On This Day

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After the jubilations of a play-off semi final victory over Nottingham Forest, Yeovil Town went on to face Blackpool at Wembley in the League One show piece, on this day in 2007.

In truth, the game was one step too far for Russell Slade‘s side, who despite their best efforts simply came up short.

Chris Cohen shook off the injury that forced him off in the 2nd leg at Forest, he, along side Arron Davies would play their final games in Green and White before heading back to the City Ground in a combined £1.25 Million deal.

Robbie Williams (not that one) opened the scoring for the Tangerines direct from a free kick, before Keegan Parker scored an audacious lob from well outside the area to double their lead.

Yeovil huffed and puffed, but created fairly little until Marcus Stewart spurned a glorious chance late on, somehow nodding and effort into the ground and over the bar from six yards out.

Blackpool, who brought on future Glovers midfielder, Simon Gillett late on, were promoted to the Championship, but Yeovil would get another chance a few years later.

It wasn’t to be.

Yeovil: Mildenhall, Lindegaard (Lynch 77), Forbes, Guyett, Jones, Gray, Barry, Cohen (Kalala 40), Davies, Stewart, Morris (Knights 72).
Subs Not Used: Skiverton, Rose.

 

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May 24th 2003

International honours are rarely bestowed upon those at Yeovil Town, let alone winning international tournaments, yet, on this day in 2003 no fewer than five Glovers stars got their hands on the prestigeous… (checks notes)… Four Nations Cup.

The England National Game XI – which would later become rebranded as ‘England C’ – was the international side where players were picked exclusively from Non-League sides.

Yeovil had just been promoted from the Conference and would go on and take their first crack at the Football League later that year, so this tournament represented the last chance for many of these stars to pull on the ‘three lions’.

In total, six Glovers were called up by Paul Fairclough; Chris Weale, Terry Skiverton, Lee Johnson, Darren Way, Kirk Jackson and Nick Crittenden.

Critts would sadly have to pull out of the squad, but the other five all played in a key role in lifting international silverware for their country.

A 1-1 draw vs Scotland, on May 24th 2003, was enough to secure the medals.

Ealier in the tournament, Jackson had scored a Hat Trick vs the Republic of Ireland whilst Way notched vs Wales a few days later.

The squad also contained a few familiar names alongside the Glovers quintet.

Scott Guyett (who we were sure was Australian) was called up from Chester City, Michael Rose represented Hereford whilst Lee Elam and Paul Terry both played their parts in the squad too.

 

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May 22nd 2001

The summer of 2001 was a bit of a crazy one to support Yeovil Town.

A short crawl through the Ciderspace archives reveal that we lost Colin Addison as Manager with the relationship between him and Chairman John Fry… how can we say, politely?… strained.

We apparently tried to get Harry Redknapp and Tony Pulis as manager – but those rumours were quickly rebuffed, whilst Steve Claridge was also on the radar for the Huish Park hotseat(can you imagine!?).

Warren Patmore left, so did a whole host of others, presumbaly unhappy at the situation of the club, but the most shocking revalation came on this day in that most fascinating of summers.

Terry Skiverton handed in a transfer request.

Yes, really… the greatest captain Yeovil Town had seen in many a generation was on the verge of leaving Huish Park after just a short stint in Somerset.

Ciderspace captured his words from the Clarion publication;

“I’m 25 years old now and I would like to see if any league club’s think I’m good enough to do a job for them. I’ve asked the club to circulate my name but they have told me they want me to stay to lead Yeovil into the third division next season. The trouble is that if Yeovil fail again then that will be another year gone by. I’m also not that happy with my contract, after all I’m the club skipper and an England international but I don’t feel my contract reflects this.”

It was reported that the club had asked Skivo to wait for the appointment of a new manager before deciding his future.

Skivo never did leave (thank god!), instead he would team up with new manager, Gary Johnson to win the FA Trophy… and the Conference title… and League Two… and then play a major part in his backroom staff as the Glovers would get promoted to the Championship. Not a bad combo really.

 

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If the excitement of the Semi-Final comeback against Sheffield United wasn’t enough to tip you  over the edge of footballing emotion, there’s a fair chance, what can only be described as 90 minutes of HELL would have done the trick.

Coming into the final, there were fears, much like in 2007, that the final might be one step too far following a rollercoaster route to the the Wembley show piece.

But, unlike in 2007, we saw the game through.

Yeovil got off to the best possible start – and who else could it be, but Paddy Madden?

