Ian Perkins (Page 6)

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Having taken the summer off, we are back with another of our trips down green-and-white memory lane and our guest for this episode only spent at single season at Huish Park but is still remembered fondly by Yeovil Town supporters. Having joined in the club at the start of its first season in the Football League, Jake Edwards was a key part of Gary Johnson’s side which had a good tilt at the League Two play-offs and made the FA Cup third round to boot. We caught up with him during the closed season to ask him about his time with the club.

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On this episode of the Gloverscast, we welcomed Chief Strategy Advisor, Nicholas Brayne to the pod to chat through life at Huish Park so far, what his role entails, his thoughts on pre-season and plenty more.

Stick around to the end to hear voice notes about the 3-1 pre-season friendly win at Bath City on Saturday from supporters Will Jones, Callum Hallett, Mike Hudson, Andy Cleave and Abby Carter who were all in attendance at Twerton Park.

Up the Glovers.

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Yeovil Town defend the Thatcher's Stand in the pre-season friendly against Cardiff City Under-21s.

A late winner from substitute Morgan Wigley saw Yeovil Town suffer their first friendly defeat of pre-season campaign at the hands of Cardiff City’s Under-21s in their first outing at Huish Park.

The Glovers led 2-0 by the half-hour mark with goals from Josh Sims and Harvey Greenslade before Mannie Barton pulled a goal back before the interval.

The young Bluebirds, managed by former Yeovil loanee defender Darren Purse, made wholesale changes at half-time and a goal just after the hour mark from Trey George pulled them level before Wigley won it late on.

Ian was among the 1,226 supporters, including a sizeable vocal following from South Wales, on Tuesday night and here’s how he saw it.

First half

The pre-match chat was all about the changing shape of the Huish Park pitch – a topic discussed at length on our latest podcast, click here to listen – which looked significantly shorter and narrower.

On the smaller surface, trialists Jevani Brown started and midfielder Teo Kurtaran was named among the substitutes bench. However, there was no sign of either ex-Bristol Rovers midfielder Luke McCormick, who scored in the 3-2 win at Chippenham Town three days earlier, ex-Swindon Town striker Abu Kanu or Plymouth Parkway frontman Kieran Edworthy. All three have featured in the previous three friendlies of pre-season.

An image of the pitch at Huish Park ahead of the first home pre-season friendly of the season which has been significantly shortened and narrowed.
The shorter and narrower surface at Huish Park was there for all to see.

The first opportunity of the match fell to Cardiff’s youngsters as Yeovil defender Kyle Ferguson lost the flight of the ball on the edge of the box allowing Mannie Barton room to pick out strike partner Luke Pearce whose effort was deflected wide for a corner. From the resulting corner, Charlie O’Brien’s header went over the bar.

At the other end, Harvey Greenslade  worked himself a lovely opening five minutes later before striking over the bar and the forward, who scored in the win at Chippenham Town at the weekend, fired in a stinging shot which was parried by Cardiff keeper Matt Turner after 20 minutes, but no-one could follow up in the ensuing scramble.

Two minutes later Jevani Brown, aka Trialist A, combined with the lively James Daly but the summer signing from Harrogate Town couldn’t hook his cross back into the danger area, landing the ball harmlessly on the roof of the net.

Yeovil took the lead on 26 minutes when Josh SIMS, who started the match at right wing-back, caught a Cardiff defender napping and had time and space in the box to fire into the roof of the net. 

The visitors almost levelled direct from the kick-off as Luke Pearce’s effort was saved by Aidan Stone, but it was Yeovil who added the next goal on the halfway line. Harvey GREENSLADE with a brilliant finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the box. Well done that man. 

Yeovil Town defend the Thatcher's Stand in the pre-season friendly against Cardiff City Under-21s.
Yeovil Town defend the Thatcher’s Stand in the pre-season friendly against Cardiff City Under-21s. Picture courtesy of Chris Fox.

Cardiff made another fast restart and this time it paid dividends. Issac Jefferies played in Mannie BARTON who capitalised on  space in behind Sims and confidently putting the ball past Stone. 

There was a nice  passage of play from the Glovers saw Alex Whittle pop up in the box but his right footed effort was too tame for the keeper who got down low to tip wide.

Half time and overall some nice bits of play from the Glovers.

 

Half-time:  Yeovil Town 2 Cardiff City Under-21s 1

The visitors made seven changes at the start of the second half with only goalkeeper Matt Turner, Matthew Apter and striker Luke Pearce remaining from the first half, whilst Finn Cousin-Dawson replaced Morgan Williams for Yeovil.

Brett McGavin would have scored Yeovil’s third just after half-time had he been just a little bit taller. Sims whipped cross from the right very nearly found the midfielder but he could not stretch his neck long enough to head home.

Cardiff levelled it up on the hour mark after Trey GEORGE was given freedom of the penalty box to fire home. Cue lots of pointing from the Yeovil players as to who was marking the attacking midfielder.

Trialist midfielder Teo Kurtaran replaced Charlie Cooper after 69 minutes before Daly worked a nice opening on the left side of the box and hit a shot a comfortable height for the keeper.

Substitutes chaos from the young Bluebirds saw lots of change and it became rather bitty with the odd pot shot here and there with Lewys Twamley replacing Sims after 76 minutes.

