Gloversblog (Page 31)

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After a disappointing defeat in midweek, Yeovil Town picked up a point with a goalless draw away at Eastleigh yesterday.

Boss Darren Sarll said his side were “dominant” for 80 minutes of the match, whilst on-loan defender Ben Barclay was pleased to secure another clean sheet – but the lack of goals were (yet again) the main talking point.

Here’s what Coatesie thought from the away end on the South Coast….

Yeovil players after the 0-0 draw with Solihull

Now this wasn’t vintage, free-flowing, exciting Yeovil Town, but it was an improvement from the defeat at Wealdstone where even the players questioned their own character.

This looked more like two teams determined not to lose, only coming to life when they thought they could win, before reverting back to trying not to lose.

There were long spells, particularly in the first half, where all the possession was with the visitors, but the same old problems exist going forward.

Yesterday we could not turn our possession in to clear-cut opportunities and it always felt as if there needed to be a mistake or a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock.

Sadly, the latter never looked likely to happen, though the former almost did at the end when Eastleigh striker Tyrone Barnett passed up a glorious opportunity to win it at the death.

Olomola chats to Sam Collard
? @YTFC

The man all those who travelled to the Silverlake Stadium was hoping could be the difference was new boy Olufela Olomola, back for his third loan spell at Huish Park.

It did not quite click straight away, but there was enough there from Fela to make you think it could.

He has had two appearances for his parent club, Hartlepool United, in the past month, playing less than 90 minutes in total in those matches, so it’s going to take him a bit of time to get up to speed.

There were some signs of a link with Tom Knowles and Charlie Wakefield forming, and his chance at the end of the first half suggests there is more to come.

Fela didn’t affect the game as we’d hoped, but give him a full week of training and let’s see how he looks against Dagenham next weekend.

Ben Barclay
Pic: YTFC YouTube


But defensively Yeovil looked sound again after some errors in midweek and Ben Barclay is looking a very shrewd signing on loan from Stockport County.

It was the centre half who actually came closest to breaking the deadlock when his header came off the crossbar following a header from his defensive partner Luke Wilkinson.

Wilko spoke before the game about the need for the Glovers’ backline to chip in with goals, and on another day that corner routine could have done just that.

The fact the absence of Max Hunt, one of our top performers this season, has gone pretty much unnoticed says everything you need to know about Barclay’s performances since his arrival.

This one could be a little controversial, but I do think Tom Knowles was lucky only to only see a yellow card at the end there.

And, yes, before you start swearing at your mobile/laptop/tablet, Eastleigh’s Ryan Hill was even more fortunate to remain on the pitch!

I held my breath when Knowles went in late on keeper Joe McDonnell the action which incensed Hill to shove his opponent to the ground.

Both McDonnell and Knowles were more than a little theatrical in their responses to the fouls.

Knowles went down for treatment, giving the referee a lot of time to confer with his assistants, and the result was a yellow card apiece.

Had the ref decided to go for red, there was every chance a National League ref (*Rule 1 invoked*) could have tried to keep the numbers level.

In summary, it was either a yellow card apiece or a red one apiece.

Charlie Lee rises highest
? Mike Kunz

Finally, it was lovely to see Charlie Lee waiting outside the player’s entrance after the game.

Since retiring from football at Billericay Town a couple of months ago, I imagine he has his Saturday afternoon’s spare.

I wonder if he got inside in time to hear Darren Sarll refer to the assistant he plans to appoint next week as “a super intelligent chap” in his post-match interview.

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Yeovil Line Up vs Weymouth

Yeovil Town have the fourth worst goal scoring record in the National League this season. Not one of our 26 matches so far this season has seen more than three goals scored.

As of Wednesday, February 9, our record against the current bottom six, reads: Played 6, Won 0, Drawn 4, Lost 2.

We need some goals. So if Glovers manager Darren Sarll has quite a lot on his plate taking on multiple roles, I thought I’d step up to the scouting department and do my bit.

Following the 2-1 defeat to Wealdstone Sarll said he would ‘ask the question’ to try and get a ‘spike’ or a ‘character’ onto the pitch.

So I got out the notepad and pen, headed off to the ‘Free Agent’ section of Transfermarkt, set the filters to ‘has boots, will travel, play for little, has hit cows arse with banjo at least once’ and had a scroll…

It wasn’t all 45 year old washed up nobodies, there were even some names I’d heard of.

