May 2022 (Page 7)

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Ben Seymour in action
Credit:Weymouth FC Flickr

Ben Seymour and Jordan Dyer, who both spent short loan spells at Huish Park earlier this season, have been released by their parent club, Exeter

The Grecians were promoted to League One this season.

Seymour played a handful of games including *that* game against W*ymouth with the loan front man missing one of the spot kicks in the shootout.

Jordan Dyer managed about 3 minutes in a Glovers shirt before returning to Exeter.

They both would spend time on loan at Bath City towards the end of the season.

All the best to both in their hunt for a new club.

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Somerset Premier Cup Winners 2022 ? SomersetFA

Remember where you were on the night Yeovil Town’s first team won their first silverware since 2013. Ian was at Huish Park to witness the 3-0 victory over Bath City, and here are his Five Conclusions…

We won a trophy!! Firstly, congratulations to Charlie Lee and his team. As the professional side, they had to get the job done against Jerry Gill’s Bath City. Morgan Williams early goal showed the gulf between the two sides early on, but as the first half wore on, Bath City certainly showed they were no pushovers. Lee’s side had work to do in that first half, with Tom Smith getting a lot of the ball and Bath had three decent chances to hit back. The early second half goal from Knowles really put the game beyond doubt, as the Glovers eventually clinched their 25th Somerset Premier Cup in comfort.

It was a shame to not see some of youngsters last night. Our younger players have had a lot of minutes in the SPC and have played a huge part in getting us to the final. I understand the desire to treat it as a first team game and make sure of the trophy, but it would have been nice to have seen Toby Stephens, Ollie Haste (who has signed professional terms), Max Evans get their chance. It was great to see them front and centre of the celebrations at the end as they played an important role in getting us to the final.

It wasn’t the best night for Reuben Reid. The halcyon days of March and Reid’s signs of ‘what could be’ in green and white seem to have long gone. At points in March he was unplayable but last night was one of those frustrating evenings which can give the impression of lack of effort and lack of quality. He didn’t win many (if any) headers, he was out of sync with his teammates, passes were misplaced and nothing seemed to work for the striker.

Morgan Williams. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We can do worse than signing Ben Barclay in the summer. If we are to lose Luke Wilkinson (if you believe the social media rumour mill) and sweat on Max Hunt’s fitness – he was helped off with what looked to be a bad injury – we have a ready-made signing who will slot in perfectly in Barclay. His poise on the ball and reliability have shone through since his loan from Stockport. With Stockport on course for promotion to the EFL, you would presume he will be deemed surplus to requirements. Hopefully his time at Yeovil has made enough of an impression for all parties to want to extend it.

I’ll have what Morgan Williams is having. I said on Monday’s Gloverscast that I expected Morgan Williams to start because he’s a machine, and he proved it again. His signing last summer was met with cautious optimism, which quickly faded when it was revealed he was suffering with an injury and having to wear a special boot. What a season he’s had, however. Another 90 minutes last night, a goal, a solid defensive performance and a trophy to boot. After the season he’s had, it’s actually a bit of relief to know we’ll have him next season.

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Glovers’ Ollie Haste
Pic From @yeovilcollege

Yeovil Town youth prospect Ollie Haste has signed a professional contract with the club ahead of next season.

Interim manager Charlie Lee said after the Somerset Premier Cup win that Haste has signed on pro terms having seen the English college youth player impress in the competition

“I think the Somerset Cup has been a massive success for the club this year… we’ve had youngsters play, boys from the college scheme play, do well and then we has Hastey sign a contract, it’s just been brilliant”

BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins followed up to confirm the deal had been done and after a sly glance at Media Officer Sam Collard, Lee confirmed it was all signed and sealed.

“Yep, hopefully I didn’t let anything go too early, he’s done really well, he’s come through the college scheme, he’s been involved and he’s signed a contract!”

Haste has spent time on loan with Barnstaple Town this season and has been an unused sub for the Yeovil first team on a couple of occasions including at Wrexham away.

A huge congratulations to Ollie from everyone at the Gloverscast!

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Venue: Huish Park
Tuesday 10th May, 8pm Kick Off

Conditions: Clear

Pitch: “Won’t need much work over the summer” Perkins, I. May 10th, 2022

Attendance: 1016 (351 away)

Scorers: Williams ‘6 (1-0), Knowles ’47 (2-0), Barclay ’85 (3-0)

Bookings:

Yeovil: Neufville ’85
Bath City: Delaney ’14, Clarke ’85, Richards ’87, Gill ’89

Referee: Scott Jackson

Yeovil Town : (3-5-2)

Grant Smith

Morgan Williams, Ben Barclay, Max Hunt (for Worthington ’25)

Tom Knowles, Lawson D’ath, Josh Staunton, Sonny Blu Lo Everton (for Robinson ’71) Jordan Barnett

Josh Neufville, Rueben Reid (for Wakefield ’85)

Substitutes: Max Evans, Matt Worthington, Alex Bradley, Charlie Wakefield, Jack Robinson

Bath City:

Clarke, Raynes, Delaney, Fletcher, Holness, Cooke, Smith, Frear, Jones (for Sims-Burgess)  Ball, Richards

Substitutes: Fuller, Sims-Burgess

SPC at Huish Park ? – Somerset FA

Championés, Championés, Olé, Olé, Olé!

