July 2021 (Page 2)

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Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall has said he expects supporters to see a “more inviting and entertaining” Huish Park stadium when they return for the new National League season.

In an update on the eve of the club’s first home pre-season friendly against League Two side Forest Green Rovers, the chairman confirmed the club was planning to have “a new bar area” behind the Thatcher’s Gold Terrace.

He also said the club was overhauling its matchday hospitality with a refresh of executive boxes and three-course meals with table service offering “good quality food and service” overlooking the pitch would be available.

In an update alongside manager Darren Sarll on the club’s YouTube channel, the chairman said: “All the promises we made in the first year that we were not able to implement in the last part of the first year or in the second year, we are now going to try and implement.

“With new bars and different areas people can go to, de-boarding the boardroom and trying to make it more fan-orientated and making it an exciting place to come.

“That has to be done off the pitch as well as on it because we want people to enjoy their experience again.

“A lot of changes are coming in bit by bit, but as we see the season start you will see a very different Huish Park, more inviting and more entertaining.”

Priestnall also said the club was “ahead of schedule” in terms of season ticket sales as he updated supporters on the situation regarding the potential sale of the club’s stadium in a deal with South Somerset District Council.

He said: “There’s been some negativity around (season ticket sales), but supporters that want to see this club succeed are doing their talking by buying season tickets.”

Darren Sarll added: “I am not surprised we are ahead of season tickets, the true quality of our club always steps forward in spite of anything else.

“We unified and united under some difficult circumstances last year on and off the pitch.”

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Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall has said the club is talking to “interested parties including development firms” about the future of the land at its Huish Park stadium.

In a wide-ranging statement published on the club’s website, he also confirmed that the deal agreed with South Somerset District Council for the sale and lease back of land had not been completed.

However, he added that the deal “remains a viable option.”

He said: “When it comes to the sale of the club’s land, the club remains considering our options, with the football club and the wider communities best interest paramount in our decision making.

“As was reported last year, the football club struck a deal with South Somerset District Council, however this deal has not been completed but remains a viable option.

“The club continue to talk to interested parties, including development partners, who would be willing to work closely with the club to help fulfil our vision and give this club an exciting future.”

Chairman Scott Priestnall, left, with manager Darren Sarll talking to the club’s YouTube channel.

In an interview alongside manager Darren Sarll on the club’s YouTube channel, the chairman confirmed he was still the owner of the club and said that he had received less enquiries to sell than “in a normal season.”

The owner, who has been in charge since the summer of 2019 when he bought the club from John Fry and Norman Hayward, added that he was committed looking at “what is right for all parties”  adding that he had not been “rushed in to signing a deal yet.”

Priestnall added: “We are in discussions with a couple of people at the moment and hopefully I will be able to update on progress.

“The immediate concern is making sure we are competitive and structured operationally and we can have fans back in the stadium in a safe environment.

“We have to be competitive on the pitch and have the resources to be competitive, so that has been a focus for the last couple of months.”

The statements reiterate the comments made by the chairman when he took to social media to answer questions from supporters at the end of June, when he said he had been “approached by a group to buy the club.”

At the end of 2020, South Somerset District Council agreed a deal to buy Huish Park and surrounding land and lease it back to the club.

However, the deal did not proceed after the Glovers’ Trust activated an Asset of Community Value (ACV) which it held giving it a six-month period to raise the cash to make a counter offer to Priestnall.

That period expired this summer  with the Trust failing to get sufficient funding to make an offer.

Speaking at the end of that period, South Somerset District Council confirmed that “talks remain open” about its sale and lease back offer.

For more background on the moratorium period on the sale of Huish Park triggered by the ACV, read our blog on the subject – here.

 

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Absent midfielder Albi Skendi remains under contract with Yeovil Town despite not featuring in the club’s pre-season preparations.

Manager Darren Sarll confirmed the player is still in the United States where he has “family connections” but said he remains the Glovers’ player for a further year.

Talking to the club’s YouTube channel alongside Chairman Scott Priestnall, the manager said: “He decided to not come back.

“I have nothing against Albi, he has made the decision for the benefit of his life, but like any player that does this, I just concentrate on the ones that want to give their all to the football club.

“There is no end date to that, we will just take it week by week, I am more interested in our new players and what they will bring.”

In a statement from Priestnall, the club confirmed the player was “absent” from training but was still a contracted player.


He said: “To avoid conjecture and rumour, we can confirm that Albi Skendi is currently absent from Yeovil Town training.

