Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 344)

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Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves has said he will be looking to add more attacking options to his squad up until he steps on to the coach to travel to Scunthorpe United on Friday.

The Glovers’ boss admitted it had “not quite clicked” for some of the club’s forward players during a pre-season which saw them score six goals in six friendlies – albeit four of them came in the behind-closed-doors game against Western League Premier Division Sherborne Town.

Chris Hargreaves talking to the media ahead of the trip to Scunthorpe United.

He added that he was looking for further “depth” in attacking positions suggesting that he sees strikers Malachi Linton and Alex Fisher as his first-choice pairing with any new arrivals being a back up alongside the likes of Ollie Hulbert.

The manager was speaking on Thursday afternoon before the announcement that Tom Knowles had been sold to League Two side Walsall for an “undisclosed fee”, read more on that – here.

Hargreaves said: “We are looking at depth really. The players we have got in are good players who offer different attributes, but we have got to add to it because we don’t want to be short.

“That’s what we are trying to do and it will continue up until I get on that coach (to Scunthorpe on Friday) and it will continue once we arrive back, but once we are on the coach we have to focus on what we have got and how we can effect the game.

“We will still be looking, but it is to add to the lads we already have, it is not instead of.”

Given when Knowles was announced by his new employers, there were posts of him wearing a Walsall shirt suggests the deal was signed, sealed and delivered (albeit not announced) when Hargreaves spoke to the media – which would suggest the “undisclosed fee” (is there ever any kind where Yeovil Town are concerned?) is not planned to be ploughed back in to attacking talent.

Hargreaves confirmed that Norwegian frontman Stanley Anaebonam, who was with League of Ireland side Shelbourne last season, was still someone being looked at but admitted that he could not have too many “projects.”

Stanley Anaebonam, ahead of the draw with Exeter City earlier in pre-season.

The 23-year-old has featured as a substitute in a number of the club’s pre-season friendlies most recently in the 1-0 win at Weston-super-Mare last weekend when he appeared alongside versatile Finley Craske, who signed on loan from Plymouth Argyle in the week.

Hargreaves said: “We have had a look at some trialists, Stanley being one of them. Some we haven’t committed to and some we have said we will monitor. It’s shown us how hungry some lads are for an opportunity, but there are only so many places and we have to strike a balance with ‘projects’ because we need some experience.

“That is at the moment where my mind is. We have Alex Fisher who is vastly experienced and has shown a massive appetite to play for this club, but we need a little bit more of his ilk.

“It may take another week or another couple of weeks, it sometimes doesn’t happen overnight but one thing is for certain, the boys that step on that coach to Scunthorpe on Friday I am very happy with.

“There are lads chomping at the bit. There’s only so many places on that bench, so I am not too worried about having a huge squad because we can’t get them all in, but we are looking for a little bit more experience.”

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Somerset Premier Cup Winners 2022 ? SomersetFA

Yeovil Town’s defence of the Somerset FA’s Men’s  Premier Cup has taken a step closer following the reveal of the dates of fixtures.

The Glovers – reigning SMPC holders, you’ll recall – will have a chance to retain their crown on home soil once again with the final (which Yeovil won last year, in case you had forgotten) scheduled for the hallowed turf of Huish Park on Tuesday 2nd May 2023 three days after the scheduled conclusion of the regular campaign.

Note, that is also the date the first National League Eliminator would take place, so, should Yeovil be in the final (again) and also in the Play-Offs then a “back up date” for the final would be called upon – Tuesday May 9th 2023.

As ever, as soon as draws, details, open top bus tours, etc etc are announced we will cover them on the Gloverscast.

 

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Throughout June we asked supporters of Yeovil Town FC to fill out our survey to share their views on the club and we’re delighted to share the results back with you on the slides below.

Thanks to Ben Sharpless for taking a look through the data and picking out some key points and thanks to the 499 of you who completed the first ever survey we’ve run. Here’s to next year and getting over 500.

 

[pdf-embedder url=”https://gloverscast.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/21_22-Survey-Findings.pdf” title=”21_22 Survey Findings”]

You can download the slides from here.

