Gloversblog (Page 18)

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Jake Gallagher has kindly offered us his thoughts on why pre-season doesn’t matter…

Pre-season is win-win as a football fan. If your team didn’t do well in the five or six games that occur before the league action commences, then it doesn’t matter because it’s only pre-season. If your rivals are putting good results together, then it doesn’t matter because it’s only pre-season.

Jordan Stevens celebrates his opening goal in the pre-season friendly win at Buckland Athletic.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

Depending on the biased view of your team or of that lot from down the road, pre-season doesn’t matter. That is of course, until it does.

Last season’s National League South winners Ebbsfleet United started their title-winning campaign with nine consecutive league victories. The first club to stop them earning three points were Oxford City who ended the season promoted themselves. Simply put, Ebbsfleet started like a train.

Ebbsfleet scored 15 goals in those 6 friendly games, at an average of 2.5 goals per game

Now if you look back to their pre-season of 2022 – and do remember that none of this actually matters – they won 4, drew 1 and lost 1. The loss coming against West Ham U21s and 2-2 draw against League Two outfit Colchester United. Their wins were good results, on paper at least, including a 3-1, a 1-0, a 3-0 and a final pre-season fixture that ended in a handsome 5-1 victory.

Ebbsfleet scored 15 goals in those 6 friendly games, at an average of 2.5 goals per game (gpg). When the season began, that average increased to 2.8 gpg. On this occasion, a good pre-season equalled a good start to the league.

Next let’s check on Maidstone, the National League South champions from the season before that.

Their pre-season of 2021 – and remember once more that none of this matters – they won 5, drew 1 and lost 1. They scored 20 goals in 7 friendlies, that’s 2.8 gpg, and saw them propel into the season proper with 6 wins in their opening 8 league matches, drawing the other two, scoring 2.4 gpg.

There’s a trend here; Good pre-season = good start to the league.

Shall we now cast our eyes back to Yeovil Town’s last pre-season? I’m talking about the beginning of Chris Hargreaves’ short spell at the club.

Chris Hargreaves

In our pre-season of 2022 – and remember for a third time that none of this matters – we won 1, drew 3 and lost 1. We scored 0.4 gpg in those friendlies which saw us begin the campaign with 1 victory in 11 league matches scoring 0.9 gpg.

The trend? Bad pre-season = bad start to the league.

Listen to any football manager and they’ll tell you pre-season is about fitness levels and getting through games unscathed

In Mark Cooper’s pre-season of 2023 (so far) – which doesn’t matter – we’ve won 5, drawn 0 and lost 1 scoring 3 ggp on average. So can we expect a good start to the campaign given the good results in our friendlies? You’d have to hope so.

Listen to any football manager and they’ll tell you pre-season is about fitness levels and getting through games unscathed. But it’s absolutely, categorically, much more than that.

Pre-season is about setting standards, creating good habits, a good culture, and gaining confidence through good performances. At this level player turnover is high, so it’s likely players be playing with new teammates or have a new teammate to play next to. It’s about forming strong on-pitch relationships and understanding each other’s strengths. Winning is a bonus but winning – friendly game or not – is what football is all about.

The performance against League Two Newport was a good one. If you can put aside that the Welsh side were utter shite there are many positives to take into our opener against Hemel Hempstead Town. Don’t get me wrong there’s plenty to work on; Morgan Williams didn’t look comfortable receiving the ball in the middle of a back three and Jake Wannell didn’t show enough aggression when defending corners aerially, but these are small points to pick up on.

I’ll level with you and admit all the numbers I’ve referenced earlier in the piece is a shallow analysis – there’s no deep dive here. It’s based on results only. As I mentioned earlier in the piece though, winning is what football is all about.

Winning breeds confidence in yourself.
Winning breeds belief in your teammates.
Winning breeds trust in the management team and their methods.

If you can get to full fitness, avoid injury, feel like you’ve performed well while garnering strong connections and partnerships with your teammates AND win games, then pre-season matters. It always matters.

