Departing Yeovil Town loanee, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton has been offered a new contract at his parent club Watford.
Lo-Everton played in over 40 games across all competitions (yes, including the Somerset Premier Cup) scoring once in the league, a memorable second goal away at Wrexham.
The 19-year old was due to come to the end of his deal at the Hornets but now has the chance to stay longer.
Central defender Max Hunt has been confirmed as remaining a Yeovil Town player for next season.
In a statement on Wedensday evening, the club said it was “delighted to confirm” the former Carlisle United player would be at Huish Park.
That is slightly different from the contract extension announcements made for goalkeeper Grant Smith and midfielders Josh Staunton and Toby Stephens in recent days, but nevertheless means he remains a Glover.
The 23-year-old signed permanently in January 2021 with the club announcing he had agreed a deal “until the end of of the 2021/22 season.”
Hunt made 33 appearances this season despite being out for three months with an ankle injury and was a key figure at the heart of defence alongside Luke Wilkinson, who quit to join former boss Darren Sarll at Woking.
In the statement confirming he remains a Glover, the club said: “Hunt now bolsters Yeovil’s contracted defensive unit of Grant Smith, Morgan Williams and Josh Staunton. It’s great to have you with us, Hunty!“
Glenn Collis has officially been removed as a director of the two companies which operate as part of Yeovil Town.
The former director whose departure was announced by the club in April spoke about his decision to quit after “months of soul searching and questions on the club’s direction.”
In filings made on Companies House, his appointment was terminated as a director of Yeovil Football & Athletic Club and Yeovil Town Holdings, the companies which run the club’s football operations and owned Huish Park and surrounding land until it was was sold to South Somerset District Council last week.
The departure of Collis means that chairman and owner Scott Priestnall is the only director at the club.
When Collis’ departure was announced last month, the club said that Priestnall was assembling a new board of directors including “prominent local businessmen” and, when announcing the sale of the family silver…..sorry, of Huish Park last week Priestnall spoke
He said: “I am pleased to say that I will be announcing appointments over the next week or two. The new board will have a combination of specialist football operations, a voice for supporters and a wealth of experience in business, that will come together and help shape the future of Yeovil Town.”
Gloverscast is aware that former Chief Executive Martyn Starnes is now a regular resident at Huish Park and therefore could fit the “specialist in football operations” profile.
CV Leisure, the company which chairman Scott Priestnall used to buy Yeovil Town, has confirmed it has paid back the £1.35m it borrowed to complete the deal.
In a filing on Companies House, the company confirmed it has satisfied in full Charge Number 1150 9426 0001, which links to the money Priestnall and then-business partner Errol Pope borrowed from Poole-based lender MSP Capital back in September 2019.
The confirmation of the payment of the loan comes just days after South Somerset District Council (SSDC) confirmed it had bought the club’s Huish Park stadium and land around it in a deal worth £2.8m, and will rent it back to the club.
The timing would suggest that the money generated from the sale of the land has been used to pay back the debt owed by CV Leisure, which were secured against the club’s assets.
On Wednesday, same notification was filed by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, the company which owned the land around Huish Park before it was bought by SSDC last week, which the debt taken on by Priestnall was secured against.
In the words of Somerset Live when the loan was taken out in 2019, the move by Priestnall to secure the loan he took out against the club’s land assets “effectively acts as a mortgage against the stadium.” At that time, the chairman spoke about the loan as “a facility to help us move forward with the land.”
In our latest Gloverscast poll, 204 people (65.8%) voted that Priestnall benefited most from the SSDC deal with a further 54 (17.4%) believing the council would benefit the most. 52 people (16.8%) believed that Yeovil Town FC would benefit the most from it.
Last weekend, SSDC said its deal would “help with the club’s survival, generate a new rental income, while protecting our ratepayers from loss or excessive risk.”
After the deal was announced, Priestnall said in a statement that the money paid by the council would “help pay for costs incurred during the pandemic such as deferred payments with some of our key partners and deferred salaries to our incredible staff and players who accepted a reduction in wages during lockdown when the Club could not operate.”
