George Clark Torrance (born 17 September 1957) is a Scottish retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a

left midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in the Football League for Brentford.

Club career

Non-League football

A left-sided midfielder, Torrance began his career with Isthmian League First Division club Camberley Town, when he was stationed with the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

in nearby Blackwater. He moved on to join fellow Isthmian League club

Farnborough Town Farnborough Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. Founded in 1967 as Farnborough Town, they are currently members of the , the sixth tier of English football and play at Cherrywood Road. H ...

, before being posted to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

for two years. While still in Germany, Torrance joined Isthmian League Premier Division club Wokingham Town where, in the

1982–83 FA Cup The 1982–83 FA Cup was the 102nd season of the world's oldest football knockout competition, The Football Association Challenge Cup, or FA Cup for short. The competition was won by Manchester United, who drew the first final 2–2, but won the ...

, he scored the equaliser in a 1–1 first round draw with Third Division club Cardiff City.

Brentford

Torrance and Wokingham Town teammate (and fellow soldier) Steve Butler joined Third Division club Brentford in December 1984, with the Griffin Park club paying £400 to buy the pair out of the army. Torrance found himself used as a utility player in his early time with the Bees, playing six different positions in his first eight games. He became an integral part of the team, making 17 appearances during the 1984–85 season, though an ankle injury saw him lose his place towards the end of the campaign. Torrance was an unused substitute for the 3–1 1985 Football League Trophy Final defeat by

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

and later recalled that failing to get onto the pitch at

Wembley Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...

was his "greatest disappointment". He played on into the 1985–86 season and departed the club during the campaign, having made 44 appearances and scored three goals.

Return to non-League football

Torrance joined

Alliance Premier League The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

club Maidstone United on loan during the 1985–86 season, helping the club stave off

relegation In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

on goal difference and signed on a permanent deal at the end of the campaign. He moved to

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

in 1987 and joined South Western League club

Falmouth Town Falmouth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Falmouth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. They are currently members of the and play at Bickland Park. The club were the first Cornish team to reach the first round proper of the F ...

, winning three division championships and making over 250 appearances for the club. Torrance later joined

Porthleven Porthleven () is a town, civil parish and fishing port near Helston, Cornwall, England. The most southerly port in Great Britain, it was a harbour of refuge when this part of the Cornish coastline was infamous for wrecks in the days of sail. Th ...

, playing well into his 40s and serving as player-assistant manager at the club.

Representative career

In December 1986, Torrance was called upon to represent the FA XI in a match versus an Isthmian League representative team. He scored in a 4–1 victory. Despite being Scottish, Torrance appeared for England Police in a match versus Scotland in 1994, with England winning 3–0. Also playing for England was Torrance's Welsh former Brentford teammate, Gary Roberts.

Personal life

Torrance served in the Royal Engineers and later ran a residential home with his parents-in-law in

St Keverne St Keverne ( kw, Pluw Aghevran (parish), Lannaghevran (village)) is a civil parish and village on The Lizard in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. In addition to the parish, an electoral ward exists called ''St Keverne and Meneage''. This stre ...

. He joined the

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary Devon and Cornwall Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the ceremonial counties of Devon and Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly) in England. The force serves approximately 1.8 million people over an area of . Hi ...

in 1994, after moving to Falmouth. He was later stationed in

Truro Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro ...

and in 2010 was based at

Royal Cornwall Hospital The Royal Cornwall Hospital, formerly and still commonly known as the Treliske Hospital, is a medium-sized teaching hospital in Treliske, on the outskirts of Truro, Cornwall, England. The hospital provides training services for the University of ...

in the town. Torrance has two children and lives in

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map she ...

Career statistics

Honours

Falmouth Town * South Western League: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1991–92

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrance, George 1957 births Living people Scottish men's footballers Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Sportspeople from Rothesay, Bute Men's association football midfielders Camberley Town F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Wokingham & Emmbrook F.C. players Falmouth Town A.F.C. players Porthleven F.C. players Isthmian League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Argyll and Bute