Torquay United have been regular visitors to Roots Hall over the years and Saturday's match will be their 38th league visit to Southend. Of those 38 matches Blues have won 22 with Torquay gaining maximum points on 7 occasions and there being 8 draws. Torquay, managed by former Derby County and England International Roy McFarland, currently lie 21st in the Third Division table after Tuesday night's 1-1 draw at Oxford, having won only once on their travels this season at Leyton Orient 2-1. Top scorer for The Gulls this season is David Graham with six goals.
Blues inaugural season at Roots Hall saw The Gulls as the concluding visitors to the stadium that season - a Wednesday evening in May 1956 - which Torquay won 3-2 to leave Blues in a creditable fourth place in Division Three South. The following season Torquay visited on a Saturday afternoon in April where a 2-0 Blues win dented Torquay's promotion push leaving them two points behind Colchester in second place. Second place is also where the Gulls would end up at the end of the season with Ipswich Town jumping above Torquay and Colchester to gain promotion (only one team was promoted in those days.) A 0-0 draw was the outcome of the next game in April 1958. With Division Three's north and south amalgamating the following season to become Division's Three and Four Blues and Torquay went their separate ways. Blues finished in 7th position therefore going into Division Three and with Torquay finishing 21st it meant they went into Division Four. However, Torquay were back in Division Three in the 1960/61 season where Blues recorded a 3-2 win. Blues also recorded a victory over Torquay in season 1961/62 the first Saturday in January saw Blues win 2-1. The clubs would then miss each other until the 1976/77 season when they would meet again in Division Four. A meaningless last game of the season saw both clubs finish in mid-table with Torquay winning comfortably 3-0. A Friday night in September 1977 saw Blues gain revenge for that 3-0 defeat with a 4-0 victory. That win left Blues top of Division Four in a season that would eventually see them finish second behind Graham Taylor's Watford. Blues soiree in Division Three lasted just two seasons before they were back in Division Four in the 1980/81 season. Torquay visited on a Friday night just before Christmas and until then Blues had a 100% home record and kept that record up with a 3-1 victory. The Fourth Division Championship ended up at Roots Hall that season but Blues were back in Division Four in the 1984/85 season. A season that saw Torquay finished bottom of the pile and Blues just escaping the ignominy of having to apply for re-election with a 1-0 win. A Friday night in April 1986 saw Torquay, bottom of the table again, win 2-1 to leave Blues in 12th place. Torquay next visited on a Friday night in October 1986 where Blues stormed to a 4-0 victory and moved into third place in the table. Blues gained promotion that season but were back in Division Four in season 1989/90 where a Friday night 1-0 win in September saw Blues go top of Division Four. The next time the two clubs would meet was season 1998/99 and an end of January game saw the two sides fight out a 0-0 draw. The following season Torquay visited on a Tuesday night in May after the previous game had been called off due to torrential rain an hour before kick off eighteen days earlier. Torquay won the game 2-0 to keep their play-off hopes alive. Last season Torquay visited Roots Hall on the last Saturday in December and with the majority of matches in the country snowed off Blues were able to stage their game. The Roots Hall pitch was covered in snow, but Torquay who were fourth from bottom dented Blues play-off push with a 1-1 draw.