Smug Rowe getting used to Wembley way

Alex Rowe, the Torquay United chairman, has much to be pleased about his first season at the Devon club. There is the FA Trophy final against Ebbsfleet United at Wembley on May 10 to look forward to - and that may be followed by a second visit eight days later in the Blue Square Premier play-offs final.
 
Whatever the last acts of the playing season hold in store, Rowe knows that the club has regained stability and self-respect after the disastrous season in which they were relegated from Coca-Cola League Two, damaged by the brief and chaotic reign under a consortium led by Chris Roberts.

“It’s been a great season but we’ve had to do a lot of hard work,” Rowe said. “It’s a battle. We are intent on building a football club that is sustainable. We’ll work to get back into the Football League and if and when that happens — and I’m sure it will ultimately — we must make sure that we have a foundation that can be built on and we can stay there. We’re extremely passionate about the club.

“Last year we averaged 2,000 at the turnstiles; this year it’s 2,400. That’s great for a club that has dropped down a league. Our away support has been magnificent. I’ve been in a record crowd at Salisbury City of 2,000 odd, when we took 1,000 of our fans and that was brilliant.”
 
Rowe’s connection with the club extends to his arrival to take over a family business that rented out linen across the South-West. Selling that business last year helped to free him to take over Torquay. 

“I’ve had a season ticket for 17 years, standing up like everyone else at first and then graduating to a more comfortable area when I became too old to stand,” Rowe said. “I’ve enjoyed every moment of it and have been a supporter since I moved into the Torbay area.
 
“The club was going into something of a free fall and I wasn’t prepared to let that happen. Once you take that step, you take responsibility for taking the club forward.
Mike Bateson had done a fantastic job for Torquay United for 17 years. He felt his time had come, fair enough, and tried to sell it on in good faith. The intervening owner was the problem and was taking the club down.”

Rowe’s dedication to the cause is not bad for a Cornish boy, brought up on a diet of watching Redruth and Cornwall playing rugby. “My first trip to live football was when I was at St Andrew’s University in 1979 and my best friend, who was - and is - a Rangers season-ticket holder, took me to see them play. At the time Dundee United were a very good side, Alex Ferguson was at Aberdeen, so there was high quality. We saw some great football and we also went everywhere — Arbroath, Montrose. It was a great football education.”
   
Rowe’s first appointments upon his arrival have proved crucial to the club’s recovery, Colin Lee as the chief executive and Paul Buckle as the manager.  “The first thing I felt was a lack of energy and a sense of neglect,” Rowe said. “I tried to energise people again and let them get on with it. We didn’t have many players and in some respects that was a good thing because it enabled us to start again.

“I was very lucky to have Colin [Lee] here. He is a Torquay legend, having come out of Buckfastleigh and played for Chelsea, played for Tottenham and then had a prominent career in management as well. His status at Torquay was only increased because he came back five or six years ago [in fact, in 2001] when we were in danger of relegation, gained something like six wins in eight games and kept us in the League on the last day of the season at Barnet.

All that makes Colin an extremely credible figure in West Country football. And when he came, he appointed Paul Buckle with whom he had worked at Brentford. Colin has been the glue in keeping us all together.

“Paul and Colin come out of the same school, they share the same culture of hard work and discipline. They bounce ideas off each other - and Paul has been an inspired choice.”

Rowe is well aware that Torquay’s location causes perennial problems. “I think 15 of our 20-odd away trips have necessitated overnight stays,” he said. “To give our chance of competing we have to support that.

“I also think that in terms of attracting players to our neck of the woods we have something of a reputation as a footballing backwater. We have to work hard to get quality players to come down here and play for Torquay United. When they are down here, they love it - the area is full of retired footballers.”

So what has Rowe learnt from his first season in charge? “The one thing football clubs don’t do is run themselves,” he said. “It’s a recipe for disaster. It’s very important not to let things slip. I’m very grateful for the set-up that we have with a chief executive in Colin, who’s there day to day giving it 110 per cent of his attention. That attention to detail is really essential.

“Then you have to give your supporters a reason to come and watch football. You cannot take them for granted, it’s no good just expecting them to turn up. First and foremost you’ve got to produce results on the pitch, but people also expect to be reasonably well entertained as well.

“We also have to improve the facilities. I’m convinced that every year we’ve got to improve them little by little, bit by bit. You can’t try to do too much because it’s just not sustainable but we have to try to improve the customer service throughout the club from scoring more goals to answering the phone properly.

“We’re looking at things like catering. We’re looking at the floodlights. That’s what we’re going to be doing in the close season. We have to make it better each season for the supporter.” Two wins at Wembley may just help.

By Walter Gammie