Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 359)

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Purefoy (right) with Gary Johnson in 2013
? James Purefoy Fan Facebook

Hollywood actor and Glovers’ fan James Purefoy has told an American movie podcast he has been asked about a potential takeover of Yeovil Town.

Speaking to ‘Beyond the Mic’ with Sean Dillon to promote his film ‘Fisherman’s Friend 2’ he was asked (slightly tongue in cheek) if he could… would he buy Yeovil Town to challenge Wrexham… his response was not all that positive.

The Taunton-born actor said: “Don’t scare the hell out of me, people have been asking me to put a consortium together to buy Yeovil Town.”

It was pointed out that Hollywood loves “soccer” now… but Purefoy was still hesitant.

“The idea of it, do I have time in my life, for Yeovil Town? Not in that way”.

Well James, if you ever change your mind… or just want to come on the pod and tackle the Fans Five questions… you’re more than welcome to.

Ryan Reynolds, you’re safe… for now!

 

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Well, streaming is here in the National League, and Gloverscast Ben has been exploring.

Ryan Reynolds and that other bloke who owns Wrexham, threw enough toys out of their pram and now, anyone in the world can dial in to watch their beloved National League side.

For the cost of a Motorway Services Meal Deal, I can, from the comfort of my own sofa, log into a site and watch the Glovers in action, and that’s exactly what I did on Saturday as Yeovil hosted Scunthorpe United.

I’ve long been a sceptic of streaming at this level, but I accept there are pros and cons to this, so I thought I’d jot a few down.

As ever, let us know what you think and how you think it’ll change (if at all) how you consume Yeovil Town matches.

The Pros

1) First of all, the entire process of signing up, pledging my allegiance to Yeovil and parting with my £4.75 via PayPal was all very easy.

2) The quality of image, audio and graphics were pretty good.

That’s a good start, we saw during the lockdown days that not every side has great coverage.

We at Yeovil had a ball tracking camera at one point which focused in on a bald lino’s noggin once or twice, but that isn’t the case here.

The camera operator might need a spirit level as it looked a little wonky at times, but there’s was some nice graphics, even a replay or two and at half time we were treated to an ‘as it stands’ table.

There’s clearly some sort of work going on externally, quite possibly a director and someone working on the games, which, is a pretty good effort from the National League.

3) I bought a ticket! That means that 60% of my £4.75 (£2.85) has gone into the club coffers. I wonder what they’ll spend it on?

In all seriousness, I wouldn’t have given the club a penny to consume that game before hand. All three Gloverscasters bought a stream. This will prove to be an extra revenue stream. (Hold that thought, we’ll come back to it later)

4) It got me thinking about who else might have purchased who may not have otherwise done so.

Friend of the pod, Elliot Watts said his grandad was set up with a stream, he wouldn’t have otherwise made the game and now he’s given the club £2.75.

How many grandads wouldn’t have fancied the cold today? How many are poorly and find mobility difficult? How many people miss out because of Somerset’s horrendous public transport systems in and around the towns and villages? How many exiles would have dialled in? How many people are working and finish too late to get to HP?

Those numbers might be difficult to quantify straight away, but I know those people listed above all exist and probably in not insignificant hoards.

Those people now need to be targeted, advertised to, helped, guided, shown how easy it is to access. For every Watts’ grandad, you need an Elliot to set things up. #BeMoreElliot

5) I was fearful of the audio. I didn’t know what we might get. Would it be something generic or just stadium ambience? It was actually really good to have BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins on commentary and ex-Glovers’ keeper Chris Weale summarising.

The audio was in sync too which was good.

I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the BBC Somerset team and both Ian and I know how much effort goes in to providing those without eyes on Huish Park good enough coverage on match days (and beyond).

It’s vital that a club like Yeovil has good local coverage from media outlets, we should protect it, support it and ensure we don’t let it become a secondary aspect of how we consume YTFC as a whole.

The Cons

1) I’m reliably informed it was really cold today. England were on the telly in the evening. Christmas shopping needs to be done. There was a chance the game might not be on. Fuel costs a fortune too.

