Neil Warnock to join Torquay United board as football advisor

One of the first tasks facing Warnock – who managed Torquay in 1993 – will be to help find a new manager.

The Gulls have not had a permanent boss since Gary Johnson left at the beginning of the club’s financial issues in February, with his assistant in interim charge for the rest of the season.

“We’ve lost a lot of time in the past three weeks since the last game of the season and we need to get recruiting when it comes to staff and players,” added Westcott.

“Neil’s visited Plainmoor for our last three games of the season and he’s been blown away by the warm reception that he’s received by all of the fans.

“He had been looking for a project. He doesn’t want to sit in the dugout anymore, nor does he want to be in the dressing room, that’s for others, but he wants to play a part in rebuilding the club which reflects the community which we know holds him in very high affection.”

Westcott would not confirm whether Torquay would stay as a full-time club for next season – the squad had been fully professional this campaign.

But he said the budget Warnock will oversee will be one of the biggest in the sixth tier.

“The National League has confirmed to us that we’ll have probably the highest playing budget in our league next year,” he added.

“It’ll be down to the football operation to decide how many full-time contracts and how many part-time contracts that will involve in assembling the squad.”