Yeovil Town captured the Somerset Premier Cup after a beating Bath City on Tuesday night in the final at Huish Park.

Our man, Ian Perkins was there, here’s his match report.

Morgan Williams. ? Mike Kunz.

It took six minutes for the Glovers to open the scoring. Bath City failed to clear their lines and Morgan WILLIAMS nicked the ball off a Bath City defender to beat Ryan Clarke, despite the keeper’s best efforts. There was no doubt about this one being Williams goal.

Yeovil took control of the early proceedings and had a decent effort through Tom Knowles, although the player of the season fired over.

Bath City had an opportunity to level the score moments later through Tom Smith. Bath’s number 10 pulled his effort wide of Smith’s post into the side netting.

On 24 minutes Max Hunt picked up an injury, forcing Charlie Lee into a first half replacement bringing on Matt Worthington.

Yeovil kept up the momentum and Reuben Reid, released by Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, couldn’t wrap his foot round the ball enough to get his effort in target.

City nearly hit back in the 31st through Elliot Frear on Smith’s back post again. His effort was bundled wide for a corner.

Bath had another chance to equalise in first half stoppage time but Cook’s effort from just inside the 18 yard box was straight at Smith.

Half time: Yeovil Town 1 Bath City 0

Tom Knowles scores goals ? Mike Kunz.

Three minutes into the second half, Tom KNOWLES doubled the Glovers lead. Knowles was released on the right and in vintage fashion he cut inside and fired home past the helpless keeper.

Bath came close to hitting back in the 54th minute, forcing Smith into an important block.

Both sides took their foot off the gas, althiugh the Romans had the better possession and a decent half chahce though Tom Richards, who acrobatically shot over.

It wasn’t until the 68th minute when the game came alive again through Knowles. He picked up the ball on the half way line and surged forward beating four men before shooting over the bar. He probably should have passed to Neufville, but after that run, who could blame him for having a go.

The Glovers kept Bath at arms length and Ben BARCLAY scored the third with a free header onto the top corner from Lawson D’Ath’s corner. Handbags ensued after the goal, with Baths keeper getting a booking after an altercation with Neufville.

The Glovers saw out the remainder of the game against their old rivals to be crowned Somerset Premier Cup champions for the 25th time.

Somerset Premier Cup Winners 2022 ? SomersetFA

Full time: Yeovil Town 3 Bath City 0

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Jordan Barnett. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Yeovil Town player Jordan Barnett has been charged by the Football Association with regards to betting on football matches.

According to the FA’s April Charges, Barnett is alleged to have place “138 bets” on football matches from December 2018 to 10th January 2022.

The full charge reads as follows:

“INCIDENT OF MISCONDUCT IN RELATION TO BETTING
Jordan Barnett, Player, Yeovil Town FC

Breach of FA Rule E8 – Misconduct in respect of 138 bets placed on football matches between 02 December 2018 to 10 January 2022.

The Participant has until 12 May 2022 to provide a response.” 

There is nothing more, and nothing to suggest it involves any matches including Yeovil.

Barnett signed for the Glovers in Summer 2021 from Notts County where he made 12 appearances. 

There are strict FA rules with regards to betting on football, which can read here if you feel like it.

A statement from the club reads: “Yeovil Town can confirm that a member of the first team squad is under investigation for an incident of misconduct in relation to betting. Due to an ongoing investigation into the matter, the club cannot comment any further.”

BeGambleAware.org 

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In a similar fashion to Yeovil Town, it has been a season of underachievement for Bath City this season.

The Romans finished their National League South season with a 3-3 draw at Twerton Park last weekend and ended the campaign fourth from bottom – which is even more disappointing than the (anticipated by most people – see last week’s poll) mid-table finish the Glovers are heading for.

The Somerset Premier Cup therefore offers them something to finish the campaign with a flourish having beaten Clevedon Town (definitely nowhere near Bristol!), Portishead, Welton Rovers and Frome Town on their way to the final.

It has been more than 20 years since the sides last met when a double from Demba and a goal from Michael McIndoe earned Gary Johnson’s Yeovil a 3-1 FA Cup replay win having drawn 1-1 in the first game.

