'We want the team to move upwards, but need the club to cope with it too'

YOU'D THINK that a quiet beach in Tenerife might get you away from it all. Not on your life, as Bill Phillips discovered last year.

Bill and his wife Margaret were soaking up the rays when his mobile rang.

It was Torquay United's long-serving director Ian Hayman, and he wanted to know whether Phillips would be interested in joining the board.

Not only that, but there was work to be done at Plainmoor.

United and former chief executive Colin Lee has just parted company.

"What Ian had to say more than interested me," said Phillips, who had enjoyed a successful career in business in the Westcountry.

There was a complication, for Phillips already knew that he was soon to become captain of Churston Golf Club, not a job which requires just a couple of phone calls and the odd glass of sherry each week.

But the upshot is that Phillips, who lives in Paignton, duly became United's 'director in charge'.

"This job takes me two-and-a-half days a week, and the golf club takes two-and-a-half," said Bill.

"With the help of a very understanding wife and a good diary, it works as long as I balance it right."

Phillips might have been tailor-made for the job.

A lifelong sports fanatic, he played rugby as a young man around his home town of Leicester, still becoming a big fan of the Foxes.

It was when he moved to South Devon in 1973, to start a 30-year career in the frozen food business, that he turned seriously to football.

He did it not as a player, but as a referee and later as a competition official.

He did so well that he rose through the non-League ranks to join the Football League list.

Although he served mostly as a League linesman, he also refereed a few matches, signing off with a First Division game between Southampton and Luton at the old Dell in 1989.

Now he's determined to help continue the revival of United, which started when the current board bought the club after relegation to the Conference in 2007.

"We've made great strides in the last few years and now, after Paul Buckle's efforts, Martin Ling has been strengthening the squad on the field," he said.

"My job is to do the same on the non-playing side.

"The appointment of Andrew Candy (general manager) will take a lot of issues from me.

"Paul Baker (stadium manager), who has taken over from Rob Stanley, has got a lot on his plate, particularly with the new Grandstand.

"Callum Williams (catering manager) is building up that side of things.

"Kerry Haggan has taken over as club secretary.

"Tim Herbert (website/programme editor) is doing a good job, and we've brought in Kate King to assist Dean Edwards (commercial manager).

"The infrastructure of the club is much stronger than it was."

Phillips' first season at Plainmoor included several high-profile occasions, including the FA Cup Fourth Round tie against Crawley, the Play-Off Semi-Final against Shrewsbury and the Final against Stevenage at Old Trafford.

"We have learned a lot of lessons from those matches," he said.

"That's why we're in the middle of creating a new ticket office, so we can handle big games without having a scrum in reception every time."

There are also two other major projects on the go.

The club is waiting for planning permission to level pitches at the Seale Hayne training ground near Newton Abbot.

It's hoped to start work there at the end of September.

And there is also the impending redevelopment of Plainmoor's old Grandstand, a £2 million project being undertaken in conjunction with neighbours Westlands School.

"It's exciting, there are new problems to overcome every day, but that's why we're here," said Phillips.

"We want the team to move onwards and upwards, but we want the club to be ready to cope with it too."