On today’s episode of the Gloverscast we talk about the 0-0 draw at Wealdstone, Lawson D’Ath and our reliance on him, our new signing Will Dawes and Dave’s got an answer on the latest Confirmation Statement on Companies House.
We hear from York City podcaster Simon from the Shooting Towards the Shippo podcast about our opponents tomorrow.
Enjoy!
Yeovil Town director Stuart Robins has bought a 20% stake in the club and the money will be going straight in to its accounts – but we’re not quite sure how much money is involved.
A recent statement filed by Yeovil Football & Athletic Club (YF&AC), the company which runs the club’s operations, showed the new director had acquired 341,442 ordinary shares in the business valued at £1 each.
But, following a series of questions from Gloverscast about the investment, it appears the simple mathematics (if there such a thing) is not quite as simple as it seems because £1 is apparently the nominal value of a share in the business, not the current or market value of one.
In a statement, the club told us: “Mr Robins’ has acquired 341,442 shares in YF&AC at the deemed current market value.
“This does mean that Mr Robins now owns 20% of YF&AC with the balance of 80% (1,365,772 shares) currently retained by Yeovil Town Holdings.”
Yeovil Town Holdings being a company set up by former owners Norman Hayward and John Fry which was acquired by chairman Scott Priestnall during his 2019 takeover, and lists the chairman as its only director.
So, if the shares were acquired from Yeovil Town Holdings, does that not mean that the money goes straight to it and bypasses the football club? It appears not.
The statement claims that a loan arrangement agreed with the clubs “professional advisers” whereby the YT Holdings has loaned YF&AC the amount invested and then written off the loan, leaving the club with the full investment on its books.
Let’s assume for the sake of this example Stuart Robins has invested £100,000 for his 20%; this means YT Holdings received £100,000 in the deal which gave no direct benefit to the football club itself. So, to enable the club to see the benefit, the statement suggests that, by way of accounting convention, the money has been given as a loan by the holding company to the football club, and that loan has then been written off, leaving the football club with the £100,00 in cash. But, of course, we don’t know how much it actually is.
If that doesn’t make sense, here’s how the club’s statement explains it: “It was intended that the new investor’s funds be made immediately available to the football club for working capital purposes. However, following discussions with our professional advisers, it was known from the outset that the investment was going to need to be made in return for shares held by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
“As a result, it was also recognised from the outset that the investment would, from an accounting perspective, create an unnecessary loan balance between Yeovil Town Holdings Limited and Yeovil Football and Athletic Club Limited.
“As such, following the initial investment transaction made into Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, the second and immediate step required was to then waive that loan between the two entities such that the funds rest in the football club and could not be called back by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
“Our professional advisers have helped guide us through these transactions to ensure there are no other related issues arising that may be detrimental to the football club, and we are pleased to confirm these transactions have indeed been completed and concluded accordingly.
“The investment funds have therefore ended up in the football club without any additional liability arising on the balance sheet of any entity.”
That is a somewhat long-winding way of saying that the money which Stuart Robins has invested for his 20% stake in the club is now on the books and being used for its intended purpose – as “working capital”.
What is working capital? Again, it could mean a lot of things. It could be wages, it could be transfer fees, it could be buying pies and pints for the teas bars – or any combination of these things.
As you’d probably expect, the statement tallies up with what the new director told us when back in Glovercast #178 at the start of July, when he said: “That money has gone straight to the club, that money is being used to help further develop the club, it’s not gone in to anyone’s pocket.”
So with that cleared up (right?), we did also ask for an update on any new investors and/or directors joining the board – remember we were promised a few back in April? If not, read here. Oh, and we asked what was going on with the South Somerset District Council (SSDC) plans to develop the land.
The reply on directors/investors was: “The search for further investors/club directors continues. Confidential discussions have been held with a number of individuals and it would be inappropriate to comment further unless or until agreements are reached.”
And on SSDC, it was: “Plans to develop the Huish Park site are subject to ongoing discussions with SSDC.”
