Green and White Goals (Page 3)

Alec Stock (2017-2001)

When Alec Stock died in April of 2001, Yeovil Town were about to take on one of the biggest matches in their history up until that point, the Conference title showdown with Rushden and Diamonds. Stock was the man who had brought the Glovers nationwide headlines in 1949 when as player-manager he masterminded the run to the FA Cup 5th Round including a famous win over the ‘Bank of England’ Sunderland team which still stands as one of the greatest shocks of all time. However, this was just the beginning of a long and illustrious managerial career which would see him win numerous honours while managing in the Football League with Leyton Orient, QPR, Luton and Fulham. He finished his career with Bournemouth in 1981 and was still a regular visitor to Yeovil during retirement, being interviewed after the 2-0 FA Cup win over Northampton in 1998.

Stock was known in his time as ‘The First Gentleman of Soccer’. He was a softly spoken and humble man, who treated the players as equals and had little time for board members and directors who who knew less about the game than the playing staff did. However he was also a workaholic with a determination to succeed which brought results. He was a man of principle who walked away from Roma when the executives decided to pick the team, and Luton when a disloyal board of directors attempted to overthrow a chairman who was sick in hospital. He always thought fondly of his time at Yeovil, remarking in his memoir that Bert Smith was “one of the best Chairmen I had, with a deep feeling for the game.”

He had a preference for flair players, and his mantra was “Football is a simple game. The crowd want to have fun, and there is no reason why we should not give it to them.” Newcastle legend Malcolm Macdonald said of him, “He listens, he talks sense, and in the end you do what he says.”

Alec William Alfred Stock was born just outside Bath in 1917. He was a rugby player at school, but also played cricket and football as an amateur. He signed for Charlton in 1936, but did not make a first team appearance for them before signing in for QPR in 1938. His playing career was hampered by injury and the outbreak of World War II, and he made his reputation mostly as a manager.

During the war, Stock signed up as infantry with the Northampton Yeomanry. When this became an armoured division, he was made Captain and was a tank commander and gunner during the brutal fighting in Caen as part of the Battle of Normandy in 1944. He was wounded in an explosion which killed the rest of his crew, and left him missing presumed dead for several days. When he was found, he was sent to convalesce in a nursing home in Wales for three months. His injuries left him partially deaf, and he walked with a limp as a result of shrapnel fragments. He would later say that he could never hear the referee’s whistle from the sidelines as he was unable to hear higher frequencies, including some people’s voices, although he resisted the use of hearing aids. Despite this disability though, he was very fond of a sing-song with players after matches as a way to unwind.

After looking at potential careers away from the game when he left the army in 1946 knowing that he would be unable to play at a high level due to his war wounds, Alec was persuaded by his wife Marjorie to apply for the job of player manager at Southern League Yeovil. He beat out around 60 other applicants and took the role at the age of 29. He remained at Huish for three years including that famous win over Sunderland in 1949. Stock scored the first goal which is the one regularly seen on FA Cup coverage to this day, as Sunderland’s equaliser and Eric Bryant’s winner were obscured by dense fog which threatened to abandon the game. Despite being 1-1 at full time, there was no replay due to fuel shortages in post-war Britain and the game went to extra time. In the dying moments, Sunderland were awarded a free kick just outside the area. Lining everyone up in the wall, Stock told his players “If anyone ducks – you’re fired”. No-one ducked and the Glovers held out for a famous win.

At the end of that season, Stock joined Leyton Orient where he managed from 1949-59, but not quite continuously as he left briefly for unsuccessful spells as assistant manager at Arsenal in 1956 and manager of Roma in 1957. During his tenure, Orient won Division Three South in 1955/56 – it was their first major title, one of only four in their history. He also took them to the FA Cup Sixth Round, twice, and turned down an approach to manage Liverpool.

From Orient he moved across London to Queen’s Park Rangers, where he managed from 1959-68. He is still remembered as one of their greatest ever managers, and was the man to sign Rodney Marsh. They were Third Division (now League One) champions in 1966/67, and during the same season were the first ever third tier club to win the League Cup, coming back from 2-0 down to beat West Brom 3-2. It remains the only cup the club has ever won.

The following season, QPR came second in the old Second Division, and were promoted to the top flight for the first time in their history. They became one of only a handful of teams to secure back to back promotions from the third tier to the top division tier of English football.

Having won the opportunity to manage at the highest level for the first time, Stock’s career at QPR was cut short by ill-health, combined with the ruthlessness of owner Jim Gregory who had taken over during Stock’s tenure. Following the League Cup win of 1967, Alec suffered his first ever asthma attack. He attempted to keep his condition secret from the players and struggled on with the condition through the promotion campaign of 67/68. He was ordered to rest by doctors, which triggered the worst attack yet for the workaholic Stock.

Alec had fully intended to spend the rest of his managerial career at Loftus Road, but the ambitious Gregory had other ideas. He promoted Stock’s assistant to the top job while the manager was still in hospital. With the team struggling in their first campaign in the top flight Stock, unable to keep away from football, had a meeting with Gregory in November 1968 during which he expected to take over first team duties once again as the team clearly needed him. However in a brief meeting he was unceremoniously fired, being told “You are incurable and I want you to go.” Stock’s entire family was devastated as he was denied the opportunity to manage in the top flight that he had earned, with his wife Marjorie telling him “we climbed a mountain only to found rubbish at the top of it.”

Despite his poor treatment at the hands of the chairman, Stock is still well regarded by QPR today, and an ‘Alec Stock Day’ was held at Loftus Road when they played Yeovil in the Championship in March 2014.

Determined to prove himself to his former employers, Alec had to work his way back up with another club, managing Luton from 1968-72. The Hatters were promoted as runners-up of Division Three in 1969/70, and signed a young Malcolm Macdonald who would go on to achieve legend status with Newcastle. Although Stock left in 1972, the team he assembled would go on to be promoted to the First Division in 1974. Once again his time was ended by behind the scenes strife, as Chairman Tony Hunt ran into financial difficulty and the club were forced to sell Macdonald to raise funds. While Hunt himself was ill in hospital, the remaining directors fought it out amongst themselves for control of the club and Stock, disillusioned with the whole affair and finding the only decent man among them to be comedian Eric Morecambe, resigned.

He spent the years 1972-76 at Fulham, which were all in Division Two – the first League club with whom he was not promoted. During this time, he signed former World Cup-winning captain Bobby Moore and took the club to their only FA Cup final to date in 1975, which they lost 2-0 to West Ham. Stock noted in his memoir that he felt at the time, at the age of 58 the FA Cup Final with Fulham would be his last great achievement. He returned to QPR as a director in 1977, serving briefly as caretaker manager in 1978. He became manager of Bournemouth in 1979, finally retiring from management in 1981, remaining at Dean Court as a director.

Looking back on the man’s career, there can not be any doubt that he enhanced the reputation of every club he managed, winning promotions with Orient, QPR and Luton, and bringing FA Cup success to Yeovil, Orient and Fulham. Had three-up / three-down been in place, his clubs would have been promoted nine times. He took two clubs to the verge of the top flight, but due to circumstance was unable to manage there himself.

Stock definitely left his mark on the game, and is fondly remembered by every club he managed. He has also left his mark on popular culture, as the Fast Show character Ron Manager, who would talk wistfully about ‘small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts’ was confirmed by creator Paul Whitehouse to indeed have been based on his memories of interviews with Alec Stock. He would do impressions of him with co-creator Charlie Higson, while they were still working as plasterers and long before they had ever worked in television.

Marvellous, isn’t it?

Yeovil Town 4 Burton Albion 0 – Saturday 6th April 2002

In 2002, the Glovers reached the FA Trophy semi-final for the first time in 30 years, after having two very bad experiences in the early 70’s and then a huge expanse of nothing. For a club who were for a long time one of the biggest in non-league, we had mostly under-performed in the Trophy.

