| Season: | 2007–08 |
| Chairman: | Alex Rowe |
| League Topscorer: | Tim Sills (19) |
| Season Topscorer: | Tim Sills (23) |
| Highest Attendance: | 6,015 v Exeter City, 1 May 2008 (Conference National play-off) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 1,277 v Bashley, 15 Dec 2007 (FA Trophy) |
| Average Attendance: | 3,864 |
| Pattern B1: | _thinbluesides |
| Leftarm1: | FFD700 |
| Body1: | FFD700 |
| Rightarm1: | FFD700 |
| Shorts1: | FFD700 |
| Socks1: | FFD700 |
| Pattern La2: | 0000FF |
| Pattern B2: | _collarwhite |
| Pattern Ra2: | 0000FF |
| Pattern Sh2: | _yellowstripesside |
| Pattern So2: | 0000FF |
| Leftarm2: | 0000FF |
| Body2: | 0000FF |
| Rightarm2: | 0000FF |
| Shorts2: | 0000FF |
| Socks2: | 0000FF |
| Nextseason: | 2008–09 |
The 2007–08 season was Torquay United's first season in the Conference National after being relegated from League Two. The season runs from 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2008.
Having been a Football League team for 80 years, Torquay United were finally relegated at the end of the 2006–07 season. After the most chaotic and disastrous season in Torquay's history, chairman Mike Bateson eventually sold the club to an eight-man consortium with Alex Rowe appointed as the new chairman and former-Gull Colin Lee returning as chief executive.[1] [2] Although Leroy Rosenior had previously been announced as the new manager, the consortium decided to go in a different direction and install ex-Torquay midfielder and current Exeter City assistant manager Paul Buckle as the new boss.[3] [4] With only a handful of players still on the club's books, Buckle had to work fast to build a new team in time for Torquay's first season in the Conference.
Despite a slightly nervous 0–0 draw with Grays Athletic in their first ever Conference match, the Gulls soon established themselves within the division and quickly became the team to beat. Buckle had managed to create a particularly potent strike force with new signings Tim Sills, Chris Zebroski and Lee Phillips combining to score nearly 50 league goals between them and Torquay were never out of the play-off spots all season. United were also enjoying more TV coverage than ever before with Setanta Sports now televising live Conference games and the BBC even coming to Plainmoor to broadcast the 4–1 FA Cup first-round victory over League One side Yeovil Town. Yeovil had themselves previously inflicted a cup 'upset' over Torquay in 1992 when they were a non-League side, so it was sweet revenge for the Gulls now that the two team's fortunes had been reversed.
After eventually finishing 3rd in the Conference, Torquay met their local rivals Exeter City in the play-off semi-final. Despite coming away from St James Park with a 2–1 lead in the first leg and going 1–0 up in the return match at Plainmoor, Exeter managed to score four goals in the final 18 minutes of the match to condemn Torquay to a 5–3 aggregate defeat and another season in the Conference. There was the possibility of a consolation for Torquay just a few days later as they had reached the final of the FA Trophy which entailed a trip to the new Wembley Stadium. However, a 1–0 defeat by Ebbsfleet United resulted in another disappointing day for the Gulls. Maybe the only highlight of the day was a late substitute appearance from Kevin Hill who made his 474th and final appearance for Torquay United, breaking the all-time appearance record which had been set by Dennis Lewis back in 1958.
Although Torquay United were perhaps a club who were fortunate to even still be in existence after the débâcle of the previous season, this was a campaign which had promised to deliver so much but had ultimately ended in disappointment. Having failed to return to the Football League at the first attempt, Torquay would now have to make sure they achieved it at the second time of asking.
All friendly matches and first team games in Conference National, FA Cup, FA Trophy and Conference League Cup are listed below. Reserve matches and regional cup competitions are not included.
