26/12/50 H v Swindon Town League W 1 - 0 9,459 Reid
Fri 23/03/51 A v Colchester U League L 1 - 3 12,443 Shaw
Sat 24/03/51 A v Watford League D 2 - 2 7,073 Evans, Pembery
Tue 25/12/51 A v Exeter City League L 0 - 4 8,459
Wed 26/12/51 H v Exeter City League W 5 - 1 11,630 Shaw 2, Collins 2, Reid
Fri 26/12/52 H v Bournemouth League W 5 - 1 9,600 A Calland 3, Collins 2
Sat 27/12/52 A v Bournemouth League W 1 - 0 11,176 A Calland
Fri 03/04/53 A v Reading League L 1 - 4 13,199 Edds
Sat 04/04/53 H v Swindon Town League W 3 - 1 6,334 Edds 2, Collins
Fri 25/12/53 A v Reading League W 4 - 2 8,802 Collins, Norman, Bond, Shaw
Sat 26/12/53 H v Reading League D 2 - 2 9,654 Collins, Mills
Fri 16/04/54 A v Newport County League L 0 - 2 12,453
Sat 17/04/54 A v Shrewsbury T League L 1 - 2 8,832 Norman
Mon 25/04/55 H v Reading League W 3 - 1 4,349 Dobbie, Collins, Mills
Tue 26/04/55 A v Watford League L 1 - 4 5,129 Thomas
Mon 26/12/55 H v Southampton League W 3 - 2 10,151 JT Smith 2, R Collins (pen)
Tue 27/12/55 A v Southampton League L 2 - 6 17,224 JT Smith, R Collins
Fri 30/03/56 A v Leyton Orient League L 2 - 3 26,330 R Collins, Lewis
Sat 31/03/56 A v Watford League L 1 - 2 6,752 A Collins
Tue 25/12/56 A v Brentford League D 0 - 0 9,024
Wed 26/12/56 H v Brentford League W 2 - 0 9,540 E Calland, R Collins
Fri 19/04/57 H v Southampton League W 2 - 0 14,223 R Collins (pen), Lewis
Sat 20/04/57 H v Newport County League W 4 - 0 8,797 E Calland 2, Bond, R Collins (pen)
Wed 25/12/57 H v Exeter City League L 1 - 3 6,844 Pym
Thu 26/12/57 A v Exeter City League L 1 - 5 11,562 Collins (pen)
Fri 04/04/58 H v Brentford League L 0 - 1 8,216
Sat 05/04/58 A v Port Vale League L 1 - 2 7,504 Bond
Fri 26/12/58 A v Coventry City League L 0 - 3 27,238
Sat 27/12/58 H v Coventry City League D 1 - 1 8,673 Mills
Fri 27/03/59 A v Crystal Palace League L 1 - 3 18,197 Bond
Sat 28/03/59 A v Aldershot League W 4 - 1 3,559 Bond 2, T Northcott 2
Fri 15/04/60 A v Millwall League L 0 - 2 20,235
Sat 16/04/60 A v Chester City League D 1 - 1 5,928 Mills
Fri 31/03/61 A v Bristol City League D 2 - 2 13,713 T Northcott, Hancock
Sat 01/04/61 A v Newport County League D 2 - 2 3,872 Cox, H Smith (pen)
Fri 20/04/62 A v Swindon Town League W 1 - 0 11,798 Pym
Sat 21/04/62 H v Reading League D 0 - 0 4,259
Fri 12/04/63 A v Aldershot League D 1 - 1 7,813 Anderson
Sat 13/04/63 H v Chester City League W 1 - 0 4,911 Anderson
Fri 08/04/66 A v Crewe Alexandra League L 1 - 2 5,818 Northcott
Sat 09/04/66 H v Colchester U League L 0 - 1 7,848
Mon 27/03/67 H v Swindon Town League W 1 - 0 9,924 Fryatt
Tue 28/03/67 A v Swindon Town League D 0 - 0 14,499
Fri 12/04/68 A v Bristol Rovers League L 0 - 1 19,470
Sat 13/04/68 H v Mansfield League L 0 - 2 11,081
Fri 27/03/70 H v Fulham League D 1 - 1 7,934 Rudge
Sat 28/03/70 H v Rochdale League W 3 - 0 5,280 Lucas, Mitchinson, A Welsh
Mon 12/04/71 A v Swansea League W 1 - 0 4,488 A Welsh
Tue 13/04/71 H v Gillingham League L 2 - 3 4,404 Rudge, A Welsh
Fri 31/03/72 A v Brighton & HA League L 1 - 3 27,628 Tearse
Sat 01/04/72 H v Plymouth Argyle League W 2 - 1 11,165 Welsh, Tearse
Mon 23/04/73 A v Northampton League W 2 - 0 1,982 Morrall 2
Tue 24/04/73 H v Hereford United League D 0 - 0 5,132
Sat 26/01/74 A v Hartlepool League D 0 - 0 2,960
Sun 27/01/74 A v Darlington League D 0 - 0 3,054
Fri 12/04/74 A v Reading League L 0 - 4 4,423
Sat 13/04/74 A v Scunthorpe U League D 0 - 0 2,538
Fri 28/03/75 A v Swansea League W 1 - 0 1,959 Brown
Sat 29/03/75 A v Newport County League L 1 - 2 2,139 Provan
Fri 16/04/76 A v Watford League D 0 - 0 5,436
Sat 17/04/76 A v Bournemouth League D 0 - 0 4,180
Fri 08/04/77 H v Exeter City League L 0 - 1 8,171
Sat 09/04/77 A v Bournemouth League D 1 - 1 4,048 C Lee
Mon 26/12/77 A v Swansea League D 1 - 1 7,448 Coffill
Tue 27/12/77 H v Watford League L 2 - 3 6,398 Vassallo, Boulton
Fri 21/12/79 A v Stockport County League L 0 - 4 2,310
Sat 22/12/79 A v Swindon Town FA Cup L 2 - 3 8,250 Tucker (og), Murphy
Fri 26/12/80 H v Wimbledon League L 2 - 3 3,442 Lawrence, Fell (pen)
Sat 27/12/80 A v Hereford United League W 1 - 0 3,412 Cox
Mon 27/12/82 H v Hereford United League W 2 - 1 3,954 Little, Crabbe (og)
Tue 28/12/82 A v Port Vale League L 0 - 1 4,760
Sat 16/04/83 A v Darlington League W 2 - 0 1,122 Gallagher, Doyle
Sun 17/04/83 A v Stockport County League L 0 - 1 1,986
Mon 26/12/83 H v Swindon Town League W 1 - 0 2,958 Hughes
Tue 27/12/83 A v Reading League D 2 - 2 5,130 Hughes, Anderson
Sat 17/03/84 A v Hartlepool League L 1 - 2 969 Compton
Sun 18/03/84 A v Chesterfield League L 2 - 3 3,142 Cooper, Squires
Mon 14/04/86 A v Halifax Town League D 0 - 0 1,062
Tue 15/04/86 A v Hartlepool League L 0 - 1 1,348
Fri 26/12/86 A v Exeter City League D 2 - 2 4,327 King, Walsh
Sat 27/12/86 H v Leyton Orient League D 2 - 2 1,372 Dobson, King
Mon 26/12/94 A v Exeter City League W 2 - 1 5,538 Moore, O'Riordan
Tue 27/12/94 H v Hartlepool League D 2 - 2 3,172 Sturridge, Kelly