This was a massive match for Yeovil Town, as it brought us within touching distance of winning our first ever silverware in a national competition. The gates were open at 2pm and fans were encouraged to arrive early to build the atmosphere, with local DJs on hand to get everyone going. It was one of the biggest in my lifetime up to that point, aside from perhaps the top of the table clashes with Enfield in 1997 and Rushden in 2001. The atmosphere against Rushden almost exactly a year earlier was much more tense, as even though we could have gone level on points with a game in hand by winning, Rushden still had the upper hand. They had a huge squad where we did not, and when Warren Patmore limped off injured after 20 minutes, that felt like the end of our challenge. By contrast, there were some nerves in 2002 from those who remembered those 70’s games, but apart from that there was a party atmosphere to the whole day. After a very difficult year with changes in manager, players and an atrocious pitch, it finally started to feel like the team was coming together and a promotion challenge could really be on the cards in 02/03.

Nigel Clough’s Burton were running away with the Northern Premier League, but then we had also won the Isthmian with 101 points and experienced the difference in quality between the feeder leagues and the Conference. In the end, pretty much everything went our way. Any nerves were settled early on when Kim Grant flicked in a Lee Johnson free kick after only four minutes. After a couple of solid penalty appeals were turned down for fouls on Stansfield, a slightly less clear cut one was given for a handball after 37 minutes. Way’s penalty was saved, but the referee ordered a re-take for an infringement and Crittenden scored to make it 2-0. With McIndoe adding an excellent third just before half time, Yeovil cruised to victory. The second half was quieter, with Burton shell-shocked and struggling to really create any chances. Although 3-0 was comfortable, the tie was certainly not over, especially if they could grab a consolation and only be chasing 2-0 in the second leg. A fourth would really bury the Brewers which was duly provided when super-sub and local lad Chris Giles bundled home in the 86th minute to surely kill off the tie.

The FA Trophy was introduced in 1969/70, as a way for the country’s non-league clubs to compete for national silverware before there was such a thing as the Conference. Until 1979, the top tier of non-league comprised the Northern Premier, Southern and Isthmian Leagues, and between them they strived to get a member ‘elected’ to the Football League, but only if the existing League clubs elected to evict one of their own members. This was not a common occurrence, especially when those non-league clubs going for election would often split the vote, keeping the old boys’ club of the Football League in tact – Hartlepool were re-elected an incredible 14 times. This closed shop led to the creation of the Conference (formerly Alliance Premier League), to effectively nominate one team every year for election, although it would still be many more years before automatic promotion of even one team happened on a regular basis. Only six clubs were elected between 1958 (creation of the Fourth Division) and automatic promotion in 1987. And at least one of them never won anything at all, but we won’t mention them…

In all fairness Yeovil had a fantastic season in 1970/71. Under player-manager Mike Hughes, the Glovers won the Southern League by two points and in the Third Round of the FA Cup entertained an Arsenal team on their way to winning the double. Yeovil’s run-in involved playing on the 10th, 12th and 13th of April – goalkeeper Tony Clark played 67 times that season. The Glovers were in good form going into the semi-final of the Trophy, and Telford were seen as the weakest team left in the competition. Yeovil had already beaten the Bucks home and away that season, although to be fair they were also beaten finalists the year before. There were some complaints that the neutral venue of West Bromwich Albion’s Hawthornes, being so close to Telford, gave the Shropshire side an unfair advantage, although Yeovil fans did number close to half of the 9,111 attendance. Unfortunately Telford scored early, and even though Bob Moffat equalised, the Bucks re-took the lead before half-time and scored a third in the second half. Many were mystified as to how Yeovil had not really turned up on the big occasion, but it had still been a very good season by any measure.

Sadly, 1971-72 was not so great, despite the club retaining the services of the manager and most of the players. Although Yeovil were not able to reproduce their league form, they did get to the semi-final again, beating league leaders Chelmsford City on the way. This time, the opponents were Northern Premier League leaders Stafford Rangers, with the tie being played at Oxford United’s Manor Ground, with an estimated 3,000 travelling Yeovil fans in a crowd of 6,566. Unfortunately it was to be defeat again, this time even more comprehensively. Once again the Yeovil team were unable to perform on the big occasion, and were 2-0 down inside 15 minutes and 3-0 down at half time, with Stafford adding a fourth immediately after the break. Yeovil finished 7th in the Southern League, and to add insult to injury Hereford were elected to the League on the basis of one FA Cup result, despite not winning anything that or indeed any other season.

Despite the disappointment of two semi-final defeats and two bafflingly poor performances, Yeovil had a very good team around that time, winning the Southern League in 1971 and finishing 2nd in 69/70, 72/73 and 75/76. Many of the club’s highest post-war appearance makers were involved in one or both of those seasons, including Len Harris, Alan Herrity, Ken Thompson, John Clancy, Terry Cotton, Paul Smith, Tony Clark and Stuart Housley, all of whom are in the top 12 of post-war Yeovil Town appearances. The only player of a relatively modern era to make the Top 10 is Terry Skiverton with 382. He only stopped playing when he became manager in 2009 at the age of 33 – had he carried on, he probably could have made it about as far as Terry Cotton in 6th with 415, as he was still playing regularly at the time he took over as manager. Record appearance maker Len Harris was part of the squad but did not start in either semi-final. He played 691 times for the Glovers, a post-war record that will probably never beaten. He left at the end of the 1971/72 season, as did Mike Hughes, to go and manage at Torquay.

In the 30 years since their last appearance against Stafford Rangers, the Glovers only even reached the Quarter Final once, losing to Macclesfield in 1992. After those two semi-finals, there followed four successive first-round exits. In the 29 competitions between semi-final appearances, Yeovil were knocked out in the first round or earlier (qualifying rounds) 15 times. The Glovers were knocked out in first round replays three years in row in the 90’s – Bath in 1996 (ouch), Hayes after a second replay in 1997, and Yeading in 1998. Yeading is just up the road from Hayes, in fact the two clubs merged to become Hayes & Yeading in 2007. Yeovil had a diabolical record in cups against Hayes, being knocked out of four cups by them between 1996 and 2001.

At the time of the 2002 semi, Burton were in the process of running away with the Northern Premier League and would face Yeovil again in the Conference the following season. They had also knocked the Glovers out of the same competition in the 5th Round the previous year. Although the Brewers were not hugely impressive on the day, Yeovil were on a very poor run of form as they had lost top spot in the Conference to Rushden a few days before, and were in the middle of a run of six games without a win as it was becoming clear that their promotion hopes were slipping away. They did regain some fighting spirit at the end of the season, but February and March were definitely the lowest point of that season. Burton won 2-1, with an injury-time Andy Lindegaard goal being no more than a consolation.

Fast forward one year, and the situation was very different. Following the departure of manager Colin Addison as well as top players such as Warren Patmore, Tony Pennock and Ben Smith, it looked like all the good work had been undone. When Gary Johnson came in, it took time to turn the ship around, as we lost our first game at home to Northwich and found ourselves in mid-table at the end of October. The new gaffer had a plan though, and although he had to plug the obvious gaps with players he already knew, he also took his time to make the right signings, bringing in Adam Lockwood, Adam Stansfield and Kim Grant during the season. It took the team some time to bed into Johnson’s expectations, not helped by a succession of injuries in defence and the mire that was the Huish Park pitch. There were some positive signs though, as a 1-0 win at Margate in November signalled the beginning of a run of 20 league and cup matches undefeated which ran until the beginning of March. It was not perfect, but it was a sign that Gary Johnson had a vision – the team generally kept the ball down and scored a lot of goals, often deploying an extra man behind the strikers as an additional attacking threat.

