With more than 130 years of history, there is plenty of amazing stories to tell about our club. That is why we have teamed up with the Yeovil Town FC Heritage Society to bring you one monthly memory from our past.
If one is not enough, you can join the Society’s Facebook page, run by Glovers’ fan Michael West, which is a treasure trove for green-and-white history. If you are on Facebook, follow them by – clicking here.
We kick off this new feature with the story of how our club began 131 years to the very day…..
Today, August 12th, holds significant importance for Yeovil Town Football Club. On this day in 1895, precisely 131 years ago, Yeovil Casuals were established, laying the foundation for the club that has evolved into what we know and support today.
Naturally, association football had been a part of the club’s activities prior to that time. Historical records indicate the earliest documented match of a Yeovil FC, took place in November 1880, resulting in a decisive 9-0 loss to Dorset County School in Dorchester. Following a hiatus, by 1888, the association club was established and operating on a weekly schedule. Initially engaging in friendly matches, it eventually joined the Somerset senior league in 1891, alongside prominent teams such as Wells City and Street FC. Throughout this period, the football club served as the junior counterpart to the Rugby club, which held the primary spotlight in the town’s sporting scene.
Moving forward to August 5th 1895, at the AGM of Yeovil Football Club where a dispute emerged over a £25 debt the club had incurred. The rugby and association branches, coexisting within the club, clashed over the responsibility for this debt. The rugby faction pointed fingers at the association side, accusing them of not generating equivalent funds. At this juncture, farmers son Fred Bond, just twenty-one-year-old and captain of the Yeovil association , stepped up. He quickly calculated and voiced that there were a much higher number of rugby matches played compared to association matches, leading him to conclude that rugby had generated more revenue naturally. Moreover, Bond’s calculations revealed that on a per-match basis, the association side had contributed more significantly to the club’s finances. Following a lengthy and occasionally heated debate, the two branches of the club ultimately decided to part ways. Both sides agreed to share accountability for half of the debt, marking the conclusion of the dispute.
Fred Bond wasted no time, quickly taking action by securing a pitch at Pen Mill within days. Organised a sub committee. He also travelled to Shepton Mallet and engaged with the Somerset FA, gaining their approval to join the senior league. Equally impressive, he managed to convince two influential local clubs to align themselves with the new team: Yeovil Rovers, originating from the Pall Mall Tavern, and Congregational Swifts FC, affiliated with the Congregational church in Princess Street. Although the ‘Rovers’ request to name the new club Yeovil Rovers was declined, the new club’s reserves would graciously adopted the Rovers’ locally iconic blue and white colors.
On August 12th, 1895, a mere week after parting ways with the rugby club, a meeting took place at the Victoria Hall on Union Street, Yeovil. The purpose of this assembly was to ratify the proposed initiatives that Fred Bond had worked tirelessly putting together and officially adopt the cherished club we hold dear today. The attendees reached a consensus to shoulder fifty percent of the rugby debt and designated captains and sub-captains for the two initial teams, with the potential addition of a third team in the future. This pivotal moment also marked the establishment of the club’s committee. The name was also adopted ‘The Casuals association football club’. And lastly as the Western Chronicle reported it:
‘…. the question of the teams colours were discussed it was decided that the first teams colours would be green & white‘
After 131 years, the enduring presence of those green and white colors remains, and may their legacy carry on. If your sipping on a Thatchers today take a moment to raise your glass to Fred Bond and the Yeovilians of 1895. Without them, we wouldn’t have had one of the most important parts of our lives.
God bless ’em all!