 

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Bristol City goalkeeper Will Buse has been linked with a move to Huish Park “in the next 24 hours“, according to reports coming out of Ashton Gate.

The 20-year-old was recalled from his loan spell at Southern League Premier Division side Taunton Town on Monday afternoon from where he kept the Glovers’ out in a pre-season friendly last month.

He made a number of impressive saves on the night including denying Tom Knowles from the penalty spot, carrying on his impressive form on loan at Taunton as they won promotion last season.

The report on Bristol Live said: “City activated a clause in the loan deal to recall him and he is likely to join Yeovil in the next 24 hours once the paperwork is completed, in time for their National League season opener at Scunthorpe United.”

If the move is forthcoming, it would raise questions about the fitness of number one Grant Smith going in to the weekend’s National League opener at Scunthorpe United on Saturday, and the future of back-up keeper Max Evans.

Manager Chris Hargreaves hosts his first pre-match press conference on tomorrow (Thursday) afternoon and therefore we can expect to know more after that – if not before.

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Joe Edwards has revealed he knew that Yeovil Town would book their place in the League One play-off final from the minute he ran out for the warm in the semi-final second leg against Sheffield United in 2013.

The former Glovers’ midfielder and captain has spoken about the 2-0 win over the Blades on the latest edition of the GloversPast.

Speaking ahead of his first return to Huish Park with Plymouth Argyle in this weekend’s pre-season friendly, he said: “Coming out before the game you could just feel the atmosphere, I had never felt anything like that.

“Even though it was a smaller stadium than I had played in before or after, that was my favourite warm up ever.

“It was packed as soon as we came out, I knew we were going to win from that moment, it just had that feeling and we replicated that with the way we started.”

You can listen to Joe talk about his time at Huish Park including that magical season in the latest edition of the GloversPast below.

 

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The after the night before with the historic win by England Women over Germany at Wembley and, to give this news a Yeovil Town twist, we asked BBC Somerset Glovers’ report, occasional Gloverscast guest and host and former Media Manager of Yeovil Town Ladies Sheridan Robins to give us her take on the moment.

It has been 24 hours since England Women did what has often felt like an impossible task.

They won a major trophy – and they did so by beating long-time rivals (and eight-time winners of the European Championships) Germany.

I could make many jokes about how if you want something done properly, make sure it is done by a woman (and I have), but this is about more than that. This is about the women’s game capturing the hearts of the nation and – crucially – being a product of immense quality.

The Lionesses were six minutes from exiting the tournament in the quarter finals and were dealt a blow when Germany equalised yesterday, but the talent, the game management, and the tactical substitutions of Manager Sarina Wiegman secured a precious victory which finally brought football home.

People will now always remember the names Ella Toone and Chloe Kelly – and rightly so. However, this is now the time to ensure attendances at grassroots level and beyond continue to rise.

I commentated last season on Ella Toone and Mary Earps as they beat Bridgwater United Women 2-0 in the Women’s FA Cup. It was a wonderful occasion with more than 2000 people turning out to support the Somerset team. But I will be honest – it was tinged with sadness.

As a lifelong Yeovil Town fan, it felt like we should have had that experience as Bridgwater were formerly our very own women’s team donning green and white. Yeovil Ladies were supremely successful and won the WSL2 (now the Championship) back in 2016 at Huish Park. Little old Yeovil in the Women’s Premier League! It was a huge achievement and one I was blessed to be a part of. I worked as the club’s Media Manager for ten months back in 2018, before being made redundant – and ultimately the club fell not long after.

The remarkable achievement of England takes me back to when Yeovil won their first ever top flight match against Everton. A hard fought 1-0 win with more than 1,000 people supporting them and I remember being as proud of the attendance as I was of the players.

Those memories are amazing but the way it ended (and there were a multitude of reasons for it) feels like an opportunity missed. I remember Matty Dolan creating content with Yeovil Ladies’ captain Annie Heatherson and I long for that connectivity again between the men and the women’s game – especially because of the progress which has been made in just a few short years.

