Latest Yeovil Town News (Page 76)

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Tomorrow’s opponents Rochdale have told Yeovil Town they are “confident” that tomorrow’s National League match in Greater Manchester will go ahead.

Storm Éowyn dumped a good amount of rain across the region overnight on Thursday, but the majority of havoc on Friday is being caused by high winds which have seen much of the city’s tram network halted, flights from Manchester Airport delayed and led to a number of fallen trees and similar disruption.

In an update around 1pm on Friday, Yeovil said: “Ahead of tomorrow’s Vanarama National League fixture against Rochdale, we’ve received an update from the hosts regarding the pitch at Spotland Stadium. 

“Over the past fortnight, work has been carried out on the centre of the pitch, with the area around the centre circle fully excavated, refilled, and re-turfed. This newly renovated section performed well during Rochdale’s National League Cup tie against Stoke City Under 21s earlier this week.

“There is still a slight concern over the surface near the corner between the David Kilpatrick Main Stand and the Smith Metals Family Stand, but Rochdale’s ground staff are monitoring and working on this area to ensure it remains playable.

“With a dry and windy forecast, Rochdale are confident the match will go ahead as planned, with no pitch inspection currently scheduled.”

Dale have played just 23 matches this season, the fewest of any team in the National League Premier, due to issues with their pitch.

Speaking on Thursday, Yeovil manager Mark Cooper said he expected their hosts this weekend to be pulling out all the stops to get the game going ahead.

He said: “We just know it is a new pitch. I think it is more wind than rain and I am sure they will be desperate to get the game on because if you fall too far behind in the number of games you have played, you find yourselves playing Saturday and then Tuesday. If you have not got a massive squad that can become a real drain.”

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Defenders Morgan Williams and Michael Smith are both back in contention for Yeovil Town as they prepare for this weekend’s trip to Rochdale, according to manager Mark Cooper.

Williams missed last Friday night’s goalless draw at home to Gateshead with a calf injury sustained in the 1-1 draw at Ebbsfleet three days earlier whilst Smith has not started a match since the defeat at Hartlepool United before Christmas.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah on Thursday, Cooper said that striker Aaron Jarvis, who is out for three months with a hamstring injury, was the only absentee from the squad this weekend.

He said: “Michael Smith has had a couple of days training, Morgan Williams was unavailable (for the 0-0 draw against Gateshead last Friday) after he got a whack on his calf at Ebbsfleet. He is back, so we have nearly everyone back.

“We are a bit light in the striker position, but that is a really difficult to get a player of the quality we need. We are keeping our eyes open there and hopefully we can try and add in that department. I think Aaron is one of the top target men in this league, he scored eight goals and it is just unfortunate how he has picked the injury up. But hopefully his rehab goes well and we get him back for a final push towards the end of the season.”

Sean McGurk. Picture courtesy of Gary Brown.

One player who will definitely be available this weekend is midfielder Sean McGurk whose initial one-month loan from League Two side Swindon Town has been extended until the end of the season. Robins’ boss Ian Holloway has confirmed that they have a recall clause in the deal meaning he could return to the County Ground if required.

On McGurk, Cooper said: “For this level he is a top player, he’s got great ability and he can unlock the door and I think he’s getting better the fitter he gets. It’s a great signing for us and I would love to make it permanent and I have told him that, but let’s see what happens and how he does between now and the end of the season. He’s enjoying his football and we are enjoying having him.”

This weekend’s opponents are in eighth place in the National League Premier Division table, two points outside the play-off places, but have placed the fewest number of games of any side in the division due to issues with their pitch. In midweek, they had the surface relaid and played a National League Cup fixture against Stoke City Under-21s on Tuesday night.

With named Storm Éowyn expected to batter the north of the country on Thursday night and Friday morning, there will be a lot of focus on how the surface holds up to the deluge, but Cooper said Yeovil had no suggestion the fixture would not go ahead.

He said: “We just know it is a new pitch. I think it is more wind than rain and I am sure they will be desperate to get the game on because if you fall too far behind in the number of games you have played, you find yourselves playing Saturday and then Tuesday. If you have not got a massive squad that can become a real drain.”

Rochdale went away from Huish Park with all three points following a late 1-0 win on August Bank Holiday Monday and Cooper is expecting his opposite number Jim McNulty’s side to perform similarly when they meet in Greater Manchester this weekend.

