Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 471)

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Not unlike their hosts this weekend, FC Halifax Town (kick-off 5,15pm) are starting the new season with a very different looking squad to the one which finished the last campaign.

The West Yorkshire side have lost a number of players not least top scorer Jake Hyde, who has joined the Wrexham Hollywood revolution, Player of the Season full-back Jeff King who has joined fellow big-spenders Chesterfield, and midfielder Jack Ering who made the move in to the Football League at Walsall.

But, on early season form, manager Pete Wild has done a good job of searching out replacements with ex-Cheltenham Town and Torquay United frontman Billy Waters in menacing form with three goals in his first three fixtures, and ex-Glover Matt Warburton in decent form heading in to the weekend.

After a disappointing opening day defeat at the hands of Maidenhead United, the Shaymen have picked up a 3-2 win on the road at Woking followed by a 2-0 home win over Altrincham over the Bank Holiday weekend and will arrive in South Somerset in confident mood.

FROM THE MANAGER

FC Halifax Town manager Pete Wild has said he expects his side to come up against a “big, strong, aggressive” opponent in Yeovil Town  when they face them on BT Sport on Saturday evening.

Speaking to the Halifax Courier about the Glovers, he said: “You know what you’re getting, you know what’s coming, they’re going to be big, strong, aggressive, they’re going to try and bully us, they’ll think they can bully us.

“Don’t get me wrong, they’ve got some really good footballers as well, but I’m sure their aim will be to bully us on Saturday.”

When asked how his side can counteract that, Wild added: “Just more of the same, we don’t have to get into a fight, we ain’t got a team to fight, we’ve got a team to play football, and that’s what we’ll be looking to do.

“One of our core values is tactical awareness, which is about our style of play, not the opposition’s.

“You’re always working on style of play, there’s always areas you need to be better in your style of play.

“Sometimes we need to be better defensively, sometimes we need to be better offensively, you’ve just got to keep working away at it. If you think you’ve cracked it you’re knackered.”

 

TEAM NEWS

Having lost some big earners in last season’s top scorer Jake Hyde and Player of the Season Jeff King, the visitors to Huish Park this weekend have invested in deepening their squad.

This meant boss Pete Wild had the luxury of not having striker Gerry McDonagh and defender Javid Swaby-Neavin involved over the Bank Holiday weekend when they picked up a win on the road at Woking and a home win over Altrincham.

Winger Dom Tear will miss the fixture with an ankle injury, but otherwise the Shaymen arrive with a clean bill of health.

 

A FOOT IN BOTH CAMPS

There are likely to be three players  who start the televised fixture who have experience in the other camp in the form of the visitors’ Matt Warburton and Tom Bradbury and Josh Staunton, who seems likely to line up in midfield for Yeovil.

Warburton arrived in West Yorkshire in August following his release from Northampton Town having played 19 times for the Glovers last season during a loan spell when we probably did not see the best of him.

An undoubtedly classy footballer, the 29-year-old has struck up a good relationship with forward Billy Waters and, according to our conversation with the Halifax Courier’s Tom Scargill on the latest edition of the podcast, has been unlucky not to get on the scoresheet already.

Central defender Bradbury has started in  the opening three matches this term having made 35 appearances for the Shaymen last season and is a permanent fixture in the visitors’ backline.

Meanwhile, Staunton, who sat out most of last season through injury, will be a familiar face to the travelling fans having spent two seasons at the club.

He was part of the Halifax side which reached the National League play-off semi-finals in the 2019-20 campaign.

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The addition of a sports scientist to the coaching staff is helping Yeovil Town’s players be more “robust“, according to manager Darren Sarll.

Scott Wickens joined the set-up at Huish Park during pre-season after a horrendous run of injuries saw the Glovers without key players for large periods of last season.

The manager said: “(Scott) has been excellent, a really good addition. His work on the grass and in the gym, which is where we wanted him because we wanted the players to be a bit more robust has been excellent.

“He is a nice lad, a young man with ambition and I’m sure he’ll go on to have a good career because he has that self-belief.

However, the boss was taking the credit for the players’ recovery following the 2-1 defeat at home to King’s Lynn Town last Saturday.

He sent them to Lyme Regis for a paddle in the “therapeutic waters” off the Dorset coast ahead of the trip to Aldershot Town on Monday, where they ran out 2-1 winners.

Sarll said: “I knew after Saturday that physically on Monday we would be better.