I’ve tried to be realistic, assume we have a maybe a couple quid and an out of date bovril to pay a player from the Joe Quigley sale and here’s who I have found.

We will start with former Tottenham, Morecambe and YEOVIL TOWN striker, Shayon Harrison.

Shayon Harrison in one of the 15 appearances he made in 2017. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Remember him? His one contribution as a very young loanee from Spurs was one of the goals in *that* 3-3 draw with Exeter back in 2017 (shudders)

He was released from his Morecambe contract at the end of last month having only played a few games for them and you’d assume would be open to offers on a short term basis.

He at least knows the area, knows what to expect and can probably take a short term deal knowing he wouldn’t be confined to deepest, darkest Somerset forever.

Next up a young lad by the name of Brandon Barker, a one time Man City youth prospect who spent a short stint on loan at Oxford from SPL champions Rangers last season and did score a few goals.

He has represented England at youth levels and has been let go of his deal from Rangers on the final day of January presumably to allow easier access to other deals either North or South of the border.

Yes, Yeovil is a LONG way from Glasgow, but how about it for 3 months, make a name for yourself and alert a few EFL clubs for the new season?

Ok, this next one is very much pie in the sky, but you know, I’m straw clutching.

Remember Jerome Sinclair? All the talent in the world as a youngster at Liverpool and Watford and was meant to be destined for greatness.

But, unless ‘Greatness’ is a small suburban area just outside of the Bulgarian city of Sofia where he was last seen on loan in 2021, it never really happened.

Of course, at just 25, he’s probably setting his sights much higher than the middle of the National League, but he and Sarll would have crossed paths at Watford as he bounced around between the first team and reserves… fancy doing your old gaffer a favour, Jerome?

Hylton and Yussuf ? TomKingPhotography

And finally, Jermaine Hylton is on the list, only 28, plenty of games (and not a shabby amount of goals) at the likes of Motherwell, Ross County and Solihull Moors

He was released from his deal at Newport earlier this year and needs a new club.

Rewind back to 2018/19 he and a certain Adi Yussuf scored nearly 30 goals between them for Solihull as they finished in the National League play-offs, have a word Adi, get the band back together!

There are forwards out there, and of course I know it seems the money has run dry and the questions the Manager refers to seemingly never get answered the way he’d like, but I enjoyed the process of seeing what is out there, even if nothing really comes of it.

…and don’t worry Darren, I don’t charge scouting fees.

 

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Yeovil Town slumped to a 2-1 defeat to Wealdstone on Tuesday night. Darren Sarll said he was ‘angry and frustrated’, Josh Staunton said the team had ‘let everyone down’. The Gloverscast has asked one of BBC Somerset’s finest co-commentators, Marcus Duncomb what he thought… here are his Five Conclusions.

Reuben Reid. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

We could really do with some more goals. This one is somewhat obvious but it’s the main thing which is holding us back. In our 26 league games this season, we’ve only managed to score more than one goal in six games – the last time we did so was away at Wrexham in November. While it’s all well and good having a solid defence (not last night mind you…), you cannot rely on scoring one goal a game to win you matches. The more concerning factor is that it wasn’t like we had missed opportunities against Wealdstone. Reuben Reid was fairly ineffective and his replacement Adi Yussuf had a similar impact on the game. I heard there’s a striker Chesterfield have just signed who they don’t seem to be starting – wonder if they’re willing to loan him out yet?

I wonder if it might be time to start playing some full-backs. Morgan Williams has been one of our most consistent performers this season but, through no fault of his own, I wonder if we need to begin playing a back four of two centre-backs and two full backs rather than three centre-backs and one full-back. When we’re defending a lead or trying to keep a clean sheet, Williams is perfect for that role. Similarly when playing against a big side, you can see why Sarll puts him at full-back. However, when chasing an equaliser and struggling to create chances (as has been the case more often recently), I think it’s worth having a natural full-back there who can take on players and put quality balls into the box.

Lawson D’Ath. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

We needed a playmaker to unlock Wealdstone’s defence. Throughout the game, as soon as we brought the ball to the halfway line, Wealdstone’s back five would drop deep onto the edge of their penalty area and their midfield trio would be just in front. At this point our midfield would pass it around and be unable to find that crucial pass. Sarll has said previously that it doesn’t suit his side to have more of the ball and that was evident last night. I think we missed someone like D’Ath last night to orchestrate play for us.