The line-up of the first Burton match was what was probably Johnson’s first choice that season – Weale, Lockwood, Tonkin, Skiverton, Pluck, Way, Johnson, Crittenden, McIndoe, Grant, Stansfield. Interestingly, this game in April was the first time this XI had actually all started at the same time. Stansfield, Lockwood and Grant all arrived mid-season. By the time Stansfield arrived, both Skiverton and Way were long-term absentees. When Skiverton returned in February, Pluck was injured; Lockwood and Grant also missed a few games, and McIndoe missed much of March due to being sent off against Hereford. The semi-final was Darren Way’s first game back in a run that would keep him in the team until the end of the season, and Pluck, Lockwood and Grant had also overcome their injury niggles. You could argue that Carl Alford was first choice over Grant, but that would not change the fact that absences in the rest of the team meant that Gary Johnson’s first choice XI was not all available at the same time until April. Although Alford scored 13 goals in the season, he also seemed to miss as many chances as he created, hitting the woodwork more times than I can remember any player doing. When fit, Grant formed a very productive relationship with Adam Stansfield – Stanno’s hot streak of eight goals in eight games, also grabbing five assists, came with Grant alongside him. Running in behind defences, Stansfield needed someone to create chances for him, whereas Alford would tend more to take those chances for himself. At the time of the first Burton game, Alford was still serving his suspension after getting sent off in the previous round against Northwich. Alford did play in the second leg, as Grant had to withdraw with a hamstring strain.

Despite taking a 4-0 lead into the second leg, on the Sunday morning after the game Yeovil fans were queuing from 8am to grab the last remaining tickets for the party to come at Eton Park, even though the game was to be shown live on Sky. The Glovers lost 2-1, with Carl Alford’s goal well and truly ending any fightback, but Yeovil actually played very well on a difficult bobbly surface, they created a lot of chances which probably would have been buried a bit more clinically had the tie still been alive.

Despite losing on the day, the final whistle triggered mass partying on the away terrace and the celebrations which went on for a very long time. Finally, after 30 years of disappointment and the heartbreak of 2001 which many of the players on the pitch had also gone through, we were just one game away from winning a major national competition for the first time in our history.

It might be easy to forget with everything that has come since – winning the Conference, winning League Two, two Wembley finals and Championship football, that the FA Trophy was the one that came first, and at the time we partied like we had never done before because we had no idea the amount of success that was going to come later.

Team that day: Chris Weale, Adam Lockwood, Anthony Tonkin, Terry Skiverton, Colin Pluck, Darren Way, Lee Johnson, Nick Crittenden, Michael McIndoe, Kim Grant (sub. Chris Giles, 79), Adam Stansfield. Subs not used: Jon Sheffield, Tom White, Roy O’Brien, Olivier Brassart

Walsall 0 Yeovil Town 2 – Tuesday 21st March 2006

The second half of the 2005/06 season proved to be very tough, as Yeovil fought to avoid relegation in their first season at League One level after the loss of several key players during the transfer window, and others about to run out of contract in the summer.

The Glovers had appeared to turn a corner with an excellent 3-0 win at Chesterfield courtesy of a hat-trick from Arron Davies, being played up front as opposed to his usual wide position. However, a run of one win in ten games culminating in a very disappointing 1-0 defeat at relegation-threatened Bournemouth had seen Steve Thompson’s men drop down to 20th – from 10th in the middle of January – and relegation was looking like a distinct possibility.

On Tuesday 21st March came a vital game in hand, away at Walsall who were 19th, one place above Yeovil. Thommo opted for a 3-5-2 formation, with Lockwood, Guyett and Skiverton at the back, Amankwaah and Lindegaard as wingbacks and Nathan Jones on the bench. In midfield was Paul Terry in a holding role and Cohen just in front of him along with the on-loan Marc Wilson. Up front were Matt Harrold and Arron Davies who were, in the absence of Jevons our only realistic options although they did form a decent big man / little man partnership. Interestingly Wilson, on loan from Portsmouth, would only make one start for the Glovers, with the more attack-minded Craig Rocastle being preferred in the final run of games. Wilson joined Stoke from Portsmouth in 2010 and played six years in the Premier League.

In the Walsall side that day was future Yeovil loanee Kevin James, and their substitute goalkeeper would also go on to play for the Glovers, one Rene Gilmartin.

The game got off to a very bad start as in the early stages Amankwaah was scythed down by Walsall’s teenage winger Ishmel Demontagnac, had to be substituted shortly after and would miss the remainder of the season. He had been one of the stars at League One level for Yeovil, scoring their first goal at that level against Blackpool.

However, Yeovil took control and scored with an excellent team goal on 24 minutes, some superb work from Andy Lindegaard to get inside the area teed up Matt Harrold to score his 7th of the season. It was 2-0 not long after, as a mistake from defender Ian Roper let a Marc Wilson header bounce over his head and into the path of Arron Davies.

From this point the home fans in the 4,464 crowd really began to turn on the Walsall players and every single mistake, over-hit pass or poor finish was booed furiously by the Saddlers fans. They did create a couple of chances in the first half which were wasted, but the second half was all Yeovil and they could have scored several more, including capitalising on some catastrophic mistakes from the home side, in particular keeper Andy Oakes who almost let Davies in several times.

With the Glovers continuing to threaten, a miserable night got even worse for the Saddlers as Demontagnac picked up his second yellow for another foul on Harrold and was dismissed on 89 minutes. At the final whistle, the home side were booed off the pitch while Yeovil celebrated with the 200 or so travelling fans. Coming into the business end of the season, the two teams were heading in opposite directions – Yeovil were struggling with the loss of key players and significant injuries, especially in defence; the 1-0 defeat at Port Vale had seen them without Skiverton, Miles and Guyett in addition to the loss of Sodje in January. Despite this they were beginning to find some form and seemed to be showing the confidence since Chesterfield that they could stay up, and were playing well even when not winning. After the Walsall win, a 2-2 draw against Tranmere, a valiant 2-1 defeat at Bristol City and a comfortable 3-0 at home to Doncaster would push them closer to safety. Following two narrow defeats over Easter, the Glovers finished the season on a high with a thrilling 4-3 home win over Gillingham, a 2-1 win at play-off bound Huddersfield and a creditable draw against promoted Colchester on the last day. After a real rollercoaster of a season which had seen the departure of their long-term successful manager as well as two of the players who had been most key to their success since 2001/02 in Darren Way and Lee Johnson, Yeovil finally managed to pull themselves over the line and finish in a relatively comfortable-looking 15th on 56 points. Walsall went in the opposite direction, finishing bottom, five points adrift of safety.

At the end of the season, several more players were released or left at the end of their contracts, including Chris Weale, Phil Jevons, Colin Miles, Adam Lockwood, Kevin Amankwaah, Kevin Gall, Stephen Collis. Steve Thompson also stepped down, as Russell Slade was eventually appointed the new manager and Thommo reverted to being assistant once more.

Team that day: Stephen Collis, Adam Lockwood, Terry Skiverton, Scott Guyett, Kevin Amankwaah (sub. Nathan Jones 19), Andy Lindegaard, Paul Terry, Chris Cohen, Marc Wilson, Matt Harrold, Arron Davies (sub. Kevin Gall 90). Subs not used: Michael Jordan, Danny Webb, Phil Jevons.