“I said to Scott after the game, we looked less fit Saturday than we did in that first friendly at Stratford.

“I knew we would be better and we were on Sunday when we trained and get the mistakes of the day before out of our system.“

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Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll has said the club’s finances are left to Chairman Scott Priestnall.

The boss was asked by the Gloverscast reporter Ben Barrett about the club’s announcement of a new £112,000 loan from Sport England at his weekly press conference ahead of the weekend’s fixture against FC Halifax Town.

He said: “There are people at the club like Scott (Priestnall) and James Hillier (the stadium manager) to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. That is the dynamic.

Chairman Scott Priestnall, left, with manager Darren Sarll on a previous occasion.

“I have no idea about the economic state of the organisation, that is their job to worry about those types of things.

“My job is to source the best players as cheaply as we can and get as much out of them as we can, win with him, maybe sell them as we have done in recent years.

“If I start crossing over to that other side, that is quite dangerous for a manager.”

As we reported earlier in the week, the club confirmed it has increased the amount it owes to Sport England to  £801,538.

In a statement, the club said the additional finance will will cover “lost revenue from last season’s lockdown period” enabling it to pay “costs and creditors from last season.”

The statement was published after the new charge was made public through a Companies House filing made by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, signed by Chairman Scott Priestnall and Director Glenn Collis.

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Alex Bradley could be back in contention for this weekend’s televised fixture against FC Halifax Town at Huish Park.

The versatile player has missed the opening two matches of the season through injury and manager Darren Sarll said he is hopeful he will be available for selection at the weekend.

Speaking ahead of the game, the boss said: “I would like to think that Alex Bradley will be back in contention on Saturday after injury, it depends how late we can get him back in to training.

“I am not prepared to take a risk on someone like Alex just to get that fifth substitute on the bench.”

Alex Bradley is sent off at Aldershot Town last season – it’s the only picture we had of him!

However, he added that there were no new injuries picked up in the 2-1 win at Aldershot Town on Monday with many players who played twice over the Bank Holiday weekend being given two days off training this week.

Sarll said he was still looking to bring “another couple” of players in to the squad.

He added: “We were close on one yesterday (Wednesday) but something turned for the worse and we were not able to get it done.”

Left-back Jack Robinson, who signed from Championship Middlesbrough ahead of the opening game defeat to King’s Lynn last weekend, will not be fit for Saturday.

The managers said: “We don’t know when he will be available, he rolled his ankle in his second session and it didn’t reduce in swelling and he did not recover so we are being precautionary with him.

“I don’t know when he’ll be back, I would like to say next Saturday away at Stockport.

“He will be a big player for us when he is because he is a wonderful passer of the ball and maybe allows us to play (Jordan) Barnett a bit further forward.”

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Tickets for Yeovil Town‘s trip to Stockport County on Saturday, September 11 have gone on sale.

Travelling supporters will be housed in the end block of the Together Stand which runs along the side of the pitch.

Prices for the match at Edgeley Park are priced at:

Adults (18+): £18
Students: £12
Age 65+: £12
Disabled: £12
6-17 years: £12
5 years and under: FREE

To buy tickets buy calling the Box Office on 0161 266 2700 or via the Stockport County website – here 

Away supporters wishing to purchase wheelchair disabled and carer tickets, please contact the ticket office directly to arrange this purchase, on 0161 266 2700

The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running travel to the fixture, for full details visit – here.

Read our Ciderspace Away Travel Guide to Edgeley Park – here.

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The Green & White Supporters’ Club is running travel to Yeovil Town’s upcoming National League fixture at Stockport County.

The club will run coaches on Saturday, September 11 leaving Huish Park at 7.30am for a 3pm kick-off in Cheshire.

Prices for travel are as follows:

G&WSC Members

Adult: £31
Concession: £29

Non-Members

Adult: £33
Concession: £31

To book, call Paul Hadlow on 07736 044570 or email him on paulhadlow@outlook.com.

If you are getting in touch by email, please make it clear which match you are booking for and that you give your full name, the names of people that are travelling and a contact telephone number.

You may be asked to pay a £5 deposit to reserve your seat.

If you are making the trip to Edgeley Park, make sure you check out our Ciderspace Away Travel Guide to Stockport – here.

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Yeovil Town top scorer Joe Quigley has been named in the National League Team of the Week after scoring three times over the Bank Holiday weekend.

