Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 459)

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Former Yeovil Town midfielder Ben Smith has said he believes the Glovers would have “comfortably” beaten Rushden & Diamonds to the Conference title in 2000 if manager David Webb had not left.

The former Chelsea player and manager quit in September 2000 to re-join Southend United having overseen the club’s transition from part-time to full-time football.

He left a side which went on to compete with big-spending Rushden under the management of Steve Thompson as caretaker boss and then Colin Addison, but fell six points short.

Speaking to the Gloverscast on an episode due out tomorrow, Smith said: “We had a young team and he (Webb) had us on a tight leash, whereas Colin was a really good coach, great manager good guy but he gave you a lot more freedom.

“When David was in charge, we were the fittest team (in the division). I was the fittest I have been in my whole career, that was the hardest pre-season I have ever done even after playing 17-18 years.

“That just tapered away as the season went on, especially for people like me who were not behaving themselves and getting a bit excited and we just lacked that bit of nous at the end.

“My form tailed off because I was enjoying myself too much and not training as hard as I should have done, and that was my fault not Colin’s, but at that age David Webb was certainly the right man for me at the time.”

Don’t miss the Gloverscast  on Monday to hear Ben talk about his time at Huish Park, stories from his time under David Webb and his thoughts about leaving Huish Park just before Gary Johnson‘s arrival.

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Former Glovers favourite Kieffer Moore has been in the news recently for his exploits at Euro 2020 with Wales, and his former coach, Darren Way has been speaking to BBC Radio Wales about the strikers journey, including a stint playing for the Glovers at centre-back.

“Gary Johnson was manager, we were in the dizzy heights of us in the Championship at the time, we signed him from Dorchester and he came in to a level which was a few jumps up,” said Way.

“For me, personally, to work with him, to play 50 games was excellent for his experience”

Way was asked about how Moore adapted from part-time Non League football to Tier 2 of the football pyramid after swapping Dorchester Town for Yeovil Town in the Championship.

“Gary Johnson has to take huge credit for giving Kieffer that opportunity… it was a huge jump and I think it took him time to adjust to that level”

The former Swansea midfielder was quick to praise Moore’s attitude and talked about how much he learned in a short period of time, whilst also having to adapt to some slightly unusual situations when asked to play in defence.

“One thing I can witness is that his perseverance, the number of clubs [he’s played for], dealing with team selections, coming in, coming out, it’s helped him massively”

“He’s very brave, he had a number of bandages playing for us, in fact he had a number of appearances playing as a central defender, to put someone at centre half, you’d got to be willing… show a huge willingness to be brave”

“I think that was one of his strengths, his willingness to run, you can see his athleticism… there was always going to come a time where someone was going to bear those fruits”

“The experience of playing in all of those positions, I think, has helped his understanding of the game”

Moore scored nine goals in 57 appearances for the Glovers.

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Former Yeovil Town player, coach and manager Darren Way has been speaking to BBC Radio Wales about a couple of the nation’s Euro 2020 stars and their time at Yeovil.

On Connor Roberts, who spent a season on loan at Huish Park in 2015, played 50 times for the Glovers something which Way says says wasn’t a surprise given his attitude.

Way said: “(He’s) probably the hardest working player that I’ve ever coached, I feel quite honoured to still speak to Connor regularly, he would probably be the only player that I’ve seen complete a full training session and then do 10 ‘box to boxes’ off his own back”

“It doesn’t surprise me that Connor Roberts would be defending in the last five minutes and end up in the six-yard box in the last five minutes all in one run”

“He’s got an incredible drive”

Darren would go on to draw comparisons with another former Glover who has gone on to better things in higher divisions, Luke Ayling:

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he did get a big move, because he’s gone under the radar for the quality that he’s got…”

“He reminds me of Luke Ayling in terms of that journey (to the top) completing 50-odd games in a loan spell…  I had huge belief that Connor’s perseverance, his hard work, his commitment, his energy around the training ground, he inspires others… I feel very proud to just be a very small part of Connor’s journey, because you want to work with the best players.”