That’s a lot of reasons to think…. nah, I’ll skip the game, watch online and go about other errands.

So if “Joe Bloggs” from just outside Yeovil likes to go to the game occasionally, but didn’t today… Yeovil Town have gone from getting 100% of an £18 ticket, plus maybe a sold programme, or a pie or a pint… old Bloggsy (as his mates call him) has now given the Glovers £2.75 rather than £27.50 ish… that’s quite a drop, multiply that equation by however many and that’s a massive shortfall.

It’ll take ten additional streams to make up for one Joe Bloggs…

That’s a massive challenge for every club at this level – what are you going to do to make a trip to Huish Park special?

Without trying to answer my own question (Hi CleaveO), the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust got 300+ kids at the game today, the England game was being shown in the Alec Stock lounge… there was a sense of ‘Match Day Experience’.

This has NEVER been more vital.

We can go deep into ticket prices, offers, loyalty schemes, quality of football, but, the crux of it is, should people stop physically going, this whole thing will be the end of football at this level.

I could ramble on here about people being physically present leads to a better atmosphere, a sense of belonging, helping your side earn a point, suck in the winner in the last minute, none of those things are tangible, but they matter.

What about getting volunteers? Who will volunteer to sell the programmes, or man the tea bars, or sell the golden gambles, or donate to the excellent Food Bank initiative if no one actually attends?

Physical presence matters. Big time.

2) Scunthorpe fans gave Yeovil Town next to nothing today.

The away crowds are an underestimated part of all this.

I’d bet that more Scunthorpe fans saw the game than would have done normally, ok, that’s cool. But how much easier do the excuses come for an away fan to not make the journey?

Scunthorpe is a long way from Yeovil. That’s a lot of fuel, a lot of time, a lot of effort… to watch a 0-0.

If even one Scunthorpe fan chose stream over travel, then Yeovil Town has lost out on 100% of that potential revenue. With just a tiny portion of a Scunny stream purchase going to be split among all 72 clubs.

Scunthorpe made their £2.75 (60% of the £4.75 stream fee), but with just 25% (£1.18) set aside for the big pot to be shared. And then taking that and splitting it 70/30 for National League/NL N&S… means Yeovil got… an equal share of 82 pence, which when divided by 23 other sides in the division gives Yeovil… 3.5 pence.

(I HATE MATHS)

Scunthorpe might be a long way away, but what about Torquay? What if they don’t sell 500 tickets, they only sell 400, because 100 would rather watch the stream?

I’m not going to do any more maths, but thats a lot of people to go from spending a minimum of £18 at Huish Park to 3.5 pence.

Now, this goes both ways of course.

I’ll watch the Barnet game on Tuesday, I wouldn’t have otherwise gone.

I’ll give Yeovil Town another £2.75. I’ll give Barnet 3.5 pence.

Will there be enough Gloverscast Bens to make up for the lack of Joe Bloggs? Only time will tell.

In conclusion

You can see the challenges that will occur, the pressure is now on clubs at our level to make sure the right people attend the game in good enough numbers whilst targeting stream viewers as extra revenue.

Can the club get a stream sponsor? Can they make sure those who have advertising boards REALLY appreciate how many extra eyes will see their product and their logo – look at the screenshots in this article, you can see, Westbury Packaging, Hellier Group, Garador, Jurrasic Fibre, Thatchers and more.

It’s worth noting that the stream figures above will double the other side of Christmas, the £4.75 fee is a half price offer to start things off.

It’s going to be a fascinating ride and I’m really not sure how it’ll all play out.

I’m fearful of the next big expected away crowd, if numbers start to drop, we could be in for a turbulent time, we’ve already heard the term ‘balancing the books’ from the manager.

The way the revenue is split, there are obviously a few clubs who will benefit more than most (Prynhawn da cefnogwyr, Wrecsam), the gap between top and bottom will only grow and those sides who get into the regional divisons below will have an even mightier task to provide a service.

There’s a huge lack of fairness here, especially half way through a season – I thought that every penny this season should have all gone into one pot to be split 72 ways.