I don’t play, I just speak about the game and for the past two seasons I have been focused on talking about the men’s game and minus a few choice comments (mainly at opposition grounds) my gender hasn’t been talked about. I credit the managers, players, and society for the fact it is changing. I feel I belong in this industry, and it feels like we (Yeovil) are missing a piece of the puzzle with regards to a women’s team.

I hope this changes soon. How great is it to see male players tweeting about the England match? Not to mention attending and joining in the celebrations. They know what it takes to win and considering the last trophy Yeovil Town won was won by the women, and now the same can be said for England – this is surely the time to capitalise on this growth.

Yesterday was an incredible day and one which should be looked back on with such pride. Don’t get me wrong, I am just as excited about Scunthorpe away on Saturday (yes, really), but let’s keep the conversation going about ensuring young girls can see they can play football, too. And what better place to do so than the beautiful county of Somerset?

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Finley Craske ? Sam Collard

Versatile teenager Finley Craske has joined Yeovil Town on loan from League One side Plymouth Argyle until the end of the season.

The 19-year-old was an unused substitute for the Glovers’ 1-0 win at Weston-super-Mare in their final pre-season friendly at the weekend.

Fi

The graduate of the Home Park academy has joined on a youth loan agreement and is described as “comfortable in both defence and midfield.”

Speaking of the new recruit, manager Chris Hargreaves said: “Finley is another positive addition to the squad. He is someone who is highly thought of at Plymouth.

“He is a young player, who is eager to learn and make the most of his time here, not just for himself, but for Yeovil too.

“He can play in multiple positions and his versatility will add to what we already have.”

In a slightly briefer quote, the youngster added: “It feels really good to be here. I can’t wait to get going.”

The youngster has played at Huish Park in pre-season, coming on for the final eight minutes of his parent club’s 2-0 friendly win there a week ago, replacing former Glovers’ player and Plymouth captain, Joe Edwards.

He signed his first professional contract last month having graduated from the club’s academy and had a loan spell at Southern League side Plymouth Parkway.

By our count, this leaves Hargreaves with two further loans spaces having already brought in midfielders Sam Perry and Sam Pearson from Walsall and Bristol City respectively.

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With Yeovil Town’s pre-season campaign now at an end, there is one final chance to have a game of guess the trialist following the 1-0 win at Weston-super-Mare on Saturday.

The substitutes’ bench featured three trialists – A, B and C (we’ll not do the Trialist family joke again, promise!) – with one coming on three minutes in to the second half in place of left wing-back Jamie Reckord and another coming on in place of Malachi Linton up front.

Stanley Anaebonam, ahead of the draw with Exeter City earlier in pre-season.

Starting with the one we know more about, striker Stanley Anaebonam was the man who replaced Linton and has been around since the goalless draw at Taunton Town which launched the pre-season campaign a few weeks ago.

A Norwegian striker who was most recent at League of Ireland side Shelbourne from where he was release at the end of last season, he previously seems to have spent much of his playing career in the Midlands with Solihull Moors and Redditch United among his other clubs.

One assumes the fact he is still about and still getting game time at this late stage of pre-season suggests that he is someone who interests boss Chris Hargreaves, and he has shown flashes of “something a bit different” to quote our own Ian Perkins – but is that enough to earn him any kind of deal?

The other who made an appearance coming on for Reckord at left-back was Tyler Garratt who has been training up at Huish Park during the week.

Tyler Garratt during a loan spell at AFC Wimbledon in 2018-19.

The 25-year-old defender was playing at League of Wales side Cefn Druids having started the season at Bangor City.

His CV includes a three-game spell at Wrexham in the 2019-20 season which was cut short before they got the money and his final appearances for the Welsh side came in a 3-0 defeat against Yeovil at Huish Park in February 2020.

That season he played a further 11 games at Stockport County (when they did have money) and before that he lists Doncaster Rovers and his first club Bolton Wanderers.

Which leaves Trialist C who we know (/can Google search) the least about which we believe to be Finley Craske, a 19-year-old defender from Plymouth Argyle.

However, he has played at Huish Park in pre-season, coming on for the final eight minutes of his parent club’s 2-0 friendly win there a week ago.