“He was up there as being one of the best that I’ve worked with”

Huge congratulations from everyone at the Gloverscast to Connor on his performances with Wales, and his goal vs Turkey.

 

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Former Cambridge United  and W*ymouth striker Andrew Dallas has been linked with a move to Yeovil Town this summer

Nottingham Post reporter Leigh Curtis has claimed that the Glovers are one of a ‘number of clubs’ monitoring the front man.

Notts County are also named as touting the forward who scored a dozen goals for the terracotta and blue seasiders.

Dallas would have played alongside Tom Knowles at Cambridge and would know the area well from his time by the beach.

Yeovil have announced two signings so far with Charlie Wakefield and Morgan Williams already secured for the upcoming season.

Dallas was mentioned in the Gloversblog based on nothing but rumour and speculation of replacements for Rhys Murphy: 

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Winger Charlie Wakefield has become Yeovil Town‘s latest signing after arriving on a one-year deal.

The 23-year-old was released by National League rivals Bromley at the end of the season having started the campaign at Wealdstone.

Speaking to the club’s official website, the former Chelsea youngster said: “I’m just excited to show the fans, what I’m capable of doing, what I can offer the team.

“I’m a unique player because I’ve been blessed with pace, and I want to be direct which will excite people. So, I’m looking forward to seeing the fans and them seeing me play.”

It is not the first time Wakefield has linked up with Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll. Sarll signed the then-19-year-old on a season long loan from Chelsea at the start of the 2017-18 season, but a recurring muscle injury meant he did not make an appearance for the Hertfordshire side.

The following year he had a spell in League One at Coventry City making eight substitute appearances before being released in October 2020 when he joined Wealdstone.

He turned out twice against the Glovers in the 2020-21 campaign, making his Wealdstone debut in the 2-2 draw at Huish Park in October and then coming on for the last five minutes of Bromley’s 2-1 win at Huish Park in March.

He was released by Bromley earlier this month following the expiry of his contract.

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Yeovil Town have released their full pre-season schedule with games against Southampton and Bournemouth XIs added to the six-game schedule.

Previous games against Taunton Town and Weston Super Mare had already been confirmed, but now we also have dates set in stone for games against Forest Green Rovers, Stratford Town and the Under 23s from both Southampton and Bournemouth.

The full schedule is below.
Tickets for the away game at Weston Super Mare are already on sale, with further ticketing details to follow for the other five pre-season fixtures.

Yeovil Town Full Pre-Season Schedule.

  • Sat 24thJuly – Stratford Town (A) – 3pm
  • Sat 31stJuly – Forest Green Rovers (H) – 3pm
  • Tues 3rdAug – Taunton Town (A) – 7:30pm
  • Sat 7thAug – Weston-Super-Mare (A) – 3pm
  • Tues 10thAug –Southampton B (H) – 7pm –
  • Sat 14thAug – AFC Bournemouth XI (H) – 3pm

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Former Yeovil Town manager Paul Sturrock (the less said about his spell the better) has taken up a new role in management and starting a club south-east Cornwall called Menheniot Pilgrims.

Playing in tangerine and green, he plans to build a team of 16 to 21-year-olds with a view to developing them to play higher up in the pyramid.

Sturrock told Plymouth Live: “I like taking training and coaching. I miss it, so I have decided to start this amateur team of under-21s. I can work with people individually and the aim is to get them to play at a higher standard. I’m not averse to having a couple of boys over 21. I might need one or two stalwarts to help us through and get us on our feet, but it really is for 16 to 21s. We will start at the bottom and hopefully over the next two or three years we will get better and better.”

“I haven’t got a date yet but I’m getting Lux Park for a trial game around the middle of July. The essence is that we get enough players to have a trial game and then I decide what ones I’m going to sign. They could come from Plymouth, Liskeard, Callington. Anything like that.”