He said: “It was a chess match that day, two good teams both trying to play with the ball and they are still the same kind of team. They are really well coached and you can’t go there and play your own game, you have to pay respect to how they play. They are pretty similar to Gateshead in the way we play. Jim is doing a cracking job, he’s got some good players and his side is really well coached. When you are such as a legend as a player, fans expect you to be a magician as a player but consistently keeping them around the play-offs is a good job.“

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Loan midfielder Sean McGurk said he had no hesitation in agreeing to remain at Yeovil Town for the rest of the season following a successful initial one-month loan.

The Swindon Town player extended his stay at Huish Park having scored twice in his first five matches having joined on Christmas Eve although his parent club do have a recall clause in his deal.

Speaking to BBC Somerset’s Jack Killah ahead of this weekend’s trip to Rochdale, the 21-year-old said: “From the minute I came in I have enjoyed every second of it and there was no reason why I did not want to stay and continue my form and hopefully help the team as much as I can and see where we can go as a group.

“This is a very good team, the football we play I was shocked at how good a team we were when I came in because there are good players everywhere. They were together, everyone gets on and that makes everything on the pitch easier. The ability in that changing rooms if we can tweak a few things that have gone wrong in recent weeks, I think we are so close and it is going to be just one moment where it is going to click and we are going to go on a little run.”

Among his goals were a Goal of the Season contender in the 1-1 draw at Ebbsfleet United earlier this month, and said he is keen to score more. He said: “The turn and the nutmeg is just my game, I enjoy doing it and I have probably hit a hundred of those shots which have gone over the stadium, but if I had taken a chance I had later in that same game we would have won the game. Like I say, it is those little things that if we can turn them around and that chance goes in, we win. It was a good goal, but I want more.”

Swindon boss Ian Holloway has spoken to the media about the move and said he has told McGurk that he has not earned his trust enough to be a regular in the League Two side’s starting line-up and challenged the player to go and prove him wrong in the National League.

The County Ground is the Liverpool-born player’s third footballing home having previously been in the youth set ups at Wigan Athletic and then Leeds United before making the move south to Swindon. He has made one start for The Robins in League Two and a number in the Vertu EFL Trophy this season along with a number of other appearances off the substitutes’ bench.

Speaking about not playing, McGurk said: “Every footballer wants to play football and at Swindon I was not playing football and when you are three-and-a-half hours away from home on your own, I was on my own most of the time. When football goes wrong, it is tough and people do not see that side of it. When I came here I needed a fresh headspace and just start enjoying it again and a goal on my debut helped and when football is going well when you are living away, life is going well. That’s all I care about at this moment and I will just keep going.”

McGurk will be among the Yeovil players looking to pick up their first win in six matches as they travel to Rochdale, who sit eighth in the National League Premier Division, on Saturday.

On returning to his native North West, the player said: “From playing nothing to three games in six days was tough, but I needed it and it is going to be a good game this Saturday. Every game in this league is tough, so we do not go in to any game thinking it is going tough. We just have to prepare, we will get shown how they play and we will go there and be ourselves as we have with every other game and hopefully we can fix the little things that have gone wrong in recent weeks. It’s been a good week’s training and hopefully we can go and get the three points.”

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Ref, Referee, Match Official

Yeovil Town head to Spotland for Saturday’s clash with Rochdale and we’ve got a vastly experienced official in charge.

Scott Oldham gets the match referee duties for this game. (I have no idea if he’s any relation to James Oldham who did our game with Forest Green recently, and yes, I’ve checked, he’s refereed Oldham Athletic six times)

A full-time joiner and bathroom fitter, as well as being an EFL standard ref since 2017, he’s a busy chap.

This is actually his first game as a National League official this season, he’s been in the middle 20 times this season, all in Leagues One, Two or National Cup Competitions.

He’s ‘only’ given two red cards, two penalties … and 77 yellows, all season long.

Referee Scott Oldham

We have seen him before, albeit a while ago. He took charge of the last time Yeovil played a league game on a Friday night (prior to the Gateshead game) – a 1-0 defeat at Lincoln in March 2019 and a 1-1 draw in the FA Cup against Port Vale 18 months prior.

Being based in the North West – he was part of the Blackpool Football Association as an amateur – he has reffed Rochdale plenty of times, but again, not for a while.

A couple of years ago, he did a sit down interview with Sky Sports about his daily routine. Here it is, below. 

