Yeovil Town has thanked long-serving Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust manager Sara Bradley after she departed her role.
In a statement issued on Friday morning, the club thanked her for her service to the club which began in 1993 when she started working in the club’s tea bars and ended this week.
She had also held roles including managing the hospitality facilities at Huish Park and a stint working as supporter liaison officer when the club was shortlisted for ‘EFL’s Family Club of the Year Award’ for the first and only.
The statement added: “Sara has been the constant at the Community Sports Trust since it’s inception and has been the cornerstone of its operation during this time. The work Sara has put into the Trust has enabled many young people to take part in sport and the wide range of activities delivered by the Trust. Sara has worked tirelessly in her role, often working long into her evenings, plus weekends on a regular basis, to fulfil her passion for the Trust.
“As part of her role Sara has been responsible for the successful application for many community projects, not least the Primary Stars project, where she successfully obtained funding alongside many larger clubs with greater resources available to them.
“Sara has always been passionate about those who work as part of her team and has always focused on their well-being, providing a supportive environment for them to work in.
“It is a testament to Sara’s commitment to her role that has seen large numbers of young people in the area given opportunities for life enhancing experiences by the Trust.
“We would like to take the opportunity to thank Sara and wish her all the best for future.”
The Trust’s football development programme now comes under the recently-launched Yeovil Town Performance Centre. This was been described as “reinvigorating our youth system at the football club” and is being led by Jamie Phillip, the former manager of Yeovil Town Ladies who is now Community and Youth Chief Executive.
His appointment announced last month went on to say the centre would create “a unified pathway for players as young as three years old in the Mini Talent Centres to the top of our youth system, the Elite Player Development Programme for Under-18s.”
However, from looking at the YTCST’s website, it appears such a pathway has always existed, indeed the likes of Under-18s captain Jake Graziano and midfielder Toby Stephens, who is contracted with the first team, have graduated from the Trust’s football development programme in recent years.
We at the Gloverscast are sure we echo the feelings of all Yeovil Town supporters in wishing Sara the best in her future and thank her for her decades of dedication to the club.