Five minutes from the end, Kurataran shot over the bar from the edge of the box after Twamley and Aaron Jarvis combined in the box.

Cardiff took at the death with a quick breakaway and a neat finish from Morgan WIGLEY over Stone to a rapturous ovation from the noisy Cardiff following.

Next up, League Two side Bristol Rovers visit Huish Park on Saturday in the ‘Match for Marcus’ which will see both clubs honour former striker Marcus Stewart and raise money and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease, the illness which the legendary frontman has been diagnosed with. If you can make to Huish Park, please do so.

Full time: Yeovil Town 2 Cardiff City Under-21s 3

Teams:

Yeovil Town: Aidan Stone, Alex Whittle (for Corey Koerner, 79), Josh Sims (for Lewys Twamley, 76), Morgan Williams (for Finn Cousin-Dawson, 46), Kyle Ferguson, Charlie Cooper (for Teo Kuratarn, Trialist, 69), Brett McGavin, James Daly, Jevani Brown (Trialist), Harvey Greenslade, Aaron Jarvis.

First half – Cardiff City Under-21s: Matt Turner, Charlie O’Brien, Gabriel Keita, Trialist, Josh Beecher, Cody Twose, Matthew Apter, Issac Jefferies, Mannie Barton, Chris Willock, Luke Pearce.

Second half – Cardiff City Under-21s: Matt Turner, Will Spiers, Alyas Debono, Trialist, Jac Thomas, Matthew Apter (for Jacob Hobson, 69), Troy Perrett, Trey George, Sekou Kaba, Luke Pearce, Morgan Wigley.

Scorers: Josh Sims 26 (1-0), Harvey Greenslade 29 (2-0), Mannie Barton 30 (2-1), Trey George 61 (2-2), Morgan Wigley 90 (2-3).

Attendance: 1,226

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A theme that came up during both meet the owner events last week was around the club identity and branding. 

Some want to see a return to the crest which was replaced in 2024 with the current logo. The change has divided opinion ever since, but there is definitely strong emotions around the previous logo, which was never totally removed from Huish Park.  

We discussed this on today’s podcast which you can listen to here and thought we’d throw out a poll, that IF the club was to offer supporters the choice of keeping the new, or bringing back the old…how would you vote?

If you were given the choice about the club crest, would you?

View Results

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Three more Cs can be added to cautious optimism I’ve felt since Prabhu Srinivasan and family took over at Huish Park. Competitive. Calmness. Community.

On a sweltering evening in the Alec Stock lounge, Glovers fans showed up in their numbers to hear from Prabhu, Bhavna, Stuart Robins, Nicholas Brayne and Mark Cooper.

Meet the owners evening at Huish Park. Courtesy of Mike Hudson

There was no bombastic statement of intent. The messaging around “no one hit wonder” season continued. Everything feels measured, rational and realistic. No over-promising and under-delivering. No granular detail was given, but clearly the priority is to return the stadium and land back into club ownership. Owning our home is important and that was clearly understood. The difference this time round, I felt, is that there’s a plan, even if the cards are being held close to the chest. There’s a dialogue with the council and meetings today. If I can throw another C in, collaboration is the only way this gets done smoothly and cleanly.

Calmness will, hopefully, transfer to the pitch. Mark Cooper, who quipped “it’s usually the owners who see off the manager”, had the handcuffs taken off yesterday and was able to start talking to players. He alluded to small squad of quality, supplemented by loans was the only way for the club and that he’d love to have a squad of 25 contracted players who all lived in Yeovil – but that it just wasn’t realistic at this time. He also addressed the training ground move citing injuries to Jake Wannell, Morgan Williams, Alex Whittle and Aaron Jarvis and that the players trained on grass once over a period of eight weeks because of waterlogged pitches. He didn’t describe the budget as the best, but said it would allow the club to be competitive. 

Mark Cooper at the meet the owners event. Courtesy of YTFC.

Nicholas Brayne, whose role at the club is as Chief Strategy Advisor, spoke well and in a way that I’ve not heard anyone at Yeovil Town talk in my time as a supporter. He declared that the club was open for business, urging local businesses and sponsors to come in and have a conversation. This was after a previous sponsor had said they had been priced out last season, because of an increase in pricing of a box and advertising hoardings costing nearly £20,000.

Prabhu, enjoying a Guinness, spoke of the energy he felt in the Thatcher’s Stand during the Sutton United fixture and how he wanted to stand in their rather than be confined to a box. He spoke fondly of the area and his visits to the Digby Tap in Sherborne. He mentioned how his son, Sahil (who was unable to attend due to visa issues) is a huge football fan and has been critical of how American ownership has impacted English football. What came through to me, was that this is a long-term project that could leave a lasting impact on the community of Yeovil and the surrounding areas. 

Prahbu Srinivasan at the meet the owners event. Courtesy of YTFC.

After the trauma of the last five years, you cannot blame any Yeovil supporter for feeling trepidation, suspicion and unease. We have been through the wringer, gas lit by successive ownerships with a chaotic stewardship in the middle of it. But, for the first time in a long time, it feels like we have professionalism, a vision and a strategy for the football club. Right now it’s mostly words, but we are starting to the see actions. Key to it all though, getting it right on the pitch. Now, let’s sign some players.