 

Rochdale AFC (First Team) v Yeovil Town FC (First Team)
National League – Premier    
Referee: Oldham, Scott
Assistant Referee: Bacon, Matthew
Assistant Referee: Hallam, Aaron
Fourth Official: Chadwick, Jonathan

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The long-term development of land around Huish Park will be done to benefit the club, chairman Martin Hellier has promised supporters.

Talking at a fans’ forum on Tuesday night, he insisted the buy-back of the land from Somerset Council was “on the radar” and said he has turned away proposals for development which did not fit his plans for the site.

In May 2022, the authority – then known as South Somerset District Council – bought the land from former chairman <NAME REDACTED> for £2.8m and rented back the “core land” which the stadium sits on back to the club on a 30-year lease. When he bought the club in May 2023, the owner negotiated the exclusive buy-back rights on the land until 17th May 2026.

Responding to fans’ questions about the future of the land, he said: “Whatever happens that land is going to get developed on. When you talk about the rent, I probably pay £100,000 a year to watch people walk their dogs on that land, so it is not my interests. Since the council bought it back for £2.8m, they kindly index linked that for us, so that is £3.2m and add that to the £3.8m (which has been put in to the club to date) we are in to £7m. We are well aware of the timeline, we have until May 2026 to buy back the land, we hold exclusive buy-back rights on the land, so no-one can come in and take that away from us. 

“We want any surplus that comes in from that development to come directly to the club, that is not to me, it is to the club. Without those buy-back rights, someone else could come in and become your landlord. It is on our radar, but I have to be sensible as part of the group I own and the funds we have available to allocate. 

“We have had several people approach us (with proposals), but their proposals would not suit what we want to do. We have to deal with the right fire in the right order. I am going to make more of that 3G pitch up that for some nine-versus-nines. The land is a concern for a lot of fans, but whatever comes from it will be for the benefit of the club. As long as I live in Yeovil I will not be looking to do anything (which does not benefit the club), because it is the golden egg for us if we do it in the right way.”

A reminder of the core and non-core land at Huish Park.

The Gloverscast contacted Somerset Council  in December to ask for its position on the long-term future of the land and having confirmed the details of the current arrangements, it added that it had not engaged in any conversations with other parties about the future of the land.

In response to our question about its intentions for the long-term future of the land, a statement from the council said: “It is highly unlikely that the Council would sell the freehold of the stadium or remaining land unless it judged that the decision would play a part of supporting the future of the club. Any such decision would be subject to our usual democratic decision-making processes.

“The use of the football stadium is also protected by the lease which permits use only for football club purposes and related ancillary uses. This lease runs until 2046.“

In response to a question from our own Ian Perkins at the forum, Martin Hellier said that he had put £3.8m in to the club since his takeover and said the council had made the value of the land at Huish Park “index-linked“, meaning its value rises in line with inflation. The chairman said this meant the land which Somerset Council paid £2.8m for in May 2022 was now worth £3.2m.

That is on top of the £195,000 which the club pays the authority each year in rent for Huish Park, a figure confirmed by the club’s accounts for the year ending June 2022.

The chairman added: “Since the council bought it back for £2.8m, they kindly index linked that for us, so that is £3.2m and add that to the £3.8m (which has been put in to the club to date) we are in to £7m.”

Chairman Martin Hellier, right, with manager Mark Cooper at the fans’ forum at Huish Park on Tuesday night.

In response to the question about the financial state of the club, he said: “It is in a far more stable position than it was. The first call I had when I came in was from HM Revenue and Customs saying ‘we are going to wind you up tomorrow if you don’t pay this large amount of money and you have to pay more next week. The first ten days probably saw us paying out five digit numbers every day, so we probably cleared away £500,000 of debt within ten days of arriving.

“We had numbers of staff paying bits and pieces on Ebay to pay bills, so the first thing was steadying a ship which had capsized. We have put £3.8m in to the club which is money we will undoubtedly not get back, but that is my problem. So it is a far better position than it was, but it is still a tough gig as it is for any club that is below the EFL and even at EFL you are breaking even. We are in it for the long run and because we love the club and clubs in this league exist for as long as the chairman is funding it. It is hard to make the numbers work but we came in with a long-term target of EFL. If you map that out from the beginning to where we are now, I would say that journey is going well. It will continue to need money, but that is what it is.”

You can watch the fans’ forum in full on the club’s YouTube channel – here – with the question-and-answer session starting around 30 minutes in to the recording.

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Swindon Town manager Ian Holloway has confirmed the League One club has a recall clause on midfielder Sean McGurk‘s loan spell at Yeovil Town.