Nicknamed Argyle after the club where he enjoyed plenty of management success, this club definitely feels like an lockdown-inspired project for the Scot.

He said: “There is a pitch in place, there are goals in place. It’s a wee bit slopey but, again, it’s amateur football. It will do for the first couple of years and we can see what we do as we go along. The village is kind of crying out for something like this. There are a lot of older people and they don’t have that much to do in the village. So they can come along and watch a game on a Saturday afternoon. It’s something to do, and they don’t have far to walk.”

Sturrock added: “I’m going to get forms sent to me about joining the Duchy League. I don’t know what league they are going to put us in. I would imagine the bottom one to start off with. And I have got to get the parish council to give us the nod that we can use the pitch regularly. They have had a wee meeting about it and they are looking forward to it. Over the next couple of days I will join up with two or three of them and we will make sure we get it all sorted.”

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Former Yeovil Town forward and long time friend of Lee Collins, Marc Richards, has spoken to BBC Northampton about his friendship with Lee and his disbelief at receiving the news of Lee’s passing.

Speaking To Annabel Amos, Richards said; “I got a phone call from the Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll, it’s a little bit of a haze, I can’t remember what he said, but I certainly remember how I felt. I was taken back, I didn’t want to believe it, it was really tough, it felt like I was in a bit of a daydream.”

Richards, and Collins played together at Huish Park during the 2019/20 season, but their relationship goes back further, something which Richards said makes the situation harder to come to terms with.

“I knew he had been struggling on and off. I know quite a lot of his history, I know what he’s been through, he’d been in positions before where, not so much that he was close to doing that sort of thing, but he had spoken to me about it previously. I was gutted he hadn’t reached out and felt like he could speak to me about what was going through his mind at the time.”

The Northampton Town coach spoke of how’d he’d been in contact with Lee just a few days before his tragic passing.

“I only spoke to him on the Saturday prior, everything seemed OK, I just wish I had probed more, because in that moment, you don’t because it seems fine.”

Collins passed away on 31 March and Richards admitted that he’s still coming to terms with the news.

“It really took me back, I don’t think I’ve really had time to process it to be honest. I’ve certainly not done the grieving I need to do. I know the lives that Lee touched throughout his career and throughout his life. Everyone that has ever met Lee, come across Lee as a player, as a person can say the same thing about him. No matter what football club he played for, he touched so many people’s hearts as well.”

Yeovil Town are leading the way with a Crowdfunder to support Lee’s family and the mental health charity Young Minds.

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Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall has valued the club and its assets at £4.285 million in CV Leisure Ltd’s accounts for the 12-month period from September 1, 2019.

CV Leisure is the company owned by the chairman and former Yeovil Town FC director Errol Pope, which has the majority shareholding in the  football club. The company lists its tangible assets as increasing from £0 to £4.285m in the 12-month period from September 1, 2019.

The accounts also show the company secured a loan facility of £1.35m from MSP Capital, a property finance firm based in Poole, Dorset, which will expire on December 17 this year.

In paperwork filed in September 2019, it was shown that these charges were secured against land at Huish Park, meaning MSP Capital would have the right to take control of the land should the club fail to repay any of the money it owes.

Speaking to Somerset Live at the time the charges were confirmed, Mr Priestnall said: “It was basically put in place as a facility to help us move forward with the land. When you take over something, you have an idea as to how much it’s going to cost and we’ve had to take on some of the debts and losses from last year.”

“You have to make sure that you’re going into it with your eyes open, and when we’ve got an asset there and we want to move that asset forward, you have to make sure you’ve got the tools to move that forward quickly should we need to and I think that’s the key, it’s about being able to react.

“Those charges may well change. They may well come off over the next couple of months depending on what we decide to do, depending on how those conversations go with covenant holders, we may well use that facility for that purpose or there might be another deal that we can do that means we don’t have to have another facility on that at all.”

Earlier this week, the Gloverscast revealed the club has taken a loan of £689,000 from Sport England “to replace the lost revenue from this season.”