It’s been a year since we learned of the passing of our captain Lee Collins.
On this episode of the Gloverscast, we’ve spoken to Elliot Watts about the amazing ride he, and many others, are doing to raise money for Mind in Somerset in memory of Lee Collins.
We also caught up with Kevin Gall and Abby Carter about the upcoming Legends Game and what is means to them! Plus we’ve got an exclusive player announcement!
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.
On the 18th of May, it will be 15 years since one of the most iconic nights in Yeovil Town’s history took place. Our famous 5-2 victory at The City Ground lives long in the memory of supporters and a goalscorer on the night, Lee Morris.
Speaking to the Gloverscast on the newest edition of the Glovers Past series, Morris talked fondly of his time at Huish Park and in great detail of that amazing night.
Despite the absence of the ‘leader of men’, Terry Skiverton, throughout the playoff campaign, Morris was always confident that the Glovers would overturn the 2-0 deficit.
He said: “We had big personalities all over the field, Mildy (Steve Mildenhall) was a big character in goal. Forbesy (Terrell Forbes) was a brilliant lad you’d do anything for. Jonesy (oh come on you know!) on one side, and Lindy, the local lad who was Mr Yeovil on the other. Chris in the the middle of the park and Davo came alive in them games.
“I think all over the pitch, you looked around and looked at everybody and thought, ‘yeah I believe he’s going to make something happen here’, I believe he’s gonna be strong and he’s gonna keep going.’
“We had enough personality out there that I certainly believed, all the way through, that someone could come up with something, you know.”
They sure came up with something in the end.
Listen to this brilliant chat with Lee about his short, but memorable time as a Glover below or on all major podcast providers.
Yeovil Town striker Adi Yussuf was an unused sub for Tanzania on Tuesday.
The frontman has been on international duty since last week picking up his fourth cap in the win over Central African Republic.
But, he was left twiddling his thumbs during the Taifa Stars 1-1 draw against Sudan on Tuesday.
Yussuf is expected to return to Somerset for the Glovers’ National League game at Barnet on Saturday.
Former Yeovil Town Captain Carl Dickinson has given his full support to Charlie Lee as he takes up the reigns at Huish Park following the departure of Darren Sarll.
Speaking exclusively to the Gloverscast, Dicko, a former teammate of Lee said that the former midfielder has all the attributes to make it a success.
“Charlie has played at different levels with different manager that have had success so he will have definitely learned from the them and will take bits that he wants to take from them the he thinks will be successful.
“He’s passionate and demands high standards and is very knowledgeable”
Lee joins Dickinson at Hanley Town and others from the 2019/20 side who have since gone into coaching, Jimmy Smith is now in the Chelsea set up, Dicko says it’s not a surprise to see Lee in coaching, albeit maybe not this soon.
“Charlie has always been passionate about helping people with the experiences he has had, so it’s no surprise to me that he’s now coaching,
“This will probably have come a lot quicker than he imagined but I’m sure he’s excited and ready for the challenge, he will have people he can speak to and ask for advice as well”
One of those people, is Carl himself.
“I’ve sent him a message wishing him all the best, he knows I’m always on the end of the phone if he ever wants to chat about anything.”
It’s been mentioned that Charlie Lee takes over a good group with some experienced heads in the team including Luke Wilkinson,
“He’s got a good relationship with all the lads, let alone Wilko, I think it’ll be a case of just making sure they keep ticking over and maintaining the standards they’ve set over the last two or three weeks.”
Dickinson ended with a simple plea to fans, “Keep cheering Chaz and the boys home”.
We will, Dicko, we will.
Yeovil Town caretaker manager Charlie Lee has said he is “really excited” by the opportunity to take charge of the first-team following the shock departure of Darren Sarll.
The former midfielder has taken the job for “the forseeable future” after the manager who brought him back to the club as his assistant last month quit to take over as National League rivals Woking on Monday.
Lee, who made more than 400 Football League appearances in his career, will be in the dug-out for Saturday’s visit to Barnet, when the Glovers are looking to continue a run of three back-to-back victories.
Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel, he said: “It’s been a strange weekend and a big 24 hours, but I am really excited by the opportunity.
“The boys were excellent, they are a great group and they work really hard and today was a successful day.
“The performances have been really hard, training has been top quality and I am really looking forward to the game Saturday.
“It will be exactly the same, the performances have been high, the boys have been spot on and the boys are really looking forward to the game.”
He admitted there were “mixed emotions” among the squad, many of whom were brought to the club by Sarll, but said they could not allow the departure to detract from the weekend’s fixture.
