
Last week saw the news that Yeovil Town Under 18s have withdrawn from the Western Counties Floodlight League in order to protect the Huish Park pitch, which has been blasted with severe weather over the last few months. The club’s statement said that the league rejected our proposed change of venue for home fixtures forcing Yeovil’s hand to drop out of the competition. I understand that we’d agreed to use a local non-league club for the fixtures. The club has reiterated its commitment to development and is ‘working to arrange high-quality matches against top local league clubs’.
It’s a shame for the club, the kids and the league itself, that surely benefits from having Yeovil in the division, and for whatever political reason the decision has been made, it potentially impacts the future careers of some talented kids. Many of us clamour for that “Green Machine” that produced Chris Weale, Andy Lindegaard, Chris Giles, Craig Alcock and others who came through the academy and part of the first team. As we’ve seen down the road at Exeter, a thriving academy can prove lucrative and create the holy grail; a self-sustaining football club.
Could anyone else not help but get a bit jealous of our National League comrades in FA Cup 3rd Round action? Seeing Dagenham at Millwall and Tamworth take Tottenham (what do we think of Tottenham?) to the limit really hit home. The power of the FA Cup and what it can means for small clubs was very evident.

It’s a disgrace that Tamworth’s reward for keeping Tottenham at bay for more than 90 minutes doesn’t see them earn a lucrative replay. That money would be club-changing for Tamworth and while they’ll get some attention, splitting the gate at Spurs would have been the real jackpot. The top teams have got their way though. While they have their multi-million pound training centres with every recovery remedy at their fingertips, Yeovil Town play their second match of three in the space of seven days tonight.

Once again, the officiating was up for discussion following the draw at Woking. There’ve been so many flash points this season, moments in games where you can’t quite believe what your seeing. It would be fascinating to know how other clubs feel about the officiating. Since Hartlepool on the opening day and Tom Parkes’ tackle on Jordan Young, referees have drawn the ire of Mark Cooper. After Gateshead, Boston, Solihull, Sutton United, Oldham, Tamworth, Southend, Halifax, York City, Forest Green Rovers, Woking there have been questions asked about key decisions in matches and comments around the officials. Is there a conspiracy against Yeovil? Are officials going into Yeovil matches with their backs up because of comments made about officials following previous matches? I’m not convinced there is a conspiracy against the Glovers but we certainly see some questionable decisions in our matches.
The ESPN National League Fair Play table from the past six seasons shows there was an increase in yellows per game last season with an average of 1.89 per match in 2023/24 compared to 1.59 in 2022/23. So far this season there’s an average of 2.08 yellows per match. So, either players are getting naughtier or they’re falling foul as the laws of the game change. I’m sure we all long for a fixture where the referee isn’t the topic and it’s all about the performance. However, based on the season so far, I’m sure we’re in for plenty more refereeing conversations.