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We had the first taste of pre-season at Huish Park last night on a glorious summer evening as Yeovil ran out 2-0 winners over Newport County. Here are Ian’s conclusions from a confidence-boosting evening at home…

Huish Park was looking resplendent. We all know our home has been in desperate need of some tender loving care for a long time and we’ve seen a lot of the work that has been done over the Summer through social media. Last night more than 2100 supporters got to see it first hand for the first time and to say it looks impressive is an understatement. The refreshed seats, the dugouts have transformed pitch side (and make you feel closer to the players and staff), the carpet, as much as we love it, has been replaced with modern wooden flooring. And, there’s more to come behind the Thatchers Stand too. The pitch is looking impressive too, and complemented some of our excellent passages of passing play. 

Frank Nouble is everything we’ve been looking for. For so long we’ve needed a ‘sticky’ striker. Someone strong, who can hold off defenders and keep the ball to alleviate some pressure on our defence. Nouble has that about his game, as well as some explosivity too. He’s formed a good partnership with Rhys Murphy already from what we’ve seen, and last night he and Olly Thomas seemed to strike it off too. I don’t want to look back, but you can’t help but wonder where we might be had Mark Cooper been allowed to sign Nouble a few months earlier…

Frank Nouble celebrates his goal with Jordan Maguire-Drew, left, and Jordan Young.

Jordan Maguire-Drew is purring. If you ever lose your keys, give JMD a call, I think he can unlock anything. We saw flashes last season before injury derailed his season, but during pre-season he’s been on another level. He’s shown how good he is against smaller teams and against Newport County he showed other assets of his game. I can’t recall a set piece that wasn’t dangerous, the deliveries were pinpoint and caused the League Two side all sorts of problems in the box. He’s looking sharp, knows where his teammates are those relationships are strengthening. We knew he was good, but I think he’s the man to make us tick when August 5th rolls around.

What a difference a year makes. Last summer, although there was optimism (isn’t there always in Summer?), we struggled to score goals throughout our pre-season. We couldn’t create clear openings but for Tom Knowles (#DFILWF). This summer it’s been a totally different story at the top end of the pitch. We’ve got experience in Murphy, Hyde and Nouble and I’m excited about Olly Thomas too. Combined with that there’s the likes of Jordan Young, Sonny Blu Lo-Everton, JMD, Matt Worthington, Alex Whittle and Zac Bell who are all contributing in those attacking areas. There’s massive depth up front and the patterns of play taking shape and creating chances.

A case for the defence. Other than the defeat at Wimborne pre-season has been pretty much immaculate. We’ve conceded five goals (but scored 18) and huffed and puffed against some teams, but that’s to be expected. The only questions that have been asked on social media have been around the defence but against Newport County we looked like a good defensive unit. Morgan Williams, a goal scorer on the night, was in the middle of a three and provided that pace that helped to cover Jake Wannell and Jamie Sendles-White who aren’t necessarily as quick. In the case of Wannell and Sendles-White, they had their best performance so far in a three and as a pair later in the evening. It’s natural that as these players gain fitness, they improve and we’ve seen that in the culmination of a good performance where we kept a football league side at arms length – despite their ‘official’ version of events.

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What a signing that is. Sonny Blu Lo-Everton is so talented and creative. Even if he doesn’t start every game this season, when he does play he will rip this league apart. I imagine that is Scott Pollock off then, to be honest. But what a replacement!
 
Being 20, he still has five or six more years of growing into his full potential, as I have said before, he is destined for the #EFL. Fingers crossed that’s with us, but if we get some money for him that would be appreciated as well. We’ve got some of the best creative talent in the league.

HOW WILL HE FIT IN?

For me, it’s one of two positions, but I think his main position will be as a deep lying playmaker. I think we’ll see him picking up the ball from deep and spreading the play wide and linking up with the strikers and attacking midfielders like he did in the 5-0 win against Dorchester.
 
 
However, when we play with four at the back, players like Jordan Stevens will be on the wing which may leave a chance for Sonny to play further forward if Jordan Maguire-Drew gets injured, needs resting or gets subbed. He’s a similar player to JMD in terms of his creativity and vision of his teammates.
 
 
Most Yeovil fans will know what type of player Sonny is, but if you have forgotten here are some clips of him playing in the last couple seasons!
 

