Yeovil Town’s new owner Prabhu Srinivasan has spoken about his plans to back manager Mark Cooper with new signings and his desire to return the club’s Huish Park stadium to its ownership.
Speaking to BBC Somerset reporter Jack Killah during a visit to Somerset on Wednesday he revealed he had spoken at length with the manager about his plans when he visited earlier in the season. You can listen to the interview in full – here.
Asked about his commitment to strengthening the squad ahead of the National League Premier Division season, the new owner also said he expected to bring in new additions to Cooper’s coaching team.
He said: “I spent two or three weeks here in April and a lot of the discussions I had were about what Mark wants to do. He has figured out some gaps in the first team and we are trying to find a way to get players in and we are also finding ways to augment Mark’s team as well. We might have a few more coaches with Mark to find a way to make the team as competitive as it can be.“
The Dubai-based businessman, who will meet supporters at open forums at Huish Park on Thursday and Friday evening, said he had ambitions to buy back the land the stadium sits on from Somerset Council.
The authority which took over from South Somerset District Council following a local government reorganisation in April 2023 is the landlord of land Yeovil Town’s stadium sits after the club’s former owner <NAME REDACTED> sold it for £2.8m in May 2022.
Asked about his hopes to reunite the land with the club, Srinivasan said: “While our core anchor is doing what is right for the football team, there is so much we can do for the community and it links to what we can do with the stadium. There are not many stadiums with 9,000 seats and we need to find a way to leverage that. I know the council owns the stadium at this point and our desire is to get the stadium back in to our ownership and then find a way to use this space for what can be done for the community. It can be used for better purposes outside the football games.”
Speaking on the latest episode of the Gloverscast, Executive Chairman Stuart Robins said that he had spoken with the council about extending exclusivity to buy back the land which is held by Yeovil Town Holdings Limited.
He told us: “I have been talking with the council for a little while about trying to extend the option which I think we will. We are pushing against an open door, the council has been so supportive but until (the takeover) was completed there was nothing we could do either from our side or the council’s side. But it is pretty high up the agenda and we are working to complete that as quickly as we possibly can.“