Lee added: “It’s an exciting time for me, but also a sad time because we were all very close to the Gaffer – but he’s moved on and we have to calm down after what has happened after the past few days.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to be, I am ready to take charge on Saturday, it’s game by game and I will do it until I am needed to do something else.”
Former Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has been speaking exclusively to BBC Somerset’s Sheridan Robins following his departure from Huish Park.
The full interview went out on the BBC Somerset Breakfast show (07:48am for anyone wanting to listen back), in it, he told Sheridan that the opportunity at Woking excites him, but that he’ll always have a connection to YTFC.
“We certainly had some hurdles to jump, Terry Skiverton always asked me about whether I’m going to write a book on the three years at Yeovil.
“It would be very interesting, from the play-offs, the COVID situation – players staying at the ground for weeks on end before the play off game, and then obviously the worst of the lot, losing Lee Collins and dealing with that personally, but also kind of leading the club out of that situation, I don’t want to have to do that again.
“This year, being reenergised by a brilliant, young group, with a wonderful spirit with a big future ahead of them.”
“Every year was different in terms of coach, every year was different in terms of management of it, every year was different in terms of the challenges we had to face and overcome, but it’s all maths isn’t it? You just have to work out the problem and try and come to the solution.”
“You add resilience to your coaching style and to you keep moving.”
Sheridan pointed out that the reaction to Sarll’s departure was one of disappointment and the former gaffer admitted it wasn’t easy to make the move.
“I’ll always have a connection with the football club, more so because of Lee and those events, I had a wonderful time there, year one was fantastic in terms of the winning, some of the performances and the results, the people I’ve met over the three years have been absolutely great and I’ll keep in touch with them for life.
“It came to point where decisions had to be made and I was really excited by this option, this was an option of a journey, really trying to help a club maximise it’s professionalism on the pitch and off the pitch”
“My trade is football management, I’m not arrogant enough to think that management jobs are just going to come to me and fall in my lap wherever I am in the country”
“When I was made Yeovil manager, I moved to the South-West, took my children out of another school, put them in another school, and we will move back to our family home now and that process will happen again”
Looking ahead, Darren Sarll said he had full faith that interim manager Charlie Lee could help the Glovers get through to the end of the season in a positive vein of form.
“I recommended to Scott (Preistnall) that Charlie do it, the players absolutely love him, they’ve a huge amount of respect for him, he was a brilliant player, he’s a very, very good coach, and that’s something I am well qualified to say, he’s got a good eight or nine games and the team is in a bit of another winning run… he can’t lose, can he?”
Charlie’s first game in charge will be against Barnet, this coming Saturday.
Yeovil Town midfielder Toby Stephens was in action this week and, like his parent club, was also on the winning side with Barnstaple Town.
Stephens started in midfield for his temporary side as they overcame Evesham United 2-1 in a big result for the Southern League Division One South & West strugglers.
He received treatment part way through the match after taking a knock to the head but did carry on.
Defender Ollie Haste was also in the side, Haste has been named on the Glovers’ bench on a few occasions this season and represented the team in the Somerset Premier Cup.
Former Youth Team goalkeeper, Lloyd Irish is also part of the squad.
The Gloverscast has been nominated in the ‘Best Podcast’ category of the Non-League Bible channels across social media.
This is a category we have been nominated in before and are up against a range of other content creators in the category.
If you wish to vote for the Gloverscast, you can do so, by either leaving a comment on the twitter post we’ve attached below, or by heading to the website.
Link HERE – https://nonleaguebible.weebly.com/nlbible-awards.html
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Best Podcast
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Yeovil Town supporters groups have issued their thanks to former manager, Darren Sarll.
The Glovers Trust have issued a short statement giving their thanks to the work done by Darren Sarll since his appointment in June 2019.
Sarll joined fellow National League side Woking ending a three year stint at Huish Park.
The Trust said the following: “The Glovers Trust would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Darren Sarll for all he has done for our club since 2019. He has led our club through some incredibly difficult times, and we wish him all the best for the future.”
The Green and White Supporters Club also released their statement this afternoon.
“The Green & White Supporters’ Club would like to place on record our sincere thanks to Darren Sarll as he departs as Yeovil Town manager.
Since arriving just weeks after our relegation from the Football League, Darren has been shown a commitment, honesty and passion for our football club which has been appreciated by us all.
He has guided us through some of the most challenging times any of us can remember during his time at the club and the dignity with which he carried himself with has been outstanding.
We will miss his willingness to engage with supporters and wish him well with his future career, but our focus must now be on supporting our team.
Our club is now at a cross-roads both on and off the field and the importance of the decisions which will be taken in the days and weeks to come cannot be underestimated.
For supporters, we must get 100% behind Charlie Lee and the team to finish the job as strongly as we can.”
