The Glovers’ Trust has confirmed it will host a meeting of Yeovil Town supporters at the Yeovil Sports & Social Club at Johnson Park next Thursday.
The meeting is open to all supporters – you do not have to be a member of the Trust or any other group, just someone with an interest in the future of the club – and will take place from 7pm.
The Sports & Social Club is located on Coronation Avenue, BA21 3DY.
The Trust announced its intentions to host the meeting after the decision of SU Glovers to withdraw from plans to buy the majority shareholding in the club held by chairman Scott Priestnall.
It added: “Firstly, we will seek clarity from the directors regarding the current situation. Secondly, we must discuss what actions we as fans want to take next.”
The Trust added: “The Glovers Trust are disappointed to learn of SU Glovers’ decision to abandon their takeover of the club. This news, alongside the late payment of staff wages, further demonstrates the complete lack of leadership, interest and accountability from the club’s ownership. The Glovers Trust urge the remaining directors to act immediately and decisively to aid the survival of the football club.”
The Gloverscast is working with the Glovers’ Trust to live stream the meeting through Zoom which we hope to make available to any fans unable to attend and then as a podcast following the event.
Topic: Glovers Trust Fan Meeting
Time: May 11, 2023 07:00 PM London
Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83389700136?pwd=RnlzSWhkWWt0SkNiYnorRTlZTExxQT09
Meeting ID: 833 8970 0136
Passcode: 586337
Administration it is then
To talk about what ? It is all too late
Communication is a two way thing. We communicate Scott Priestnall, YTFC doesn’t. So supporters are kept in the dark. Will we be able to move forward with a meeting. If we can, then a meeting is beneficial
The core problem. The deal struck between the FB Priestnall and SSDC basically hamstrings any attempt by a buyer to complete a takeover of YTFC. In effect the exclusive buy back deal struck between them means that any buyer would not be able to purchase back the stadium and its environs unless SP surrenders that option. He won’t. If he did he loses the ransom strip that is the stadium and the opportunity to develop the land around it. To him and Somerset Council that would mean that houses cannot be built and the potential loss of many millions of pounds. No buyer is going to pay £200k a year rent for a club in the 6th tier. He won’t let the club go into admin in my opinion so he will probably let the life blood slowly drip from it until it dies. This man cares not a jot for the fans, Yeovil, or anything else but his own vile self. On the other hand he has been given these opportunities by Hayward and SSDC, no one can doubt he is very clever . Maybe the only way will be to develop a new football club AFC Yeovil like Wimbledon did back in the day.
I don’t understand why people are so negative about SSDC owning the stadium. This is in our favour – we own the ground!
We can elect councillors who will reduce the rent.
Those same councillors can protect the stadium from being sold so even if the club does go in to administration, we still have a home ground.
Maybe with the land gone the club will stop being circled by vultures and somebody with an interest in football (not property development) will step forward with a long-term vision.
Of the approximate 170,000 Council tax payers in the south Somerset area, say 5000 are glovers. Do you really think the others would vote to pay more each month in their council tax bill to prop up the club?
I hope that the club is saved and can be reorganised to at least be a valid business in future. Please bear in mind those of the community that are going to face receiving pennies in the pound for the goods and services that they have given already to YTFC. Their businesses will also be driven to the brink through no fault of their own. The goodwill in the area from these companies will be zero. What a mess!
You’re miles off with your estimate of the number of people who want to see a thriving professional football team in Somerset.
We got nowhere with Fry and nowhere with Priestnall. Why would another private owner be any better?
Get elected and have a say on how the club comes back from the ashes!
No , Somerset council own the stadium & will be reportedly charging us 50k upfront each quarter which the club can’t afford probably! Scott Priestnhall could buy the stadium back & charge us what he likes & be our landlord or do as he pleases with it including bulldozing it ! Unless Somerset council deal is legally challenged, the exclusivity expires in 3 years or Scott purchases it back & agrees to sell it to the club it will be never be owned or free to use to by the club ever again!
Unfortunately the club has been in decline for a very long period of time, and we have now reached our ‘minutes to midnight’ moment. From the 2007 play off final onwards we’ve been hamstrung by a lack of investment, and the brief miracle under Gary Johnson just papered over the cracks. It’s worth noting that the league one promotion season average attendance was below our conference winning one, suggesting apathy had set in even then.
For what it’s worth, I don’t feel SP’s initial intention was to destroy the club. It seems to have been a gamble that he could pay off the high interest loans and E Pope investment by the club quickly bouncing back into the league. Covid effectively put paid to that, EP had to be repaid with additional funding at a higher coupon, and the death spiral was reached.
It’s clear the club would have run out of money a year ago, without the land sale paying off this debt. I think people seeing this as a ‘rescue deal’ from the council are misguided. They simply bought an asset at a good price, with a 30 year income stream attached. The buyback is also a slight red herring as any buyback would be to the company that previously owned the asset. it’s why it’s called a buyback.
All in all a very sad time. I don’t know what the future holds, but I’ll remember all the good times. From my first games watching the reserves at the old Huish and collecting discarded programmes at the end, through the Arsenal cup game, Graham Roberts years, etc etc.
Maybe it would be better if the supporters could own the club l don’t no if that would of been possible l am probably talking nonsense there again if our chairman was offered a deal with enough noughts on the end he would probably go
South Somerset District Council based in Yeovil bought the ground where Yeovil Town Football Club play purely as an investment?
The fact is we have completely failed to influence the way Priestnall runs the club, as we failed to influence Fry before him.
Now each and every one of us (over the age of 18 and not in prison!) has the opportunity to affect the way the club develops in the future.
Get involved! Write a manifesto. Stand for the Council.
I hope you manage to get some sort of statement from the club ahead of the meeting. It is quite staggering that there has been nothing of substance from the club since we were relegated and Uggla pulled out of the takeover. Supporters Trust needed supported by somebody with the cash and clout who can persuade the Council to sell the ground back to the football club. But I fear the end of the club as we know it is nigh☹️?