 
As we can see from this clip, he comes deep to get the ball at the bottom of the screen, has the awareness to look around before receiving the ball to know where the defender is. He has the ability to turn his man and run into space, and then to find a quality pass.
 
 
 
In the second we can see he is always aware of his surrounding with quick looks over his shoulder before receiving the ball and knowing where the defender is, the bit of quality to put it through the defenders legs and to run into space and find the pass. A shame Jordan Barnett was on the end of it!
 
 
I think this will be the position that Sonny is mostly going to be looking to pick up for us.  Receiving the ball off of the defence on the half turn looking to bring the ball forward with his ability on the ball when passing or dribbling.
 
 
 
His ability to pick out a long pass either from a dead ball situation or from open play could be really helpful when we’ve got the height of Frank Nouble and Jake Hyde and the running ability of Rhys Murphy, Olly Thomas and Jordan Stevens!
 
Overall I think this a brilliant signing for us. His work rate is second-to-none, matched with his ability to create a chance or create a bit of space out of nothing!
 
 
What are your thoughts on the signing? Let us know in the comments….

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Callum Hallett made his way to Totton yesterday for another Yeovil Town preseason fixture. Here’s his review of the game…
 
Not the prettiest game of football we will see Yeovil play this season. But a win is a win, and in pre season, getting minutes in is what matters most.
 
It’s a great little stadium down at AFC Totton and I think they will be up there at the top of the 7th tier.

HOW WE LINED UP FROM THE START

We started with the two wide centre halves that were to be expected, Jake Wannell and Morgan Williams, with Josh Staunton rested, Jamie Sendles-White came in for him. The two wingbacks/wide midfielders, Alex Whittle and Zac Bell, provided the width of the team in and out of possession.
 
The midfield two of Charlie Cooper and Matt Worthington lined up with Cooper sat in-front of the defence, dictating the pace of the game, and when out of possession, winning the ball with tackles and interceptions. This allowed Worthy to be more adventurous and bring the ball forward.
 
Jordan Maguire-Drew was the main creative asset of the team getting on the ball on the half turn looking to get shots off, or link up with Rhys Murphy and Frank Nouble in tight spaces creating chances. Once again involved in a goal – JMD could rip this league apart if he continues his form.
 
We have to get used to naming these two as a pair instead of on their own I think. Murphy and Nouble always seem to look dangerous up front together. Both are able to come deep or spin in behind and I think their clever touches and link up with each other will create serious goals!

THE FIRST SIXTY MINUTES

As Cooper said himself the first half was “disappointing”. We started so brightly with a classic Murphy goal, but the first half soon dragged on with chances coming few and far between. In the first 45 minutes Wannell was rather poor compared to what we have seen from him in previous games. He seemed to take a very long time to get comfortable in the game, misplacing passes and struggling with his first touch. However, by the start of the second half he had dramatically improved and the defence became very solid.
 
I think we have to expect to concede some sloppy goals this season from this style of play Cooper is adopting, where we play risky passes through the opposition lines. We as Yeovil fans get to worried over a small issue. It will be dealt with for sure!
 
The attacking build up in the opening 15 minutes of the second half was a joy to watch for Yeovil fans. Totton couldn’t get out of their half as we kept getting the likes of JMD, Nouble and Whittle on the ball. The patterns of passing in the attacking third was brilliant.

HOW WE LINED UP BY THE END

As always with our pre season, the subs started flowing with half an hour left on the clock. Only three of our starting squad played the full 90 – Worthington, Wannell and Williams. (I think I know Mark Coopers favourite letter!) The formation didn’t change much until the front three – instead of having 2 upfront with a player just behind – we had Olly Thomas upfront on his own with Sonny Blu Lo-Everton and Jordan Young both playing in the number 10 role either side of Thomas. This really worked well to kill out the game as showed instantly.
 
Olly Thomas, number 40 (much to Ben’s disgust), celebrates his goal with his new team-mates.
 

“Olly Thomas is the exact player as I explained in my review of him after he signed”

He’s a quick, powerful forward who has the ability to take the ball with his back to goal or running in behind, with an eye for goal. This was showed perfectly when him and Sonny worked hard to win the ball off of the Totton holding midfielder and when Sonny played Thomas through he only had one thing on his mind – an early shot into the far bottom corner and brilliant goal. Those two linked up on many occasions to create a few chances for each other.
 
