August 2022 (Page 3)

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Scrimshaw in action for Bournemouth U21s ?AFCB U21 Twitter

Striker Jake Scrimshaw has become Yeovil Town’s second signing of the day after joining from Premier League new boys AFC Bournemouth.

The 21-year-old has signed a two-year contract at Huish Park having spent the previous seven years at Dean Court where he was deemed surplus to requirements in the summer despite having a contract option triggered.

He spent last season on loan at Scunthorpe United scoring four times in 19 appearances and has a prolific record in the Cherries’ youth set up and at Poole Town in the 2018-19 season where he scored 17 times for the Dolphins.

Manager Chris Hargreaves said: “I’m really pleased to welcome Jake to the club. He’s a versatile forward who can offer us flexibility in the way we play and utilise him.

“Jake is the sort of player who will work his socks off for the team. He’s desperate to be a success here at Yeovil Town.”

It is expected Scrimshaw will go in to the squad for Saturday’s visit by Dagenham & Redbridge and be available for the trip to Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday, adding to attacking options including Malachi Linton, Alex Fisher and Gime Toure.

In the 2020-21 campaign he had loan spells at Newport County and Walsall where he was used mostly as a substitute, but still netted three times for Newport and twice at Walsall in League Two.

The previous campaign he had a three-month spell at Eastleigh in the National League making nine appearances.

Welcome to Somerset, Jake!

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Former Exeter City man Callum Rowe has bolstered the Yeovil Town squad ahead of the Bank Holiday weekend double header.

The 22-year-old, who has played mostly as a defender but can also operate in midfield, has joined on “a short-term deal” following his release by the League One new boys at the end of last season.

The Aston Villa academy graduate is expected to be available for the visit by Dagenham & Redbridge to Huish Park on Saturday and the trip to Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday.

Glovers’ boss Chris Hargreaves said: “Callum comes from a very strong footballing background. His time with Aston Villa has stood him in really good stead, both as a player and a person.

“We’ve been having a look at him in training in recent sessions, and during that time he has impressed all of the coaching staff.

“He’s got experience in the men’s game under his belt and compliments our changing room excellently.”

Speaking on Thursday, Hargreaves said he expected to announce two signings before the weekend with a second arrival expected to be the seventh loan in the squad.

He had a trial at Scottish Championship side Dundee following his release by Exeter, playing in a pre-season friendly last month but failing to win a deal.

The Leicester-born player was part of a youthful Aston Villa side which went toe-to-toe with Liverpool in the FA Cup third round in January 2021, providing an assist for his side’s only goal scored by Louie Barry in a 4-1 defeat.

Following his release, he joined Exeter last summer and after a couple of early appearances went out on loan at Chippenham Town and Bath City in National League South before returning to make seven appearances in the final couple of months of the League Two season which saw the Grecians promoted.

Speaking at the time, Exeter boss Matty Taylor said: “We could easily have given Callum a contract and sent him out on loan, but that’s not always beneficial for the club or the player.

“Any player we re-sign, or sign in the future, we have to be really strong in our mindset that they are going to improve and they will improve this current group.”

Welcome to Huish Park, Callum!

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Yeovil Town boss Chris Hargreaves has called on the players who have remained at the club to “step up” and show leadership as they seek their first National League win of the season.

The Glovers’ boss admitted seeing his side forced to settle for a 2-2 draw courtesy of an injury time equaliser at Altrincham last weekend was the most disappointed he has felt in the job.

They head in to the August Bank Holiday weekend with Dagenham & Redbridge the visitors to Huish Park on Saturday followed by a trip to a Wealdstone side who have made an impressive start to the new campaign.

Speaking ahead of the game, Hargreaves said he had been having “positive but honest” conversations with members of his squad this week: “A result on a Sunday morning does not have a list of excuses under it, it’s just a result. You have to get over it quickly.

“We have a game on Saturday, review it on Sunday and we move on and have another on Monday.

“But we need the players who have become the core of this team and remained at this club to step up because they are the ones with the experience.”

In the summer, goalkeeper Grant Smith, defenders Josh Staunton and Max Hunt, midfielders Matt Worthington and Lawson D’Ath and forward Charlie Wakefield all committed themselves to new deals at Huish Park

The manager admitted his side had lost some of the defensive resilience which was a hallmark of their pre-season campaign as they seek to overcome the lock of creative threat which dogged them.

He said: “When you look at pre-season we were not creating enough and we were really resilient. We need to get that clean sheet mentality back again and kill teams when you get chances.

“We didn’t create as much as I wanted to on Saturday whereas on the previous Tuesday (in the 2-1 home defeat to Barnet) we had 15 situations where we could have scored or done better, so all we can do is put the point to the players in training.

