Have yourself a Yellow New Year as Torquay United chase promotion

The rollercoaster of football was in full flow at Torquay United throughout 2025, and the one New Year guarantee from Plainmoor is the thrills and spills will never stop.

The Gulls made no secret of their promotion target when 2025 kicked off with a soggy win over Truro City at Plainmoor, and those two clubs would eventually play out a dramatic final day of the campaign.

Just for some added spice, TUFC manager Paul Wotton had spent five years as boss of Truro, and it all came down to a sunny afternoon at the end of April. 

Truro were huge favourites to take the one automatic promotion slot and had the added advantage of being at home to relegated St Albans. 

United, meanwhile, were at Hemel Hempstead, where the Yellow Army had invaded.

When Truro raced into a 3-0 lead inside ten minutes, it looked like game over, but St Albans fought back, while the Gulls were thumping Hemel. 

Ultimately, Truro did enough and Torquay missed out on promotion by just two goals.

The hangover sadly continued into the play-offs, as the Gulls were beaten at home by Boreham Wood, and the promotion dream was over. 

Wotton regrouped in the summer, overhauled his squad with new signings and a stronger emphasis on players with higher league experience, a process that has generally worked over the first three months of the current season.

United made a blistering start at home but away form was patchy at best. This has levelled out in recent weeks and the Gulls head into Christmas as part of the top three in the National League South. 

There will be more twists and turns over the second half of the campaign and, while the Gulls are possibly favourites to win promotion, this unforgiving league is extremely competitive at the top end. 

Off the pitch, United have done a lot of work on stadium improvements and a staff restructure will hopefully boost sustainability and future revenue generation. 

The ingredients are in place for an enthralling 2026 and hopefully a day of celebration at the end of April.