There are good and better days to visit Torquay and I could not have timed it more perfectly. The train rolls into a station bathed in summer Bank Holiday heat, as if the sun is determined to give it everything it has to daytrippers one last time this year. The town’s beaches are a mass of parasols, towels and children skipping into the sea.

A mile-and-a-half away, via a punishingly sweaty walk up St Marychurch Road, you can find roughly the same atmosphere. Torquay United’s fan zone is open to all local residents rather than just matchday supporters. The grassed area has become an extension of the beach: ball games, picnics, sun-soaked revelry.

Eighteen months ago, Torquay United were in dire straits. They had been a Football League club for 79 unbroken years until 2007, but a second re

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