“There’s only so much the boys can do in training, they have to deliver when they cross over the white line on Saturday.“

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Yeovil Town 3 Plymouth Argyle 2 (AET) – Tuesday 24th August 2004

On 24th August 2004, Yeovil were drawn at home to then-Championship Plymouth in the first round of the League Cup. They would make national headlines across the media the next day due to the bizarre circumstances of the first goal, the first of a unique hat-trick scored by Lee Johnson.

The contentious goal came after 28 minutes when Plymouth defender Graham Coughlan left the pitch for treatment following a blow to the face. From the resultant throw-in, Lee Johnson picked up the ball around the half way line and hoofed it up the pitch towards Luke McCormick in the Westland End goal. McCormick misjudged the ball completely, and let it bounce past him into the net. There was no attempt to score from Johnson, the ball wasn’t even hit that hard as it bounced pathetically into the net.

By the time Plymouth had gathered themselves enough to kick off again, instruction had come from Gary Johnson to the Yeovil players to allow the visitors to score an equalising goal unopposed, which Stevie Crawford then did.

It was this rare act of sportsmanship in allowing the opposition to score an uncontested goal which would be repeated and written about across the country’s media the following day.

However there were still more than 60 minutes – at least – of the game to go. Having been gifted one goal Plymouth were then presented with another before half time, this time from the referee as a penalty was awarded for an apparent infringement against Liam Fontaine although it was not clear to anyone what for. Dead ball specialist Paul Wotton stepped up and fired the visitors ahead – it was not his first involvement in the game for the future Glover, as he could have seen red for a professional foul in the first minute. Wotton was later one of an influx of players who would save the Glovers from League One relegation by helping to take them from bottom at Christmas to 14th in May 2011.

Plymouth dominated much of the second half but were unable to add to their lead, and the travelling fans were silenced when Lee Johnson picked up another throw around 40 yards out, ran unopposed towards the box and let fly a shot into the top right hand corner from well outside the penalty area. McCormick got a hand to it, but was unable to keep it out.

The game went to extra time, with Yeovil adopting a 3-4-3, changed from the 4-4-2 they had started with. Just before break, that man Wotton was involved again when he brought down Darren Way for a foul around 30 yards out. Up stepped Lee Johnson again to give Yeovil the lead with the best of the three, a scorching free kick hit so hard that the cameras almost missed it – and not for the last time that season.

With Plymouth out of energy and out of ideas, Yeovil held on for a historic win which marked their first Championship side knocked out of the League Cup – a feat they would repeat the following season with a 2-0 win away at Ipswich.

This was surely the longest range hat-trick of all time, with a combined distance of around 120 yards. There can’t be many – if any – players who have scored from the half way line and gone on to score a hat trick in the same game. Although Lee Johnson had often taken free kicks and corners whenever the opportunity arose since joining Yeovil in 2001, he really stepped up his game in 2004/05. Having proved himself more than capable at League Two level with an incredible 20 assists and five goals in 2003/04, Johnson scored 11 goals and 17 assists in the League Two title-winning season. Seven of those 11 were scored from outside the area, including all three of the hat-trick against Plymouth as well as a free kick against Grimsby and another screamer against Wycombe. By comparison, no Yeovil player has achieved more than 20 assists in one season in the 18 years since then – the closest was Ed Upson in 2012/13 with 18.

By a strange coincidence, Gary Johnson also instructed his team to allow an uncontested goal during his second spell as manager of the Glovers in August 2013. Incredibly this also occurred in the League Cup, this time against Birmingham, and in more controversial circumstances – chasing the game at 2-1 down in injury time, Byron Webster opted not to return the ball to the opposition and instead chipped the keeper to level at 2-2. In extra time, Luke Ayling scored an absolute screamer with his left foot to put the Glovers 3-2 up, and it was only after the break in extra time that Johnson instructed his players to concede. The match was levelled at 3-3 and Birmingham went on to win on penalties. The circumstances here were arguably different, as against Plymouth Lee Johnson had no intention of scoring and it was a mistake by the goalkeeper (although you could argue that if your keeper can’t intercept a ball from 50 yards out, that’s probably on him). However against Birmingham, if you’re 2-1 up going into injury time, wouldn’t you expect the opposition to do anything they can to equalise, especially if your own team has been wasting time to see out the game? Also Byron Webster made that decision, and offering the opposition a goal more than 15 minutes later makes much less sense, especially as Ayling’s screamer deserved to be the winner of the tie. Seeing Lee Clark’s furious puckered up face after his team had won that game, it would have been even funnier if he’d had to face the media having lost.

