Warnock and Wotton head the new era at Torquay United

It has been a seriously busy couple of weeks in the world of Torquay United.

Aaron Downes has left the club after six years of service, Paul Wotton named the new manager following his departure from Truro City and Neil Warnock will be acting as a football advisor at Plainmoor.

The flurry of activity culminated in a press conference staged at the Livermead Cliff Hotel in Torquay and the local sporting media gathered alongside representatives of Torquay United Supporters Trust and those responsible for bringing the Bryn Consortium to their position as new owners of the club.

The atmosphere was one of excitement, anticipation and genuine encouragement for a new era at the club. After introductions from new co-chairman Michael Westcott, Messrs Wotton and Warnock told the story behind their arrival at the club and their plans for a brighter future.

Here is the story of the Press Call, starting with the new manager, Paul Wotton:

“I am absolutely thrilled to be here; it is a great opportunity for myself. Torquay United is a club I know all about and a club I’m excited to be joining,” he said.

“It is time for me to make that jump and Torquay is the perfect jump for me. I’m very excited and genuinely thrilled to be here.

“This is the perfect step for me, from my previous club. I managed against Torquay on Boxing Day and there were nearly 4,000 people at the game. The atmosphere was great, I feel like I’m ready for that challenge and it’s the next logical step for me as a young manager.

“I was at Truro for five years, a big chunk of my life. Truro is a brilliant football club and there were successful times. When you leave a good club with good people, there is always an element of sadness but football is football.

“I have many good friends at Truro and memories that will live forever but it’s time to make a new chapter now and to make new friends. I’m an emotional guy, I’m quite intense when it comes to football and I just want to get going.  

“The club has a tremendous fanbase. There have been tough times of late but, with a new Board, it is a clean slate and exciting times for everybody. There is a vision that we all share.

“There is pressure in everything you do but pressure is what you allow it to be. Having a career in football, I was very lucky to be involved after leaving school and there is always pressure to win games, pressure to get promoted, to not get relegated, to earn another contract.

“Every game has pressure, whether you’re at the top of the league, in the middle or down the bottom, and you also have to manage expectations. If you don’t have pressure in football, what’s the point?

“I’ve only just left employment at my previous club but work starts now on recruiting players, and I’m in negotiations with a few of last season’s squad that I’m keen to keep. It’s going to be a busy time but that’s the same for every manager.

“I’ve got to find players that fit the criteria that I want, not just the ability but also the character, which is huge. Every successful team I’ve been in, as a player, an assistant or as a manager, has had a tremendous work ethic, tremendous will to win and tremendous togetherness.

“I will sign players that will give everything for Torquay United, that’s the only promise I can make. The 11 players on the pitch will give everything they’ve got for Torquay United, or they won’t be playing.

“I’m happy with the budget, it’s a competitive budget and it’s up to me to spend it well.

“Whatever days we train, we will be as fit as any team in the league because I pride myself on training hard, as the boys will find out, because if you can’t run, you won’t be able to play football.

“National League South is a long season and a robust league with lots of midweek games. There will be full-time players and also some supposed part-time players.

“There are a lot of players in the National League South and National League Premier who have a normal job, but they are also tremendous players. There are players who are plenty good enough to play in the Football League but they’ve chosen a different route of having a normal job while still being an excellent footballer.”

Sitting alongside Wotton was Neil Warnock, a legend of football management, who credits Torquay United with revitalising his career after he left Notts County to perform a Plainmoor rescue job in the spring of 1993.

This is the Warnock story on his return to Plainmoor:

“I didn’t ever envisage being back in Torquay but a passing chance, bumping into Michael [Westcott] on the train coming back from London and it just seemed a very good thing at the end of my career to put something back into football,” he said.

“If it wasn’t for Torquay, I don’t think I would have had the career I’ve had. I was only here for a short time but it was period where [my wife] Sharon and I had been in the top flight to join a club just about to get relegated out of the Football League.

“The games I had gave me the enjoyment to see genuine lads putting in a shift, people like Darren Moore, Paul Trollope and Tom Kelly. I had turned down Chelsea the year before and then got the sack at Notts County, which shows what football is all about.

“We absolutely loved it down here and it transformed the rest of my career.

“Paul’s got a good future in football and it’s nice for us to put Torquay back on the map. You can’t do it on your own as a manager, you need help, and the Board is the same.

“It is a great day for the club to look forward and put it back where it should be. I’ve always thought Torquay United could be a League One club, so we will see where we can go."