“However, Skendi does remain under contract with the football club.”

The 27-year-old signed from Stratford Town in the summer of 2019 and was a regular for Sarll in the past two campaigns.

Prior to arriving in England, the versatile Albanian had played in the United States where he played for Los Angeles Wolfs and Marymount California University.

At the start of July, he appeared on a post from the Instagram account of Genesta FC, a club playing in the Santa Monica Adult League in Los Angeles, California, where it appears he has played before.

When he was not seen back in pre-season training at Huish Park and did not appear at the club’s opening pre-season friendly at his old club Stratford, speculation about his future at the club grew.

 

 

 

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Yeovil Town have their first home match of pre-season tomorrow against Forest Green Rovers.

The match will see the Glovers don their brand new kit for the first time, with the match kicking off a 3pm.

Tickets are available the below prices:

Adults: £8
Young Person (16-23 years), Senior (65+ years) and Armed Forces personnel: £4
Under-16s – FREE – tickets must be allocated via ticketing website – here.

The Club have informed us that the “tea bars will be open alongside the bar inside the ground, which anybody with a ticket can access.”

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Josh Wagenaar who played 28 times in the 2008-09 League One season for Yeovil Town.

Former Yeovil Town goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar has said the team supported manager Russell Slade after his controversial sacking in 2009.

The Canadian goalkeeper spoke to the Gloverscast as the latest interviewee in our series of chats and articles with former players.

Wagenaar had played every minute of a four-man winning run under Slade which culminated in his sacking which was announced midway through a 3-1 win at Peterborough United in February 2009.

Recalling that time, the keeper said: “Everyone got along well, we were all in Slade’s corner, everyone liked him. I think the club has to do what it feels necessary to get results and that is what we decided. I don’t know I saw his sacking coming, perhaps if I had a bit more experience in the game at that point maybe I would have. I was just like ‘that’s what happens’, we had won a number of games before he was relieved of his job.

“I enjoyed playing for Russell and Thommo (assistant Steve Thompson), they were great coaches and a lot of fun. Their door was always open and they were very easy to talk with, but I also felt like they ran a tight ship as well.”

Slade went on to take over as manager at then-League One rivals Brighton & Hove Albion and masterminded a 5-0 win over his old employers a month later – in a game Wagenaar was sent-off with seven minutes remaining.

That led to the return of Chris Weale to Huish Park, and the homegrown stopper kept his place until the 85th minute of a final day defeat at home to Colchester United that season – when Wealey had famously scored a last-gasp equaliser against Hereford United to secure survival.

Wagenaar replaced him for those final five minutes of the final match, but that was the last he would play for Yeovil.

He recalls: “That was really the last time I played for Yeovil because then Wealey came in and I never got my spot back. Yeovil offered me to come back the next year, but it was basically the same contract I had been on the year before and I felt like I deserved a little more.”

He adds: “When I look back at my career, I wish I had been a little bit more professional in my approach but I was a young kid living in another country. I honestly just cared about myself and not a whole lot else, so I was mentally checked out a month before the season event ended. I was looking to move on somewhere else and get home. I was most likely ready for a break and see my family.”

Former Yeovil Town goalkeeper Josh Wagenaar, now a financial advisor and a good guy to speak to about your retirement savings.

Having left Huish Park in the summer of 2009, Wagenaar joined Scottish Premier League side Falkirk following a trial, but did not play a single minute as the club was relegated in 2009-10.

He returned home to Canada and drew a close to his professional career having suffered with arthritis of the back for a number of years.

He says: “For a few years I was able to keep that at bay with different drugs and that summer after Scotland I could not get my body to react, it just hurt to do anything. Eventually I found a medicine which gives me real quality of life, I get to play with my three kids and work out with my wife. I can’t train the way I used too but I don’t need too. I’m still coaching the goalkeepers at the university here as a way to stay connected.”

Now living in Louisiana in the United States, the 36-year-old is working as a financial advisor and helping people plan for their retirement.

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Tickets are now on sale for all Yeovil Town‘s pre-season friendly fixtures.

The club have confirmed tickets are available for this weekend’s opening match at Huish Park against League Two Forest Green Rovers together with the games against a Southampton B side and the under-23s from AFC Bournemouth on August 10 and August 14 respectively.

Tickets are also on sale for the away matches at Weston-super-Mare on August 7 and Taunton Town three days later.