It also wasn’t the only time Lee Johnson was involved in a comedy goal – particularly in 2002/03 and 2003/04, the Glovers played a very fast multi-ball game and would very often take quick set pieces to catch out the opposition. This happened on at least two noteworthy occasions – in their first ever League match at Rochdale, Johnson caught the opposition completely unaware following a foul to put the Glovers 2-0 up. A few months before in the televised match against Doncaster, it was Johnson again but this time he was the beneficiary of some quick thinking by Kevin Gall. With the Doncaster keeper penalised for intercepting a back-pass, while the players were arguing with the referee Gall wrestled the ball from the keeper, placed it on the six yard line and passed to Johnson who scored. What was better, it put Yeovil 3-0 up at half time against one of their biggest rivals, on the memorable day that the Glovers were confirmed as Conference Champions after 108 years as a non-league club.

Team that day: Chris Weale, Adam Lockwood (sub. Paul Terry, 57), Michael Rose, Terry Skiverton, Liam Fontaine, Darren Way, Lee Johnson, Kevin Gall, Adrian Caceres (sub. Roy O’Brien, 65), Bartosz Tarachulski (sub. Simon Weatherstone, 89), Phil Jevons. Subs not used: Steve Collis, Kezie Ibe

 

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Two new signings will arrive to bolster Yeovil Town’s squad ahead of the August Bank Holiday weekend double header, according to manager Chris Hargreaves.

Chris Hargreaves.

Speaking ahead of Saturday’s visit from Dagenham & Redbridge and Monday’s trip to Wealdstone, the boss said that he had the backing of chairman Scott Priestnall with finances following the exit of star man Tom Knowles on the eve of the season.

Asked about the support he was receiving by BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins, Hargreaves said: “Hopefully there will be two (new signings) announced for the weekend.

“It’s something we want to do, we need to bolster the squad, Scott (Priestnall) has been supportive with that so that’s positive.

“Whoever we bring in has to believe they can affect this club and there will be a couple announced before the weekend.”

One player who the Glovers are expecting back for the visit of Dagenham & Redbridge is central defender Ben Richards-Everton who has missed the past three matches through injury.

The former Barnet player suffered a knee injury in the opening day defeat at Scunthorpe United which Hargreaves revealed recently was not as bad as originally feared and he will be back for the upcoming two matches.

Sam Pearson. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

The boss is also hoping on loan Bristol City winger Sam Pearson, who the club announced this week has extended his stay until January, will be fit after missing last weekend’s 2-2 draw at Altrincham with a back injury.

He said: “We’re not sure if it’s going to be Saturday, Monday or either. He took a serious knock (against Barnet) and it’s going to be right down to the wire if he makes it for Saturday.

“Sam has been a bright spark and the fans have taken to him straight away. Unfortunately he’s had a bit of a niggle which has kept him out of Saturday’s game, so we are hopeful he can make this Saturday.

“It’s been a bit frustrating. The first week we lost Knowlesy, big Ben (Richards-Everton) got injured and the third week Sam (Pearson) was not available, but you’ve got to adapt and rotate players and get over it.

“Fingers crossed Sam is fit but if he isn’t it gives someone else a chance.”

The boss said young Exeter City defender Alfie Pond was “in the thinking” for last weekend and would be again in the upcoming fixtures.

He added: “Like every team we have these fixtures over the weekend which are incredibly tight, it’s probably too much at this level to play that amount of games in quick succession.

“I have got to use the whole squad because the boys are are chomping at the bit to get minutes and we don’t want to overload it with lads on loan, but the boys that have come in have been excellent.

“Some of them are young lads, they have to find their feet somewhere but they have got to earn it and train well in this first team because it’s a tough standard.

“I have already got in mind what we might have to do with such a quick turnaround but it’s about the lads showing me they want to do it.”

There is no sign of former striker Marcus Stewart making his Head of Player Development role at Huish Park full-time at the moment.

The ex-Ipswich Town man, who scored more than 250 goals in his playing career, became part of the Huish Park coaching team alongside Hargreaves and assistant manager Chris Todd on a part-time basis, and has been absent from the touchline for a number of matches.

Asked whether he expected Stewart to make his role full-time, the manager said: “Not at the moment. It will remain as it is at this stage.

“He adds a lot of value and when you look at the strikers, Fish (Alex Fisher) is desperate to score and working hard, but we want him to work within that 18 yard box and be that talisman.

“Gime (Toure) has scored already, Mal (Linton) has two in four, so there has been that attacking mindset and a lot of the lads have had chances to score.”

 

Young goalkeeper Max Evans will be out for “a couple of months” after suffering an injury whilst on loan at Southern League side Larkhall Athletic.

