For March 10th I'm going back 37 years to 1984 and Torquay United's home fixture in League Division 4 against league leaders York City.
This game was actually the second part of a south-western double header. Two games in a day and for the ground hopper it was perfectly arranged to be able to tick off two of the more distant grounds (assuming that you don't live in the south-west!). In the afternoon I was at the real St James' Park, Exeter to see the Grecians take on Sheffield United in League Division 3. The Blades, under Ian Porterfield, winning this game 2-1 were on their way to promotion which they finally achieved, separated only on goals scored from fourth placed Hull City. Exeter finished rock bottom and were relegated, 16 points from safety.
Then it was back to the car for the 24 mile journey to Torquay United's Plainmoor. Going into the game, York were top by only one point from Doncaster Rovers who would have gone top had they not lost earlier that day. Given that, there were only 15 games to go, and York eventually won the league by 16 points from Rovers, it goes to show what a strong finish the Minstermen were about to have. York lost only once at home in the league that season, against Torquay United the previous November!
City gained revenge for that November setback by winning this game 3-1 with all the goals coming in the second half from the classic trio of Gary Ford, Keith Walwyn and John Byrne. Torquay, under the management of former Chelsea star David Webb had Tony Currie in their side. Today, both teams play their football in Non-League albeit that Torquay are in a good position to achieve promotion back to the Football League for the third time in 12 years.
CRB Match No. 297
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