Jordan Young looked a lot sharper today than what he did on Tuesday in our 5-0 win against Dorchester. He still needs something to fall for him to score one, after he scores one he will get plenty at this level. He might be the unluckiest footballer I’ve seen at Yeovil!! Talent!

A NOTE ON MORGAN WILLIAMS

It has taken me a long time to realise what Williams brings to the team, it was great to see him, at such a young age himself, helping Jacob Shore get comfortable in the Wing-back position. He is quality himself and definitely up there as a future captain!
 
On to the next one this Tuesday and our proper test against Newport County at Huish Park. It’s a chance to show our quality against a struggling EFL side. We could cause a shock and it wouldn’t surprise me.

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Yesterday Yeovil Town confirmed the loan signing of Olly Thomas. Our man Callum Hallett has done some digging in the youngster below…
 
Highly rated Bristol City forward Olly Thomas has joined Yeovil Town on loan until January. My guess is that he will give us more depth until Alex Fisher returns from injury. Mark Cooper also said how important game time is for Linton at the age of 22, hence his loan to Taunton Town.
 
A few quotes from Robins fans about Olly Thomas:
 
“Powerful centre forward who can play across the front line if needed. Very highly rated.” – @BristolCityFM
 
“Yep, got some Semenyo traits, powerful.  Can drop into pockets and run at the defence.” – @FevsFootball
 
“Very fast, and very powerful, got a very high ceiling in terms of his future.” – @ThePayne115
 
“Two of our brighter prospects” (Zac Bell and Olly Thomas) @BristolCityFM
 
Good to hear the positivity!!
 
We already know from most of Mark Cooper’s signings this season, being versatile is key. Being able to play all across the front line gives us more options of cover until Alex Fisher gets back from injury in January. It’s also good to have another style of attacking player to our name.
 

There is many things that impressed me about this goal from the movement, the control, the composure and then the quality of the finish.

THE MOVEMENT

One of the things that excites me is having a player who is willing to run in behind when the ball is with the defenders. He has the instinct to know when the defender gets the ball and start his run in behind straight away, pointing to where he’d like the ball.
 

THE CONTROL AND COMPOSURE

This is a great clip showing his pace to keep up with the ball, his awareness to know where the defender is and the composure to know what to do. The first touch is lovely to settle the ball and the second is a chop inside to set himself for a shot.
 

THE FINISH

The finish is sublime, having the ability to pick out the far top corner with a body in the way is class. He uses the defenders body to guide the ball into the far corner, which is a sign of a player with huge confidence and quality.
 

How he will fit into both of Mark Coopers tactics?

I think Cooper will probably stick with two tactics this season, A narrow 4-2-3-1 and a 3-5-2/5-3-2 with wide wing backs.
 
Here is a look at how Thomas may fit in to each formation.
 

3-5-2/5-3-2

This formation will probably be Coopers favoured formation going off of pre-season. This will most likely see Thomas be an option to play in the Murphy role alongside a target man looking to get on the end of flick-ons and running in behind using his pace and power.

4-2-3-1

Not so much a fan of this one as it means Nouble will probably play a bit wider as seen against Wimborne. In this formation Nouble is less of a target man and is more key to running at defenders getting balls into the box. This suits Thomas down to the ground!
 
A good signing for us and I look forward to seeing him play. Thanks to the City fans for the help on what type of player he is!

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A glorious July afternoon in Devon saw Mark Cooper’s Yeovil Town run out 4-0 winners against Buckland Athletic. There was plenty of travelling support for the first pre season game of 2023/24 and a good sprinkling of optimism amongst supporters who saw Yeovil put on a goal scoring display. What a novelty! And before you say, ‘come on it’s Buckland’, we’ve had a miserable 12 months and to see us score four goals was lovely.

Ian was there, and here are his conclusions:

Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

We have a wealth of attacking options. How long has it been? With Jake Hyde, Malachi Linton, Jordan Stevens and Benjani Junior in the first half and a front five of Rhys Murphy, Frank Nouble, Jordan Maguire-Drew, Jordan Young and Matt Worthington we are blessed with depth at the top end of the pitch. Four of those listed got on the score sheet yesterday and if an instant return to the National League is going to happen, they all need to chip in.