Please not there will be no tickets available for the Taunton fixture on the night and tickets must be bought in advance on the website – here.

Details of the matches are:

v Forest Green Rovers – Saturday, July 31 (3pm kick-off)

Adults: £8.
Young Person (16-23 years), Senior (65+ years) and Armed Forces personnel: £4
Under-16s – FREE – tickets must be allocated via ticketing website – here.

v Weston-super-Mare – Optima Stadium – Saturday, August 7 (3pm kick-off)

Prices: Adults £8
Concessions £5
Under-16s: £2
Tickets can be bought online for a 50p booking fee, here: https://www.tickettailor.com/events/wsmafc/533304/

 

v Taunton Town – Wordsworth Drive – Tuesday, August 3 (7.30pm kick-off)

Adult: £11.23 (£8.33 + £1.03 fee + £1.87 VAT)
Under-18s : £5.90 (£4.16 + 76p + fee + 98p VAT)
Concessions: £9.11 (£6.67 + 92p fee + £1.52 VAT)
NOTE: Tickets are only available in advance, no sales on the night – buy here.

 

v Southampton B – Tuesday, August 10 (7pm kick-off)

Adults: £8.
Young Person (16-23 years), Senior (65+ years) and Armed Forces personnel: £4
Under-16s – FREE – tickets must be allocated via ticketing website – here.

v Bournemouth Under-23s – Saturday, August 14 (3pm kick-off)

Adults: £8.
Young Person (16-23 years), Senior (65+ years) and Armed Forces personnel: £4
Under-16s – FREE – tickets must be allocated via ticketing website – here.

 

 

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As the more eagle-eyed viewers of the Gloverscast website will recall, we were a little uncertain at the identification of the central defender who played the second half of Yeovil Town’s opening pre-season friendly at Stratford Town.

The game of Guess the Trialist came up with the name of Colin Daniel, an experienced former League defender who was released from Burton Albion at the end of last season.

Robin Dempsey warming up at Stratford Town.

It appears we were right to be a little questioning as the player in question is actually Robin Dempsey, the younger brother of former Glovers’ midfielder Gary Dempsey who played for us in 2007-8.

The 25-year-old central defender played in the youth set-up at Aston Villa having been signed as 16-year-old back in 2012. He had impressed playing for youth team North End United based in Ballymena and, upon his return from England having not been retained by Villa, for League of Ireland side Waterford.

He appears to have had a spell at another League of Ireland side Wexford following his time at Waterford.

But since then there appears to be no trace of him since he left there in 2017, except for him popping up on trial at Doncaster Rovers earlier this month .

 

 

 

 

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Rural internet specialists Jurassic Fibre have signed up to a three-year deal to be Yeovil Town‘s new sponsor.

The Exeter-based company will be the club’s “main partner and sponsor” according to both parties.

Jurassic Fibre market themselves as suppliers of ultrafast fibre for businesses and say they are “building a brand new network across Devon, Somerset and Dorset” so will presumably be known to some supporters.

Speaking to the club’s website, Chief Commercial Officer Steve Garrood said: “At the heart of our approach is working with communities, and Yeovil Town is a strong community-based club.

“We are excited to be supporting and working with the club and the local community through this three-year partnership.”

Club Commercial Manager Mark Robinson added: “Having just come out of a pandemic, for an organisation to look to commit to a long-term partnership with the football club is a great show of support and a sign of intent and commitment towards a successful partnership with Yeovil Town.”

The sponsor’s logo appeared on the front of the off-the-rack white kit worn by Yeovil Town in their opening pre-season friendly at Stratford Town at the weekend.

We are expecting the club’s kit design for the upcoming National League season to be unveiled later this week – watch this space, kit fans……..

 

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Darren Sarll has called for more from midfielder Tom Knowles despite the midfielder scoring a trademark winner in Yeovil Town‘s opening pre-season friendly.

The 22-year-old’s strike ten minutes in to the second half of the game at Stratford Town was enough to separate the sides.

Asked whether he was impressed with Knowles’ performance, the manager said: “I thought he scored a good goal, I thought he scored with the hardest chance of his game, but I was not particularly impressed with Tom.

“I thought he was in and out of the game, he struggled with his position, he struggled to find the chink in the amour of the opponent.

“He took his goal well and we know he has good quality like that, but if young players want to be top players the standard is ridiculously high and they have to set ridiculous standards to try and attain it.

“So Tom has got some work to do, but they all have.”