It’s the worst kept secret in South Somerset and yet it still appears to be a secret.
The two consortiums bidding for the ownership of Yeovil Town are led by current club director Glenn Collis and another group led by Julian Jenkins, an ex-Cardiff City commercial director and CEO at Swiss side Servette for a spell.
The Huish Park rumour mill is fired on one side by a bizarre string of online articles and now YouTube broadcasts claiming to have knowledge on the Jenkins offer, and the other seemingly from conversations being had between Collis and supporters at matches.
As a result, on Tuesday the Supporters’ Alliance Group, which represents the club’s main fan groups including the Green & White Supporters’ Club and Glovers’ Trust, issued a public demand to owner Scott Priestnall to act.
The chairman and owner who bought the club from in the summer of 2019 has consistent in promising to do what is best for the club.
What he has been less consistent at is keeping to his commitments.
When we last heard from our AWOL owner, he promised improvements in the matchday experience, strengthening of the squad for a tilt at the play-offs and regular communication to with supporters.
To that end, we have seen a burger van appear behind the Thatchers’ End which was selling warm cans of beer, a squad filled up with young loan players in place of the experienced heads which departed in the summer, and a owner who no-one has seen or heard from in months.
On the pitch, manager Darren Sarll is under increasing pressure after less than convincing performances in the past three matches and a massive FA Cup tie with local rivals Weymouth coming up at the weekend.
In fairness to the boss, he has made mistakes tactically this season, but with the options he has he is doing his job with his hands tied behind his back.
And you can say that about just about every part of the club which feels both rudderless and taking on water, combination puts us in serious danger.
When it comes to the owner’s promise of communication, this week supporters seem to be finding out more about/completely guessing at what is happening at the club from filings on Companies House.
With the club purchased with a loan secured against its own asset, and now seemingly being propped up by a Sport England loan (we’ve had no evidence of the contrary so how can we know?) it appears there’s a genuine possibility of a total catastrophe if a deal doesn’t get over the line.
The final line of the Alliance statement reads: “As a group of united supporters, we believe the time is now for genuine change and only one group at the table offers that hope for the future of Yeovil Town FC.”
It doesn’t take a genius to read between the lines and understand who the Supporters Alliance Group are in favour of.
The most galling thing of all is the sheer contempt which Yeovil Town supporters having to publicly call on those in charge of the club to have the decency to communicate with their supporters and their customers.
All those who put their hands in their own pockets to raise more than £50,000 for the club this summer, can rightly feel this complete lack of action from those who claim to be in charge is a slap in the face.
The voice of Alliance echoes that of supporters from all corners of the fan base – do what you’ve said you’ll do, Mr Priestnall, and do the right thing by OUR club.