Defensive errors are starting to creep into this team. When a team is built on its defensive stability and ability to win games by not conceding, there can be no room for errors. We saw it with the goal we conceded against Weymouth and both goals against Wealdstone were really poor goals to concede. If you concede goals like those then you have to go up the other end and make amends by scoring a few. Unfortunately, this team never looked like doing so and the only way we scored was by being gifted a penalty.

Finally, and this isn’t exactly a revelation, but we are mid-table team. Before the season I think pretty much everyone predicted a mid-table finish this season. The pre-Christmas run gave us some great memories and away days, but what it also gave fans was a tiny glimmer of hope to sneak into the play-offs. Sarll said during that period that his players were playing at levels much higher than they should and that fans need to manage expectations. Unfortunately, the way of mid-table is that if you go on a good run, you should expect it to be balanced out by a not so good run later on and that is exactly what has happened this season.

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Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

As always, we’ve drawn some conclusions from yesterday’s 0-0 against Solihull Moors. Here are Ian’s key takeaways from the afternoon…

Oh Charlie! Our star man had the most golden of opportunities to take us into the half time break with an advantage. A through ball from Tom Knowles gave Wakefield freedom of the Solihull Moors half, but as he bore down on goal you could just feel the confidence ebbing away. He had so long to make a decision and in the end his shot was poor and easy for Boot to make the save. It was a big moment and it felt like it was weighing on Charlie for a while, before he got back into his rhythm.

We defended with our lives. I thought the match was a good tactical battle. Neither side let up, and both changed their shape. We weathered the storm in the first quarter of an hour, with Grant Smith making a good save from Maycock and Sbarra missing a header. The game ebbed and flowed after with both sides sharing possession and territory. As the game wore on though, and fatigue set in Solihull took a bit more control and we had to defend resolutely. There was that typical defensive determination as shots were charged down by Staunton, Wilkinson, Williams, Barclay et al as we clung on to a clean sheet.

Lawson D’Ath gives us something different. Forced into an early change with Jordan Barnett’s injury, I was surprised to see Darren Sarll opt for Lawson D’Ath over Sonny Blu Lo Everton. But Lawson gave us all a timely reminder of what he’s capable of with an unexpected 70 minutes. He’s always offering to take the ball of his teammates, in any position and he’s always looking forward. The way he brings the ball down is always positive and forward-thinking. I think his arrival forced Solihull to be a bit more wary of us than they were with Barnett. Although we didn’t anticipate it, this amount of time from D’Ath will be beneficial for him. It gave him enough time to influence and get in to a flow and built up a good chunk of fitness ahead of next week.

Lawson D’Ath. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz

People are voting with their feet. Less than 2000 were in attendance on Saturday after a midweek game which had roughly 3400 home supporters. Did Friday’s statement about anti-social behaviour have anything to do with that? Maybe, but the statement was the right thing to do. But let’s be clear, there are a plethora of reasons why supporters aren’t at games. Chiefly, Scott Priestnall and his absenteeism as the owner and chairman. Huish Park needs more than a lick of paint. You can read a blog here about that though.

We are actually unbeaten in three games. It’s been quite challenging to reconcile thoughts these past few weeks, but we’ve stopped the run of defeats and, in-truth, picked up good points. Had we drawn at Woking with 10 men, then beaten Weymouth and then drawn with in-from Solihull I think we’d be happy? The last three results have yielded the same points tally at that hypothetical scenario, yet there’s still a cloud. Personally, I think the off-the-pitch uncertainty and lack of clarity keeps this cloud hovering over us, no matter what happens on-the-pitch. A 0-0 draw against Solihull is a decent result given both teams’ form, position and resources. I just think I want to be able to enjoy it without the opaqueness which surrounds our future. We’ve got a big week ahead of us on the pitch, but what I would give for a big week off it.

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We drew with Weymouth, yet again, and we probably shouldn’t have. Here are Ian’s Five Conclusions from a game of two halves at Huish Park last night.

Darren Sarll
Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz,.

The first half performance was bad. We were disjointed and looked like a group who hasn’t played together before. Our dynamism up front against Wrexham and Woking just wasn’t there. We knew we’d feel the absence of Tom Knowles, but maybe not THAT much. W*ymouth controlled possession nicely and seemed to have an answer for whatever we threw at them. The first half was littered with misplaced passes, one of which put us on the backfoot in the fourth minute, loose touches and Darren Sarll reacted at half time.