If a side has already had its “big” days out away somewhere, those additional streams of fans who haven’t travelled have been lost.

How many Yeovil fans would have dialled into the game at Notts County for example, putting their couple quid into the pot at the same time?

Is streaming a good thing?

I’ll answer hypocritically – for me, yes, absolutely.

For Yeovil Town… I’m cautiously concerned.

 

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The stars aligned this weekend, a stomach bug combined with the launch of a National League streaming service meant Ian was able to stay warm and watch Yeovil’s 0-0 draw with Scunthorpe from the comfort of home. Here are his Five Conclusions…

That was a drab affair. This game won’t go down in history as the Notts County 0-0 will. With a heavily depleted squad, players on the pitch on antibiotics, two of the League’s poorer sides and an increasingly difficult surface, the quality was at a premium at Huish Park. In hindsight, a postponement of the match probably would have benefitted the Glovers. Mark Cooper said given the circumstances with the squad, it’s one of our best points of the season. But his comments after the match made it abundantly clear that…

The playing budget is tight, and that is an understatement. We knew it already right? Chris Hargreaves leant on the local loan network to bring in players and was definitely not shopping in Waitrose. Yesterday we named three subs, with only two outfield players, in a week where we let Gime Toure leave and had to let Anthony Georgiou return to his parent club to ‘balance the books’. The manager cited Jamie Reckord, Morgan Williams, Matt Worthington and Ben Richards-Everton as players missing, but Jake Scrimshaw has vanished, Will Dawes (our five-figure fee signing no less) has got back from whence he came on loan and Hulbert has gone out too. Parts of the summer recruitment has left a lot to be desired and a combination of factors left us really short yesterday. We’ve had two managers this season, who’ve both talked about the lack of budget, what exactly has the injection of taxpayers money done to the playing budget?

I think there should have been a red card for Scunthorpe. There was a heated 20 seconds in the second half where a great tackle gets penalised for a free kick to Yeovil and what followed was a blatant punch to the side of Ewan Clarke’s head. The referee’s intention was solely on sorting out the tackle (which ironically didn’t need sorting) so he misses the hit, if he keeps his eye on Clarke for a split second longer there’s no way he doesn’t give a red. National League refs, eh? What do you think?

Scunthorpe looked like they were there for the taking. There were moments in the first half where we seemed to have acres of space inside the 18 yard box, but rather than shoot we tried to over work it and the chance went away. Friend of the Gloverscast Chris Weale said on commentary that he thought the Iron’s defence was big, slow and narrow and that that Yeovil could get round them. Unfortunately we didn’t seem to do that enough and gave Scunthorpe their first clean sheet of the season.

And they probably should have won it. Scunthorpe grew into the second half as we tired and they looked much more of a threat. In a game that looked like it was going to be settled by one goal, they had the chance of the afternoon through a combination of Tom Pugh and Rob Apter, who somehow conspired to miss. It was the biggest chance of the afternoon and fortunately for the Glovers, Scunthorpe didn’t capitalise.

It was the kind of game where you’re grateful for the request to build a bug hotel during it.

On to Barnet…

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Yeovil Town manager Mark Cooper described his side’s goalless draw with bottom club Scunthorpe United as “the best point we will get all season.”

The Glovers fielded a depleted side with injury, illness and suspension denying him defenders Morgan Williams, Jamie Reckord and Ben Richards-Everton as well as midfielder Matt Worthington meaning he could only field two outfield substitutes.

He also confirmed in his post-match interview with BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins that winger Anthony Georgiou had ended his loan from League Two Leyton Orient early as the club looks to “balance the books.”

Cooper said: “With the way the day unfolded and the lack of numbers, players that played that were ill and could only play a certain amount of time and then we had to bring off.

“It was a resilient performance, we rallied towards the end but with the circumstances towards today, I think it is a brilliant point.

“We didn’t play well and we had to be careful we didn’t get caught late on with no substitutes left because we only had two, so we had to time it really well.

“I can’t question the effort and commitment of the players again, it’s another clean sheet and when it’s like that you have to make sure you don’t lose.”

