The club who forced fans to swap buses for extra legroom on a 247-mile trip. Or did they?

Torquay, England – A 247-mile schlep from Eastbourne to Devon is grim enough after a 4-2 defeat to the side second-from-bottom in the National League South. Torquay United supporters discovered it can get worse: the comfortable coach that ferried them east on Saturday morning was reassigned to the players for the return journey, leaving fans to cram into a replacement vehicle.

Social-media fury followed. A post cataloguing the swap has been viewed more than 800,000 times since Saturday night, with many insisting the squad had demanded more leg-room and the club acquiesced at the fans’ expense.

“Sadly we are on our way home after a terrible trip, shocking performance and now have had to swap coaches,” the independent Torquay United Travel Club wrote on Facebook. “So POOR on Torquay Utd, do hope club & players enjoy our COACH!!!”

Commenters called the move “absolutely disgusting” and accused players of entitlement after a limp display. Even when Torquay’s women’s side beat Gloucester the next day, supporters trolled the club’s updates; when Connie Pengelly completed a hat-trick, one fan quipped, “She didn’t need extra legroom.”

On Sunday the club issued a statement blaming the operator, Roselyn Coaches, for the mix-up. Officials said the team’s original coach broke down twice en route to Sussex on Friday, forcing Roselyn to dispatch a replacement. That replacement was the same vehicle later used by supporters travelling to Eastbourne. After the match, Roselyn—citing “operational reasons”—reallocated the larger coach to the squad and returned the fans to the alternative vehicle.

Torquay stressed that neither players nor staff requested the swap and that the Travel Club is an independent body whose contract is with Roselyn, not the club. Roselyn, contacted for comment, did not respond.

Co-chairman Michael Westcott apologised “for any disruption and confusion” while praising fans for “incredible support”. The Travel Club has yet to say whether it will pursue compensation, but the episode has already become another cautionary tale of how quickly football optics can turn a logistical headache into a public-relations migraine.

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