FOUR South Devon College footballers have signed for Torquay United's new elite Under-19 squad.

Coby White, Fin Herbert, Jonah Shaw and Toby Hard have become the first members of the team ahead of the 2026/27, making the next step in their young careers.

All four featured for the Gulls in a pre-season friendly a year ago, as Torquay visited Buckland Athletic at The VX3 Stadium.

They entered the game as substitutes with White and Hard actually going on to sign for the Bucks further down the line.

The pair first landed at Newton Abbot Spurs under Connor Marshall before then making the leap to play step five for Matt Cusack’s Buckland.

White became a key part of Buckland’s Western League squad and the club have since confirmed that he will continue to play his Saturday football with them which is a boost for Cusack and co.

Meanwhile, Herbert and Shaw were playing at step four for Brixham AFC, Shaw also being signed on at Stoke Gabriel & Torbay Police.

Herbert has signed on for the Fishermen for the upcoming campaign and so he will go toe-to-toe with White following Brixham’s relegation out of the Southern League.

All four players will also be dual-registered, meaning they can gain valuable senior playing experience with local non-League clubs at weekends, all while continuing their studies at the college.

They will get the chance to train regularly alongside Jimmy Ball's first-team squad and remain registered to play for the Gulls on a non-contract basis.

Torquay United Football Club Head of Youth, Ryan Perks, was very pleased to welcome the college's players into the new set-up.

"This is a good opportunity for these young players to be around the first team to develop and understand the expectations of being a professional footballer, whilst gaining experience at other clubs playing a good standard of senior football.”