With Devon's two leading football clubs, Plymouth Argyle and Exeter City having already turned professional, there were calls for Torquay's three main teams to amalgamate in order to create a single professional football club.

Although Babbacombe preferred to maintain their independence, Ellacombe and United merged to become Torquay Town.

They also enjoyed a good run in the FA Cup, reaching the fifth qualifying round before being knocked out by Accrington Stanley.

However, the following two seasons saw a decline in Town's fortunes finishing in 6th and then 10th place before the outbreak of World War I resulted in the closure of the club in August 1914.

[1] When competitive football resumed in 1919, Torquay Town were unable to recreate the achievements of their earlier seasons and, with Babbacombe now conceding to the inevitability of a merger between the two rival sides, both teams ceased to exist at the end of the 1920–21 season and subsequently joined to form a new professional club.