Ben Barrett (Page 19)

Yeovil Town’s Under 19s have had their opponents confirmed for their upcoming National League Under 19s Alliance campaign.

The young Glovers are due to face the likes of Eastleigh, Dorchester Town and Weston-super-Mare in an 11-team division.

You can see the full break down of the leagues below – note it is possible to have multiple teams in multiple divisions, see Eastleigh in both the ‘South Division’ and Division E with the Glovers, for example.

 Full fixture lists will be released in due course, home games are scheduled to be played at Alvington this season.

Who wants some football news? Here you go!

The Vanarama  Enterprise National League has announced that a multi-ball system will be in use for the 2025/26 season across all three National League divisions.

Some might say that this is mainly a ploy to talk about and have the new Mitre Ultimax Ball in more images and coverage, others may point out the potential benefit to pace of play.

Each game will have 10 “active match balls” assigned to it; one in play, one with the fourth official and eight distributed around the pitch on cones. Two down each side and two behind each goal.

The referee has the right to deactivate the multi-ball system for any game, at any given time, for any given reason. 

So now you know, multi-ball. 

Jordan Thomas has rejoined Torquay United ahead of the 2025/26 season on a permanent, two-year contract.

The defender, who joined Yeovil 12 months ago, spent time at both Salisbury and Torquay during the season and was part of the Gulls’ play-off campaign, playing 27 times in the league.

He only played five times for Yeovil during the season, most recently a two-minute cameo in the 1-0 away win over Southend in November.

He signed a deal that was originally set to end in the Summer of 2026, departing Huish Park with a year remaining on his deal. 

All the best, Jordan.

Defender Alex Whittle has signed a one-year contract extension to remain a Yeovil Town player for the upcoming 2025-26 season.

The left back, who took the captain’s armband towards the end of last season, has agreed a season and the deal which includes an option to extend the deal through for an additional year.

Speaking to the club’s social media on Tuesday, he said: “I am delighted to be back, it took a few weeks to sort whilst I was away on holiday but once I was back I was happy to get it sorted. I always wanted to stay, but there were a few weeks before the takeover happened and then I was away so there were a few things to sort out, a few minor details, but once it was sorted I was delighted.

The first season was a real high and last season was more trying to finish as high as we can, but this season we want to kick on again and try and aim for the play-offs and kick on from there. Pre-season is a quick turnaround, it will be a few days of running hard and fast and then the games come thick and fast again, so I am happy and I can’t wait to get going.

In a statement published on Tuesday, manager Mark Cooper said: “Alex has been excellent for us. He’s a reliable, hard-working player who sets the standard every day in training and on matchdays. I’m really pleased he’s staying with us – he’s an important part of the group.

Whittle could well pass 100 league appearances for the Glovers this season, and was part of the side which lifted the title during the 2023/24 National League South campaign.

The 32-year-old originally joined the club in the summer of 2023 following his release by York City. He had previously played under Cooper at Forest Green Rovers in 2018 and had further Football League experience during a spell at Chesterfield.

Alex Whittle
📸 Gary Brown

Yeovil Town head to Twerton Park to face Bath City as part of the pre-season preparations for the 2025/26 campaign.

The game takes place on Saturday 26th July with a 3pm kick off and tickets are now on sale for Glovers fans.

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

It’s a ticketing system that we are fairly used to at this level.

Select the “Away – Pre Season General Admission – Advanced” option and proceed through the steps – you will need to either Log In or Register for an account, but tickets bought in advance are subject to a 10% discount.

Tickets for other Pre-season friendlies are also available – here are the links.

WESTON SUPER MARE – CLICK HERE

CHIPPENHAM TOWN – CLICK HERE

The Football Association have confirmed the dates for the upcoming season’s FA Cup campaign.

The Glovers will once again enter in the Fourth Qualifying Round hoping to go one (or maybe two or three) better than the loss to Chesham United at that point last campaign.

Prize money details are yet to be confirmed, with those details, along with Preliminary Round draws due to follow in the coming weeks.