In the time between the publication of the Confirmation Statement and receiving the answers, we got a response from SSDC which provides a little more detail on the latter point which you can read – here.
Don’t Fall In Love With Footballers
This week our time machine takes us back only a very short time to look at the goals of Tom Knowles, following his recent departure for Walsall.
Tom was born in Cambridge and graduated from the Cambridge United academy to join their youth team at the age of 17. His time at Cambridge was characterised by numerous loans out to local non-league clubs such as Cambridge City, St Neots and St Ives (not the Cornwall one). With Cambridge challenging for promotion from League Two, Tom’s first team opportunities were limited and a deal was agreed to take him to Yeovil for an undisclosed fee in November 2020, shortly after turning 22.
After a number of appearances mostly from the bench, he broke into the Glovers’ first team with the 3-1 home win over Dover in January 2021. He was almost ever-present from that game onwards, scoring 7 goals and 5 assists from 24 starts and 9 sub appearances in 2019/20. His first goal came in February away at Hartlepool and what a belter it was, a long range shot into the top corner. All of his goals that season were expertly taken, not a tap-in among them. The only ‘easy’ goal at home to King’s Lynn still showed incredible anticipation to intercept an under-hit pass and take it around the goalie. His second goal of that game was probably the pick of that season, another shot from outside the area curled around the diving keeper.
Most of his first appearances were during the pandemic in front of empty stadiums, but when the fans returned in 2021/22 he became the main man, taking the No. 11 shirt and scoring 11 goals and 14 assists from 43 starts and 7 sub appearances, in a team that was not overflowing with goal-scoring opportunities. He got off to a relatively slow start, with his first goal not coming until the end of October against Woking although he went on a bit of a spree after that, with brilliant goals against Eastleigh and Bromley. He seemed to be in a goal of the season competition season with himself, with the occasional interruption from Charlie Wakefield. He scored so many great goals last season that I had to cut come of them out to make a Top 20, otherwise they would have been virtually all Tom Knowles. His 14 assists were the most in a single season since Ed Upson made 18 in the promotion campaign of 2012/13. He scored three from outside the area, including my own personal favourite in the 2-1 win at home to Eastleigh. Another highlight was when he dispossessed two Barnet players from their own free kick and then proceeded to run over half the length of the pitch to beat the keeper. It was not a surprise when he left, perhaps more so that he didn’t go higher up than Walsall, but having taken their No. 10 shirt we wish him all the best there.
Reviewing all of Tom’s goals and how consistently high the quality was, it’s hard not to draw comparisons with the legendary Gavin Williams. Tom scored 18 goals and 19 assists in 74 starts, that’s exactly one return, or in modern parlance ‘goal involvement’ every other game.
In his first spell with us between 2002 and 2004, Gavin Williams made 107 starts, scoring 21 goals and 23 assists, or one GI every 2.4 games. Combining his later spells between 2010 and 2013 he made another 54 starts, scoring 13 goals and 14 assists, or one GI every two games – exactly the same as Knowles, but two divisions higher and to be fair, almost ten years older. When Gavin joined us in 2002 he was only 21, although he had been playing for our feeder team Hereford for almost five years.
It’s not an exact comparison but it is an interesting one – at Conference level, Tom’s GI of 1 in 2 was much higher than Gavin’s of 1 in 2.8, and it’s not controversial to say that Williams was playing in a much better team. The 2002/03 team scored 121 goals in all competitions, followed by 84 in 2003/04 and 108 in 2004/05. Of course this is a double-edged sword, as the team scored far more often meaning it was more likely he would score or assist, but there were more creative players around him to contribute – in 02/03, McIndoe and Johnson got 39 assists between them, and in 03/04 Johnson got 20 on his own.
By contrast the teams Knowles was involved in scored 67 in 2020/21 and 72 in 2021/22. Last season he was involved in almost exactly half (48%) of all the goals scored while he was on the pitch – either scoring or assisting 25 times out of 52 goals scored in the games that he started.