He signed his first professional contract last month having graduated from the club’s academy and had a loan spell at Southern League side Plymouth Parkway.

The Plymouth website describes him as: “A versatile player, who can play in midfield or in defence, and has incredible energy.”

He made his League debut in May 2021 as a final day substitute at Gillingham having played in the Pizza Pot Trophy (or whatever they call it these days) earlier in that same season.

One player who was noticeable by his absence at Weston-super-Mare was Yeovil-born midfielder Matt Buse who had featured in all the club’s other friendlies.

His absence would suggest he has been told he can investigate other options and the rumour mill suggests that his other options could be bothering seagulls at W*ymouth where he finished last season……getting relegated back to National League South. Sorry, not sorry, Matt.

Full-back Lesley Duru was another player who did not re-appear at the weekend having featured against both Plymouth and Dorchester Town. One assumes he has been told he can look elsewhere.

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With pre-season now at an end, Chris Hargreaves’ next match day squad will be for the National League opener at Scunthorpe United. BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins was at the last friendly in Weston-super-Mare where the Glovers sealed a 1-0 victory. Here are her five conclusions…
We look to be enjoying playing a back three, but it can be fluid. This was the first time I have seen the Glovers play three centre backs and as was so clear last season, that area of the pitch looks very good indeed. Charlie Wakefield at wing back is an interesting prospect and, as ever, if you give him the ball, he is so dangerous. Jamie Reckord won the penalty getting high up the pitch on the left side and we looked dangerous – particularly in the first half. I am looking forward to seeing the system develop as we switched back to a four in the second period.
Ben Richards-Everton could be the experienced head we need. He was my man of the match against a stubborn Weston side who offered a lot going forward. He put his body on the line, had good positioning and was commanding. I also noticed Morgan Williams was much more vocal than I have seen before, and our new signing could really guide him through after what was a brilliant campaign last season for the centre back/right back/left back!
Striker Alex Fisher 
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.
We may need goals, but we have one ridiculously hard-working striker. The manager was honest about the lack of goals in the side currently, and we need not only more bodies but our midfielders and defenders to ensure they are chipping in too. However, Alex Fisher never stops running – and now I remember his first spell at Huish Park was very much about that tenacity. I try to forget about the 2017/18 season as much as possible, but he always played for the shirt. I hope his goal is the first of many because his attitude and endeavour is second to none and he had some nice layoffs too. Feed the fish etc…we all want to see that GIF again.
Lawson D’Ath. Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.
We need a relatively injury free season. This may seem obvious, but for real success this season, management of players will be crucial. With Lawson D’Ath having his minutes managed, and a few niggles for our key creative players yesterday, it is apparent how much we need those star players. Any team which does well often has luck on their side injury wise. I think we are definitely due some!
Chris Hargreaves is so excited to be back in management. It was almost written in the stars that Chris Hargreaves’ first match would be on BT Sport after his punditry work for them. But it is infectious to see just how excited he is to be in the dugout for the opening competitive match. I am so pleased we got him in early, so he had time to get to know the players he inherited and add his own characters. Speaking to fans yesterday, there is no doubt they are supporting him, and I am sure he will get a fantastic reception at Glanford Park. Here we go again – let’s hope for a good start!

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Chris Hargreaves
? Aaron McLean

With BT Sport showing the opening game of the Glovers’ 2022/23 season live on TV, the club have confirmed that the game will shown in the Alec Stock lounge for Yeovil fans to enjoy.

The tea-time game from Glanford Park will be the first competitive game under the watchful eye of former BT Sport pundit Chris Hargreaves.

Scunthorpe dropped out of the EFL last season and host the Glovers for the first time since 2015.

The Alec Stock lounge will be available from 3pm on Saturday for fans to filter in and have a pre match beverage, there’s no need to book, just turn up and support the team from Huish Park.

The 5:20 kick off will also be covered on BBC Radio Somerset with Sheridan Robins and our very own Ben Barrett providing the audio… so however you’re watching, pop the TV on mute and dial in the radio as well…