Our second half performance suggests we may actually have a Plan B.  The half time introduction of Reuben Reid and a switch to 4-4-2 changed our fortunes, and allowed us to unlock our wide areas a bit. I thought Reid improved us and the switch allowed us to see more of Charlie Wakefield and Jordan Barnett. It took Weymouth a bit of time to adapt and we managed to grab a fortuitous equaliser before they did. With Knowles back, I think we’d all prefer to see the exciting front three including him Wakefield and Sonny, but if we need to change it up, we do have an option of a 4-4-2.

It was great to see Lawson D’Ath back. I don’t think we can overstate the quality of Lawson D’Ath. But for his injuries, he’d be an EFL player for sure. His composure, his technique and his vision are supreme at this level. His cameo in midfield didn’t help us to victory, but he managed to remind us of what he’s capable of and with some more games under his belt, he has the opportunity to make an impact in our midfield.

Adi Yussuf should have scored that chance at the death. He could have scored just after W*ymouth’s opener. I think we did enough in the second half to deserve the win but as has been the case on sixteen times this season, we could only score one goal when he needed more. Is Adi Yussuf the man to do it? It feels increasingly likely that he is not. Yussuf is a marmite player. Wealey was very complimentary of him during commentary, and he’s far more qualified to pass judgement than I am, but I thought he was poor. He didn’t hold the ball up, I felt he struggled to influence when he had the ball. Even his shot for the goal was diverted in. He does run around though, and cause defenders problems by being a nuisance. I suppose it depends if we want a striker who impacts games in that way, rather then putting the ball in the net.

Charlie Wakefield. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Give Charlie Wakefield a new contract, please!  The highlight of the night was the ‘Star Man’ on the right. (I can’t think of a player ever having two great chants). His running, his desire and effort for the cause is unparalled in this team. The hope and expectation when he picks up the ball vibrates around Huish Park and more often then not he beats more than one player to find a cross, get a shot away or do something impressive. In my view, he’s been our signing of the season. For a player who had a patchy injury record and struggled to cement a place at Wealdstone and Bromley, truthfully I didn’t expect a great deal from him. He’s f*cking dynamite, though.

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Well, it wasn’t pretty, but a hard-earned three points for ten-man Yeovil Town at Woking are the first we’ve got on the board in 2022. Here’s how Coatesie saw it from his vantage point at the Kingfield Stadium….

 

It probably doesn’t bear counting as a conclusion any longer, but this team really is putting everything on the line for points this season.
In a profession where there is a dwindling amount of loyalty, we have a team constructed of those at either ends of their careers who are playing like their lives depend on it.
There’s no experienced heads looking to see out their autumn years on easy street, or youngsters who see this as simply a step on the ladder – or if they do, they are going to kick and fight their way up it.
I cannot help being drawn back to the comparison of the side which took us out of the Football League…..if that side had half the spirit of this one….anyway, that’s a conversation for another day.

Luke Wilkinson.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

How much do we need Luke Wilkinson? The manager described his performance as “great, rubbish and great all in the same game” but even at his most ‘rubbish’ he was inspiring.
Ben Barclay alongside him looks a useful addition and when the kitchen sink came from Woking with us down to ten men, they ran in to a Wilko and Barclay-shaped wall.
The stats in all competitions where he’s featured speak for themselves.
With Wilko: P17 W11 D1 L5.
Without Wilko: P12 W1 D6 L5.
That is if you count the penalty shoot-outs against W*ymouth and Needham Market (both without Wilko) as draws at 90 minutes, and give him a win for his two-minute cameo at the end of the victory at Wrexham.

Whilst you can only beat what’s in front of you, this was a very poor Woking team.
Missing their only decent player in Max Kretzschmar and now without their only goal threat, Tahvon Campbell, who moved back in to the League at the, they were devoid of any quality.
A better side or one with a player able to find a bovine’s behind with a string instrument would surely have put away some of the chances Woking wasted.
Even with ten men for half-an-hour, there was only one occasion where Grant Smith was forced in to serious action.
The effort we put in saw is over the line, but let’s make no mistake this was a poor opponent.

I could complain about the referee, Tom Bishop, who was seemingly intent on sending someone off from the opening moments….oh, I just did a bit!
But, there were too many occasions where we gave the referee an invitation he didn’t need to go to his pocket.
Darren Sarll described Tom Knowles as a “daft bugger” for getting his fifth yellow for delaying play, and it felt like both sides gave away fouls which you can afford to do  against a trigger-happy referee.
When both benches are throwing their hands up in frustration at decisions, you get the impression of the kind of game Mr Bishop had.