As for Super Gav, in 2002/03 he scored six which were all pretty good, my personal favourite was the screamer he scored against Doncaster to level the scores at Huish Park. The best of 2003/04 was the solo goal at Kidderminster, and the only time he scored from open play in 2004/05 before his move to West Ham was a brilliant team goal against Bristol Rovers both started and finished by the man himself.
In his later spells, he popped up with a few free kicks including one on his second debut against Hartlepool, and his only goal of 2010/11 against Swindon. The best of 2011/12 was an absolute beauty against Oldham, and his last goal for the club in December 2012 against the same team was probably the best of the lot as he picked up the ball inside his own half, dribbled past a couple of players and several divots in the pitch, and scored from the better part of 35 yards. In fact he seemed to really enjoy playing against Oldham, scoring five and assisting twice in four games against them between 2010 and 2012.
Chris Hargreaves is keeping “fingers crossed” that on-loan winger Sam Pearson will return from injury for the visit of York City to Huish Park this weekend.
The Bristol City player trained on Thursday having missed the past three matches with a back injury picked up in a bruising encounter against Barnet last month.
The boss also revealed playmaker Lawson D’Ath, who went off in the 1-0 home win over Dagenham & Redbridge last weekend, had taken part in training.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins ahead of the weekend, Hargreaves said: “Sam has trained today, so fingers crossed he will be available. I can’t give any guarantees on that, we have to see how he reacts in training today.
“The same with Lawson, he took part in a little bit of training today, so he will be close. He’s doing everything in his power to be fit. Laws is definitely giving himself the best possible chance to be available.”
He added there were “a couple of niggles” in the squad which saw him make changes against Dagenham and the Bank Holiday Monday stalemate at Wealdstone.
Striker Alex Fisher was withdrawn in the second half of both fixtures with Gime Toure coming off after 73 minutes last weekend but completing his first 90 minutes since moving to Somerset on Monday.
Striker Matt Grivosti has returned to League One Bolton Wanderers after his a month in Somerset which failed to see him start a game.
The 19-year-old, who had a prolific season at Warrington Town last term, was signed on loan immediately after the shock exit of Tom Knowles on the eve of the National League campaign – but played just 24 minutes in two appearances.
Confirming his return to his parent club, Hargreaves said: “We have had a chat with the player and the club, he’s a very bright footballer and a fantastic lad, but it just proved too difficult to get in the side with the players we have.
“I don’t want to halt the lads progress by him not playin regular football so he’s returned to Bolton with our best wishes.”
Defender Finley Craske remains at Huish Park having joined on a season-long youth loan from Plynouth Argyle.
The boss added: “With Finley, I have had a good conversation with Finley and with Plymouth and in some positions it takes a bit longer to get a chance.
“It might be form, it might be injury but having a fair amount of defenders keeping fit, he just has to bide his time. He’s enjoying his training and working hard and learning lot.”
The boss did not confirm the arrival of winger Will Dawes despite his former club Stratford Town announcing his departure on social media on Thursday.
Hargreaves said it would “not be right to say anything” about the player who, according to the Stratford-upon-Avon Herald, was signed for “a five-figure undisclosed fee.”
The Bards, who play in Southern League Premier Division Central, are owned by Jed McCrory, a business partner of Glovers’ chairman Scott Priestnall. The pair are directors in Max Mae Limited, a company involved in “the development of building projects” which has Huish Park as its registered office.
Speaking about new signings, Hargreaves said the could be movement: “We are always looking, especially when you have some injury doubts and you become a bit light.
“You have to get the balance right of making a knee-jerk reaction for getting players in when you have other players who are borderline ready for getting fit, then you have an extra body. That is the challenge which we have to get right.
“There may be movement in the next day or two but I will not know that until I know the full fitness of the players that I have in my squad.“
According to Stratford Town’s official website, Yeovil Town have signed midfielder Will Dawes from the Southern League Premier Central Division side.