The frontman netted the only goal in a 2-1 defeat at home to King’s Lynn on Saturday, and then got both goals as the Glovers ran out 2-1 winners at Aldershot on Monday.

He is joined by ex-Glovers’ Kabongo Tshimanga and Tahvon Campbell who both also netted braces for Chesterfield and Woking respectively on Bank Holiday Monday.

https://twitter.com/Vanarama/status/1432719493298589706?s=20

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Yeovil Town have increased the amount borrowed from Sport England by a further £112,000.

The club now owes £801,538 which it said in a statement will cover “lost revenue from last season’s lockdown period” enabling it to pay “costs and creditors from last season.”

The statement was published after the new charge was made public through a Companies House filing made by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited, signed by Chairman Scott Priestnall and Director Glenn Collis.

The statement said  the club had also paid back all its debts to HM Revenue and Customs after taking a ‘payment holiday’ offered to National League clubs during the pandemic,

It added: “This loan is a top up on loans given to clubs due to the lost revenue from last season’s lockdown period.

“This means that the loan itself is in relation to the costs and creditors from last season, and that is what the loan will be used for.

“The loan itself is a 20-year term, which includes a four-year holiday period at a 2% interest rate per annum.”

The statement goes on to say that the club is one of a number of National League side which are lobbying Sport Minister Nigel Huddleston for “or the loans to be eventually turned into grants, as has been previously suggested.”

You can read the statement in full – here.

The filing listed on Companies House shows that the £689,538 loan taken out by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited in February has now been extended to £801,538.

The filing includes the following:

Pursuant to an amendment and restatement deed in the Original Facility Agreement dated on or around the date of this Supplemental Guarantee and Debenture, the Original Chargor, the Additional Chargor, the Lender and the Programme Manager have agreed to make certain amendments to the Original Facility Agreement, including but not limited to increasing the total Facility amount to £689,538 to £801,538 (the ‘Amendment and Restatement Deed’, with the Original Facility Agreement being amended in accordance with the terms therein being the ‘Restated Facility Agreement’.).

I mean, what could be clearer than that?!

Chairman Priestnall and  Collis are the only two registered directors of Yeovil Town Holdings, the company set up in 2009 by then-Chairman John Fry to own the freehold  the club’s assets including its Huish Park stadium and surrounding land.

That move saw the assets of the club hived off from its football operations which are run by Yeovil Football & Athletic Club which also has Priestnall and Collis as its only directors.

You may recall it was the response to a Freedom of Information request by the Gloverscast published in June which confirmed the original loan amount, see – here

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Venue: Recreation Ground
Monday August 30 2021, 3pm kick-off.

Conditions: Dry and bright
Ground: Fine

Scorers: Quigley 14 (1-0), Andrews 75 (1-1), Quigley pen 83 (2-1)

Attendance: 2,073 (334 away)

Referee: Scott Tallis

Bookings:
Yeovil: Knowles 42, Staunton 42, Wilkinson 64, Wakefield 80, Smith 90
Aldershot Town: Phillips 30, Oxlade-Chamberlain 42, Akanbi 42, Edser 42, Lyons-Foster 82

Yeovil Town : (4-4-1-1)
Grant Smith
Dan Moss, Max Hunt, Luke Wilkinson, Jordan Barnett
Charlie Wakefield, Dale Gorman, Josh Staunton, Tom Knowles
Sonny Blu Lo-Everton
Joe Quigley

Subs: Adi Yussuf (for Lo-Everton, 56), Morgan Williams (for Wakefield, 89), Max Evans (not used), Toby Stephens (not used).

Aldershot Town: Walker, Kinsella, Lokko, Lyons-Foster, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Phillips, Edser, Harris (for Whittingham, 67), Berkley-Agyeong, Andrews, Akanbi.
Substitutes (not used): Hall, Saunders, Watts, Willard.

SUMMARY

A full nine games earlier than last season, Yeovil Town picked up their first three points of the National League campaign thanks to a brace from striker Joe Quigley at Aldershot Town on Bank Holiday Monday.

The striker, who had scored the only goal in a 2-1 defeat at home to King’s Lynn Town two days earlier, opened the scoring after 14 minutes of some positive opening exchanges for the visitors who led at the break.

But, having weathered the storm of some intense pressure from their hosts, the Glovers conceded with 15 minutes remaining when Corie Andrews’ flicked header went beyond Grant Smith in the Yeovil goal.