With those forward thinking players, the defensive midfielder role is key. Josh Owers did a decent job in the first half, but was receiving lots of advice from Mark Cooper throughout his 45. The second half saw Charlie Cooper take up that role in front of the defence. Buckland got more out of our defence in the first half, with Will Dawes and Ollie Haste on the left half of the back four. But Whittle, Wannell, Sendles-White and Matt Buse were resolute on the 2nd and barely gave Buckland a sniff.

Jake Wannell.
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

I’ve teed this one up, but I was so relieved to see a back four. It felt more balanced, we appeared more comfortable with the ball and the team seemed more aware of eachothers positioning. This isn’t an anti-wingback crusade, I’m open to it with the right players, but we looked confident throughout.

That kit is lovely. We may as well get the ‘Best Dressed, award out the way. The anxiety around kits is real but this one is a belter. Some of the Errea ones that have been released already have been shockers but this one is League-winning, I’m sure.

Jake Hyde
Picture courtesy of Iain Morland.

It felt good to see a win. Yes, it was against Buckland. Yes, it’s only pre-season. Cynics will say it’s mainly a fitness exercise and I was amongst them. Last summer I was in that camp when we struggled to a draw against Taunton. When we put up a decent fight against Exeter and Plymouth without ever really laying a glove on them. We drew with Dorchester before scraping past Weston. It set the tone for a woeful season that none of us expected. We’ve started bright, we actually look like a team and we’ve scored some goals. That feels good.

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Pre season kicks off in less than 24 hours with Yeovil Town’s visit to Toolstation Western Premier Division side Buckland Athletic. As Summers go, this one has been one of excitement and a pleasant lack of turmoil. Martin Hellier has communicated with local media, businesses and supporters to an extent his predecessor didn’t – especially in the latter days of his reign. The refresh of Huish Park began in earnest on Day One the anticipation for that first trip to Huish Park is palpable.

On the pitch, we’ve been busy too. Mark Cooper has wasted no time in making changes to his squad in his first pre-season at the club. So far, 12 players have exited Huish Park, including Jamie Reckord, Lawson D’Ath and Max Hunt. The incomings have seen us fill the void at the top end of the pitch, and add some much needed experience. Rhys Murphy is no stranger to Glovers fans, and Jake Hyde and Frank Nouble add even more nous to the attack.

So, what shape are we in?

Goalkeepers

Goalkeepers
Will Buse
Lewis Williams
Will Buse. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

With Grant Smith’s departure – he’s subsequently signed for Bromley – and Max Evan’s release, Mark Cooper has had to sort out a couple of keepers. In Will Buse we’ve recruited familiarity. Local, knows the group, is more than equipped for the level and IF we build momentum and start climbing, he could be ours for the longterm. Backing him up is Lewis Williams. Signed from Tiverton, he’s worked with goalkeeper coach Phil Osborn before, looks physically ready and ticks that young, hungry, local box that Mark Cooper mentioned after signing Buse.

“It was key for me that I wanted to change the way we recruited. I wanted to try and have more local players which I class as areas such as Bristol, because we are out on a limb and there is no disguising that.”

Defenders

Defenders
Ollie Haste
Jamie Sendles-White
Josh Staunton
Jake Wannell
Alex Whittle
Morgan Williams

Defensively, in my view, there’s still more depth to add and I suspect we’ll have a look into the loan market to pad out the right side of defence. I got hung up on our formation last season, but it changed so frequently it was difficult not to. I think it’s all up for grabs again this season. The personnel is there to go with a back three (although we are in need of a right wing back) but there’s also back four there too. In Jamie Sendles-White and Jake Wannell we’ve got a couple of players who fall into the #knowsthelevel criteria, with Wannell also landing in the local part of Mark Cooper’s venn diagram.

Midfielders

Matt Worthington. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.
Midfielders
Charlie Cooper
Will Dawes
Jordan Maguire-Drew
Josh Owers
Scott Pollock
Jordan Stevens
Matt Worthington

The further we move up the pitch, the more questions there are about how we could line up. There is serious strength in depth in middle of the pitch, to the point that I think we will see departures.

