User:Bardiak/Sandbox2
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| Torquay United | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Torquay United Football Club |
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| Nickname(s) | The Gulls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Founded | 1899 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ground | Plainmoor Torquay (Capacity 6,104) |
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| Chairman |  Conor Apicella |
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| Manager | Bardia Khajenoori |
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| League | Premier League | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–11 | Coca-Cola Championship, 4th (promoted via play-offs) |
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Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, is an English association football club based in the seaside resort town of Torquay, Devon. They will begin the 2011-12 season in the Premier League having been promoted from the Championship via the play-offs at the end of the 2010-2011 season. Founded in 1899, they joined the Football League in 1927 and spent their entire time in the Football League in the lower divisions. The club plays in a distinctive yellow and navy strip.
In 2007, the club was pushed into the international spotlight after American billionaire Conor Apicella purchased the club and promised to transform it into a European power within ten years, appointing his good friend and fellow American Bardia Khajenoori as manager. Though Torquay fans welcomed Apicella's purchase of the club, most strongly disapproved of Khajenoori's appointment, citing his lack of any managerial experience whatsoever. Ironically, Khajenoori has proven himself as the best manager in the club's history, guiding the club to four straight promotions, for they have set the world record (most successive promotions by a sports team). This was achieved by going from the Blue Square Premier in 2008 to the Premier League in 2011. Apicella has pumped more than £350 million into players alone, in addition to £20 million that is going toward building a new stadium (see below). After the collapse of Gretna F.C. in Scotland (which was purchased by a tycoon and rose through the ranks of Scottish football to the Scottish Premier League, then collapsed in 2008 after the owner fell sick and withdrew his financial support), Torquay fans were worried the same could happen to their club. However, it was revealed to supporters that upon purchasing the club, Apicella placed £300 million into a reserve fund (upon which the club was also earning significant interest) to keep the club running under similar circumstances. It was also noted that this period of heavy investment was only at the start of the Apicella era, as the board envision the club to be self sufficient within seven years of playing in the Premier League.
The club plan to leave Plainmoor in 2011, when construction of the new, 18,500 all-seater Torquay Stadium is completed.
Torquay United prided themselves on being one of the few clubs in the lower English football leagues to remain debt-free despite the debacle of the ITV Digital collapse. 'Penny-wise and pound-foolish' was an oft-repeated observation of things at Plainmoor, particularly under the chairmanship of Mike Bateson.
Torquay's traditional rivals are fellow Devon clubs Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City. However the latter has always been the fiercer rivalry as Argyle have tended to be in a higher division throughout their history and so the two teams rarely meet. There is also an element of Argyle fans who admit to a soft spot for the Gulls (much like the larger London teams are always happy for the likes of Barnet, who have never played in the top flight, to have a small degree of success).
