Will Dawes has returned to former club Stratford Town on loan just three months after being signed for an undisclosed five-figure fee.
Bards’ chairman Jed McCrory, a business partner of Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall, confirmed that the 21-year-old played was back at the Southern League Premier Division Central whilst still training with the Glovers.
He was named in the starting line-up for the club’s 2-0 defeat at Hednesford Town yesterday
In an interview with the Stratford website ahead of that game, McCrory doesn’t quite say the deal is a loan but says it will allow the former Cheltenham Town youngster to “get some game time” whilst training with Yeovil.
He said: “I noticed that Dawsey hadn’t been in the squad for a couple of games and then I looked at how Mark Cooper was setting up (at Yeovil).
“I know Mark from the Swindon days so I put a cheeky call in and said while he’s training with the first team we’ll give him game time while he trains with you.
“So knowing Mark and Scott I was aware that there were five or six teams in for Will from the Conference South, so they put it to Will and he said he would you like to go back to Stratford to get some game time and of course Dawsey loves the club, loves the people, knows the lads and he jumped at it.
He added: “So we ran around me and Chris (the Stratford club secretary) and kept it quiet. We didn’t want to announce it that we wanted to bring Will Dawes back and me and Chris were working tirelessly last night to get the paper work in and got it signed off last night by the FA and National League and then got clearance about 8.30 this morning from the Southern Premier League.
“So he’s gone straight into the team today which was a pleasant surprise for the lads and apparently there was a great big welcome back cheer when he walked into the changing room.”
Dawes has appeared just three times since arriving at Huish Park in September and his last outing – and only one under manager Mark Cooper – saw him come on as 62nd minute substitute in the 1-0 defeat at Woking on November 1.
He made two appearances under former boss Chris Hargreaves, starting the 1-1 draw at Dorking Wanderers on October 4.
When he arrived, Hargreaves said he believed the player had “huge potential” comparing him with former Glovers’ start Tom Knowles.
Speaking then, he said: “There will be a bedding in process of two or three weeks to bed him in to that intensity of training every day with this group.
“But he has huge potential, very similar to Tom Knowles when he came to the club, with that untapped potential that we need to focus on when we bring players to the club.”
Oh dear