Charlie Cooper and Matt Worthington is a National League pairing in centre midfield, and with Josh Owers commuting down the A37, we’ve added some real potential. You’ve also got Jordan Maguire-Drew, who the manager was itching to give a pre-season too come the end of 2022/23, Scott Pollock and Jordan Stevens who you’re going to have to fit in somewhere between the midfield and attack. It’s a nice problem to have, but we could have a loaded bench when we visit Hemel Hempstead on the opening day.

Attackers

Rhys Murphy in his first spell at Huish Park. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.
Attackers
Benjani Jr
Alex Fisher
Jake Hyde
Malachi Linton
Rhys Murphy
Frank Nouble
Jordan Young

That depth of attack looks as good as strong as we’ve had in years. There’s a bit of everything in there. The poacher in Rhys Murphy, the false 9 in Jordan Young, Jake Hyde’s experience, Frank Nouble (we finally got him!) so nearly dragged Torquay to safety. Sure, there are injury histories for Murphy and Hyde, and Alex Fisher is a long way off a return. But there’s youthful exuberance in Young and Malachi Linton. What they can glean from the experienced heads that have joined on this Summer is going to be invaluable.

Upon his signing, Murphy said: “I have some good memories here and it is such a big football club and the manager is a really good manager, so I am really looking forward to working with him. There are big plans for the club and everyone wants to be playing for a club which is ambitious and this club wants to be higher up the leagues. We want to be winning games and I want to be scoring goals.”

How will we line up on the 5th of August is anyones guess, but it’s safe to say we’re going to be a damn sight more experienced than we were 12 months ago, with a boatload of positivity to boot.

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Yeovil Town fans are set to take on over 5000 miles following the Glovers for the forthcoming 2023/24 season.

But this represents a significant drop from the National League campaign of last season where any supporter who made every away game would have topped 8000 miles on the road.

Yeovil may have lost away days to Gateshead, Scunthorpe and Halifax (to be honest, anywhere even remotely close to Gloverscast Ben and Dave… cheers lads) but there are some fairly long trips still in the schedule… just more east, rather than north.

Yeovil’s longest journey in the upcoming season is a 404 mile round trip to Dover Athletic, but some slightly closer games against Taunton, Weston Super-Mare and Bath have done wonders for the Glovers’ fans carbon footprint.

In comparison, only twice did Yeovil play within 100 miles of Huish Park last season (Eastleigh and Torquay), that number rises to eight this coming season.

If you are supporting Yeovil on the road this season, the grounds might be a bit smaller, the pints might be drunk in front of the terrace rather than behind closed doors, but let’s hope you’re watching some better football, some more goals… and maybe even a win or two.

(note: all mileage numbers are taken from Google Maps direct from Huish Park to the opposition ground – and I’ve included Truro as playing at Plymouth Parkway – the full list is below)
2022/232023/34
TeamMilesTeamMiles
Aldershot Town 105Aveley162
Altrincham210Bath City39
Barnet 130Braintree Town192
Boreham Wood141Chelmsford City180
Bromley147Chippenham Town61
Chesterfield 215Dartford157
Dagenham and Redbridge169Dover Athletic202
Dorking Wanderers 127Eastbourne Borough162
Eastleigh77Farnborough100
Gateshead345Hampton & Richmond Borough118
Halifax Town 255Havant & Waterlooville99
Maidenhead United113Hemel Hempstead Town139
Maidstone United163Maidstone United163
Notts County192Slough Town121
Oldham Athletic230St Albans City141
Scunthorpe United256Taunton Town25
Solihull Moors148Tonbridge Angels155
Southend United184Torquay United67
Torquay United67Truro City90
Wealdstone127Welling United162
Woking110Weston-super-Mare AFC39
Wrexham214Weymouth30
York City280Worthing127
Miles4005Miles2731
Round Trip Miles8010Round Trip Miles5462

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Did you know that Football’s fixture computers are all Weymouth fans?