Finally, who’s still standing? With Tom Knowles now suspended for Tuesday’s derby with W*ymouth, Jordan Barnett having limped off with a hamstring strain to go with the ankle injury he went in to Saturday with, it’s looking threadbare.
The addition of Barclay was a plus and it was great to see Lawson D’Ath back on the bench – oh how we could do with his skill in midfield – but more reinforcements are needed.

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Wrexham fought back to clinch a 2-1 win at Huish Park yesterday, here are my Five Conclusions from the match.

The supporters have turned. I believe there was a vocal minority of negativity towards Scott Priestnall not so long ago. But it felt different this weekend. The chants were the loudest they’ve been and even found their way to the Screwfix Stand. We can only hope the his statement on Friday was his final toy thrown out of the pram and there’s not more to come. He’s shown his contempt for supporters and from the reaction at Huish Park, that vocal minority isn’t such a minority any more.

Tom Knowles in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

There were times that our front three looked unplayable. The interplay between Tom Knowles, Charlie Wakefield and Sonny Blu Lo-Everton was the best we’ve looked going forward all season. Knowles’ goal was classic Knowles and I thought Wakefield looked to be back in a decent form. That said, we should have put the game to bed. Wakefield’s miss was a sitter and he won’t need to be told that again. There was a decent chance right at the start of the second half too. If we can get that trio working like that regularly, I think we’ll score more goals. And, a shout out for Sonny – I think that was the best I’ve seen him play for us. Calm on the ball, sharp with his passing and I think he held his own in circumstances he wasn’t when he first joined. He’s such a technically gifted player and I think/hope that’s beginning to show.

I thought Mark Little had a good game. He showed his experience and he showed why Darren Sarll hyped him up so much at the start of the season. He was always talking to his teammates and I felt he had some decent moments in attacking situations. Sarll said he shouldn’t have been on the pitch after 60 minutes, let alone move to centre back. He’s been talked about as a big influence behind the scenes, hopefully he can start having an influence on the pitch, stay fit and help drag us out of this run of form.

We need to get out of this run, soon. This feels a bit familiar, after a decent run of wins we now find ourselves on a run of six without a win. I felt we played well today and we probably could have won it, but the suspect officiating really did break our flow and the loss of Josh Staunton afterwards compounded that. We need to find a way out of this run to keep our season alive or I fear the playoffs will be out of reach. The problem is, our squad is thinning out be that through injury or the owner selling them.

Yeovil Line Up vs Weymouth

The spirit amongst these players is first class. Despite all they’ve had thrown at them in the last couple of weeks, this ever-depleting squad is as close as any other squad I can recall. This young, hungry group work for eachother and for the supporters. We said it early in the season, but the the bond between this group and the Huish Park faithful is wonderful and as Darren Sarll said after the match, they’re so close. They lost a big player, forgive the pun, in Joe Quigley yesterday, Luke Wilkinson has been out, Max Hunt is on crutches and Josh Staunton hobbled off but still they go on with energy and positivity. They are an infectious bunch of lads who the supporters are firmly behind, they are the antithesis of the owner of the football club.

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On Friday night, Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall declared that the sale of top-scorer Joe Quigley to Chesterfield for an undisclosed fee had been necessary to balance the Huish Park books.

In a statement, the owner said that the sale had been made to boost the club’s coffers “at a time when our average attendances are much lower than expected“.

Owner Scott Priestnall speaks alongside manager Darren Sarll in July.

Referring to the “much lower than expected” attendances, he claimed speculation around the ownership of the club was “certainly not helping the club cover lost revenues of playing behind closed doors (last season).”

Rewind to the end of July, Priestnall sat alongside manager Darren Sarll and declared that season ticket sales were “ahead of schedule“, adding this his focus was on ensuring his manager had “the resources to be competitive.”

So, after what no-one can question last season was a financial heart attack for all football clubs, let’s take a look at what we know about where money has come in to the club since the summer:

Sport England loans – £801,538

In two loans, the club borrowed £801,538 from Sport England which the club said were “given to clubs due to lost revenue from last season’s lockdown period” – it says ‘given’ but they do expect them back, incidentally.

The statement in August added: “This means that the loan itself is in relation to the costs and creditors from last season, and that is what the loan will be used for.”

