Fan Zone 01/08/2025
- TUST
- Aug 1
- 3 min read
FAN ZONE
By Nick Brodrick, TUST's Chair and TUFC board member.
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LIONESSES’S EURO WIN PUTS SMILES ON FACES
FANS FOREMOST WITH FORUM AND ZONE TO SET UP NEW SEASON
ENFIELD AND MAIDSTONE’S PRE-SEASON CAMPAIGNS
Fans are the beating heart of football clubs and the communities which they serve so let’s focus on recent events and those coming up.
Pride of place must surely go to the Lionesses who overcame a disappointing defeat at the start of Euro 2025 but came back fighting ending in glorious fashion with that amazing penalty shoot-out in the final.
These players are now role models for thousands of girls with dreams of being a professional in their years ahead. The win certainly puts a smile back on faces at a time when there seem to be so many negative things happening in the world.
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Football has the power to transport us into being positive and here at TUST we are celebrating going into our second season alongside the Bryn consortium.
We applaud the backing the manager has been given to improve his squad, for on paper this is a stronger group of players in what undoubtedly is going to be a very competitive National South.
For many years, under the previous regime, fans were kept at arms- length regarded as an irritant but now matters are completely reversed.
Under a club charter, which is to be published soon, it states there’s to be a minimum of two fans’ forums per season and the first of these is on Monday August 4th.
With directors from Bryn and TUST plus Paul Wotton, fans can ask questions in Boots & Laces. Whilst food is available all day, the forum starts at 7pm and those attending are asked to log in for a free ticket at www.torquayunited.com.
Unfortunately, the club is unable, on this occasion, to live stream the event but it is to be recorded for posting on a later date.
If TUST members who cannot attend in person have a question please send it to: info@tust.co.uk by 6pm Sunday August 3rd and a board member will do their best to read it out.
And next Saturday, August 9th, there’s a fan zone on Plainmoor Green. Preparations are well under way for a great build-up to the new season’s opening league fixture against visitors Enfield Town. There’ll be food and drink outlets, children’s games and plenty of fun activities between 12 midday and 3pm.
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United supporters know only too well the dreadful feelings about the fate of your club from owners whose motives are not football related. Prior to our administration, we were all well aware of what had happened at Bury and Macclesfield and many other clubs before them.
So, we are all in sympathy with the Shrimps Trust at Morecambe as they face possible extinction. A wayward owner, unpaid wages, senior players leaving, first three National League fixtures postponed, possible expulsion and a 105- year history in doubt.
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So, what about Saturday’s visitors? Last season, their first after promotion, proved to be a roller-coaster as they initially found the South a real challenge and for a long time relegation was on the cards.
But against the odds they survived, three points clear of the last relegation place.
How has their pre-season been? They’ve had mixed results, a 1-0 defeat at Walthamstow, a 2-4 reverse at home to AFC Wimbledon but 2-0 wins over an Arsenal Under-21 side and Braintree Town. They have one final friendly next Tuesday at home to Tottenham Under-21s.
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Now, on to the following Saturday, a visit to the Gallagher Stadium and what has turned into a bogey team Maidstone United. United’s record away is really poor and fixtures in general against the Stones have ended in defeat; the last win, 1-0, was in January 2023.
What’s happened in Maidstone’s pre-season? An early 1-0 home defeat by Chatham saw them win the next three: 2-0 versus St Albans City and then two 4-0 victories over Under 21 sides from Millwall and Colchester United.
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This column, the Fans’ Zone, began life in the Herald Express on July 29th 2020 and ran in the paper until it abruptly stopped after the end of last season in May 2025.
Thank you to all those who have said you miss the column so to be sure it can be read you need to be a TUST member so please encourage your friends to join.
You can contact me at fanszone.tu@gmail.com.
COYY
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