You are right, but the two Saturday / Sunday doubles I mentioned in 1974 and 1983 were for the same reason - to save money.

When Division 4 was first formed in 1958, we played a lot of our Northern games in Saturday / Monday double headers early in the season to save on travelling.

The most annoying two in two days double header was in 1979. Our FA Cup game with Swindon was postponed and the replay was a classic 3-3 draw on the Tuesday one week before Xmas - one of the best games I have seen. Swindon had just beaten Arsenal in the League Cup.

Both Swindon and Torquay had moved their Saturday games to Friday night to avoid clashing with Xmas shopping in the days before Amazon prime.

The FA ruled we had to play the replay on the “free” Saturday.

We got thrashed 4-0 at Stockport and overnighted in the midlands before heading on to Swindon. Swindon’s Friday night game with Millwall was postponed due to the weather.

Our battered team heroically equalised twice against a fresh Swindon, before finally going down 3-2.

Dave Smith hit the 'disallowed goal'. Annoys him to this day! 😉

On this day, in 2003, we won 2-0 away at Rochdale with an own goal and Simon Clist scoring for us.

What my memory had forgotten was that this win left us in 5th place on 63 points, just 3 points short of Wrexham in 3rd, with just 5 games to go.

In my memory we were never that comfortably in the play-off places, probably because it would seem that we only picked up 3 more points in those final five games as we ended up finishing in 9th place, four points adrift of the play-offs.

I expect the self-proclaimed experts were shouting for Leroy to get the sack for such a dramatic dip in form, perhaps suggesting he’d been stealing a living for those final five games with liberal doses of bold font and sprinkling of the italicised word FACT but it came good a year later.

Ron Barnes had just taken the bloody corner so was never offside! A long way for a 0-0 and a 4.30am arrival back in Newton Abbot knowing we still needed one of three games to come to go our way to secure promotion. In the end we didn't need to wait long as in the first of those games a 3-1 win for Newport County over one of the promotion rivals made promotion certain. Seems like a different world now! 😉⚽️