List of Torquay United F.C. seasons

Torquay United Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon. This is a chronological list of all Torquay United seasons from 1899 up until the end of the 2022–23 season.

History
Torquay United Football Club was originally formed in 1899. After first joining the East Devon League in 1900, the club then went on to join the Torquay & District League, becoming champions of that league in 1909. Encouraged by Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City turning professional, the people of Torquay were eager for United to join forces with the town's two other prominent football teams, Babbacombe and Ellacombe, with a view to creating a third professional club within Devon. Although Babbacombe rejected the idea of a merger, Torquay United and Ellacombe agreed to pool their resources and formed Torquay Town in 1910. Town won the Devon Senior Cup in their first season and became champions of the Plymouth & District League the following year. Despite a fierce rivalry existing between Torquay Town and Babbacombe, the two clubs were finally amalgamated in 1921 and the newly combined team reverted to the name of Torquay United and were admitted into the Western League. After one season in the Western League, United joined the Southern League and, after becoming champions of the Western Section, were elected into the Football League at the expense of Aberdare Athletic in 1927.

Despite having to seek re-election to the Football League after their debut season, Torquay soon managed to establish a place in the Third Division South, although without ever finishing higher than 10th position in all the seasons leading up to World War II. By the 1950s however, United had become a much more competitive side and narrowly missed out on promotion to the Second Division in 1957. When the Football League underwent restructuring in 1958, a poor season for United saw them placed in the newly created Division Four. Nevertheless, the 1960s proved fruitful for Torquay United and they spent the majority of the decade in Division Three, again coming close to promotion to Division Two in 1968.

However, when Torquay were again relegated from Division Three in 1972, it heralded a period of mediocrity which culminated in the club requiring re-election to the Football League in both 1985 and 1986. When automatic relegation into the Conference was introduced the following year, only a last minute equaliser against Crewe Alexandra on the final day of the season saved United from the drop. Torquay finally lifted themselves out of the basement division in 1991 after beating Blackpool in the Division Four play-off final, only to be relegated again the following season. After narrowly escaping relegation to the Conference in 1996, they were again contesting a play-off final in 1998, although this time they were beaten by Colchester United. Just three years later, in 2001, Torquay once again escaped expulsion into non-League football by beating Barnet on the final day of the season. By 2004, the club had bounced back again by achieving automatic promotion to the third tier of English football (now renamed League One) for the first time since 1966. Again relegated after just one season, worse was to come when, after two seasons in League Two, Torquay were finally relegated to the Conference in 2007. However, after just two years in the Conference, United secured a return to the Football League by beating Cambridge United in the 2009 Conference play-off final. Torquay again came close to returning to League One in 2011 but were narrowly beaten by Stevenage in the League Two play-off final.

Since their election to the Football League in 1927, Torquay United have completed 34 seasons in the third tier of English football, 42 seasons in the fourth, ten seasons in the fifth (below the professional League) and one season in the sixth (Conference/National League South). This list details all of the seasons played by Torquay United in English football from 1899 up until the last completed season. The list details the club's achievements in all major competitions, and the top scorers for each season in all competitions.

Key
Key to league record:
 * P – Played
 * W – Games won
 * D – Games drawn
 * L – Games lost
 * F – Goals for
 * A – Goals against
 * Pts – Points
 * Pos – Final position
 * ↑ – Promoted
 * ↓ – Relegated

Key to divisions:
 * Lge 1 – Football League One
 * Lge 2 – Football League Two
 * Div 3 – Football League Third Division
 * Div 3S – Football League Third Division South
 * Div 4 – Football League Fourth Division
 * NLTD – National League Top Division
 * NLS – National League South
 * Conf – Conference National
 * SLE – Southern League English Section
 * SLW – Southern League Western Section
 * WL – Western League
 * P&DL – Plymouth & District League
 * EDL – East Devon League
 * T&DL – Torquay & District League

Key to rounds:
 * F – Final
 * RU – Runners-up
 * SF – Semi-final
 * SFS – Southern semi-final
 * QFS – Southern quarter-final
 * R- – Round
 * QR- – Qualifying Round
 * EPR – Extra Preliminary Round
 * ~ – Did not enter

Division changes shown in bold.

Abandoned league competitions shown in italics.

Goalscorers shown in bold were division top scorers for that season.