Where would you put a new Gulls stadium?

[Gullscorer]

Yes, this is hypothetical, I know it will probably never happen. Thanks to the state of the local economy the crowds will not come, and if the funding for the football aspect of the club is always a struggle, then financing for a new stadium will certainly never be found. Even clubs such as Plymouth Argyle (spit), with a much larger population fan base have had and will have their financial problems.

And yet, some of the unlikeliest clubs throughout the land seem to have achieved the impossible, through various means: Brighton immediately comes to mind, but also the likes of Walsall and Shrewsbury. And there are a number of others.

So let's just have a little impossible pipe dream. Imagine a new huge influx of investment for Torquay United, and a 15,000 seat (for starters ) Torquay United stadium, which would of necessity have various other community facilities and businesses attached, and with ease of access from the railway and the new link road, not just for the people of Torquay but also the surrounding areas of population. Where would you build such a stadium?

Of course, for the more practical and realistic Gulls fans, such pipe dreaming is a waste of time. Many clubs have simply redeveloped and enlarged their existing grounds, and, over time, this may be the best and only option for the Gulls. But, just for a bit of fun, imagine that grand new stadium, with the Gulls playing, naturally, in the Championship.

Or, on a more serious note, remember that both of these things have already been achieved, by none other than Yeovil Town..

[Yellow4life]

One place would be on the seafront(where roberts was going to put it) it's a great location and would be similar to Blackpool, where the stadium is within the main part. Not sure if that cricket ground would allow us to hold your heights of 15k though.

[bixieupnorth]

couldnt think of any reason why we'd ever need to move from out lovely little ground to some soulless new thing, yak!!

good job its hypothetical, plainmoors perfect, easy to reach, decent pubs and food shops, why would we ever need to do that?

[bixieupnorth]

or maybe just on the edge of sheffield!!??

[SuperNickyWroe]

or maybe just on the edge of sheffield!!??

what?

and compete with those two sh*t teams? =D

[cambgull]

The seafront would be a great place. Roberts got one thing right. Argyle are being clever with adding in a hotel, bars and shops. They will make a bomb off that. We would hopefully do the same thing with other things to bring money into the club.

[Gullscorer]

Agreed, the Recreation Ground or Torre Valley North, with parking nearby and the possibility of additional supporting development, would be good places. The rugby club could relocate to Plainmoor. Otherwise somewhere around the Willows or Scott's Bridge.

[yellowforever]

If it was a nice looking stadium on the recreation ground, then that would be a delight. Right by the train station so easy for away fans, 10 min walk from parking, lots of shops nearby so a boost for the high street economy. Also the green would be a nice little place before and after the game if its a nice day. I'm sure the Grand Hotel would be chuffed to bits too.

It's all a pipe dream of course, and plainmoor would be suitable until the unlikely instance of a wealthy fan taking over or us consolidating in the championship.

[chunkygull]

if this were ever to be a reality then the recreation ground on the seafront would be a good shout.

if it had to be somewhere else, how about by the market site on the ring road. cars and coaches could go straight in there off the dual carriageway into a more than big enough car park. buses could be run there from town and the train stations. there is plenty of land there, albeit for farming, but hey money talks.

as cambgull mentioned argyle are adding bars, hotel and shops. all these things would be a great idea if the impossible ever became a reality.

if we ever had to increase plainmoor, what could we do?

[Colorado Gull]

It's a lovely dream to think of, sadly being too realistic to join in with the dreaming. But yes the seafront would be a great place, but I really much doubt the council would allow that.

[northyorkshiregull]

If we were ever to go up a league or two the big worry is that plain moor only holds spaces for about 4,700 home fans with no real space to increase things by much if at all.For me it would have to be the rec on the seafront with it being next to the train station and on the number 12 bus route.you could be in either Paignton or Newton town centre and be at the ground in 10 minutes or so.imagine how many extra fans could easily get to the ground.Add in things like hotel cinema sea front pub and we could have the money to make the championship.

[Colorado Gull]

I'm not so sure our fan base would exceed over what our capacity is even if we were promoted to League 1 and maybe not even the Championship. Stevenage, a small club similar to us, their last attendance at home was under 3,300 with a capacity of around 6,500 (like us also) and they're in League 1, with a good successful time. Yeovil, again a similar size club to ourselves, their attendance against Birmingham was around 8,700 (with a good few being away fans) and a capacity of around 9,700 and their attendance against Derby today was around 7,000 and they're in the Championship.

We would follow the same pattern. Around 4% of the population of Torquay actually go to Torquay United each week, that may go up to around 3-4,000 depending on what team we are playing that week, but I don't think we will ever need a change of capacity. This may sound pessimistic, but it's actually being realistic.

[chunkygull]

i remember quite a few years ago when i was a young boy there were rumours torquay united would move to a brand new stadium built at clennon valley field in paignton.

apparently the same rumours had been about many times down the years before that.

some even went as far to say that the plans were drawn up, but the ground had been tested and was deemed unsuitable to build on.

i lived and grew up around there and i was well excited at the prospect, so was my dad.it used to be great to watch the team training down there for many pre-seasons. i even used to kick stray footballs back to them (looked a kn0b when it went wrong though). i especially remember in 89 when they trained on the new (at the time) astroturf pitch in preparation for the sherpa van trophy final.

mum however was not happy at the prospect of a football ground at clennon valley because of property prices being affected and parking etc. i wind her up about it now by telling her there is rumours of it happening. indeed, it is an absolute nightmare to park anywhere around there on a weekend when just the local teams are playing.

if we ever did move it would probably have to be somewhere well away from a residential or busy area, there would be too much protest.

[Gullscorer]

Yeovil's attendances are near miraculous when you consider the population of the town is about 52,000, with no other sizeable towns in their catchment area. We have probably three times that population in our part of south Devon to call upon.

So if they can build a new stadium (built I believe around 15 years ago) and get into the Championship on their limited budget, then there's no real reason why we shouldn't have similar ambitions.

[hector]

I remember rumours when I was younger of Torquay playing at Clennon Valley and I hated the idea because then essentially, it would mean that Paignton had a league club and not Torquay. At the same time there would be calls to change the name to Torbay United and for me neither would have worked. For me, the club must always be Torquay United and play within Torquay.

Therefore, the Rec would be ideal and nowadays nobody in their right mind would choose to put a ground where Plainmoor is. Alternatively, the Willows/Edginswell area (with a train station added) would be a great location once the bypass is complete.

However, I cannot see us ever leaving Plainmoor and I'm not sure I would want us to.