Speaking to Stratford’s official site, Dawes said: “I’m delighted to announce that I’ll be moving on to Yeovil and I can’t thank Jed (McCrory) enough for the work he has down for me and what he’s done to get this move and I’m really excited to get started down there.”
Dawes, who turns 22 next week is clearly highly thought of at Stratford and was given a glowing reference (in a very succint statement) by their chairman, Jed McCrory. We’ve heard that name before…
“Ok we have had three interested parties in Dawsey and he chose to got Yeovil, as it is close to his family home. We are saddened to see him go but delighted that we have moved a play on to a higher level again.
“Dawsey has been a delight for the few years he has been here and improved beyond belief.”
He continued: “Dawsey deserves his chance to move up the leaguess and I believe he will be a div 1 player quickly due to his desire and ability.
“Dawsey shows everyone at Stratford town and players in the community, join Stratford and see what can be achieved.
He concluded: “We are all so proud of Dawsey and sad we won’t see him on a Saturday but never say never as we strive to get to conference prem.”
We’ll await official confirmation from Yeovil Town on this one, but it sounds like Stratford have gone early. There’ll be a conversation at the next Max Mae Ltd board meeting one presumes.
Earlier this week, Ryan Reynolds kicked off on Twitter about not being able to stream Wrexham games in the US so that a new audience, off the back of their FX/Disney+ documentary which was released this month, can watch live.
The co-owner of Wrexham posted to his 20.1m followers: “After months of maximum effort, the decision (through inaction of the @Vanarama National League) to not allow domestic/international streaming of matches of Wrexham and the other clubs in the league is truly baffling. It deprives every team in our league of the chance to expand the fanbase, while adding to league revenue benefits everyone.”
Timing on this one’s all a bit odd isn’t it?
Anyway, the National League Board, on which YTFC owner Scott Priestnall sits, have issued a joint statement on the National League website today.
Many will be aware of the recent comments regarding streaming, and it is important we set out the current position of the Vanarama National League.
Firstly, it is important to remember that we already have a Broadcast Partner, in BT Sports, who currently have the contractual rights to all National League games in a deal that has served the whole league and all its 72 clubs well.
BT are keen to work with the National League to support opportunities for our clubs to generate extra income, as they did during the Covid Pandemic, in the form of streaming.
We have been working intensely for some months to finalise a proposal launch a centralised, fully tested Vanarama National League streaming platform. This proposal goes to the Board for consideration at their meeting on 15th September.
The proposal will recognise that we must respect and protect the status of the league and also BT Sport’s high production values and ensuring an approach which guarantees quality of service and the needs of all our clubs and their fans.
We understand the desire from some clubs, who find themselves in a position to stream independently and we respect that, however there is a requirement for the League to protect and provide a solution for all three divisions.
We will always take into account the views of individual clubs, but it is imperative that we look after the interests of 72 member clubs and doing as much as we can to deliver income, profile and support for all.
The commercial arm of the League have been simultaneously seeking partners for the delivery and commercialisation of a streaming platform. The League has the support of Vanarama and BT Sport in ensuring we deliver the needs of all our Clubs.
There are challenges in supplying a product that can be used by everyone, whilst ensuring compliance with Article 48.
The Board will consider the proposal in full, and that will include the timetable for its introduction.
Basically, we’ve got a partner, we’ve got a lot of clubs to think about, the quality needs to be the same across the three leagues, we’ll think about it.
A goalless draw away at a table-topping Wealdstone could be a positive result on the face of it, especially after picking up a win at home just 48 hours earlier.
But, whether it was from manager Chris Hargreaves or his players, the mood in the Yeovil Town camp at the end of Bank Holiday Monday was one of frustration,
We forced Dave to Rule 2 (Gloverscast Rule 2: Always sleep on it before judging a result) it, and here are his conclusions….