Southend United 0 Yeovil Town 2 – Saturday 24th April 2004

After a good run up to Christmas which had seen Yeovil push up to 3rd in the Third Division table, the Glovers stuttered into a poor run of form which saw their promotion chase fade in the New Year, following departure in the FA Cup at the hands of Liverpool. Gary Johnson’s men found themselves a bit short up front, with previous season’s top scorer Kirk Jackson struggling at League level and Kevin Gall’s ten goals all coming before January. Jake Edwards performed okay, scoring 10 goals in 20 starts, and he was an intelligent player but perhaps not the dominant force the manager was looking for. After Christmas, Johnson started to look for alternatives in the striking department. He brought in Andy Bishop on loan from Walsall, who scored two goals and two assists in four games, including a vital winner in a 1-0 home win over promotion-chasing Oxford, but was sent back after a disappointing performance at Huddersfield, when to be fair the entire team performed poorly. He would be released by Walsall at the end of the season and go on to have very successful spells at York and Bury proving himself a very capable striker, scoring over 20 goals for three seasons in a row. In also came Lee Matthews from Bristol City, a giant striker who returned one assist from four games.

After Matthews returned to Bristol City, in came Portuguese striker Dani Rodrigues, who was a free agent signed on a short term contract after leaving Greek club Ionikos.

Yeovil were just scraping enough wins to stay in touch with the playoffs, beating Cambridge 4-1 and Bristol Rovers 4-0, but they continued to slide down the table with five games without a win, landing in 9th after a poor Easter return of only one point. Results around this time showed how Yeovil were just falling short – going 1-0 up against Mansfield and 2-0 up against Torquay, both promotion-chasing sides, only to draw both games. Easter saw two points dropped at home in a 0-0 draw against Cheltenham, followed by an end to end game at Boston’s York Street. 1-0 up in the first few minutes, at 2-2 Yeovil were given a penalty which Gavin Williams converted, only for it to be ordered re-taken. The re-take was saved, and with the scores level going into injury time Boston’s Lee Thompson found himself with the entire Yeovil half of the pitch to himself, although admittedly from a position about three miles offside, it does beg the question of why, in the 90th minute away from home with the scores at 2-2, Yeovil did not have a single player defending in their own half.

With the Glovers down to 9th, the following week they entertained Bury with new boy Rodrigues named as substitute. With the visitors leading 1-0, Rodrigues came off the bench in the second half to equalise with one of the most spectacular goals ever seen at Huish Park, an overhead kick from inside the area. He followed it up with a less spectacular second, as Yeovil ran out 2-1 winners to turn around their rotten recent form.

The Bury win was followed up with a vital match at York the following Tuesday, a game in hand as the originally scheduled match had been rained off at late notice. York had started the season like a train but by the end were struggling badly, and would eventually be relegated despite topping the table early in the season. Goals from Lindegaard and Terry gave Yeovil the win, taking them back up to 7th and suddenly the playoffs were back on!

Although Southend were not having a great season and had been comfortably despatched 4-0 in November with a masterclass from Lee Johnson, they had improved and pulled themselves up to mid-table with a run of only three defeats in 19 games. Following the sacking of Steve Wignall, former player Steve Tilson not only steered the Shrimpers clear of relegation in 03/04, but led them to two consecutive promotions in the following two seasons, so on paper it did look like a very hard game. However, two first half goals from Rodrigues were to secure the win and Yeovil remained in 7th. Around 700 Yeovil fans made the trip to the Essex seaside, for a sunny day out that would be echoed exactly a year later for a much more critical game as the two went head to head for the League Two title.

Unfortunately the following week, defeat at home to promotion-bound Hull City in front of a full house pushed the Glovers back down to 8th, and Hugo Rodrigues’ only goal for the club was not enough.

This left Yeovil going into the final game of the season with only an outside chance of promotion – they needed to better the result of Northampton who were away at Mansfield, not an easy match by any means. Yeovil did their part, going 2-0 up in the second half with goals from substitutes Stansfield and Edwards, but again they threw it away to let Lincoln back in at 2-2. Gavin Williams pulled a long range free kick out of his back pocket in the last minute but it wasn’t enough as Northampton won, a result enough to see them into the playoffs, where they would play Mansfield again.

Despite the disappointment of missing out on the last day though, that couldn’t detract from what had been by any measure a very successful first season, showing that the majority of Yeovil’s Conference-winning squad were good enough to challenge in League Two. Only the addition of more potency up front was really needed to push for promotion again, and the third major trophy in four years.

Team that day: Steve Collis, Andy Lindegaard, Colin Pluck, Adam Lockwood, Hugo Rodrigues, Darren Way (sub. Simon Weatherstone, 67), Lee Johnson, Paul Terry, Gavin Williams, Jake Edwards (sub. Nick Crittenden, 87), Dani Rodrigues (sub. Adam Stansfield, 81). Unused subs: Ryan Northmore, Nathan Talbott.

Northwich Victoria 0 Yeovil Town 2 – Saturday 16th March 2002

The FA Trophy Quarter Final in 2002 was a hugely significant match for Yeovil Town. Despite our pedigree as a non-league team and the record-breaking number of wins against Football League teams in the FA Cup, Yeovil had not reached the semi-finals of the FA Trophy since back to back appearances in 1971 and 72. They had only reached the Quarter Final once since, losing at home to Macclesfield in 1992.

My first experience watching Yeovil in the FA Trophy was a dismal 89th minute 1-0 defeat at Isthmian League Yeading in 1998. The 286 people present on that West London trading estate is almost certainly the lowest crowd to ever watch Yeovil in a Trophy match. Following that was another last minute defeat at eventual winners Kingstonian in 1999, and a pretty spineless home defeat to the same team a year later – 1-0 again, but not in the last minute this time. Kingstonian would go on to win the final at Wembley for the second year in a row, beating Yeovil on the way both times. In 1998/99, we had set a Conference record of only two away defeats in a season, matched by Gary Johnson’s team in 2001/02. The Glovers had actually not lost away all season until losing their unbeaten record at Barrow the week before the Trophy tie.

In 2000/01, the FA Trophy games came after Christmas when the Glovers were really struggling for form after a 100% home run had seen us clear at the top of the Conference. A very narrow 2-1 win after going a goal down saw us squeak past minnows Bath, followed by a 4-2 win at Emley despite having Tony Pennock sent off. The 5th round tie was away at Northern Premier League Burton, putting in what was one of the worst performances I saw that season, deservedly going 2-0 down before a 90th minute Andy Lindegaard goal which was not much of a consolation. The Burton match came in the middle of a six match winless run which saw Rushden go top of the Conference and title hopes begin to fade away, it was a very dark time.

Cut to a year later, and despite all the upheaval in between, things were looking much brighter – after a mixed start, Gary Johnson’s team were coming together and were up to 2nd in the Conference after an unbeaten run of 18 league and cup matches. Star of the show was obviously Adam Stansfield, whose scoring prowess gave the team a huge confidence boost having scored 11 goals in 11 games and five goals already in the Trophy, scoring in every round.

After casting aside local side Tiverton, strong Conference opponents in Doncaster and previous holders Canvey Island, the Glovers were drawn away at Northwich Victoria. Always a difficult place to go, Northwich were a founder member of the Conference in 1979, then known as the Alliance Premier League, and were one of only three teams who had been ever present, the other two being Telford and Kettering. Northwich’s home, Drill Field, is thought to have been the oldest ground in the world to be in continuous use, having hosted football since 1875. 2001/02 would actually be the last year that Northwich played at Drill Field – at the end of the 2002 season, they ground-shared with rivals Witton Albion, while their new stadium was being built. They moved to the new Victoria Stadium in 2005, which was also home for a time to Manchester United’s reserves. The new stadium was only a few hundred metres from Witton’s ground. In 2012, the club were evicted from the stadium after it was sold to a neighbouring chemical company, and were forced to share at Stafford Rangers some 40 miles away. This was also during a time of financial problems and several relegations which saw a breakaway club, 1874 Northwich, formed by supporters. Northwich Victoria still exist, and are back to sharing with Witton Albion, but currently lie below 1974 Northwich in the non-league pyramid.