Then a direct piece of play (a.k.a ‘a long free-kick’ forward) found centre half Luke Wilkinson inside the box where he was felled and Quigley stepped up to slot home his second after 83 minutes.

Here’s how our Hampshire-born reporter David Coates saw it…..

FIRST HALF

With Matt Worthington unavailable after his sending off against King’s Lynn in the season’s opener, Glovers’ boss Darren Sarll gave a start to loaneee Sonny Blu Lo-Everton who lined up in what appeared a 4-4-1-1 formation just behind Joe Quigley.
The other change saw fellow loan signing Dan Moss come in at right-back in place of Morgan Williams, who dropped to the bench. The Millwall under-23s captain had appeared off the bench two days earlier.
If stung by the criticism of their manager who described the weekend’s performance as “weak”, the visitors set off in positive fashion with Quigley at the heart of a number of  a couple of good moves.
After just two minutes, he linked up well with Dale Gorman to tee up Charlie Wakefield whose effort was well saved by Mitch Walker in the hosts’ goal and five minutes later he combined with Tom Knowles for the latter to flash a ball across the face of goal.
On 14 minutes, Quigley broke the deadlock after a driving run down the left side he broke in to the box and bent the ball past Walker.
As we have been promised through pre-season, Yeovil reverted to what we are informed will be our style of play this season, soaking up some pressure before Luke Wilkinson‘s headed a free-kick on to the cross bar after 30 minutes.
From that, Jayden Harris broke down the other end and was denied by a fine stop from Smith.
On the balance of chances, the visitors deservedly went in ahead at the break and while their attacking play was an improvement on two days ago, there was perhaps a touch of fortune that their hosts were wasteful in front of goal.
Half time: Aldershot Town 0 Yeovil Town 1 (Quigley)

SECOND HALF

Unsurprisingly, Aldershot returned after the break presumably with the words of their manager ringing in their ears and started the second half the brighter.
Defender Kevin Lokko had an effort just over the bar before Ibrahim Akanbi fired wide after good link-up play with strike partner Andrews. Neither had Smith in the visitors goal in major danger but against a sharper attack, the keeper could have found himself under greater pressure.
On 53 minutes, Adi Yussuf replaced Lo-Everton and the visitors reverted to a 4-4-2 with Yussuf partnering Quigley in attack and on 63 minutes the summer signing was in the action.
Again, good play by Quigley down the left found Yussuf who got an instinctive shot in which was blocked and landed at the feet of Gorman who shot wide.
When he arrived from Northern Ireland, the supporters of his old club Glentoran told us that Gorman loved a shot from range and there was certainly evidence of that with another flying wide six minutes later,
There also some evidence of the instinctive finisher that Yussuf’s CV suggests he could be……just maybe slightly out of practice.
But, the visitors continued to probe and on 75 minutes a cross from the left by Toby Edser was met by the head of Andrews to flick the ball over Smith and draw the Shots level – and they did deserve to be level at that point.
Suddenly, the de ja vu of two days earlier – a Quigley opener, an equaliser in the closing third – flooded back to the 334 travelling supporters but, to their credit, Yeovil did not give up.
This time equipped with a full compliment, a long ball forward found Wilkinson as a slightly odd resident of the attacking penalty area where he was hauled down and the visitors were awarded a spot kick.
After last season’s exploits from 12 yards, please forgive this correspondent for having heart palpitations at this point but Quigley stepped up to send the keeper the other way. Cue pandemonium in the away end – and what an amazing away end that is at the Recreation Ground.
But, far from shutting up shop at that pint, the visitors actually carved out two fantastic chances to put the game even further beyond their hosts in the closing four minutes.
Firstly on 86 minutes, great link up play Yussuf and Quigley linked up well for the latter to round Walker an inexplicably put the ball in to the side netting before three minutes later a cross from Wakefield found Yussuf, but his shot was tame.
So, three points on the road and while the celebrations at the end may have appeared over-the-top, there was a real sense of relief among the travelling faithful and presumably those on the pitch.
Drink in the victory (and I’ll even give only a passing mention to five bookings including a couple for stupidity) and get back on the training pitch for what is sure to be a very different challenge against FC Halifax Town at the weekend.
Oh, and the BT Sports cameras at Huish Park – deep joy.

Full time: Aldershot Town 1 Yeovil Town 2 (Quigley 2)