NO MORE PLAINMOOR?
Three photos of the opening Football League
game against Exeter City on 27 August 1927
raised around three sides of the pitch. Soon
afterwards Torquay Council, from whom Tor-
quay United rented Plainmoor, presented
them with a clock, which was mounted on
the grandstand roof. Both the clock and the
roof to which it was attached were blown off
during a storm in January 1930, but despite
having flown fifty yards, remarkably the clock
was still in working condition when recov-
ered.
United’s first season as a Football League club
in 1927/28 saw them finish bottom of Divi-
sion Three South, setting a pattern of under-
achievement and financial struggle that
would continue until the outbreak of WWII.
Despite making a disappointing start to their
Football League career, during the summer
of 1928 the directors showed their faith by
erecting a covered stand at the Ellacombe
end. At 225 ft long, the shelter,
which was nicknamed the
‘Cowshed’, spanned the width of
the pitch and had a capacity of
3,000. The council, who tended to
keep a paternal eye on the affairs
of both Torquay United and Tor-
quay Athletic RFC, were on hand
to give the club financial support in
1938, purchasing Torquay United’s
only tangible asset, the former
Above: Action v. Exeter City in the FA Cup in
1928/29
Right: A close-up of the Cowshed in
1939
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