The ball fell kindly to the Irishman and with the outside of the right boot, he found the top corner.

1-0. Crikey.

I’m convinced that this is the perfect time to bring out the old cliche, but if Messi or Ronaldo had scored that goal in a big final, they’d replay it forever, it’s that good of a finish.

The horrible truth is, that throughout this game – Yeovil were on the backfoot – defending stoutly throughout, there’s a reason Marek Stech got Man Of The Match,

You, me, any of the near 20,000 Glovers in the stadium would have taken a 1-0 lead into half time, but it would actually get better.

Dan Burn with a header, probably intended to just give something for someone else to latch onto made it through everyone, including a wild swoosh from James Hayter, to go in, clearly in – miles over the line.

2-0. Bloody Hell.

I was so  nervous, this wasn’t meant to happen, Yeovil weren’t meant to make it to the Championship – Brentford were one penalty kick away from making it automatically, of course they’d win the play offs.

Harlee Dean thought so anyway.

Probably the only moment of defensive sloppiness came when Dean skipped past his marker and headed home to half the deficit.

The Bees continued to huff, to puff and to force save after save from Marek Stech.

As time went by, the nerves barely held on.

But Yeovil did.

There are many elements of that day never to be forgotten aside from the headlines created, by Madde, Burn and Stech; Jamie McAlister broke his nose, Gavin Williams got booked as a sub, cameo roles for Matty Dolan and Vitaljs Maksimenko too.

But, after taking 108 years to get to the Football League, it took just ten to reach the second tier, whatever happened after is for another story, on another day.

But this was magical. – My words won’t do it justice, very few ever will, but they can never take away the time OUR club won at Wembley.

 

 

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Yeovil Town made a management change on this day in 2006.

Steve Thompson, was – for the second time – stood down as the Glovers’ manager.

He and assistant Kevin Hodges were told that the club was going to look elsewhere for a head coach.

At the time, the official statement read;

“Following lengthy discussions, the Board of Directors of Yeovil Town Football Club have now confirmed, that subject to further talks, Steve Thompson has agreed to continue his role as first team coach, but to relinquish his football management duties in the near future.”

Yeovil Town Chairman John Fry gave the following view on the situation to the official site:

“Steve Thompson has made a fantastic contribution towards the success of this club during his eight years of service as a player, coach and manager. He is an essential part of future plans in developing a team for Championship football at Huish Park. It is the right time to make the necessary changes for the challenge of keeping the club in Coca Cola League One next season and the important task of appointing the next manager of Yeovil Town Football Club which will need to be completed by the end of this month. In the meantime negotiations will continue with out of contract players.”

Thompson would go on to confirm his initial displeasure at the decision saying “Myself and Kevin were devastated when we were told the club was looking for a new manager. We feel that given the circumstances this season, we have done a very good job. As for our future circumstances, talks between myself, Kevin and John Fry are on-going.”

Talks would continue and soon the announcement of Russell Slade‘s arrival to work alongside Thompson would follow, but Kevin Hodges would leave the club not long after,

Slade and Thompson would lead the Glovers to the League One Play-Off Final in their first season as Manager and Assistant.

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May 15th 2001.

In the summer of 2001, Yeovil were searching for a new manager following the resignation of Colin Addison, and if reports were to be believed, Chairman John Fry had a couple of very well known faces lined up for a spot in the Huish Park dug out.

Local media had been reporting that both Tony Pulis and Harry Redknapp were being lined up for the job.

However, it was on this day in 2001 that Fry put those rumours to bed.

Telling the club’s official website;

“That’s just paper talk. I had a reporter talking to me about Neil Coates’ testimonial against West Ham, and we got talking about Harry Redknapp. Next thing I know, I’m apparently after him for the job! All I can say is that I have not talked to Harry Redknapp or Tony Pulis about the position.”

Rumours were firmly quashed by the Western Daily Press as well, with them saying “it is absolute rubbish”.

Of course, neither Pulis or Redknapp ever did end up joining Yeovil, althought  did stop by for a coffee on a couple of occasions after being invited by Darren Way in 2017

The Glovers ended up signing a chap by the name of “Gary Johnson” in June of 2001, and we here at the Gloverscast are told… he ended up doing alright.

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May 13th 2010

As we start to see clubs up and down the EFL and in the National League begin to announce their released and retained lists, today’s On This Day highlights just how much player turnover occurs in a single summer of contract discussions.

