Torquay United: National League South club to go into administration

Plainmoor hosted matches in the English Football League until Torquay were relegated from League Two in 2014

Torquay United are to go into administration after owner Clarke Osborne said he can no longer fund the National League South club.

The Gulls, who are 11th in National League South, have been owned by Osborne since 2016 after he bought the club from a fan-led consortium.

In his time Torquay have twice been relegated to the sixth tier.

They missed out on promotion to League Two in 2021 after losing to Hartlepool United in the play-off final.

Osborne has also stood down as club chairman and the club is set to be deducted 10 points, dropping them from 11th to 18th in the National League South table, four points above relegation to the Southern League.

“It is with sincere regret that I advise that circumstances beyond my control during the last five weeks have brought me to the position that I an unable to continue financial support for the club and I have today filed on behalf of the directors an intention to appoint an administrator for the club and company,” Osborne said in a statement on the club website.external-link

Osborne had kept Torquay afloat – the last set of accounts show loans of almost £4.3m to the club.

It is expected that that figure is likely to be well past £5m with new accounts for the year to June 2023 due soon.

“The financing of football in this country is precarious and can only thrive in the lower divisions where there is either a close collaborative relationship with the local authority, it is a trophy asset or is backed by substantial local individuals and businesses,” Osborne added.

“I believe that it needs a fundamental overhaul of its financing structure, rights distribution in the lower leagues and recognition that many clubs represent a fundamental part of the local community and its visitor attractions.

“Ambitious clubs should, in my opinion, be given special status in their push to bring in investment, develop facilities, bring spend and employment to the local economy.”

Controversial ownerClarke Osborne rarely attended Torquay United matches

The decision leaves Torquay searching for a fourth owner in less than a decade.

The Gulls got to the League Two play-off final in 2011 under a consortium backed by the money of late lottery-winning supporter Paul Bristow, whose widow Thea eventually assumed full control.

She sold the club for £1 in May 2015 to a consortium of local business people, but they did not have the finances to sustain the club and it was sold in December 2016 to Osborne through his firm Gaming International, which set up Riviera Stadium Limited as its parent company.

But Osborne’s tenure at Plainmoor has been controversial.

He outlined plans for a new stadium but they never got any further than meetings and artists’ impressions.

Gaming International also owns Swindon’s speedway team and his plans for a new stadium for the club have also never borne fruit, while he was also part of a group trying unsuccessfully to build a ground for Bristol Rovers when the club sold Eastville to the furniture firm Ikea.

“He’s an absent owner, he doesn’t come and watch matches,” Torquay United Supporters Trust chairman Nick Brodrick told BBC Sport, ahead of a planned protest against Osborne’s ownership scheduled for Saturday’s home game with Aveley.

“We are very vigilant as the Trust. We have a strategy group that’s been meeting regularly for the last two or three years and we have plans for any particular scenarios that might develop, like administration, liquidation, or whether it might even result in having to for a phoenix club.

“We have plans for all eventualities depending on what happens with Mr Osborne’s decisions about the football club.”

But, in his departing statement, Osborne was still adamant that a new stadium was key to the club’s future.

“The prospect of creating a new stadium and commercial facility was the driver for the investment, the excitement to deliver something truly transformative for the club and Torbay,” he said.

“I would reiterate what I have said many times, that Torquay United is blessed with fantastic, passionate support and I am sorry that we have not been able to reach our goal for the club and fans, despite significant effort and investment.”

He added: “Now is the time for the club, supporters, Torbay community and the Local Authority to come together and continue on the path to the future.

“I will assist a change of ownership where and when invited. The detailed plans, proposals and related data for the proposed developments will be gifted to the club as will any time requested to assist in the future planning and development.”

The club says all money that it earns from now on will be used solely to run the football club adding “legal and administration fees will not be paid from the operational cashflow”.