Ian Twitchin

Ian Twitchin
Personnel
Surname	Ian Robert Twitchin
birthday	January 22, 1952
place of birth	Teignmouth ,  England
date of death	3rd December 2017
Place of death	Teignmouth ,  England
position	Midfield, full defense (right)
Juniors
Years	station
	Torquay United
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1970-1981	Torquay United	401 (14)
	Minehead FC
	Newton Abbot Spurs
	Teignmouth
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
	England youth
Stations as a trainer
Years	station
	Newton Abbot Spurs (player-manager)
1 Only league games are given.

Ian Robert Twitchin (born January 22, 1952 in Teignmouth ; † December 3, 2017 ) was an English football player who played 436 competitive games (17 goals) for Torquay United between 1970 and 1981 .

Career

Twitchin was discovered as a teenager by Don Mills at a small-field tournament in Dawlish and recommended to the local professional club Torquay United . Twitchin, himself a supporter of this club, was accepted into the youth department and subsequently made it up to the English junior international. In January 1970, at the age of 17, he received his first professional contract under coach Allan Brown and at the end of the season he played for the first time in the professional team in the sportingly insignificant third division games against the Tranmere Rovers and the Doncaster Rovers . In the following season 1970/71 he brought it to 21 missions and scored his first professional goal in a 2-1 home win against FC Bury . In the 1971/72 season he finally established himself as a regular player, but at the end of the season the club had to go to the fourth division as penultimate .

Twitchin excelled in the following nine fourth division seasons with his stamina and his training diligence, on the pitch he impressed with consistent performance, his no-frills style of play and his variable applicability both in defense and in midfield. Until 1981 Twitchin was part of the permanent staff at Torquay - regardless of whether the coach was called Jack Edwards , Malcolm Musgrove or Mike Green - and, in addition to 401 league games, played 35 appearances in the FA Cup and League Cup . In terms of sport, the time was rather uneventful. In the FA Cup, the club never made it past the third main round and in the League Cup it was also over in the third round at the latest. In the league they were temporarily close to the promotion places in some seasons, but ultimately each season ended with a midfield placement between 9th and 18th. Also the "Green Revolution" initiated by Green in 1977, in which almost the whole of it within 18 months The squad was renewed, survived Twitchin and was named Player of the Year in 1977/78. After the 1980/81 season, his contract was not renewed and Twitchin let his career in local non-league football with Minehead FC in the Southern League , as a player-coach with Newton Abbot Spurs and finally with his hometown club Teignmouth. In August 1983 he was given a farewell game in which Torquay defeated the Aston Villa first division team 2-1.

Twitchin stayed in Teignmouth and was a loyal supporter of his local Teignmouth club. He died at the age of 65 in December 2017, leaving behind a wife and four children. In the following home game of Torquay against FC Gateshead he was remembered with a minute of applause.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ barryhugmansfootballers.com: Ian Twitchin , accessed July 1, 2020
2. ↑ ^{a b} Andy Riddle: Torquay United: 50 Golden Greats . Desert Island Books, Southend on Sea 2009, ISBN 978-1-905328-63-5 , pp. 79 ff .
3. ^ Leigh Edwards, Jon Gibbes, Lohn Lovis: Torquay United FC - The Official Centenary History 1899-1999 . Yore Publications, Harefield 1999, ISBN 1-874427-38-0 , pp. 75 f .
4. ↑ torquayfanstats.com: Testimonials , accessed December 25, 2017
5. ↑ devonlive.com: Former Torquay United and Teignmouth star Ian Twitchin dies aged 65 (December 4, 2017) , accessed December 25, 2017
6. ↑ torquayunited.com: Join Us In A Minute's Applause In Memory Of Ian Twitchin (December 11, 2017) , accessed December 25, 2017