The Glovers are back in the (Non League) big time and welcome Hartlepool United to Huish Park from just up the road. Here’s all the info you need ahead of the 2024/25 season opener.
Form Guide…
Let’s start with the obvious, there is no league form for either side to call upon.
The Glovers ended their pre-season campaign with a trio of wins over Weston-super-Mare, Buckland Athletic and Farnborough Town whilst the Pools, lost to a youthful second-string Nottingham Forest side 3-1 at Victoria Park last Saturday. They have seen off Scunthorpe, South Shields and Sunderland U21s this summer, though.
Hartlepool finished the 2023/24 campaign with a win, coming out on top of a seven-goal thriller against already relegated Dorking, clearly the defenders on both sides were already on their summer holidays.
Key Players…
Yeovil – Jordan Young
The former Chippenham Town man ended the 2023/24 season with a total of 14 league goals as the Glovers cruised to the National League South title and he’ll be vital once more back in the top flight of non-League football, set pieces will be key for the hosts throughout the season and Young has shown he’s more than capable of scoring and providing from a dead ball – any chance of one on Jake Wannell’s noggin please, Jordan?
Hartlepool United – Adam Campbell
Signed from Crawley Town in the summer, Campbell was promoted out of League Two, scoring seven goals in 48 appearances, it’s perfectly feasibly that Campbell should be playing in League One this season, instead he’s been brought closer to home and a couple of levels down the pyramid.
That’s What He Said…
In his pre-match presser Mark Cooper said that he knew all about Hartlepool’s strengths, and knows exactly what kind of side former Glovers’ Manager Darren Sarll will bring.
“They have some really good, experienced players and Darren’s way of playing is full on pressing, getting after teams and looking to make it really uncomfortable. But we have our own style of play and being at home, we have to try and impose our style on them.”
You can read the headlines from the boss’s first pre-match presser of the season HERE
As for Sarll, you can hear an exclusive chat with the Hartlepool gaffer on match-day morning with Gloverscast Ben in the return of the ‘Foot in the Opposition Camp’.
Sarll told the HUFC official site on Thursday: “Like I’ve said all week with other press duties [he means us, here I think], I have a connection there (to Yeovil). I had three years there, it was a big part of my managerial career… they’ve had an excellent year last year and to turn a relegation into a winning season is very hard and the coaching staff and the players deserve a lot of credit. They’ll have good momentum and positivity around them, so, we’ve got to lift our performances to match.”
We’ve met before…
Sorry stattos, but Yeovil Town have a quite frankly terrible recent record against the side from the uppest of the North.
Not since 2012 when in League One have Yeovil beaten Hartlepool. A single Joe Edwards goal was enough to earn the three points on that day.
Last time we crossed paths in the North, the Pools won 2-1. Tom Knowles opened the scoring, but it meant little by the end. The last meeting at Huish Park – a behind closed doors game in November 2020 – was even worse. Three first half goals from Molyneux, Holohan and Magloire put the game and points well out of reach, even if Joe Quigley did get one back.
Want to watch that one again? No? Tough.
Don’t I know you?
Quite a lot of the travelling Hartlepool contingent are known to Glovers fans.
Darren Sarll is the gaffer, assisted by Carl Dickinson, and they will bring former Glovers’ loanee Adam Smith and central defenders Billy Sass-Davies and Tom Parkes back to Huish Park. They’re all expected to be in the match day squad.
Who’s been naughty then?
David Rock is our referee for this fixture, and as you’d expect for the first game of the season, there are no notable suspensions for either side, at least not in the playing squad. Yeovil Chairman and Owner, Martin Hellier, serves the first of his two-match stadium ban.
How can you keep across the game?
In Person
Get to Huish Park! Tickets are available for the game here.
On the Radio
Ian is back on the mic with Jack Killah for BBC Somerset and Three Valleys Radio will have full match coverage too.
On the TV/ stream
National League TV has this game listed as available to watch. Match Passes are £9.99
On the Gloverscast.co.uk
We’ll have team news, match report, Five Conclusions and our usual reaction podcast to follow on Monday.