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| 12 August 2007 | Grays Athletic | Home | 0–0 | 4,012 | 13 | ||
| 15 August 2007 | Aldershot Town | Away | 3–0 | Sills, Stevens, Zebroski | 3,139 | 2 | |
| 18 August 2007 | Northwich Victoria | Away | 3–1 | Sills, Phillips (2) | 1,117 | 1 | |
| 25 August 2007 | Rushden & Diamonds | Home | 3–2 | Sills, Phillips, Zebroski | 3,107 | 1 | |
| 27 August 2007 | Forest Green Rovers | Away | 2–2 | Hargreaves, Robertson | 2,382 | 1 | |
| 1 September 2007 | Stafford Rangers | Home | 2–0 | Todd, Benyon | 2,980 | 1 | |
| 4 September 2007 | Salisbury City | Home | 4–0 | Todd, Phillips, Sills (2) | 3,215 | 1 | |
| 10 September 2007 | Burton Albion | Away | 1–3 | Benyon | 2,086 | 3 | |
| 14 September 2007 | Halifax Town | Home | 3–1 | Robertson, Sills, Hockley | 2,727 | 1 | |
| 18 September 2007 | Histon Town | Away | 5–4 | Sills, Mullings, Zebroski (2), Todd | 763 | 1 | |
| 22 September 2007 | Kidderminster Harriers | Away | 5–2 | Hinshelwood, Sills, Zebroski (2), Phillips | 2,027 | 1 | |
| 25 September 2007 | Weymouth | Home | 3–2 | Zebroski, Phillips, Hill | 3,548 | 1 | |
| 29 September 2007 | Droylsden | Home | 2–1 | Sills, Phillips | 3,321 | 1 | |
| 6 October 2007 | Ebbsfleet United | Away | 1–2 | Ellis | 1,386 | 1 | |
| 11 October 2007 | Oxford United | Away | 3–3 | Welsh, Zebroski, Sills | 4,633 | 2 | |
| 14 October 2007 | Stevenage Borough | Home | 4–2 | Zebroski (2), Julian (og), Phillips | 3,744 | 1 | |
| 21 October 2007 | York City | Away | 1–0 | Todd | 2,483 | 1 | |
| 3 November 2007 | Cambridge United | Home | 1–2 | Benyon | 3,368 | 2 | |
| 17 November 2007 | Crawley Town | Away | 3–2 | Mansell, Ellis, Sills | 1,848 | 2 | |
| 24 November 2007 | Woking | Home | 2–0 | Benyon, Hargreaves | 3,275 | 2 | |
| 12 December 2007 | Farsley Celtic | Away | 2–1 | Zebroski, Stevens | 717 | 2 | |
| 26 December 2007 | Exeter City | Away | 3–4 | Todd, Phillips, Nicholson | 7,839 | 2 | |
| 29 December 2007 | Woking | Away | 1–0 | Sills | 2,181 | 2 | |
| 1 January 2008 | Exeter City | Home | 1–0 | Sills | 6,021 | 2 | |
| 7 January 2008 | Burton Albion | Home | 1–2 | Zebroski | 2,359 | 2 | |
| 19 January 2008 | Salisbury City | Away | 0–0 | 2,633 | 3 | ||
| 28 January 2008 | Histon | Home | 1–0 | Sills | 2,482 | 2 | |
| 9 February 2008 | Kidderminster Harriers | Home | 1–0 | Ellis | 3,012 | 2 | |
| 12 February 2008 | Weymouth | Away | 0–0 | 1,970 | 2 | ||
| 16 February 2008 | Ebbsfleet United | Home | 3–1 | Mohamed (2), Zebroski | 2,704 | 2 | |
| 26 February 2008 | Altrincham | Home | 1–1 | Zebroski | 2,310 | 2 | |
| 1 March 2008 | Grays Athletic | Away | 0–2 | 1,018 | 2 | ||
| 3 March 2008 | Aldershot Town | Home | 1–2 | Phillips | 4,510 | 2 | |
| 11 March 2008 | Halifax Town | Away | 2–3 | Phillips (2) | 894 | 3 | |
| 22 March 2008 | Stafford Rangers | Away | 2–0 | Sills, Dsane | 905 | 4 | |
| 24 March 2008 | Forest Green Rovers | Home | 1–0 | Dsane | 3,071 | 2 | |
| 29 March 2008 | Altrincham | Away | 1–1 | Hill | 1,163 | 2 | |
| 1 April 2008 | Droylsden | Away | 2–1 | Sills, Dsane | 476 | 2 | |
| 5 April 2008 | Farsley Celtic | Home | 0–1 | 2,406 | 2 | ||
| 8 April 2008 | Oxford United | Home | 3–2 | Zebroski (2), Sills | 2,241 | 2 | |
| 12 April 2008 | Stevenage Borough | Away | 3–1 | Hargreaves, Zebroski, Sills | 2,673 | 2 | |
| 15 April 2008 | Northwich Victoria | Home | 1–0 | Zebroski | 2,270 | 2 | |
| 17 April 2008 | Rushden & Diamonds | Away | 1–2 | Benyon | 1,276 | 2 | |
| 19 April 2008 | York City | Home | 0–0 | 2,165 | 2 | ||
