NEWTON Abbot Spurs finished fifth in the SW Peninsula League Premier East in what was a rollercoaster 2025/26 campaign for the club.

“It was a very up and down year” in the eyes of integral duo Toby Pullman and Calum Fyfe. Pullman led the team in goals and came oh so close to the division’s golden boot whilst Fyfe was a mainstay in the backline and also donned the captain’s armband in the latter stages of the season.

Connor Marshall took over as manager in the May of last year, following on from his experiences with Torquay United and Salford City.

Under Marshall’s rule, they made a strong start by winning six of their first seven games. The only blemish was a defeat to eventual champions Bovey Tracey AFC but they bounced back quickly to overcome Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police the following week.

Their cup fortunes were less fruitful, exiting the FA Vase and St Luke’s Challenge Cup at the hands of Bridgwater United and Torridgeside AFC respectively, within a few days of each other.

They continued to roll along nicely and remained in and around the top five positions.

Losses home and away to Bovey and Cullompton Rangers proved detrimental and it was from the sides below them who they consistently collected points.

That being said, they were able to do the league double over the aforementioned Stoke and perhaps the standout result was a 3-2 home win against Bridport FC, Toby Pullman notching twice at The Rec and Owen Green also getting on the scoresheet.

As was the case with a lot of teams up and down the country, Spurs’ rhythm was derailed by the inclement weather that led to several cancellations.

With “So many games cancelled, which is no excuse as everyone was in the same boat, I don’t think we gained the momentum and consistency we have in previous seasons,” said Fyfe.

Another contributing factor to this disruption was a change in management in early January.

Marshall clarified his departure on social media, writing: “While I fully respect the ambitions and vision of the club, I ultimately felt it was no longer a direction that aligned with me as a manager and how I wanted things to go.”

Spurs turned back to Marc Revell to fill the void and he obliged, taking over at the helm of the club for the remainder of the season.

His first few matches in charge were all rained off as the weather wreaked havoc for all.

Also returning to the club alongside Revell were the likes of Lewis Breslan and Finn Pearse, key players who hadn’t necessarily seen eye to eye with Marshall.

Whilst turmoil might be too strong a word for it, there was so much turnover throughout the year, something which Pullman and co were aware of too.

He said: “With a lot of change in management and players coming in and out for different reasons, it was always going to be hard to put a good, consistent season” together.

Even during Marshall’s tenure, some of his summer signings were out of the door again after a month or two, young duo Toby Hard and Coby White both moving to the Western League with Buckland Athletic plus Tyler Joint jumped up to step four at Brixham AFC.

It wasn’t all doom and gloom though because even if the season did peter out- there was very little riding on the final month or so- there was an individual accolade in their sights.

Toby Pullman continued to be a consistent goal-threat and for large parts of the year, he led the Premier East’s scoring charts.

Were it not for a late surge from Bovey’s Levi Landricombe, Pullman would have won the golden boot, the ideal send off ahead of his move to Buckland.

“My personal season stats wise was great and being able to compete with high-scoring teams was a great accomplishment,” said Pullman.

He added, “However, through the season there were certain games I definitely could have done better in and scored more than I did.”

At the other end of the pitch, Fyfe was an integral cog under both managers and he echoed a sentiment that was apparent from the sidelines regarding the unity of the group.

“Despite being disappointed on how things went regarding the league table and performances, this doesn’t take away the fact this group have been a top bunch of lads to play with.”

As mentioned before, with the stakes so low in the final weeks of the season, Spurs were winless in their last four games.

They will now look to regroup and turn over a new leaf as new managerial pairing Matt Hayden and Sam Biscoe take over.

The duo have already made some intriguing signings, reuniting with familiar faces and gearing up for a big 2026/27 campaign.

On the flipside, Toby Pullman is headed to Buckland and so they will certainly be in need of more goals in the side.