A group led by former Cardiff City commercial director Julian Jenkins has confirmed it is in talks to buy Yeovil Town from owner Scott Priestnall.
The Simul Sports Group issued a short statement on Jenkins’ Twitter account on Monday afternoon saying: “Simul Sports can confirm we are committed to continue working with Scott Priestnall for the successful acquisition of Yeovil Town & Athletic Football Club.”
A Statement on behalf of Simul Sports. No further comment at this time. – Simul Sports can confirm that we are committed to continue working with Scott Priestnall for the successful acquisition of Yeovil Football & Athletic Club. #YTFC
— Julian Jenkins (@Julianj1973) December 6, 2021
It follows a statement issued by Priestnall on Sunday night saying he had given two groups bidding to buy the club until the end of this week.
The reference to “Yeovil Football & Athletic Club” relates to the company which owns the club’s stadium rather than Yeovil Town Holdings, a company set up by chairman John Fry and owner Norman Hayward, which owns the freehold of the land which borders the stadium in to – read more about this on our Gloversblog: The ground on which we stand.
Jenkins is listed as the only officer of the Simul Sports Group Limited but others involved with the group set up in February are:
- Marc Bircham – a former midfielder who will be a familiar face to Yeovil Town fans made 16 appearances for the club in an injury-hit spell at the club between 2007-2008. He did make more than 250 appearances in the League though, mostly with QPR and Millwall, and was manager at Irish League side Waterford before his departure last month, claiming he would not pick the owner’s son.
- Darren Delandro – an investment specialist listed as a person with significant control in Simul, who works in private equity and with “high net worth individuals.” His football connections appear limited to a playing role in the lower leagues and a role as assistant manager at Isthmian League side Tooting & Mitcham.
On Sunday night, chairman Scott Priestnall gave two groups bidding to buy the club until the end of the week to complete a deal, you can read more about his statement – here.
The statement from the Jenkins group is the firm public confirmation the former Cardiff City commercial director is involved with a consortium seeking to buy the club, and it is understood the second party is a group led by Priestnall’s fellow director Glenn Collis – although he has yet to make any public statements.
Here’s an updated timeline of the long-running saga of the takeover talks with the club:
- June 28: Chairman Scott Priestnall announces he has “been approached by a group to buy the club” – see more here.
- July 30: In a statement alongside manager Darren Sarll, Priestnall said he was continuing to “talk to interested parties, including development partners” – see more here.
- September 6 – The Glovers’ Trust says it believes two groups are in advanced negotiations to buy the club – see more here.
- October 12 – The Supporters’ Alliance Group issues a statement calling on Priestnall to invest or sell – see more here.
- October 13 – A new filing on Companies House shows Yeovil & Athletic Football Club has taken on the club’s £800,000 loan to Sport England – see more here.
- October 13 – The Gloverscast echoes calls for clarity as rumours grow of consortiums led by Director Glenn Collis and former Cardiff City commercial director Julian Jenkins – see more here.
- November 22 – The Glovers’ Trust calls on Collis to talk with them about his offer for the club – see more here.
- December 3 – Manager Darren Sarll says he would love to remain at the club adding that “until the hierarchy is set in stone, nothing is set in stone” – see more here.
- December 5 (a.m.) – The Glovers’ Trust issues a second (or is it third?) statement calling for all parties involved in takeover talks to clarify the situation – see more here.
- December 6 (p.m.) – Scott Priestnall issues a statement give groups looking to buy the club seven days to complete a deal – see more here.