Drill Field had a traditional non-league style grandstand on one side and the relatively new covered Dane Bank terrace opposite, with both ends open. The Dane Bank offered a superb view, and housed around 800 or so travelling Yeovil fans on the day. The Dane Bank would follow the Vics to their new Victoria Stadium in 2005, and when that was demolished in 2012, was re-purposed and transported to Broadhusrt Park, the home of FC United of Manchester.

Yeovil went into the game with a back three of White, Skiverton and Pluck, with Anthony Tonkin at left wing back in place of the suspended Michael McIndoe who had been sent off against Hereford. Replacing the injured Darren Way was a rare outing in midfield for Roy O’Brien, who was also joined by Frenchman Olivier Brassart alongside the usual Lee Johnson. Carl Alford started up front with the on-fire Adam Stansfield. The Vics boasted a similar striker in Gregg Blundell, who had scored a spectacular goal in the opening-day 3-2 win at Huish Park in Gary Johnson’s first game, and got himself sent off for over-celebrating into the bargain. The reverse fixture had gone Yeovil’s way, with the Glovers winning 3-1 at Drill Field in November, with Adam Stansfield getting his first goal for the club.

At this point in the season, Yeovil were scoring a lot of goals, but conceding a lot as well. They had not kept a single clean sheet at home in the league so far. However they had won nine and drawn three of their 12 games since Christmas, and were unbeaten in 18 games, scoring 34 and conceding 16. However this game was surprisingly comfortable as the Glovers absolutely dominated the first half, going close several times and hitting the woodwork before Adam Stansfield converted a Tonkin cross to make it 1-0 on 35 minutes. Right on half time, a Lee Johnson free kick beat everyone and was bundled home by Carl Alford from close range. 2-0 at half time, and Yeovil were in command.

At half time, Stansfield was replaced by Chris Giles as he had taken a knock. The second half was much more controlled, as the Glovers dictated the pace and Roy O’Brien in particular was absolutely superb, breaking up opposition play. Vics manager Jimmy Quinn brought himself on with about 20 minutes to go, but his plans for a comeback were scuppered just minutes later. Vics midfielder Val Owen clattered Carl Alford on the touchline, right in front of the dugouts. Alford appeared to retaliate and both players were sent off as there is reportedly fighting in the tunnel as the players depart. This took any remaining sting out of the game, as Yeovil were able to play out time. Giles struggled to lead the line on his own, but Gary Johnson brought on Lockwood to play five at the back and there was nowhere for Northwich to go. It was a very significant game that Yeovil were completely up for, and although it didn’t take the shine off the day, Northwich barely turned up – much like we had against Kingstonian in 2000 and Burton in 2001! The Glovers were in top form, had a settled side, and steamed in to the FA Trophy Semi-Final to face Nigel Clough’s Burton Albion.

Team that day: Chris Weale, Tom White, Terry Skiverton, Colin Pluck, Anthony Tonkin, Nick Crittenden, Roy O’Brien (sub. Adam Lockwood, 75), Lee Johnson, Olivier Brassart (sub Andy Lindegaard, 77), Carl Alford (sent off, 79), Adam Stansfield (sub. Chris Giles, 46). Subs not used: Jon Sheffield, Darren Way

Yeovil Town 4 Scunthorpe United 3 – Tuesday 22nd February 2005

After finishing 8th in our first Football League season with a points total of 74 which would have been enough to secure a play-off place in almost any other year, optimism was high at the beginning of 2004/05 that Yeovil could go one further and push for promotion. After a stuttering start and a 3-1 opening day defeat at Bury, the Glovers recovered and briefly went top of League Two after beating Shrewsbury away in September. However, a run of six games without a win followed, leaving the us in 8th following defeat to leaders Scunthorpe at the end of October. The match at Glanford Park was a very close one, as a patched up Yeovil side missing Skiverton, Guyett, Lockwood and O’Brien in defence, and Tarachulski also carrying an injury up front, did well to keep the leaders out for 80-odd minutes. The game was settled by two controversial incidents – in the first half, a Jevons goal was ruled out for offside when the replay clearly showed him to be on. Scunthorpe’s winning goal not only appeared to have been cleared off the line by Lee Johnson, but the corner from which it came should not have been awarded as the ball went out of play in the build-up. So despite losing the game the Glovers could at least console themselves that they could hold their own against the leaders even with a number of absences through injury.

When the two teams met again in February 2005, the tables had been turned – Scunthorpe, once seven points clear at the top, had their lead wiped out by Yeovil’s remarkable run of consecutive wins over Christmas. On 18th December, the Iron led the table with 47 points to the Glovers’ 40. On 3rd January, an equally appalling run for Scunthorpe saw them on 49 points against Yeovil’s 52, as Yeovil came back from 2-1 down to beat Shrewsbury 4-2 with ten men to finally go top of League Two. Despite the occasional setback, the Glovers remained top and were two points clear when the two teams met at Huish Park on a very cold Tuesday night in February.

Yeovil took an early lead, as the Scunthorpe defence were caught out by a long range effort from Bartosz Tarachulski. The visitors then stunned the home side with two goals in front of the Westland Stand before half time, from two poorly-defended set-pieces. The first was especially controversial as there was a foul on the touchline against Yeovil which the linesman was furiously flagging for, but the referee overruled him and gave a free kick the other way, from which Paul Hayes scored. The home fans were still booing the referee at half time as the Glovers went in 2-1 down, despite arguably having the better of the first half – all of the goals had come slightly against the run of play, as the home side played much better after they had scored.

Somewhat unfortunate to be 2-1 down at half time, Yeovil came steaming out in the second half and were very soon level, as Lee Johnson blasted a free kick through the wall to make it 2-2 on 47 minutes. Following the equaliser, the visitors had much the better of the second half and much of the crowd would probably have settled for 2-2. New loan signing from Bristol City Kevin Amankwaah was brought on to shore up the defence, and would have a hand in Yeovil’s two late goals, turning defence into attack. Another new signing on loan from Swindon, Rory Fallon, was brought on for Tarachulski, who was getting no change out of the Scunthorpe defence and was getting increasingly frustrated as the referee was giving a foul every time he dared to try and get off the ground. With the big man already on a yellow, defender Andy Butler attempted to con the referee by falling dramatically to the ground clutching his face claiming he’d been elbowed, and although the replay shows there was clearly no contact, it was perhaps wisest to take Bartosz off.

With their backs against the wall, Yeovil struck back to win the game with two goals in the last ten minutes, both initiated by clearances from Amankwaah – the first up to Jevons, who appeared to have been fouled in the area but the referee took the easy option of giving a corner instead of a penalty. From that corner, Fallon steamed in with a close range header to make it 3-2 with his first and only goal for the club. Fallon had only signed on loan that afternoon, and famously still had directions to the ground written on his hand during the game.

While Yeovil fans were asking themselves whether the Glovers would be able to withstand the last ten minutes of pressure, Arron Davies popped up with a 35-yard screamer out of nowhere to settle the game. With Scunthorpe pressing, a clearance from Amankwaah pretty much on the byline was held up by Fallon, fed to Davies inside his own half, who carried the ball forward and unleashed an unstoppable shot for one of the best goals ever seen at Huish Park in one of the biggest games. The goal came around 15 seconds after Scunthorpe had been in possession in the Yeovil penalty area.

There was still time for some late drama, as Hayes bundled in a 90th minute goal to make it 4-3, but as the snow began to fall there was no time for any further action and Yeovil held out to win, extending their lead at the top of League Two to five points. Also having already beaten Swansea twice, the Glovers had only one game remaining against the other promotion contenders – Southend away, on the penultimate game of the season.