Ok, well maybe not, but I’ve had a couple of minutes spare this summer, so have spent a bit of time crunching some numbers around the ‘Big Three’ dates in the football schedule and they don’t look great from a Glovers point of view.

I took the last 24 seasons, from the 1999/20 campaign and worked out if we were Home or Away on the opening day, the final day and on Boxing Day and how those fixtures faired for us.

Let’s start at the start, it seems only logical.

In 1999, the Glovers were away from home on the opening day, and lost 5-0 away at Scarborough… rubbish.

The fixture computer then gave us three home games in a row over the next three seasons, and whilst one of them wasn’t actually at Huish Park, but down the road at Dorchester as we did a little bit of ground sharing, we at least got to show off all our new shiny players to the fans first thing.

Then, just as we reached the promised land of the EFL, things turned sour, we all remember the magical opening away day at Rochdale in 2003, a wonderful scene as Kevin Gall announced to the world the Glovers were playing with the big boys now and weren’t going to be taken lightly,

But that match represented the first of FIVE consecutive opening day away games, and we didn’t win any of those subsequent four.

 

In fact, the next opening day win wouldn’t come until 2009 with a home win over Tranmere with the likes of Alex McCarthy, Steven Caulker and Ryan Mason in the side.

There’s no getting around it, our opening day form has been pretty naff, of the last 24 seasons, we’ve won six, drawn five and lost 13 games to raise the curtain on a league season.

What’s more, our last win on the opening day was way back in the 2016/17 season, when Otis Khan and Kevin Dawson scored against Notts County in a 2-0 win.

Since then, we’ve earned just one point on the opening day, that silly 2-2 draw vs King’s Lynn on the telly.

Right enough about the opening day, let’s move onto Boxing Day., that’ll be better, right?

Well, not really. Firstly, I only have 22 games to work from here as 2021/22 and 2010/11 saw the traditional Boxing Day game postponed… something about too many pigs in blankets or something.

But again, we’ve been Away far more times that Home the day after Old St Nick comes to town, 13 out of 22 occasions have seen us on the road.

Who can forget our 6-2 drubbing of Torquay in 2019/20? Well, that’s about as good as has got of late. The Gulls repaid the favour a year later (6-1) and rubbed salt into the wounds 12 months further down the line (3-0).

13 Losses from the last 22 Boxing Day games in total, just the five wins in there too.

Let’s fast forward to the final day, this has to be better, right?

 

Oh, for… sake, 24 games, 14 away! Who keeps scheduling us to make horrible trips to the likes of Nottingham Forest, Colchester… CARLISLE?

Three of the last four have been away from home too, now in fairness, I’ve counted the Dover game in the shortened season in 2019/20 here as a ‘final day away game’… but a quick look at where we were meant to end that season gives us… Notts County. AWAY. Of course.

So out of the last 70 “Key Dates” we’ve been at home on just 29 occasions and away on a whopping 41 occasions.

In fact, on no fewer than four different occasions, we were away on all three ‘Biggies’ 99/00, 06/07, 17/18 and last season where we got the joy of losing to Scunthorpe first, Boreham Wood last and got a point against fellow strugglers Torquay on Boxing Day.

Only once have we been at home on all three big dates, 2008/09 – but we didn’t win any of them either.

So what about this coming season, the fixtures will be out soon and obviously there’s a lot more local derbies, (oh to have the chance of getting Oldham away on the opening day…)  but there’s still the question of who do we get paired with on Boxing Day.

It’s usually been fairly obvious – Torquay have filled that spot. But with Truro coming into the league (playing in Plymouth) you’d think they’d get the back to back games against one another.

Dan Moss, Josh Staunton and Joe Quigley defend vs Weymouth
Credit: Weymouth Flickr

Bath and Chippenham are quite close, Weston Super-Mare and Taunton are both North and West of us and seem easy to pair off… which leaves us with… Our Fixture Computer Supporting Friends down on the South Coast.

So when those all important dates hit our diary, don’t expect us to have dates at Huish Park scheduled first, last or on Boxing Day.

Who do you think our three key games will be against?

I’m going for Tonbridge away on the first day, Dover away on the last… and a Christmas trip to the Bobby Lucas!