Max Evans during his loan spell at Larkhall Athletic. Picture courtesy of Jeremy Richards

It has been feared the 20-year-old had suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury after he was spotted on crutches at Huish Park.

Hargreaves said: “It’s not brilliant news for the lad, it will keep him out for a couple of months, for sure, but it could have been a lot worth.

“I’m gutted for him to get that so early on (in his loan spell) because he’s a fantastic individual.”

He said reports back from Truro City boss and former Glovers’ midfielder Paul Wotton around defender Ollie Haste and midfielder Toby Stephens who are both on loan at the Cornish outfit.

Stephens has been missing with “a little injury” but made his first appearance as an 80th minute substitute for the White Tigers last weekend, whilst Haste has been a regular fixture in the side.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQAS8t–juo

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Bristol City winger Sam Pearson has extended his loan stay at Yeovil Town until January, the club has confirmed.

The 20-year-old, who featured in the Glovers’ first three fixtures, had initially arrived on a one-month loan with a view to extending.

He impressed coming off the bench in the opening day defeat at Scunthorpe United and was handed starts against both Wrexham and Barnet before missing out last weekend at Altrincham through injury.

In a statement confirming the extension, the club said: “Last weekend against Altrincham, he missed out due to a minor back injury, but the youngster will be hoping he can return for the busy bank holiday schedule.”

Dagenham & Redbridge are the visitors to Huish Park on Saturday followed by a trip to Wealdstone on Bank Holiday Monday.

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The results are in for the man of the match voting from our first two fixtures of the season against Scunthorpe and Wrexham.

For the Scunthorpe match (which we lost 2-1) our goalscorer on the day Jamie Reckord was 1st with 83 votes (59%).  ‘Mal’ Linton in 2nd with 12 votes and Matty Worthington and Grant Smith in joint 3rd with 9 votes.

Our first match at home saw us draw 1-1 with Wrexham with some impressive performances across the team. Matt Worthington  came in first with 55 votes (29%), Sam Pearson had 36 votes and both Sam Perry and Linton had 31 votes.

Well done Jamie and Matt!

If you’ve not filled out the man of the match voting form for Altrincham yet, you can do it here.

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South Somerset District Council has confirmed that “initial discussions” are underway around the development of land around Huish Park

It is now more than three months since the council bought the home of Yeovil Town FC and land around it in a deal believed to be worth £2.8m, which sees the club now rent the stadium and “core land” around it under a 30-year lease.

In response to an enquiry from the Gloverscast, Robert Orrett, Commercial Property, Land and Development Manager at SSDC, said: “I can confirm that I have joined some initial discussions about the preparation of development proposals so it is fair to say that aspect has been commenced.”

Our query followed the publication of the minutes of a Supporter Alliance meeting held at the end of June which were published by the Glovers Trust last week, which included reference to chairman Scott Priestnall saying: “There are temporary plans for new amenities in the new season, but planning permission is required to develop the club’s footprint for the future.

“The process towards achieving planning permission in order to develop the site has begun.”

The chairman also stated that any money raised through the development of the site would be “used to invest in the club in order to make it more sustainable.”

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

The minutes also included reference to Scott Priestnall telling the Alliance meeting: “The club has a four-year period to buy back the land from SSDC.”

To at least our memory on Gloverscast, we were not aware of this detail and enquired about it with SSDC and received the following response from Mr Orrett: “It is correct that Yeovil Town Holdings Limited has a four-year period during which they can buy back the whole of the YTFC freeholds that have been purchased by SSDC. In broad terms, that would reverse the purchase.

 

“Beyond that, there are continuing arrangements that are linked to the structure that enables consented non-core land to be sold off by SSDC, with the non-core lease surrendered, and the sale proceeds to be used to repay the capital SSDC has put in.

“These are following the approach summarised in the report and continue in the longer term. If the land sale price for the non-core land is high enough, then the rent for the core land that is left, reduces to a peppercorn and essentially the club can buy the core land back for £1.”

Simple right?! If you are struggling to remember what constitutes core and non-core land as part of this sale, join the club. In simple terms, the core land is indicated in the red on the map, above, and basically covers the stadium and 3G pitches outside it, with the non-core land covering the car park and top pitches at Huish Park.

Mr Orrett’s email to us concludes: “You will have noted that I refer to Yeovil Town Holdings Limited not Yeovil Town FC as the property contracts and leases were with Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Limited and Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.”

Again, to refresh your memories, Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, this is the business set up by former owners Norman Hayward and John Fry to develop land around the ground which now only has Priestnall as a director.

The other business linked to the club is Yeovil Football & Athletic Club Limited, the business which runs the football operations in effect and lists Priestnall and fellow shareholder Stuart Robins as its directors.