| 22 April 2008 | Cambridge United | Away | 0–2 | 4,100 | 2 | ||
| 26 April 2008 | Crawley Town | Home | 1–2 | Sills | 3,121 | 3 |
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| 1 May 2008 | Exeter City | Away | 2–1 | Sills, Zebroski | 8,276 | ||
| 5 May 2008 | Exeter City | Home | 1–4 | Hill | 6,015 | ||
| Exeter City won 5–3 on aggregate | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| 27 October 2007 | Bath City | Away | 2–0 | Phillips, Stevens | 2,149 | ||
| 11 November 2007 | Yeovil Town | Home | 4–1 | Todd (2), Stevens (2) | 3,718 | ||
| 1 December 2007 | Brighton & Hove Albion | Home | 0–2 | — | 4,010 |
| Win | Draw | Loss |
| 15 December 2007 | Bashley | Home | 1–0 | Sills | 1,277 | |
| 12 January 2008 | Newport County | Away | 2–1 | Hargreaves (2) | 1,510 | |
| 4 February 2008 | AFC Wimbledon | Away | 2–0 | D'Sane, Phillips | 4,085 | |
| 23 February 2008 | Crawley Town | Home | 4–1 | D'Sane, Mohamed (2), Phillips | 2,301 | |
| 7 March 2008 | York City | Home | 2–0 | Sills, Phillips | 2,286 | |
| 15 March 2008 | York City | Away | 0–1 | — | 3,625 | |
| 10 May 2008 | Ebbsfleet United | Wembley | 0–1 | — | 40,186 | |
As of final game of the season on 10 May 2008[40]
| No. | Player | League Apps | League Goals | Cup Apps | Cup Goals | Total Apps | Total Goals | YC | RC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 12 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 36 |  | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 15 |  | 23 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 4 | 0 |
| 9 | 22 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 30 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| 20 | 19 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 25 | 5 | 3 | 0 | |
| 25 | 22 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 29 | 3 | 3 | 0 | |
| 14 | 38 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 52 | 5 | 8 | 0 | |
| 11 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 20 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
| 16 | 29 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 33 | 1 | 5 | 0 | |
| 20 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 41 | 12 | 13 | 5 | 54 | 17 | 6 | 0 | |
| 7 | 34 | 1 | 14 | 0 | 48 | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
| 23 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 14 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 17 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| 3 | 46 | 1 | 16 | 0 | 62 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| 27 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1 |  | 30 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 33 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 21 | 9 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| 5 | 23 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 31 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| 8 | 44 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 59 | 23 | 5 | 0 | |
| 19 | 29 | 2 | 10 | 3 | 39 | 5 | 2 | 0 | |
| 24 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | 42 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 57 | 7 | 8 | 0 | |
| 18 | 18 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 22 | 4 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | 21 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 29 | 0 | 5 | 0 | |
| 12 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 26 | 46 | 18 | 15 | 1 | 61 | 19 | 7 | 0 | |