You have to go back to January 1996 to find the last time Bath were victorious in a competitive fixture, a 3-2 win in the FA Trophy, but in SPC finals they have won the last four encounters between these two sides – the last being in March 1994. If you’re interested, you can see the full history of results between the sides – here.

But, if you thought W*ymouth was the only historic rivalry we had, think again. Bath have visited Yeovil more than any other town in their history with more than 130 visits albeit only four in the past 26 years.

The two sides also share the record for the most successful SPC campaigns with 24 wins each. Bath’s last coming in 2008 with Yeovil’s three years earlier.

Are we making this sound more like there’s something to play for?

 

FROM THE MANAGER

Bath manager Jerry Gill is a man with a foot in both camps having made the move from Twerton to Huish Park back in 1996, spending a successful season in Somerset before getting his big move to Birmingham City.

His post-match comments after the weekend’s final league fixture suggest Romans’ fans have not let him forget it, he said: “Back in the day, this was a huge rivalry when I was playing here and I know I got my move from here to Yeovil and a lot of people don’t thank me for that.

“It’s a wonderful club down there as well, so I am going to enjoy it first and foremost, but we are going down there to win.

“I have spoken to a lot of fans here and a lot of people are going down to watch the game, and we’ll be competitive, it’s no good going to a cup final if you don’t go and win it.

“So we’ll give it everything we have got to go and win that game and hopefully get some good backing.”

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

As you’d imagine given the proximity, there’s been quite a few down the years. The most obvious one is Bath City manager Jerry Gill.

Gill was a star player at full-back for City in the mid-1990s when he made the switch along with midfielder Rob Cousins joining Graham Roberts’ Yeovil in the summer of 1996.

Both players went on to be the a major part of the side which romped to the ICIS League Premier Division (now National League South) title and returned to the Conference in 1997.

His form that campaign caught the eye of Birmingham City, then a First Division (now Championship) side, and made the move for £30,000 with a further £10,000 payable after he played ten first-team games.

Both he and Howard Forinton, the star striker whose goals first Roberts’ side to the title that year, moved to St Andrews but it was Gill who was more successful, playing 60 times for the Blues.

He returned to Twerton Park as manager in 2017 after a spell in charge at W*ymouth (oh Jerry, how could you?) and coaching roles at Kidderminster Harriers and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Cousins stayed at Huish Park upon promotion back to the Conference and remained until the summer of 2001 when he moved to Forest Green Rovers.

Dean Birkby. Picture courtesy of Tim Lancaster.

Another player from that era who made the move south was striker Dean Birkby who joined Roberts’ revolution earlier than Gill and Cousins, joining midway through the 1995-96 campaign.

Having signed for £10,000 he went on to score 31 goals in 90 appearances alongside the likes of Warren Patmore and Forinton before leaving to join Forest Green in the summer of 2000.

More recently, Exeter City defender Jordan Dyer has had spells with both clubs. His time with Yeovil consisted of the final minute of the 2-0 home win over Woking in October, but he did have two spells with Bath making 21 appearances.

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It’s time for the weekly YeoGov poll. This week we want to know: If season ticket prices are held at the same price they were this season, will you be buying one next season? Let us know your reasoning the comments.

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Last week we asked if you if you felt Yeovil had overachieved, underachieved or performed as you expected this season.

124 people cast their vote with 62 (50%) saying they’ve performed as expected, 55 (44%) feel they’ve underachieved and 7 (6%) think Yeovil have overachieved.

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Yeovil Town midfielder Matt Worthington has been named in the Vanarama National League Team of the Week for his performance in Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Boreham Wood at Huish Park.

The 24-year-old played 89 minutes of the game which saw the Glovers come back from 2-0 down at half-time to earn a point.

He is joined in midfield by Notts County play-maker Callum Roberts, Daniel Powell of Barnet and Maidenhead United wideman Sam Barratt.

Well done, Worthy!

 

https://twitter.com/Vanarama/status/1523694637088575488?s=20&t=EJvUtOz9Ec0eTWd2mCGC_A

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South Somerset District Council has confirmed that “legal and due diligence work” to complete the purchase of Huish Park and surrounding land is underway.

The council has also told the Gloverscast that the owner of the land, Yeovil Town owner and chairman Scott Priestnall, has confirmed that “the land is now ready to proceed to sale.”

Today, the club said that the legal and due diligence work had been underway since November 2020, when the deal was first discussed, and that it was happy for the matter to be public knowledge.

It has £2.8m set aside in its budget to complete the purchase of land and, as we revealed last month, the process is now proceeding and following last week’s local elections, we contacted them for an update and any details of when

They said: “South Somerset District Council’s potential £2.8m purchase of the land at Huish Park in Yeovil was agreed in December 2020 and its inclusion in the 2022/23 budget was confirmed at a public meeting by Full Council earlier this year.

