When Chris Roberts first introduced himself to the home crowd ( a home defeat to Accrington Stanley if memory serves me right) he was greeted with a very warm welcome by the Plainmoor crowd. there may even have been a " There's only one Chris Roberts" chant at the time, or is my memory playing tricks with me?
Either way, he certainly received a warm welcome, and I can certainly remember him, rather reluctantly rising to his feet to acknowledge the Popside reception at the time. I think it was at that very moment that I had my first reservations about him - there was just something about him that didn't seem quite right. Whether it was the "cheap" suit (nothing wrong with that mind, I used to wear them all the time!) or perhaps more significantly the somewhat "sheepish" response to the reception he received - this was clearly not a man who was used to receiving such adulation from a couple of thousand people, he looked "uncomfortable" as I gazed back at him from my vantage point (within spitting distance I might add). Of course, he may just have been a shy individual who just didn't like this sort of thing but I must admit that after so many years of Mike Bateson (love him or loathe him he was a huge character) this guy Roberts seemed such a timid individual, and not the flamboyant owner with big ideas and big plans for TUFC that we perhaps thought we were getting.
Suffice to say, that first day was quite simply as good as it got for Chris Roberts. Pretty much from the off, questions started to be asked of his past and huge gaps started to appear between what he said he had achieved in his life and what was in fact the reality. It became clear quite early on really that he was a fraud, his whole life story was a catalogue of at best exaggeration at worst plain and simple lies.
As his version of his personal life story began to be discredited by the local press, it also became clear from the stories coming out of the club that something was not quite right about his ability to run a football club. He started the process of dismantling the club by dismissing the very Manager who had miraculously saved us from relegation just a few months before - Ian Atkins was summarily dismissed - only to be replaced by the internationally renowned footballer Lubos Kubik. To be fair to Kubik, He has gone on to have a decent career in Management, but he was unquestionably the wrong appointment for an English League 2 side, given his lack of contacts and knowledge of the lower leagues. He (Kubik) relied heavily on his Assistant Richard Hancox for advice - someone who let's face it had only got a job in coaching simply through his marrying into the Bateson family.
Just to give a flavour as to what things were like under the Roberts/Kubik/Hancox regime I will give the best example I can of just how misguided they were. Ian Atkins had done us a huge favour in the summer, after narrowly escaping relegation, by somehow persuading a young lad called Jamie Ward, recently released by Aston Villa, to sign for us. Young Ward, had been out on loan to Stockport County (a much bigger club than us then and in all honesty despite their lowly league position, they still are) but due to having an Agent that counted Atkins as a mate, he (Atkins) managed to persuade young Jamie to sign for us.
From very early on, he scored a cracker in pre season at St James Park at Exeter, if memory serves me right, it was clear that young Ward was a cut above anything else we had at the club, but despite this he had a bit of an "attitude" at least according to Hancox - which irritated the Asst Manager, so much so that I can recall a conversation with him (Hancox) during which he stated that as far as he was concerned we had a better option than him, someone who was much harder working and more of a team player and at least as far as he ( Hancox) was concerned a better player - this explanation came after a home defeat in which young Ward had been subbed off early (much to everyone in the crowds surprise) and the player who replaced him ..... Chris McPhee!
As for Jamie Ward, we sold him on the last day of the Transfer Deadline in January, as was typical of Chris Roberts 'way of doing things,he took the opportunity of phoning me at home (a " service" he offered to fans who wanted to speak to him - those were the days!) to explain the reasons behind his decision - quite simply, he explained, the player was " crocked" - he had suffered a car accident a few years prepviously and as a direct consequence of the injuries he suffered,he would never be fit enough to pursue a career in professional football due to persistent hamstring problems - a career which has subsequently seem him as a regular star performer at the top end of the Championship .... and as for Chris McPhee well we all know where his career went.
Anyway, Roberts is now thankfully history, but that experience has no doubt made many TUFC fans sceptical of any prospective new owner that is not a bona fide fan of the football club and whose role is merely as a benefactor rather than anyone who might possibly see TUFC as an "investment opportunity".
When Roberts first published his plans for TUFC, there were those who were opposed to him from the off - some would say that they "saw through him" from the very off and maybe that was the case. However, some no doubt objected to him quite simply because his plans were just too revolutionary, many objected to the "abhorrent" idea of having a football stadium on Torquay sea front, some just couldn't accept anything that involved TUFC leaving their "spiritual" home at Plainmoor.
Personally, I don't see through him in the early days, but it wasn't too long after when the penny finally dropped, but yes I was someone who initially welcomed his revolutionary plans for our beloved football club as I saw it as the only realistic way forward for our club to both increase it's supporter base and it's revenue streams - both of which would lead hopefully to a brighter future for TUFC and just as importantly a more secure future where the club isn't quite so reliant on the generosity of it's benefactors (Bateson, Bristow etc) but more able to stand alone with an ability to generate greater revenue than that provided by just money on the gate as is largely the case now.
So, in conclusion, yes we had our fingers burned by Mr Roberts, but I would hope that that doesn't mean that the fans (and indeed the wider community) are totally against the idea of "outsiders" coming in and building (potentially) a better future for TUFC and again the eider community, for ever more. Personally, I feel we should cautiously embrace change and provided we (TUFC) make sure we get it right next time i.e we make sure we have the right people involved , we shouldn't object to any sort of change just because it went horribly wrong the last time. There is always hope for a better future for TUFC and who knows with a hit of luck it might, just might, be around the corner.
Thanks for listening ...l.
