League Cup 1st Round v Oxford United.03/09/62.

The emergence of "Big" Ron Atkinson (and his brother Graham too) into the folklore of Torquay United, Cyril Beavon too ~ the grandfather of Stuart Beavon one of our adversaries in The Conference.

I remember those two quickfire home games with the League's newboys well..................they were a physical lot who left us wondering just what sort of (Southern) League they had emerged from.

A couple of years later and that physical approach boiled over with Big Ron and his old mate Robin Stubbs getting their marching orders (a very rare thing I those days) for a right old punch up at The Manor Ground. Funny thing was, Ron was a house guest of Robin's for the return game at Plainmoor two days later! That was the weekend our hero contracted pleuresy, and had to be driven home from Oxford by club chairman Tony Boyce..................plueresy is a very nasty lung infection which laid Robin low for a long period and seriously affected his strength for some time to come.