He confirmed that midfielders Ewan Clark and Charlie Wakefield, who both departed as second half substitutes, were suffering with illness which required antibiotics, and hit out at a supporter in the Main Stand who had questioned his decisions during the match.

The manager said: “I have been here for seven games and to get told I don’t know what I’m doing numerous times by the same individual I find staggering. I can take it but that is wrong in my opinion when we are doing what we are trying to do and we have had the results we have had.

“Everyone today can see the circumstances and I think that is out of order. They don’t understand the players we are bringing off are ill and there’s a reason (we are bringing them off) not because I don’t know what I am doing.

“The players need support, they need everyone behind them, everyone is trying their socks off and on the whole the majority are really good, but we need everybody together.”

Georgiou, who signed on a “short-term deal” a month ago, made two appearances for the Glovers before returning to his parent club – but Cooper admitted he was still looking for reinforcements.

He added: “We have to balance the books and we have other players we can play. I am always looking for quality but it has to be better than we have got.

“Whatever money we have to spend we have to try and find a bit of quality which is really hard.”

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Yeovil Town have been drawn away at Paulton Rovers in the Quarter Finals of the Somerset Men’s Premier Cup.

There are still nine sides left in the competition with Bath City still to face off against Tickenham from the second round, the winner of that will face Larkhall Athletic.

Elsewhere, Bridgwater host Weston Super-Mare and Bishop Sutton will welcome Frome Town.

Paulton Rovers and Yeovil have previously met in the Competition in 2015, a very young Glovers side progressing 3-2 thanks to a brilliant all round performance from Ollie Bassett

Full date and ticket details are yet to be confirmed.

The full draw is as below.

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Venue: Huish Park
Saturday 10th December, 3pm kick-off

Conditions: Sunny but cold
Pitch: Icy – in particular in the shade of the Thatcher’s Stand – and got slippier as the game progressed

Attendance: 2,744 (78 away supporters)

Scorers: None

Bookings:

Yeovil Town: None
Scunthorpe United: Colin Daniel 55, Marcus Carver 55

Referee: Elliott Swallow

Yeovil Town (5-3-2)

Substitutes: Andrew Oluwabori (for Ewan Clark, 68), Malachi Linton (for Charlie Wakefield, 72), Will Buse.

Scunthorpe United: Foster, Ogle, Boyce, Beestin, Carver, Lavery, Taft, Shrimpton, Daniel, Apter, Pugh. Substitues: Dewhurst, O’Malley, Rowe, Butterfield, Wilson.

Match Report

Yeovil Town’s struggle in front of goal continued as they failed to break down a battling Scunthorpe United side who took a point from a freezing Huish Park.

The Glovers failed to muster a meaningful effort on goal with a first half header over the bench from Alex Fisher and late clearance off the line from Josh Staunton as near as they got to finding a breakthrough.

Indeed, it was the visitors, who arrived on the back of six straight defeats, who created the clearer chances and will feel harder done by to finish the game with just one point.

 

First half

Manager Mark Cooper named just three substitutes, with only two of them were outfield players in Malachi Linton and Andrew Oluwabori, having lost defenders Jamie Reckord and Morgan Williams through injury and illness ahead of the match.

They were already without the suspended Matt Worthington, centre half Ben Richards-Everton still missing through injury, and Anthony Georgiou missing…..for some reason as well. Jamie Scrimshaw, who played on loan at Scunthorpe last season, who knows?!

Louis Britton put an early chance over and on seven minutes his strike partner, top-scorer Alex Fisher, headed Jamie Andrews’ right wing cross just over the bar.

Despite the better chances going Yeovil’s way, Scunthorpe looked bright going forward with defender Reagen Ogle causing problems going forward down the right, but the visitors failed to force Grant Smith in to action defending in the shadow of the Thatcher’s Stand end which was very icy.

There was a nervous moment on 20 minutes when a lapse in the home defence gave Scunthorpe an opportunity to get a strike in, but the chance was well blocked by Max Hunt.

Two minutes later, a great turn by Ewan Clark saw him burst in to a pocket of space inside the box but his effort was well blocked by teenage goalkeeper Owen Foster. Then, on 25 minutes, a good break forward from Scunthorpe saw striker Marcus Carver inside the box but he turned his effort wide.