He added: “In addition to this, the funds will also allow us to engage contractors and consultants to put forward a planning application for the site as well as allowing us to sensibly invest in required maintenance work and our playing squad. Fundamentally, it has also allowed us to negotiate and remove the well-publicised restrictive covenants held over the site since the football club moved to the site.”
However, none of the 852 words in the statement said anything about paying off debts against either the owner or the club. There is no reference to the almost £1m it has borrowed from Sport England.
We are expecting to have Councillor John Clark, Portfolio Holder for Economic Development, on this Friday’s podcast to discuss the deal. Given our track record with being able to speak with people about the deal though, we can never completely promise!
It’s time for the weekly YeoGov poll. This week we want to know: Which position do you think is the biggest priority for the Glovers to recruit in this summer? Let us know your reasoning the comments below.
Loading ...Last week (before the SSDC deal was announced) we asked you if, following the latest updates you felt Yeovil Town had a bright future under Scott Priestnall’s ownership?
An ovewhelming 93% of 313 voters (293) felt that we do not. With just 22 people (7%) voting that they think we do. We can probably deduce that the #PriestnallTapes failed to do what they were meant to and that there is some way to go to repair the relationship between the owner and supporters of the club.
Following Friday’s announcement confirming SSDC’s purchase of Huish Park and the surrounding land, we asked our readers who they thought would benefit the most from the deal.
Thank you to the 310 supporters who voted. 204 of you (65.8%) felt that Scott Priestnall would benefit the most. 54 (17.4%) thought SSDC would benefit the most and 52 (16.8%) thought the football club would benefit the most.
There’s no question that this deal remains controversial amongst supporters and that both Scott Priestnall and SSDC will have to provide further clarity and reassurances to supporters.
This week we will be welcoming Councillor John Clark, Portfolio Holder of Economic Development at SSDC, on to the Gloverscast to put some questions to him about the deal now that it is concluded.
Further to the two home friendlies with Exeter and Plymouth which have already been announced, Dorchester Town has confirmed that the Glovers will visit the Avenue ahead of the 2022/23 season.
Chris Hargreaves’ side will head to the Avenue on Tuesday 26th of July, presumably with a 7:45pm kick off.
Ticket details are not yet available from the Magpies, we will confirm them when we know more.
Yeovil Town Pre Season Fixtures so far;
Sat July 16th – Exeter – Home – 3pm
Sat July 23rd – Plymouth- Home – 3pm
Tues Jule 26th – Dorchester- Away – 7:45*
The good news just keeps on coming this evening, Yeovil Town goalkeeper Grant Smith has extended his stay at Huish Park for another season.
The stopper has been a mainstay in the side since joining from Chesterfield keeping over a dozen clean sheets this season.
Speaking to YTFC.net he said;
“I’m delighted to be on board for another year, I’m really looking forward to the season ahead and hopefully we can improve on last season.
“Personally, I think I have done well since I arrived, but I feel there’s definitely a lot more to come from me next season!
“The conversations with Chris Hargreaves have been really positive, I’m really looking forward to working with him next season.”
… and we’re looking forward to having you, Grant!
(Any excuse for this pic too…)
Yeovil Town youngster Toby Stephens has had his contract extended after the Glovers triggered a clause to further his stay at Huish Park.
Stephens spent time on loan with Barnstaple Town and Hemel Hempstead this past season and had represented the first team in both the Somerset Premier Cup and a handful of league games including off the bench against Stockport during the 3-0 win at Edgeley Park.
Congratulations Toby!
No sooner had the 2021/2022 season finish, did the preparation for 22/23 begin and we have our first pre season friendly in the books.
Exeter, fresh from Promotion to League One will come to Huish Park on Saturday July 16th with a 3pm Kick Off and…
Plymouth Argyle will visit Huish Park on Saturday July 23rd, with a 3pm Kick Off.
Argyle are preparing for their season in League One as well and will take in other local games against Bristol City and Truro.
Ticket news will be made available in due course.