First DayFirst Day ResultBoxing Day Boxing Day ResultFinal DayFinal Day Result
1999/2000AwayLostAwayLostAwayDrawAway all three
2000/2001HomeWin AwayWinHomeLost
2001/2002HomeLostAwayLostHomeWin
2002/2003HomeDrawAwayLostHomeDraw
2003/2004AwayWin HomeLostAwayWin
2004/2005AwayLostHomeWinHomeWin
2005/2006AwayLostHomeDrawHomeDraw
2006/2007AwayDrawAwayLostAwayWinAway all three
2007/2008AwayLostHomeLostAwayLostLost All Three
2008/2009HomeDrawHomeDrawHomeLostHome all three
2009/2010HomeWin HomeWinAwayLost
2010/2011HomeWin N/AN/AAwayWin
2011/2012AwayLostHomeLostAwayLostLost All Three
2012/2013HomeDrawAwayLostAwayLost
2013/2014AwayWin AwayLostHomeLost
2014/2015HomeLostAwayLostAwayLostLost All Three
2015/2016AwayLostAwayLostHomeLostLost All Three
2016/2017HomeWin HomeDrawAwayLost
2017/2018AwayLostAwayWinAwayDrawAway all three
2018/2019AwayLostAwayLostHomeDraw
2019/2020AwayLostHomeWinAwayWin
2020/2021AwayDrawAwayLostHomeLost
2021/2022HomeLostN/AN/AAwayWin
2022/2023AwayLostAwayDrawAwayLostAway all three
2023/2024AwayLostHomeWinAwayWon
Total 24
Total Home101010
Total Away151315
Total Win668
Total Draws545
Total Losses141312

By:
On:
In: Gloversblog, Latest Yeovil Town News

It’s been a long, largely unhappy journey, but the reign of Scott Priestnall as owner and chairman of Yeovil Town is over.

There are undoubtedly things we don’t know, or more to the point have not been told, about the whole saga over the past three years, but there is no doubting the club is in a far worse state than when he arrived in 2019.

From a club admittedly on a decline having dropped out of the Football League, we have gone from one which had a relatively stable (in football club terms, at least) balance sheet to one which is a tenant in its own stadium with debts of seven figures and will play next season in regional football.

In short, the reign of Scott Priestnall is a stain on the history books of Yeovil Town and one which cannot be forgiven or forgotten.

But, looking forward, we now have a new chairman, a new owner and a new direction under Martin Hellier. His statement announcing the takeover is wonderfully theatrical and says absolutely everything a Yeovil Town supporter would want to hear about the future on and off the field.

The message to Mr Hellier is the same as it was to SU Glovers – actions, not words, will judge you.

Minutes after the announcement, we issued a poll on our Twitter asking people to give a simple ‘yes or no’ answer to the question – are you happy with the takeover by Martin Hellier?

At the time of writing this, 76% of the 324 people who have voted say they are happy with the takeover – but in the comments there are unquestionably doubts.

The truth is that Martin Hellier’s antics on social media and off it have done nothing to help his cause of winning over the trust of supporters.

There has been language not befitting of a businessman of his stature, there has been open warfare (and blocking) with anyone who disagrees with his opinion,  along with threats to pull out of his sponsorship of the Main Stand, numerous pauses and restarts of his Twitter, and enough ups and downs to need a large glass of red wine to keep up with it.

Just reading the statement he has issued, you get the sense of a love for the theatre of the situation, and, while passion is good, what we need is stability and a solid business head.

In short, if this is going to work out well, Martin Hellier the chairman needs to be VERY different to Martin Hellier the social media user.

We want the businessman who has built up a solid and successful business. We want the passion for the local community. We want the support for the team, the manager (who appears at this time to be Mark Cooper). We want a football club which we all can be proud of.

If we are to achieve by unity, there has to be a willingness to admit and accept wrongdoings in the past and move forward. The reality is, as with Scott Priestnall and Norman Hayward/John Fry before him, we as supporters will have to go along for the ride whatever happens – but if we can create a club where we are listened too, communicated with and one where we can trust those in charge, we will be in a better place.

So, over to you, Martin. If you do what you say you will do – and do it in the right way – you will have the support of us all.