The game was the first to be screened on National League TV – and this was the view streamers got.

As the game progressed towards half-time, it began to got scrappy with both sides struggling to break the other down. The visitors, who had lost their previous six matches, were trying to hit their hosts on the break, whilst Yeovil tried to get Wakefield and Clark on the ball.

Charlie Wakefield showed a good touch having been found in acres of space down the right by Fisher’s ball, but his effort was well held by Foster.

Not much to warm your spirits in that first half, but enough to think that a little bit more attacking intent from Yeovil could unlock the Scunthorpe defence.

 

Half time: Yeovil Town 0 Scunthorpe United 0

Second half

Cooper made a tactical switch to a 4-4-2 formation after the interval with Wakefield pushed forward in to the right wing with Clark on the left side with Chiori Johnson dropping back to left back and Bevan slotting in on the right.

On 52 minutes, great play by Clark found Wakefield on the right, but the winger wasted his opportunity putting an effort high, wide and not so handsome.

With ten minutes of the half game, Colin Daniel went in for a forceful tackle which earned him a booking – which seemed a little harsh – but in the ‘afters’ which followed Marcus Carver appeared to strike Clark in the face. The Bristol City youngster went down clutching his face but referee Elliott Swallow was unmoved – if he’d seen the replay those watching on the stream saw, he may have had a different view.

 

Despite not creating a great deal, Scunthorpe created the best chance of the match on 64 minutes when a high ball from the right was met by the head of Carver whose effort came off the post and away to safety.

Four minutes later, an even more gilt-edged chance fell to Tom Pugh who appeared to slip and fluffed his lines and then Carver sent his effort over the bar. The visitors had their tails up and were looking the more likely to score, if anyone thought the bottom club would be a push over, they were mistaken.

On 73 minutes, another chance fell to the visitors with Boyce’s effort being blocked triggering a scramble where Daniel’s effort was landed on by the grateful Smith.

Andrew Oluwabori, who replaced Clark after 68 minutes, made some blistering runs down the right side but without creating much in the way of attacking opportunities. He cut

Two minutes from time, a free-kick in to the box was cleared as far as Staunton whose effort was headed off the line by Scunthorpe, although Foster in goal probably had it covered. Aside from Fisher’s effort in the first half, that was about as near to a scoring opportunity as it got for Yeovil.

To look it glass half full, it was another game unbeaten and another clean sheet – but half empty, it was the visitors’ first clean sheet of the season and they broke a run of six straight defeats.

On the face of it, the Iron will feel harder done by to not win the match.

Full time: Yeovil Town 0 Scunthorpe United 0

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Yeovil Town have named just threebstitutes on the bench for the National League match at home to Scunthorpe United (3pm kick-off).

Morgan Williams and Jamie Reckord are missing through illness and injury respectively with captain Josh Staunton dropping back in to a three-man defence.

Malachi Linton and Andrew Oluwabori are the only outfield players on the bench alongside substitute goalkeeper Will Buse. There is no Anthony Georgiou, who started the abandoned game at Bromley last weekend.

Louis Britton, who got his first goal as a Yeovil Town player in the midweek Somerset Men’s Premier Cup second round win over Taunton Town in midweek, is named up front alongside top-scorer Alex Fisher with on-loan Bristol City man Ewan Clark expected to play more advanced midfield position.

Yeovil Town (5-3-2):

Substitutes: Will Buse, Andrew Oluwabori, Malachi Linton.

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The cold weather in Somerset has led to the postponement of Yeovil Town Under-18s’ match and matches involving the club’s other age group sides.

The Under-18s had been due to take on Wimborne Town at Alvington in the South West Counties Youth League, but after a week of freezing temperatures the match was postponed on Friday.

The Under-11s, Under-12s, Under-14s and Under-15s matches in the Junior Premier League were postponed on Friday with a pitch inspection scheduled on Saturday morning by Exeter Regional Talent Centre to decide whether the Under-13s and Under-16s fixtures would go ahead.