The seaside resort's two foremost sides were Torquay Town and Babbacombe and, while they had both enjoyed success in the Plymouth & District League, it was felt that Torquay's best chance of creating a team strong enough for the Football League would be for the two fierce rivals to merge.

Crad Evans, Torquay Town's star striker, was installed as player-manager and the new team adopted a black and white strip which soon earned them the nickname of 'the Magpies'.

However, a run of five wins out of six at the end of the season led United to a respectable mid-table finish in a very competitive league.

It was a tournament the club had won under the name of Torquay Town in 1911 and the re-christened United repeated the feat by beating Oreston Rovers 1–0 in the final at Home Park.

[1] At the end of the season, Torquay United again applied to join the Southern League and, on this occasion, were successful in their bid.