Team that day: Chris Weale, Andy Lindegaard, Michael Rose, Terry Skiverton, Scott Guyett, Darren Way, Lee Johnson, Kevin Gall (sub. Andrejs Stolcers 45 (sub. Kevin Amankwaah 79)), Arron Davies, Bartosz Tarachulski (sub. Rory Fallon 70), Phil Jevons. Subs not used: Steve Collis, Paul Terry

Doncaster Rovers 4 Yeovil Town 5 – Saturday 23rd February 2002

When Yeovil played Doncaster in the FA Trophy Fourth Round in 2001/02, the Glovers were in a free-scoring run of form. Since the rebuilding job begun by Gary Johnson in the summer, the addition of Adam Stansfield from Elmore in November turned Yeovil from mid-table inconsistency to a more dangerous proposition. They continued to be dogged by defensive problems, caused by a new-look back line of (when fit) Lockwood, Tonkin, Skiverton and Pluck, who were taking time to get used to each other given significant injury problems in defence. Colin Pluck (later Miles) was missing for much of the first part of the season and when he returned, Skiverton was out for an equally long time. Meanwhile Roy O’Brien suffered a broken leg, forcing Tom White to play on through very difficult personal circumstances, which he did admirably. Defending in the first half of the season was often disastrous to the point of being comical, but at least once Stansfield arrived goals started to go in at the other end with more frequency.

In February 2002, Yeovil were in an incredible run of games – a 4-0 spanking of Hayes in a monsoon at Church Road was followed by a remarkable 5-1 win at Morecambe. The following week, the Glovers played out an entertaining 3-3 draw with leaders Dagenham, which they arguably could have won. A run of 20 league and cup games unbeaten saw them up to 3rd in the table behind leading pair Boston and Dagenham. The week after the Doncaster replay came a dramatic late 2-1 win at home over rivals Hereford. After a decidedly dodgy first three months or so of the season, things were finally starting to come together for Gary Johnson’s side. Between the beginning of January and the middle of March the Glovers were unbeaten, scoring 36 goals in 13 games but also conceding 16 – in this time they scored in every single game, but also only kept three clean sheets, the goals were flying in.

Following the 3-1 win at Tiverton Town in the Third Round, Yeovil were drawn at home against fourth-placed Doncaster. The original tie was due to be played on 2nd February, but was postponed three times due to a waterlogged pitch, as Huish Park was an absolute quagmire at the time. It finally went ahead on Tuesday 19th, and of course ended in a draw – Paul Barnes capitalised on a Lockwood mistake early on, but Adam Stansfield secured a replay with a 79th minute header. Stansfield was in a rich vein of form at the time, scoring 13 goals in 13 games and also grabbing 7 assists, scoring in 6 out of the 7 games prior to Doncaster so it was no surprise to see him pop up with a late equaliser.

The original tie had been so delayed that the replay took place on Saturday 23rd February, the day the 5th Round had been scheduled to take place, so the winners already knew they would be facing Trophy holders Canvey Island at home in the next round.

Despite the Glovers’ good form at the time, they were suffering from severe selection problems. A bout of flu had run through the club, with Colin Pluck, Olivier Brassart, Darren Way and even Gary Johnson among the victims. In addition, Lee Johnson and Kim Grant had been injured during the first game and were unavailable for the replay. This left severe shortages in midfield, with only 39-year old Steve Thompson, already pulled out of retirement to cover the ongoing injury crisis, fully fit. Roy O’Brien was on the bench, but had not started a game since breaking a leg against Scarborough in September.

Playing into a strong wind, Yeovil got off to a terrible start, conceding a penalty after five minutes, although even with the benefit of a replay it is not clear what the offence was as nobody appealed for it. Jamie Paterson converted, and young striker Robert Gill scored a header to make it 2-0 after 22 minutes. The Glovers went in at half time 2-0 down and it could have been a lot worse as Doncaster had multiple chances to increase their lead, with only the post and at least two goal line clearances keeping the score down to two.

Brassart and Way had started in midfield alongside Thommo, but were both forced to withdraw due to illness, on 29 minutes and 52 minutes respectively. To make matters worse, Thompson pulled a muscle and had to be withdrawn at half time to be replaced by Roy O’Brien, playing pretty much alone in central midfield on his first game in five months.

Playing with the wind behind them, the odds were still very much against Yeovil in the second half. Donny continued to dominate, and there was at least one more goal line clearance and a last ditch save from Weale before the Glovers got back into it. Before that though, from a Yeovil corner that was cleared, Robert Gill ran half the length of the pitch to beat Weale and put the home side 3-0 up after 49 minutes. Surely game over, as some Yeovil fans in the 150 or so away following took that as their cue to head back to Somerset, and the stadium PA announced that the next round would take place against Canvey Island the following Tuesday.

The tide soon turned though, as on 52 minutes Darren Way, who had made a mistake in letting the ball pass him in the build-up to Doncaster’s third goal, was replaced by Carl Alford as Yeovil went to three up front with Giles and Stansfield. Just five minutes later, the comeback began as an in-swinging Nick Crittenden free kick was headed home from close range by Colin Pluck to make it 3-1. On 75 minutes, it was Crittenden again who provided the assist, using the wind to his advantage to swing in another deep cross, for Alford to head home for 3-2.

At this point Doncaster made the mistake of withdrawing top scorer Paul Barnes, replacing him with the giant Mark Sale, presumably in an effort to hold up the ball. However Sale is not a goalscorer, and clumsily fell over the ball when if he had controlled it better he would have been through on goal.

For the last 15 minutes, it rained goals as there was almost no time for any action in between – following Alford’s goal on 75 minutes, a deep McIndoe free kick on 79 minutes was stabbed home from close range by Adam Stansfield to make it 3-3. On 86 minutes, Stansfield scored easily the best goal of the game with an incredible 30-yard lob to put the Glovers 4-3 up. With Yeovil finally in front, you’d think this would be the last of the scoring, but just two minutes later Doncaster broke forward, and a cross was converted by Gareth Owen in the box to make it 4-4, as hundreds of home fans flooding for the exits suddenly stopped to watch the game again.

However, precisely 10 seconds after the re-start, a foul on McIndoe on the half-way line gave Yeovil a free kick. McIndoe passed inside to White, who launched a long ball into the box. A headed clearance fell to Skiverton 20 yards out, who shot through a melee of players to beat the keeper and put Yeovil 5-4 up for the last goal of the game. Despite the flood of goals there was still a minute plus four more of injury time, during which the home side did push forward, and had a late appeal for a penalty turned down. It wasn’t the end of the action but it was the end of the scoring, as the whistle finally blew with Yeovil winning incredibly 5-4 with four goals in the last 15 minutes with, let’s not forget, about half of their team missing through illness and injury.

It is probably fair to say that despite Yeovil’s fairly poor record in the FA Trophy up until this point, a lot of people felt that after that incredible game, our name was on the cup. However it was still early in the competition, with four more rounds to go. Holders Canvey Island awaited in the next round, which was due to be played the following Tuesday but was again postponed. Ishtmian League Canvey had beaten Conference sides Stevenage, Telford, Chester and Forest Green on their way to winning the Trophy in 2001, but were yet to face a Conference team in this season’s competition.

That game ended up being played on Tuesday 5th March – the Tuesday after that dramatic late win against Hereford that would see McIndoe sent off and Andy Lindegaard score an injury time winner – and was a bit more comfortable this time, with Yeovil going 2-0 up through Stansfield and Crittenden, and surviving a late scare to win 2-1. The next round saw the Glovers in the Quarter Final for the first time in almost ten years, drawn away at Northwich Victoria, the other team in green and white, and time to dust off the sky blue away kit for only the second time.