In the summer of 2010, Terry Skiverton had just guided the Glovers to another mid-table finish in League One.
We finished in 15th, had a wonderful FA Cup moment when we faced off against Southampton at St Mary’s and got to enjoy players like Alex McCarthy (on loan from Reading), Steven Caulker and Ryan Mason (on loan from Tottenham).

But as with any summer, came the contract negotiations.

Skivo and the Glovers had no fewer than 11 players who were in need of having their future sorting, and it was on this day that decisions were made.

The Glovers released; former Bristol City man Scott Murray, Aidan Downs, Andre McCollin and ‘keeper Richard Martin were all told their future’s lied elsewhere.

Former Spurs defender Danny Hutchins was placed on the transfer list, whilst contract discussions were held with a number of other key players.

Dean Bowditch, top scorer from the previous campaign, as well as Nathan Smith would sign their new contracts, but others, namly Terrell Forbes and Gavin Tomlin would opt against an extended stay in Somerset and returned to clubs nearer to their home in Somerset.

Jean Paul Kalala chose to stay whilst Keiran Murtagh headed for Wycombe.

This was the summer we signed Ed Upson, Luke Ayling permanently and Paul Huntington – so what do you think, did Skivo do decent business in the summer of 2010?

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Trophy Success At Villa Park

To many Yeovil Town fans, May 12th 2002 is the start of over a decade of near permanent success, as goals from Carl Alford and Adam Stansfield secure a 2-0 win over Stevenage in the FA Trophy Final at Villa Park.

The weather was glorious, the football from Yeovil equally so, as thousands of supporters filled the Holte End at Villa Park after travelling up from Somerset.

Carl Alford’s overhead kick early on set the Glovers on their way on 12 minutes, but it was Chris Weale‘s 1st minute save from Kirk Jackson which really set the tone for the afternoon.

Gary Johnson‘s men really took control after half time, Terry Skiverton forcing a goal-line clearance from Matt Fisher, but the second goal came not long after, a fine finish from Man of the Match, Adam Stansfield.

After the game, Gary Johnson told reporters: “The club and the fans have been waiting more than thirty years to win this and now we have won it for them, I’m delighted”

Yeovil: Weale, Lockwood, Tonkin, Skiverton, Pluck, Way, Stansfield, Johnson, Alford, Crittenden, McIndoe.

Subs: White, Sheffield, O’Brien, Giles, Lindegaard.

 

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Yeovil Town played their first ever Football League Play Off fixture on this day in 2007.

The Glovers welcomed two-time European Cup winners, Nottingham Forest to Huish Park for the first leg of the League One play off semi final.

Despite outplaying their counterparts Yeovil would succumb 2-0 in the end, thanks to a couple of penalties from Kris Commons and James Perch.

Nearly 9,000 supporters were in the ground for the game with the pictures beamed around the world on Sky Sports as well.

After the game, Forest were famously rumoured to be planning their trip to Wembley already with the players measured for suits and hotels all booked before the return leg at the City Ground.

… and we all know what happened on ‘that night on the side of the River Trent’, more on that on a later ‘On This Day’.

Yeovil: Mildenhall, Lindegaard, Guyett, Forbes, Jones, Gray, Barry, Cohen, Davies, Morris, Stewart.
Subs Not Used: Behcet, Brittain, Kalala, Lynch, Knights.

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Yeovil Town announced the signing of 21-year old Hereford United forward Gavin Williams on a two-year contract.

It was reported that the Glovers parted with little over £20,000 to sign the Welshman.

At the time Ciderspace described Williams as “an exciting twenty-one-year-old who can play anywhere up front, or in midfield. He has shone in a frankly poor Bulls team, and was the club’s top scorer last season. The Glovers have been interested in him for some time, and in fact tried to sign him in a double package with current Player of the Season Michael McIndoe during the 2000-01 campaign. His capture now, in the face of strong interest from several other Conference and League clubs, is testimony to the growing ambitions and stature of Yeovil Town. We at Ciderspace believe this will prove to be a signing of consequence, and are sure Gavin will be a great success in the green and white in the coming seasons”

Williams would, of course go on to become a Glovers legend across multiple spells, including a stint on loan in 2010 before joining the team permanently once again in 2011 and would end his time at Huish Park as part of the 2013 League One Play-Off winning squad.

Gav would eventually depart Somerset for West Ham in 2004 before spending time at Ipswich, both Bristol clubs, Woking and was most recently seen as Player-Manager at Merthyr Town in Wales.

Super Gav reperesented Yeovil 188 times, scoring 34 times.