In the very same statement, titled ‘Financial Update’, the club confirmed it had settled its debts with the taxman having taken a ‘payment holiday’ with HM Revenue & Customs during lockdown.

So, probably our most important creditor settled up with and a hefty loan to deal with costs and creditors from a season behind-closed-doors.

FA Cup prize fund and television money – £158,004

The third round of the FA Cup ended in defeat which meant no prize money, but the switch to the game on the BBC Red Button brought in an additional £32,000.

The second round FA Cup tie against Stevenage saw Yeovil Town pick up £34,000 in prize money and £60,000 for the game being broadcast live on BBC television.

Darren Sarll’s side progressed through the FA Cup’s fourth qualifying round (£9,375 in prize money) and the first round proper (£22,629) as well.

FA Trophy prize fund – £6,000

The FA Trophy third round win brought in an additional £4,500 and even losing to Needham Market in the fourth round generated £1,500.

Tally up these things and you reach the princely sum of £965,542. Not to be sniffed at.

But, of course, it is attendances that are the problem.  The lack of games at Huish Park with fans in attendance last season don’t give us a great deal of insight, but in the 2019/20 season, which ended in early March, we averaged crowds of 2,951.

It does beg the question why we budgeted for crowds of 3,000, according to a statement from the chairman, when we haven’t actually managed an average gate of above 3,000 since 2016-17 as a League club, but we’ll let that slide.

This season we’ve topped the 2019/20 average on three occasions – W*ymouth in the FA Trophy (3,354), Torquay on January 2 (3,866) and the FA Cup third round with AFC Bournemouth this month (7,818).

There’s been four occasions when crowds have dipped below 2,000 (five if you include Bridgwater in the Somerset Premier Cup), but that still means 41,926 supporters attended 16 matches at Huish Park this season – giving an average crowd of 2,620.

That is on average 331 people fewer than the 2019/20 season when we went out at the first time of asking in the FA Cup – so is that so different? For context, that puts us comfortably in the top half of the National League attendance table.

Last season, we also picked up undisclosed transfer fees for young striker Alfie Lloyd for “an undisclosed fee plus add ons” to QPR in May 2021, and frontman Courtney Duffus for another undisclosed fee in January 2021, and we’ve heard Sarll talk about his pride at the fees that he has picked up for players.

Myles Hippolyte was another who went for an undisclosed fee to Scunthorpe United in the summer of 2020, peak pandemic time – but that was 18 months ago, so we can’t count that.

On the field, the experienced heads of Rhys Murphy, Charlie Lee, Carl Dickinson and Jimmy Smith, who would have been among the top earners, departed our payroll in May, and off-the-field Sarll spoke yesterday about “staff shortages” – not least his lieutenant, Terry Skiverton.

Yes, we brought in Mark Little, another experienced head, but the majority of arrivals were of the youthful variety – hence having the second-youngest squad in the division.

So, with the thick end of £1m either borrowed or made through prize money, attendances dipping 331 below the levels of two years ago, transfer fees already brought in, a wage bill trimmed – and don’t even get me started on supporters’ donating more than £50,000 to a Crowdfunder when the chips were down in the summer of 2020.

After all that, we’re still in a position where we’re having to fire sale players to clubs we should be competing against for promotion, Mr Priestnall?

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Every week (well, every time we don’t forget!), the Gloverscast pens a column for the Western Gazette giving our views on ongoings at Huish Park, here’s the one which appeared in the edition on January 20:

As we come towards the end of what might be one of the most tumultuous weeks in Yeovil Town’s 125 year history, it has almost gone under the radar that the Glovers have a league game this weekend… a pretty big one at that.

How we’ll all remember Skivo – in a green-and-white shirt.

You’ll have read the tributes to the departing Terry Skiverton this week, you’ll have taken in the fall our to the dramatic and disappointing FA Trophy exit at the hands of Needham Market, but much like what’s left of the Glovers’ management team, the focus had to once again turn to Saturday.

The show, as they say, must go on.

I won’t disagree that the form since Boxing Day has been nothing short of terrible, and the context around the double defeat to Torquay, the losses against Southend, Bournemouth and of course Needham Market need no repeating.

Do you think Darren Sarll has spent the week sulking? Nope, me neither, then maybe we shouldn’t either.
The mind is cast back to the magical win over Wrexham back in November, a result which looks more and more incredible with each subsequent passing game.