Team that day: Chris Weale, Adam Lockwood, Terry Skiverton, Colin Pluck, Darren Way (sub. Carl Alford, 52), Steve Thompson (sub. Roy O’Brien, 46), Olivier Brassart (sub. Tom White, 29), Nick Crittenden, Michael McIndoe, Chris Giles, Adam Stansfield. Subs not used: Jon Sheffield, Andy Lindegaard

Yeovil Town 3 Scunthorpe 0 – Saturday 16th February 2013

Gary Johnson’s second spell at Yeovil was surely more successful than anyone could have expected. The Glovers had among the lowest playing budgets in League One, and for every season after the play-offs of 2006/07 avoiding relegation was an achievement and some years it was tighter than others. In 2011/12, Yeovil had been bottom in November before the arrival of Johnson in January turned the team’s fortunes around, as they ended the season in 17th.

A good start had seen the Glovers go top early in the 2012/13 season, but after that followed a horrific run of six defeats in a row. This was was halted by the arrival of a relatively unknown young Irish striker on loan from Carlisle. Paddy Madden was 22 at the time he signed, having been unable to make much impact at his first English club after moving from Ireland, scoring no goals in 14 appearances for the Cumbrians in 2011/12. But there was something about Gary Johnson that was able to bring out the best in Madden as he made an immediate impact, scoring twice on his debut against Colchester, and scoring six goals in his first seven starts. Yeovil’s form stabilised with Madden in the team, as he formed a productive partnership with James Hayter.

One game that Madden didn’t score in was the impressive 2-1 win away at Portsmouth at the end of December. This began a remarkable run of eight consecutive wins, which would lift the Glovers from 12th up to 3rd in the League One table, and in a position to challenge for the play-offs.

The goals were flowing during this period, with comfortable wins 3-0 over Leyton Orient, 3-0 over Brentford, 3-1 over Preston and 4-1 over Oldham. The Glovers brushed aside Scunthorpe 3-0 on 16th February, with goals from Webster in the first half, and two towards the end from Hayter and Madden. There was some controversy, as the visitors had an appeal for a penalty turned down for a challenge from behind from Webster on Sodje, and may have felt that the later penalty awarded for a foul on Foley after a marauding run into the box was also somewhat harsh.

Madden was particularly on fire at this time, scoring in eight consecutive games after Portsmouth. His final goal in that incredible run was in the 1-1 draw at promotion-chasing Doncaster which complete a spell of 11 goals in 8 games, a run that Messi would be proud of. His loan was converted to a permanent transfer in January, for an undisclosed fee thought to be around £50,000. With the addition of that extremely elusive 20-goal a season striker, the first at the club since Phil Jevons in 2004/05, Yeovil were able to push on. Madden scored 23 goals in 39 games, ending the season as League One’s top scorer. He actually had a dry spell of six games without a goal at the end of the season and didn’t score in either of the play-off games against Sheffield United, but did provide the assist for Ed Upson’s winning goal at Huish Park. He ended his run of blanks in spectacular fashion win an incredible goal in the opening minutes against Brentford at Wembley which set Yeovil on their way to a 2-1 win and Championship football for the first time in their history, just ten years after promotion from the Conference.

Paddy found life in the Championship somewhat harder and he did not score in the 2013/14 season, although to be fair he was handed very few starts, starting the first three Championship games before being dropped, and after that he struggled to get back into the team. He was surprisingly transfer-listed by Gary Johnson in November, and sold to Scunthorpe for a reported £300,000 in January, even though he still had a year and a half left on his contract. While Gary Johnson suggested that he might not be ‘Championship standard’, that seemed like a strange statement to make given that not many of the squad were, and surely Madden was at least good enough for League One, where Yeovil seemed to be heading.

Despite dropping to League Two his new club Scunthorpe were promoted that season, following which Madden proved he was indeed League One standard, where he spent the next seven seasons. He scored 17 and 23 goals in his first two seasons, and after a lean 2016/17, was sold to fellow League One outfit Fleetwood for around £150,000 where he scored 19 goals in 2018/19 and 19 again in 2019/20. He contracted Covid in 2021, and after recovering made the surprise drop from League One to the National League. High-spending Stockport splashed out an estimated £150,000 for the now 31-year old on a 3.5 year contract. At the point he left Fleetwood he was their all-time Football League top goalscorer, in addition to being the 10th highest ever scorer at Scunthorpe, having scored almost 200 goals in his career from Bohemians in lreland 14 years ago, to the National League with Stockport today.

Team that day: Marek Stech, Luke Ayling, Jamie McAllister (sub. Nathan Ralph 83), Byron Webster, Dan Burn, Joe Edwards, Ed Upson, Kevin Dawson, Sam Foley (sub. Lewis Young 82), James Hayter (sub. Kwesi Appiah 82), Paddy Madden. Subs not used: Gareth Stewart, Richard Hinds, Dominic Blizzard, Gavin Williams.

Yeovil Town 2 Hartlepool 0 – Saturday 7th January 2006

In 2005/06, following two promotions in three years, it took some time for Yeovil to adjust to life in League One – it was a big step up in quality, and the team which scored over 100 goals and only failed to hit the target in three league games in 2004/05 was finding defences much more solid and difficult to break down. Yeovil only scored one goal in their first four games – from a defender, Kevin Amankwaah – and it took until Hartlepool away in September to register their first win, a scrappy 1-0 thanks to new signing Pablo Bastianini. Despite the difficult start and the loss of Gary Johnson after 11 games to Bristol City, as the games progressed the team did gain confidence under Steve Thompson and start to drag their way up the table. Thommo’s Yeovil won 13 points from his first 6 games in charge, including impressive wins over Swansea, Scunthorpe and a 3-0 stuffing of Nottingham Forest. The Glovers gradually moved up to mid-table and even once or twice were in a position to potentially think about playoffs.

The Christmas period was a mixed bag, with decent wins against Barnsley and Doncaster, a 4-1 hiding at Tranmere and a slightly disappointing draw in the first ever league tie against Bristol City, given they had lost nine in a row and had been bottom of the table in December. Following a decent 1-0 win at Doncaster, the Glovers welcomed Hartlepool to Huish Park, who were despatched 2-0 with both goals coming from Phil Jevons, the first an overhead scissor-kick following an impressive run from Kevin Amankwaah, who had been one of the most consistent performers in the first part of the season, and one of those who seemed most at home at his new level.

The win took Yeovil up to 10th, with 36 points from 27 games and seemingly any fears of relegation behind them. However, a takeover was happening behind the scenes, and everything was about to change. Former manager David Webb became the new owner, purchasing the majority of shares from Jon Goddard-Watts. Webb immediately set about reducing the budget despite the crowds being around 6,500, even higher than League Two and increased revenue in the previous two seasons from two significant FA Cup runs including televised matches. Yeovil started to sell their assets, with Darren Way sold to Swansea for £150,000, and Lee Johnson to Hearts for the criminal sum of £50,000. The two players who had been ever-present from 2001-2005 and were the heartbeat of the team, left the club within days of each other. Efe Sodje was also sold, to Southend, and more would depart at the end of the season.

Hartlepool would be Lee Johnson’s last game for Yeovil, after around 4.5 years, 230 appearances, 28 goals, 80 assists and two promotions. He had settled in well at League One – going on to play around 130 times in the Championship for Bristol City – and appeared to be playing with more freedom once Gary Johnson was no longer the manager. He was ever-present from the moment he arrived to the day he left, playing around 50 games a season aside from the occasional suspension. His usual midfield partner Darren Way had been out of the team for part of 2005/06 due to injury, and last played in November 2005 against his future club Swansea. 18-year old Chris Cohen had already come in on loan from West Ham to cover for Way and was an instant hit but Anthony Barry, signed from Accrington to replace Johnson, only played a few games before sustaining a horrific injury against Chesterfield and missing the rest of the season. In also came Daniel Webb who, being signed from non-league Weymouth, did not appear to be a League One striker. In two years at the club, he made ten substitute appearances, making no starts and scoring no goals before dropping back into non-league, where he failed to hold down a first team place at Isthmian League AFC Wimbledon.

