Granted, less than 100 hardy Torquay fans made the round trip of over 700 miles to Hartlepool on Saturday, but it’s still a very admirable gesture nonetheless.
According to the Torquay Herald Express, 91 fans in total made the long trip north to Hartlepool from Torquay to watch their beloved side fall to a 3-1 defeat, a loss that leaves Torquay bottom of League Two (and the entire Football League) and if that’s not hardcore we don’t know what is.
The Gulls fans were hardly relishing the prospect of a journey home that, according to Google Maps at least, takes just short of six hours without stopping, but Torquay manager Chris Hargreaves sought to provide some comfort by handing a couple of fans £20 to, in his own words, ‘get themselves a pint on the way home’.
Hargreaves said afterwards that it was ‘the least I could do’ but, obviously eager to avoid accusations of favouritism amongst the Torquay faithful, he is now offering to buy a drink for every fan that attended the game and plans to do so in conjunction with a specially organised Q and A at a local pub this week.
The Q and A is meant to assure fans that Torquay are doing all they can do to avoid dropping out of the Football League completely and the report in the Torquay Herald Express suggests that Hargreaves plans to organise Samba dancers, drummers and possibly even a fire eater in an effort to drum up an atmosphere for the visit of Fleetwood Town this weekend, a game described as a ‘cup final’ by the Torquay boss.
The promise of a free pint should ensure that the Q and A will be attended by all of the supporters who travelled to Hartlepool but didn’t avail of a free pint at the very least and, no doubt, a few chancers claiming that they were also in attendance in an effort to get some free gargle on the night.
Hat-tip: Who Ate All the Pies