I am reminded that on that day, much like now, the build up has been less than perfect. There were only four subs named that night, of which only one was really an option.

Luke Wilkinson wasn’t really available (despite making a cameo late on when he really shouldn’t have done) and much like now, Wrexham were coming off the back of a brilliant run of form.

A week is a long time in football, but you can bet Sarll and his players will be working their hardest to turn our run of form around.

It’s been tough on us all, and the best way to move on, is to send the Huish Park home with a performance to be proud of and three all important points.

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An exit from the FA Trophy at the hands of Needham Market, a team two divisions below us in the football pyramid, had Yeovil Town supporters with their heads in their hands.

Couple this with the exit of Terry Skiverton, whose legendary status needs no further introduction, and the seemingly never-ending wait for a final answer over the club’s off-the-field situation, and you could be left asking – has it ever been this bad?

I’d offer up the suggestion it has and to be exact as to when it was – Tuesday, October 25, 1994.

Three days earlier Yeovil Town had gone out of the FA Cup in the fourth qualifying round at the hands of Walton & Hersham, the ninth consecutive game they had failed to pick up a win.

The infamous fixture which saw Yeovil Town dumped out of the FA Cup at Walton & Hersham. Picture courtesy of Tim Lancaster.

Their opponents that day were actually only a division below them, but such was the significance of the competition to the Glovers, it felt wounded.

Andy Wallace and Neil Cordice were on target that day but a 3-2 defeat saw them go out of the competition, and there were angry exchanges between manager Brian Hall and his players and travelling fans.

Then-chairman Bryan Moore, a former chairman of the Green & White Supporters’ Club and Yeovil Town to the core, described that day as “one of the worst days of my entire life.”

In the midweek fixture that followed, GM Vauxhall Conference relegation rivals Merthyr Tydfil beat Yeovil 3-1 and the atmosphere was beyond toxic.

Fans who had vented their anger at the Cup exit the weekend before gathered outside Huish Park calling for the dismissal of Hall, to the extent that mounted police were called in to disperse the crowd at around 11pm with Chairman Moore ‘speaking’ to them via a megaphone from the Board Room.

As the club’s history, Hendford to Huish Park, recalls: “A beleaguered board stated that they would happily hand over should a consortium with money come along.

“They could not afford to sack Brian Hall but conversely, they could ill afford to see the situation continue.

“There were soon a number of faces mentioned with regards to take over the running of the club, among them Brian Hillier, formerly in charge at Swindon Town.

“John Fry who was already on the board and had recently sold his business interests would be available almost full-time and (former chairman) Gerry Lock who had continued to follow the fortunes of his former club from afar had hot a consortium together who expressed an interest but nothing further was heard from them.”

There were a couple of wins in the weeks which followed, but plenty of defeats including a 5-0 thrashing at Stevenage Borough with the history books reporting that ex-Tottenham player Graham Roberts “ran the show” for them.

Having been told his budget would be cut further, Hall lasted until the first week of 1995 when he was sacked and, after a few games with players Tiv Lowe and Paul Wilson in temporary charge, his replacement would be none other than Roberts, who also counted Chelsea, Rangers and (say it quietly) W*ymouth among his former clubs.

Off the pitch things were changing as well with John Fry coming in as Chief Executive and despite the fact relegation was almost a certainty, there was a sense of optimism about Huish Park not felt in years.

Roberts’ team took it to the final game of the season which ended in a 4-4 draw with Northwich Victoria when their fate was sealed.

But rather than spilling on to the pitch to get angry, Yeovil supporters chanted “we’ll support you ever more” and they did.

In 1997, Graham Roberts led Yeovil Town to promotion to the Conference after two seasons. Picture courtesy of Tim Lancaster.

Two seasons at their lowest ebb, the ICIS League, saw the Glovers challenging for promotion whilst off-the-pitch Fry and his fellow directors, notably Fred Lewis, got things back on to an even keel.

More than a quarter-of-a-century has passed since then, we’re a full-time team now, we’ve had 15 years as a Football League club, and the debts the club is saddled remain a millstone round the club’s neck which (for his many faults) John Fry would never have allowed to happen.

But, we’ve undoubtedly got a more competitive team that back in the mid-1990s, we just all hope that off-the-field there are people willing to put in the hours and the finance.

There’s some similarities between then and now but my point is, the darkest hour is often before the dawn.

As a wiser man than me once said – Keep the faith, bruvvers!