We have to credit our opponents. I’ll get to us in a minute, I promise, but I have to start by giving credit to Wealdstone. There was a mood of celebration around Grosvenor Vale at kick-off with the Stones top of the league, so going a man down after just nine minutes would not have featured in their plans, I’m sure. That said, they looked organised in those first nine minutes and in the 81 that followed, they had a plan and they stuck to it. And, no, this conclusion was not in the original five – but that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t have been!
The answer can’t always be Lawson. From the ninth minute, the opportunity was there for us to play a bit of HargBall (yes, I now accept that as its name), play it quickly, switch wings and frankly just have a go at our ten man opponents. Instead, we seemed to methodically passing it across midfield, the game was crying out for someone to grab the ball and do something. It’s too easy to say “well, if Lawson D’Ath had been there“, that simply cannot be the answer to everything – and, no, Sam Pearson can’t be the answer to everything either! There were players out there who can do more and should have done more. Even when Charlie Wakefield came on at half-time there didn’t seem to be an urgency for him to get at the Wealdstone defence enough.
I feel for Fish at getting hooked. I’ve been critical of Alex Fisher’s impact on the times I’ve seen him this season, but I felt he was impacting it more than many of his team-mates at Wealdstone. There was a look of disbelief on his face when he saw his number came up to be replaced by Jake Scrimshaw in the 72nd minute which suggests he felt he had more to give and. I know hindsight vision is 20:20, but letting him take the penalty would have been something more he could have given. As for Malachi Linton, it was not his day. After 68 anonymous minutes, it was brave of him to step up to take the penalty. It’s important he recalls the same mentality he did after missing a chance against Wrexham and the scoring a worldie. Channel that frustration, Mal, there’s a good player there.
We can’t be too nice about all this. I listened to Chris Hargreaves’ post-match interview (twice, in fact) and I hope I am reading between the lines here. “What I’ve said in the changing rooms will remain the changing rooms” and there had been “a few words” exchanged between players. I’m pleased to hear that. There’s always a lot of talk about ‘commitment’ and ‘giving everything’ which is well-placed and well-deserved, but if we’re going to improve on last season (which is surely the minimum) then we can’t be too nice about performances like this. With the best part of 650 appearances to his name, I’m sure the manager knows what needs to be said.
We’ve still got September. I’ve checked the Green Day lyrics and we don’t need to wake up until September ends. It is still half-a-dozen games in to the season and we’ve still not lost more than we have lost, but they don’t get any easier. York City at home and then Woking and Eastleigh away (both of whom have started the season well) and then the small matter of Chesterfield and Boreham Wood at Huish Park. Not easy games to get the show on the road, but that’s what we’re going to have to do.
Yeovil Town loanee Ollie Haste was back in the starting line up for Truro just 48 hours after hobbling off injured.
He played a full 90 minutes for the White Tigers in their 1-1 draw at Tiverton.
The midfielder has played a pivotal role so far for his adopted side and came close to getting off the mark for his new club in the 51st minute with a shot blocked from close range.
However, the points were shared after a late second half equaliser cancelled out Tyler Harvey’s opener for Truro.
Toby Stephens was an unused substitute in Devon.
Paul Wotton’s remain unbeaten so far this season.
Yeovil Town captain Josh Staunton has urged his side not to get too downbeat after a frustrating 0-0 draw with Wealdstone.
The part time outfit held the Glovers at bay for more than 80 minutes with ten men, but Yeovil did have their chances, missing a second half penalty and seeing multiple opportunities cleared off the line.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins the skipper praised the Stones’ defensive resolution and backed his team mates to come good.
“I think it’s always a challenge when a team sits in like that, especially when the pitch is quite sticky, and the fine margins didn’t go our way.
It’s very disappointing right now, but at the end of the day it’s one point away from home against a team which are right on form, so as a group we will try and look at the positives.
If someone had said to us at 3 o’clock at the end of the bank holiday we will win the home one and draw the away one I don’t think there would be too many complaints.”