The former Leeds United academy product has extended his initial one-month loan spell at Huish Park until the end of the season having impressed with two goals in his first five matches.

Speaking at his weekly press conference, Holloway said: “I have a call back clause as well, so I have protected us if we get any further injuries. His agent wants him to play, he is enjoying playing every week and in my opinion I said he needs to be the one who is loved and in the team all the time and you have not earned that with me yet and you have not done it for a year.

“So he is out there trying to prove he can get some games under his belt. It has gone past the first 28 days, so it makes sense (for him to stay for the season) with us having a recall clause. We have been winning without him, he is out there enjoying it and getting some goals and I am glad he is doing it. I would have lent him anywhere else because this is what the boy needs to do, but if I need him at any time I can call him back.”

Having started in the academy at his hometown of Liverpool and then Wigan Athletic, McGurk signed a three-year deal at Leeds United in 2021 and featured heavily in the youth teams at Elland Road.

Holloway said he believed that academies at bigger clubs needed to “get real” with not giving young players enough exposure to men’s football and backed Glovers’ manager Mark Cooper to support McGurk.

The Swindon boss added: “These academies need to get real. Are they making talented people like him too comfortable? It is not about your talent, it is about how you are going to use it. Coops is a wonderful bloke, brought up by his father Terry Cooper who was my manager, so I could not give him to a better person who would believe in him, love him and get him doing what he needs to do.

“Leeds have told him, I have told him and was he doing it? No. If Coops can’t get it out of him, maybe we are both right, but I believe he can. I believe there is a really talented, brilliant little player in there if he can get himself fit, live right, train hard and get right without the ball. He needs a run of games and I am not going to guarantee him that.

“I have not given him away, I am still retaining him and it is down to him at the end of the day. I know he has loads of talent, he needs to start using it. He has a chance here and if I need him back, I can get him back.”

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Yeovil Town’s latest signing Lewys Twamley drew praise from Mark Cooper when asked about the new recruit at the Fan’s Forum on Tuesday night.

The gaffer revealed that the Welshman didn’t cost us a transfer fee and ticked a lot of boxes for what he was looking for.

“We’re trying to cover all bases, one eye on players that have a good pedigree and come out of the football league… but also look a little bit lower,

We look at what he’s done, an awful lot of goals and an awful lot of assists, but we have to look at the level he’s come from, it’s two leagues below, the level in between us and that one, we murdered that level last year.

We have to look at it and think ‘is he one that can bridge that gap?’. It might not be now, but I just felt that it was something we had to act on.

…I just felt that it was something we had to act on.

It wasn’t an expensive deal for us, there’s no transfer fee, he had a clause in his contract which meant we could get him.

He’s an exciting player, when you watch him play, he’s small, he’s got a real low centre of gravity, and what we like is he can beat people, late on in games, especially attacking the Thatchers End, we saw a couple of glimpses on Friday [against Gateshead].

We’re always looking for those players, the little nuggets that we have to shine them up and try and make them into players.

But we wouldn’t be doing our job if we didn’t look at that level, and we have to take a gamble on one or two.”

 

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Yeovil Town have said that they are in discussions with the Western Counties Youth Floodlight League to ‘appeal’ the decision which saw the Under 18s removed from the league.

Yeovil’s youngsters were unbeaten at the time of their withdrawal with a statement from the club saying that after attempts to play home games away from Huish Park were rejected their place in the league was no longer tenable.

Futhermore, the League issued a statement to the Gloverscast, which suggested Yeovil were no longer ‘following the rules’ – for point of clarity, when asked which rules that referred to, or where those rules could be found, the Gloverscast was met with ‘No Comment’

The issue was raised by our very own Ian Perkins at the fans forum where Chairman Martin Hellier and club Secretary Kirsty Baker responded with news of an appeal;

Hellier said “I know we went to great measures to try and replace a playing venue with somewhere else … it was a decision that was made not without a lot of consideration”

Baker added from the back of the room, “We are just going to add in that we are going through an appeal with the league at the moment, so we should have more of an update in a couple of weeks, but we are trying to get the lads to play somewhere else, there will be an update, it just takes time”

A lot of the Young Glovers are playing competitive men’s football in the local leagues – (insert plug here for our regular loan watch articles) and we hope that competitive football can return to the U18s under the YTFC banner sooner rather than later.

Corey Koerner (Green 7) challenges for the ball for Sherborne
Pic C/O Robin Caddy/The Wessex Way.