“The conditions precedent set by SSDC continue to be met and the we have had confirmation that owner of the land is now ready to proceed with the sale. Legal and due diligence work is being undertaken. It is not possible to provide a confirmed date when the sale will be completed but we will provide confirmation as soon as it is available.

“The proposal continues to provide Yeovil Town Football Club with the option to buy back the land the club occupies in the future when its financial outlook has improved.”

The council deal would see the ‘core’ (red) and non-core (blue) land bought by SSDC.

The Gloverscast has contacted Scott Priestnall today (Monday 9 May) to provide an update and we were informed he was travelling, but confirmed the club was happy for information around the deal to be made public.

In a response, the club said: “We are happy for this information to be public knowledge. 

“However, we can confirm that the club’s position on this matter has not changed since November 2020, ‘legal and due diligence work’ has been undertaken by SSDC throughout that period. 

“Once Scott is able to do so, Gloverscast will be the first provided with a full update on the matter, once again, we are happy for this to be of public knowledge.”

As a refresh on what the club’s position was in November 2020, you can read the statement issued ahead of the decision by the council.

In summary, it said the sale of its stadium and assets would allow it to “raise funds to steer the club out of the current distressed financial position caused by the COVID-19 pandemic whilst retaining control of its assets.” In the statement, the chairman added: “I am confident that this is the most prudent deal for the club and it’s longevity.”

In his most recent public comments on the deal, Priestnall said the sale of the stadium and surrounding lands “remains an option for the club“, which feels a step back from a deal well progressed in due diligence and legal process. You can read more about this – here.

What do we know about the deal with SSDC?

  • SSDC has budgeted £2.8m to purchase the entire freehold and leasehold property and land interests held by Yeovil Town Football Club in the Huish Park ground. Part of the purchase price would be applied to securing the release of restrictive covenants that affect the title to the property. (This does not include Sport England’s restriction of development on the top training pitches)
  • The current 999-year lease from SSDC to YTFC (on land currently owned by SDDC) would be extinguished and a new 30-year lease of the whole property would be simultaneously granted back to the club. The deal includes a one-year rent break.
  • The investment will see the council make a 7% profit through renting it back to the club, which is line with the approved target level of commercial returns on investment property assets purchased by the Council.
  • The deal splits Huish Park into ‘core’ and ‘non-core’ land with separate leases for both. Presently the stadium is owned by one business Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Ltd whilst everything that surrounds the stadium is owned by another, Yeovil Town Holdings Limited. Chairman Priestnall and former director Glenn Collis are both still listed as directors of both companies on Companies House, although one assumes that Collis’ resignation last month means he will not be within the fullness of time.

Last Friday, the results of elections for the new unitary authority which will control Somerset from April 1 next year were announced.

Of the District Executive which voted on the acquisition in December 2020, SSDC leader Val Keitch, deputy leader Peter Seib, Jason Baker, Mike Best, Adam Dance, Sarah Dyke, Henry Hobhouse, and Tony Lock were all re-elected to be part of the new authority.

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Here at the Gloverscast we write a weekly column for the Western Gazette and if you haven’t had chance to pick up the paper yet, you can read this week’s ramblings below.

Ben takes a look at this Tuesday’s Somerset Premier Cup final and thinks it should be taken seriously…

Tickets for the final on Tuesday night at Huish Park are still available – click HERE to buy one.

The Somerset Premier Cup was probably not the silverware Yeovil Town set out to get this season.

A play off final win would have been ideal. The FA Trophy would have been one for the romantics, 20 years on from when Terry Skiverton hoisted it aloft at Villa Park and kicked off a decade of success for the Glovers.

But here we are, sat in mid table mediocrity and looking at a final few games that are nothing more than dead rubbers.

With the exception of that Somerset Premier Cup final. 

It might only be the county Cup, but, surprisingly, we haven’t won it since 2005.

This past week, we heard ambitions of making Huish Park and Yeovil the number one sporting venue in the county…and as the only professional football club in Somerset, we should probably be winning the County Cup more than once every generation.

For some players, it might be the best chance they get to put on a show for those handing out contracts for next season.

Max Evans. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

It has the only source of first team football for young keeper Max Evans, Toby Stephens and a number of the Under-18s who will want to try and bridge the gap to mens’ football in the coming years.

And what of Bath City, managed by former Glover Jerry Gill. The’re the second biggest side in the competition and 16th in the National League South probably wasn’t what they were hoping for. They’ll take this game seriously and will fancy something of an upset against their old rivals from the league above.

The team selections throughout have been very respectful and as strong as reasonably could be, but as legs begin to tire and motivation begins to wane, I hope Charlie Lee can get his players up for one more go at winning something.

And who knows, maybe it’ll be a bit of a catalyst for success too.