As soon as those key players were sold, results began to suffer. After Hartlepool, which was Lee Johnson’s last game, there followed a run of only two wins in 13 games, as Yeovil slid down to 20th and relegation suddenly became a real possibility again. A vital 3-0 win at Chesterfield halted the slide despite major injuries to Anthony Barry and on-loan Tommy Doherty, and another crucial win at struggling Walsall in March gave the Glovers hope. Still hovering around 20th, a late rally with victories against Gillingham and a surprise away win at Huddersfield courtesy of another Phil Jevons brace, was just enough to see the Glovers safe and finish the season in the dizzy heights of 16th, six points clear of relegation.

The departures did not end there, as the playing budget was cut further and more players were sold or allowed to leave for nothing. At the end of the season Phil Jevons and Chris Weale both left on free transfers to re-join Gary Johnson at Bristol City. Amankwaah was sold to Swansea for £250,000. There was not much sign of the proceeds of these sales being put back into the team, except for the absolute steal of making Chris Cohen a permanent signing from West Ham for around £90,000. New manager Russell Slade saw his playing squad reduced from over 20 to around 16 as a revolving door of loan players became the new recruitment policy. Fortunately, Slade proved himself able to work with a small budget as he had done at his previous clubs, and also a canny mover in the transfer market, bringing in players such as Marcus Stewart, Lee Morris and Leon Best. Despite the apparent decrease in resources, Yeovil were able to stabilise in League One for several years and even get to the playoff final in 2006/07, very much against the odds. In the summer of 2006, Webb sold his shares to John Fry who became the owner after many years as Chairman.

At the start of the 2005/06 season, nine players in the Yeovil squad had been at the club since the Conference days. By the start of the following season, only Skiverton and Lindegaard remained. By the start of 2007/08, only Skiverton and Guyett remained of the team who had won League Two just two years earlier.

Team that day: Steve Collis, Kevin Amankwaah (sub. Andy Lindegaard 35), Nathan Jones, Terry Skiverton, Scott Guyett, Chris Cohen, Lee Johnson, Paul Terry, David Poole (sub. Arron Davies 85), Matt Harrold, Phil Jevons (sub. Kevin Gall 86). Subs not used: Chris Weale, Luke Oliver

Yeovil Town 3 Brentford 0 – Saturday 2nd February 2013

Yeovil went on a remarkable run over the winter of 2012/13, winning eight in a row which took them from 12th up to 3rd in League One. The run included impressive victories away at Portsmouth, Sheffield United and Coventry, and big wins at home over Leyton Orient and Brentford. Following the mid-season arrivals of Dan Burn and Paddy Madden, the team had a very settled look with a strong starting XI. Recently arrived was Madden’s compatriot Kevin Dawson, who made his league debut at Sheffield Utd and would be ever-present on the right wing for the rest of the season, scoring the first goal in the memorable playoff win at Huish Park.

Of course scorer of the decisive goal against Sheffield Utd and a key member of the team was Ed Upson, who arrived without much fanfare in the summer of 2010, but by 2012 was the heart of the midfield and had become an assist machine in the mould of Lee Johnson. He scored one of his best goals for Yeovil in this 3-0 win in February 2013, which took the Glovers up to 7th. The other goals came from Madden, and Dan Burn right at the end.

Probably crucial to Upson’s development was that he was given time to develop and grow into the team. Rising through the youth team at Ipswich, he never made a league appearance for them, and following brief loan spells at Barnet and Stevenage he was released in the summer of 2010, when he was signed for Yeovil by Terry Skiverton.

In his first season, he was bedded into the team slowly, mainly as a replacement when Shaun MacDonald was not available, making 16 starts. He actually scored his only goal of that season on one of his first starts, as a very patched-up Yeovil side took an early 2-0 lead at Hartlepool in the FA Cup but ended up losing 4-2.

The following season he was given the No. 8 shirt and was first choice in midfield, forming a partnership with Paul Wotton in the first half of the season and making 45 appearances in all competitions. He began to develop an eye for goal, scoring five times mostly from long range, including this absolute stunner against Wycombe, as well as other long range strikes against Hereford and Fleetwood, both in the FA Cup. He also scored in the first minute of a 2-2 derby draw against Exeter.

However a midfielder’s job is to create goals more than score them, and in his first full season Upson got a creditable 9 assists, the most in the team and just ahead of Andy Williams with 8. Assists have become a very useful way of a measuring a player’s contribution especially in attacking areas, and it can also highlight the value of those who might possibly be under-appreciated if they create a lot more goals than they score. For example, Kevin Gall contributed 14 assists in 2003/04 and 12 in 2004/05, which may indicate why Gary Johnson kept him in the team even when the goals dried up.

Assists are still not very reliably recorded, and tend to be spread throughout the team much more than goals but looking at the available data a team needs at least one player who is going to get in double figures to have a good season, and high teens is a very good return. Anything over 20 would be exceptional – a midfielder who gets 20 assists is much harder to find than a striker who gets 20 goals. In many seasons, Yeovil have not had a player in double figures for assists and have not had once since Sam Foley in 2015, although Tom Knowles should get well into the teens this season (2021/22) if he doesn’t get injured.

Some of our most successful seasons have seen Michael McIndoe get 23 (2002/03), Lee Johnson get 20 (2003/04), and Chris Cohen get 13 (2006/07). Sam Foley got a very impressive 13 in 2014/15 despite playing in a team that got relegated. King of the assist makers is undoubtedly Lee Johnson, who got around 80 in 4.5 years at the club, so consistently almost 20 a season. By contrast, in the years that Yeovil have struggled, we have not had anyone in double figures – in 2007/08, Anthony Barry came out top with 6. What were the wingers doing that season? Things did improve under Skivo, with Andy Welsh contributing 10 in 2009/10 and 12 in 2010/11, so perhaps he was under-appreciated a bit.

This brings us back to Ed Upson, whose incredible 6 goals and 18 assists in 2012/13 represents one of the best returns we’ve ever seen for an attacking midfielder. Not quite as good as Lee Johnson’s 11 goals and 17 assists in 2004/05, but that’s a high bar.

Like Johnson Jr, Upson also specialised in spectacular goals, memorably scoring two from long range against Bristol Rovers in the JPT, as well as the only goal in a 1-0 win over play-off rivals Tranmere. He would continue to raise his game at Championship level, securing 5 goals and 3 assists in half of a difficult season before moving to Millwall in January. With his contract running out, he had shown that he was capable of playing at a higher level than Yeovil and taking a transfer fee rather than allowing him to leave for nothing at the end of his contract was probably the right choice. He did leave us with some good Championship memories though, scoring Yeovil’s first Championship goal at Millwall on the first day, as well as two more long range efforts against Nottingham Forest in a 3-1 win.

He played in the Championship for two years, before being relegated to League One with Millwall. He remained with the Lions for another year, before spending two years at MK Dons and three at Bristol Rovers, all in League One, and it looks like he’s still got an eye for goal. He has since played for Newport and just moved to Stevenage so who knows, perhaps as he gets towards the end of his career we will see him again!

Team that day: Marek Stech, Luke Ayling, Jamie McAllister, Byron Webster, Dan Burn, Matt Dolan (sub. Joe Edwards 24), Ed Upson (sub. Dominic Blizzard 82), Kevin Dawson, Sam Foley, James Hayter (sub. Kwesi Appiah 74), Paddy Madden. Subs not used: Gareth Stewart, Richard Hinds, Lewis Young, Gavin Williams