The Emirates FA Cup
Season 2025-26
Round Dates

Extra Preliminary Round: Saturday 2 August 2025

Preliminary Round: Saturday 16 August 2025

First Round Qualifying: Saturday 30 August 2025

Second Round Qualifying: Saturday 13 September 2025

Third Round Qualifying: Saturday 27 September 2025

Fourth Round Qualifying: Saturday 11 October 2025

First Round Proper: Saturday 1 November 2025

Second Round Proper: Saturday 6 December 2025

Third Round Proper: Saturday 10 January 2026

Fourth Round Proper: Saturday 14 February 2026

Fifth Round Proper: Saturday 7 March 2026

Quarter Final: Saturday 4 April 2026

Semi-Final: Saturday 25 April 2026

The Final: Saturday 16 May 2026

The Football Association have confirmed the key dates for the FA Youth Cup for the 2025/26 season.

Last season the Glovers’ youngsters entered at the second  preliminary round making it beyond Helston Athletic before falling to Bridgwater the round after. 

he FA Youth Cup
Season 2025-26
Proposed Round Dates

Qualifying Competition – Ties to be played in the week commencing:-

Preliminary Round: Monday 1 September 2025

First Round Qualifying: Monday 15 September 2025

Second Round Qualifying: Monday 29 September 2025

Third Round Qualifying: Monday 13 October 2025

Competition Proper – Ties to be played by the following closing date:-

First Round Proper: Saturday 1 November 2025

Second Round Proper: Saturday 22 November 2025

Third Round Proper: Saturday 13 December 2025

Fourth Round Proper: Saturday 24 January 2026

Fifth Round Proper: Saturday 21 February 2026

Sixth Round Proper: Saturday 14 March 2026

Semi-Final: Saturday 11 April 2026

The Final: Saturday 9 May 2026

The Football Association have confirmed the key dates for the Isuzu FA Trophy this coming season.

Yeovil Town will enter from the third round in early October before lifting the trophy (maybe) on Sunday May 17th.

The Isuzu FA Trophy
Season 2025-26
Round Dates

Preliminary Round: Saturday 23 August 2025

First Round Qualifying: Saturday 6 September 2025

Second Round Qualifying: Saturday 20 September 2025

Third Round Qualifying: Saturday 4 October 2025

First Round Proper: Saturday 25 October 2025

Second Round Proper: Saturday 15 November 2025

Third Round Proper: Saturday 13 December 2025

Fourth Round Proper: Saturday 10 January 2026

Fifth Round Proper: Saturday 31 January 2026

Sixth Round Proper: Saturday 28 February 2026

Semi-Final: Saturday 28 March 2026

The Final: Sunday 17 May 2026

League One side Cardiff City will head to Huish Park for a friendly on Tuesday 15th July.

The game kicks off at 7:30pm and will be Cardiff’s first friendly on English soil after they complete a trip to Spain during the pre-season schedule.

The game sits in between games against Chippenham and Bristol Rovers.

The Glovers took on Cardiff City in a famous FA Cup Third Round tie in 1999, after a 1-1 draw at Ninian Park, the game at Huish Park looked to be heading towards a similar scoreline, before an uncharacteristic error from Tony Pennock saw his roll out skip off the turf and into the reaches of a Bluebirds forward who slid the ball home. 

We last faced off against them in a friendly in 2014, where Adam Le Fondre and Kenwyne Jones were on the score sheet in a 4-1 win; AJ Leitch-Smith opening with the Glovers’ goal in front over 2000 fans.

Cardiff City Starting XI:Marshall, Brayford, John, Ralls, Hudson ©, Turner, Burgstaller, Dikgacoi, Le Fondre, Guerra, Daehli

Substitutions:Connolly, Moore, Kim, Fabio, Jones, Gunnarsson, Mutch, Whittingham, Eikrem, Maynard, Cala

Goals: Le Fondre (56), Connolly (62), Jones (73, 90)

Yeovil Town Starting XI:Krysiak, Moloney, Smith, Edwards ©, Sokolik, Martin, Dawson, Foley, Moore, Leitch-Smith, Hoskins

Substitutions:Weale, Davis, Brooks, Twumasi, Ralph, Lanzoni, Hayter, Andoh

Goals: Leitch-Smith (18)