There was a question about youngster Corey Koerner who has impressed for the Under 18s this season and has been rewarded with England Colleges recognition, to which Mark Cooper said that he was pleased with the youngster but had to manage his progression. 

“It [England Colleges] is brilliant, and he’s done great, but we have to look at the level, Corey trains with us nearly every day, I’m not daft, Corey’s been on the bench, but he’s not ready to play in our first team yet, if he was, I’d put him in.”

Koerner has had spells with Plymouth Parkway and Sherborne Town on loan this season. 

 

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Midfielder Sean McGurk will be staying with Yeovil Town for the rest of the season, manager Mark Cooper  has confirmed at tonight’s fans’ forum at Huish Park.

The 25-year-old’s initial one-month loan deal from Swindon Town had been due to expire on Tuesday and he has impressed with two goals in his first five appearances for the club.

Speaking at a fans’ forum on Tuesday night, Cooper said: “We have agreed to keep him until the end of the season. I had a brilliant conversation with Ian (Holloway, the Swindon Town manager) last night, h e loves Sean to bits, but Sean just wants to play. He has great ability, we need to get him fitter but he is one that takes the level up.

“When we talk about players that get bums on seats and are exciting, he is one of the type of player we are trying to attract, but believe me it is really difficult. He has enjoyed his time and he will be a good one for us for the rest of the season.”

We will be doing our best to report back on a wide-ranging one-hour conversation between Cooper and owner and chairman Martin Hellier which attracted an online audience of almost 500 people and something in the region of 100 people in person.

Watch this space……

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Yeovil Town hosts a fans’ forum tonight for the first time in as long as I can remember. Aside from sporadic Supporters’ Alliance Group meetings (which are a thing of the past now as far as I understand) and You-Know-Who’s infamous meeting with supporters once our open letter (with 1,500 signatures) forced him to resurface, we’ve not really done this. So, credit goes to the club for inviting supporters in at a time when the discourse on social media sites has been highly critical in the wake of recent results and performances.

I don’t think its unreasonable to suggest that the commentary on social media has led to tonight’s forum, that both chairman and owner Martin Hellier and manager Mark Cooper will attend to answer supporters’ questions. This type of engagement has been long-coming and will hopefully be the first of a regular structured two-way conversation with supporters. But, it has to be constructive and respectful to be worthwhile.

The early scores on YeoGov survey that I threw out on Saturday suggest that the vitriol online doesn’t necessarily match with mood in general – a shock I know! In what will be a surprise to some, the 140+ respondents, on average, have scored above the middle score of 4 across the board for how they’re feeling right know. Maybe, we’re a fairly rational bunch on the whole after all?

I was reflecting on Friday night’s stalemate with Gateshead and the future of our attack. With top scorer Aaron Jarvis out for the next three months, Yeovil had to change the approach going forward with Ciaran McGuckin leading the line in a very different way to Jarvis. We’re not going to be tossing the ball up for defenders to battle in the air with McGuckin up top and as a result a decrease in those grappling-induced decisions which have frustrated players, staff and supporters might just help with our on-pitch discipline and keep heartrates down in the stands.

Ciaran McGuckin in the thick of it against Gateshead. Courtesy of Gary Brown

I’m not a huge fan of gambling on balls down the channels but with our patient possession we can draw defenders out (as we tried on Friday) there could he plenty of space for the speedy McGuckin to capitalise on. Defenders will have a much different task on their hands with him up front than Jarvis in these next few weeks. The misfortune of Jarvis injury means we’ve potentially found a Plan B (which will be Plan A for the foreseeable) but also leaves me wondering what could be with a classic four four f**king two!

Football’s heart is in the community that it serves in our part of the pyramid

If ever you needed a reminder as to why supporting a club that needs you trumps all, the alleged story emerging from Manchester United on X is that clear reminder. A dementia-suffering season ticket holder of 45 years has had his season ticket cancelled after not scanning the QR code for the last five matches because of helpful stewards letting him in with his paper copy. There’s plenty of top-flight football bollocks which is off-putting and this yet another example of it.

There’s an easy PR win for Manchester United here. But based on the new regime’s track record, it’ll stay on course while alienating local supporters to make that money on the tourist supporters. The COVID pandemic took the shine off of the Premier League for me. While clubs like ours suffered and had their property sold off, the big boys continued to rake it in and pay out to millionaire footballers (and even tried to break away to cash even further). Football’s heart is in the community that it serves in our part of the pyramid. The corporations and states might pretend to understand it, but they’ll never embrace it.