“Obviously the situation makes it a bit more frustrating, but there’s a long season to go.”
Tactical changes and substitutions were all make with attacking alterations in mind, but Yeovil just couldn’t find a way through.
“When you’re chasing a game you’re searching a little bit. In the first half we were three at the back and we were ok, but we probably didn’t utilise the four at the back as well as we probably should have.
As players we kind of shot ourselves in the foot, I think we didn’t get high enough up the pitch.”
Looking ahead the captain urged caution at getting too low at the early season frustration and backed Malachi Linton to come back from the disappointment at missing the penalty.
“It’s a long season so it’s about keeping the group level and not feeling like it’s the end of the world in there.”
“I’m sure Mal is very down in there, I don’t need to sit hear and try and say otherwise, strikers want to score goals, it’s never nice when you put yourself forward to take a penalty in a tight game like that… unfortunately today for Mal, it went the wrong side of the crossbar and he’s a young lad with a great future ahead of him and he’s started the season well.
At times like that it’s about rallying round him and make sure he picks himself up.”
Wise words from the captain, who went on to back up those thoughts, even further.
“Obviously we’re very downbeat right now, but on another day we could have had three or four and if we’d have got one in the first half when we were on top we make it a much easier game.”
“We’re understandably frustrated right now, sometimes when you’re like that it’s a kick for you, because if we’d have got six points out of the bank holiday weekend then it would have been a brilliant return.
In this league if you do well at home and draw your away ones, regardless of the situation, you’ll be OK.
Overall, however disappointed we are, it’s that old cliché of it being a marathon not a sprint.”
The next stop on the 26.2 mile journey that is the National League season is a home game against York City this coming Saturday.
Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves has expressed a lack of ‘killer instinct’ in his side saw ten man Wealdstone hold the Glovers at bay for more than 80 minutes.
Yeovil, who actually extended a mini unbeaten run to three with the 0-0 draw, have been left wondering what might have been after a missed penalty and no fewer than four goal line clearances prevented a second win on the bounce.
Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins after the game he said;
“They [Wealdstone] played with 10 men on Saturday and beat Gateshead so we knew that they’d be dogged.
I’ve played in those games myself as a player and its sometimes difficult to break a really tight formation down. We just didn’t have that creativity to do that today.
I showed my frustration to the players after the final whistle, but again I said that in the main they’ve done things we’ve asked them to do in facts of physicality and running and pressing and closing but just not quite enough creativity in that final third.”
Hargreaves made a positive changes throughout with Charlie Wakefield introduced at half time with Jake Scrimshaw and Callum Rowe also brought on in attacking roles, but it wasn’t to be.
“Charlie’s had a really good start to the season and then been frustrated with injury. It is sometimes difficult to make a mark against a really organised, tight two banks of four, but we didn’t mix the game up enough by drifting in and asking the fullback a question.
That’s the disappointment that we didn’t have that guile to ask them a question with 2 v 1s when that’s the whole reason we changed the shape.”
“The messages at half time were to switch play quickly, hope that someone turns off, which inevitably they do when they’re tired and then you’re either in on goal or able to cross the ball. It didn’t materialise and were disappointed, definitely”
Best chance of all though, fell to the feet of Malachi Linton, who put his penalty into the car park, Hargreaves said he was happy to back his striker from the spot.
“I always have in my mind that if you’re the most confident person on that pitch to take a penalty and you believe you’re going to score then you take it.
What I’ve said in the changing room will remain in the changing room, but for Mal he’s scored two fantastic goals already, he wont stop running, he’s brave as a lion and he didn’t mean to miss it.”
“I’ve got no proiblem with him missing chances and missing penalties, he’ll be the most disappointed out of anybody so he doesn’t need reminding of that. If we do score, we win the game but its a point that we reluctantly accept.
There’s been a few words in the changing room from the experienced lads because they want more and im pleased to see that. There’s been a bit of anger in there, no problem, that means they care.”
The Glovers host York City next weekend and will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run to four.
