Chris remains an inspiration

THE LOOK on Paul Buckle's face, as he walked up through Plainmoor's Grandstand for his post-match press conference on Tuesday night, said it all.

He should have been beaming, full of beans.

His Torquay United team had just won 4-1, gone top of the table, had beaten one club record and equalled another.

Buckle managed a half-hearted smile or two. Nothing more.

The news that Chris Todd had broken to the Gulls' squad a couple of hours earlier had floored everyone.

Several United players had been in tears.

That's until Todd told them to buck up, go out and beat Lewes and take another step towards winning the promotion that he and everyone at Plainmoor wants so badly.

A big reason why United have been able to turn round what was a harrowing start to the season and mount the extraordinary assault on the BSP table is because of people like Todd.

Every decent club is built around strong characters who don't waver at times of trouble, who are always utterly reliable win-lose-or-draw and display a professionalism which rubs off on the players around them.

Todd is one of those players.

It's not a coincidence that United currently have a liberal sprinkling of like-minded characters.

And it's no accident that Buckle made the Welshman one of his first signings when he paid his old club Exeter City £7,500 for him the summer before last.

Buckle knew his man, knew what he was getting.

So although everyone connected with the club will be feeling something of the Todd family's anguish at the moment, we should all take heart from the man himself.

The treatment of leukaemia is improving with every month that passes.

Todd is young, strong and utterly determined that he will come through it.

When he made his remarkably brave and upbeat announcement at Plainmoor yesterday, he also tapped into a feeling which hopefully will help the club as well as himself and those close to him.

Speaking of his relationship with Gulls fans, he said: "The support I have had and will receive is my flame now.

"I need everyone's support to keep me going.

"I'm sure I'm going to get that from the Torquay fans.

"I am looking at the best possible scenario, because I believe I am strong enough.

"I love this club.

"Since I have been here, I have loved every minute of it.

"I just want everyone to stay positive for me, because I want to be back playing football within months.

"I have played football for the last six months with leukaemia, so it isn't going to stop me when I get fit."

It's hard to imagine a more telling incentive for Todd's teammates, and for United supporters, over the next five months.