Yeovil Town get their pre-season campaign underway with a trip to Exmouth Town on Saturday and, as ever with this time of year, there is a procession of trialists featuring for them.
Some we can expect to not see again but others may stick around. We will try and summarise who our spies on the ground in Devon think they are.
Disclaimer: There’s always a risk of mistaken identity.
Starting XI
Manager Mark Cooper has named three trialists in his starting XI for Yeovil Town’s opening pre-season friendly of the campaign at Exmouth Town. There are a further three trialists named on the substitutes’ bench. New signings James Daly and Tahvon Campbell are also named in the line-up with defender Kyle Ferguson, the other new arrival this summer, on the bench. The Exmouth side includes former Glovers’ Under-18s’ defender Jacob Shore.
Yeovil Town: Aidan Stone, Morgan Williams, Trialist, Jake Wannell, Alex Whittle, Charlie Cooper, Brett McGavin, Trialist, Trialist, James Daly, Tahvon Campbell. Substitutes: Matt Gould, Ollie Hughes, Blake Watts, Lewys Twamley, Kyle Ferguson, Finn Cousin-Dawson, Corey Koerner, Josh Sims, Harvey Greenslade, Trialist, Trialist, Trialist, Aaron Jarvis.
The Trialists – Starting XI
Jevani Brown – striker
Former Bristol Rovers striker who has been identified as training with the Glovers during the week. He was released by The Gas in the summer having not featured last season. His only game time in the 2024-25 season was 18 matches on loan at Notts County in League Two, scoring twice. The 30-year-old’s record at Rovers was not vintage, scoring once in 33 League One games, and his best spell in League football came with Exeter City where he got 19 goals in 70 appearances, helping them earn promotion to League One in 2022. Prior to that, he was with Colchester United where he was loaned out to Forest Green Rovers, then managed by Glovers’ boss Mark Cooper and assisted by Richard Dryden, now on the coaching staff at Huish Park.
Brown comes with off-the-field controversy, he was suspended by Exeter in February 2023 for an incident where he slapped a woman and spat at her outside a nightclub. He pleaded guilty to one charge of beating and one charge of using threatening behaviour and was fined £5,000. After the conviction his lawyer said his client had been “under the influence of alcohol” and had “taken steps” to address his behaviour. Reports at the time of the court case in 2023 suggested Brown had been supported by the Professional Footballers’ Association for alcohol-related issues for the previous two years. He was released at the end of his contract and joined Bristol Rovers, then managed by Joey Barton, in the summer of 2023, but did not feature under either subsequent Rovers’ boss’ Matt Taylor (although was a substitute for Rovers in last summer’s 3-0 win at Huish Park last July) or Iñigo Calderón despite the slide in to relegation. When he signed for Notts County, manager Stuart Maynard described the incident in Exeter as “out of character” for Brown and added: “He has now gone away and taken help and we believe that every day he is trying to become a better person.“
Luke McCormick – midfielder
A midfielder with considerable Football League experience to his name who is reportedly among the players who travelled to Exmouth. The 26-year-old made 25 appearances for Bristol Rovers last season, plus five during a loan spell at Forest Green Rovers, before joining Jevani Brown as one of 15 players released in May. He began his career in the Chelsea academy with loan spells at Shrewsbury Town and Bristol Rovers before signing for AFC Wimbledon for the 2021-22 season, then back to the Memorial Ground in the summer of 2022. He scored three times for Rovers last season, but failed to score in his five appearances (four as substitute) at Forest Green.
Joseph James – right back
Started in the number two shirt for the Glovers at Exmouth. A young right back who was awarded his first professional contract at Bristol City at the end of last season having been at Ashton Gate since he was eight years old. He appeared twice for the Robins’ first team in the 2023-24 season, including a Championship start in a 2-0 defeat at Cardiff, and had a spell on loan at Bath City in National League South last season.
Trialists – on the bench
The other three players on trial at Huish Park appeared at the start of the second half at Exmouth with Cooper fielding an entire new XI after the break.
Abu Kanu – striker
A 19-year-old striker who has been without a club since his release from Swindon Town’s academy in July 2024. He was a star of the youth set-up as a scholar, scoring 39 goals in the Under-18s in 2022-23, and went on to make two substitute appearances for the Robins’ first team in League Two and started two EFL Trophy matches. He suffered serious anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in September 2023 which put him out for ten months and despite returning for the Under-18s he was released at the end of his scholarship. He appears to have been without a club since then, but was spotted in videos of pre-season training posted by Yeovil.
Kieran Edworthy – striker
Striker who was with Plymouth Parkway in the Southern League last season. The son of former Plymouth Argyle and Crystal Palace defender, Marc, the 19-year-old scored plenty of goals in the Under-18s at Home Park and has been named among the substitutes in a League One fixture before signing for Plymouth Parkway at the start of last season.
Teo Kurtaran – midfielder
This one is a bit more of a guess and based purely on the strength of a post on X/Twitter in the week. Let’s assume it is him. Central midfielder who has been playing in Poland for second tier side GKS Tychy since January 2024. Born in Kingston-upon-Thames, London, he has previously played in the lower reaches of non-League for clubs including Kingstonian and Walton & Hersham which would stack up with what Callum thinks. If it is Kurtaran, it would not be his first time trialling in the Westcountry, he impressed in pre-season for Bristol Rovers back in 2023 but never signed.
Jevani and McCormick would be amazing signings I can see McCormick joining because of Harv and him being in the academy together Jevani might join to link up with some ex rovers players would be good to see some quality players here.
This is sarcasm, right?
Some of it is sarcasm some isn’t i mean Jevani Brown is a decent player not sure about McCormick
I was particularly referring to Brown, as I assumed he was a striker, & his goals record is nowhere near good enough.
Delving deeper into his record, I saw he also plays as an attacking midfielder & that he has a very decent assist record.
I’m assuming Cooper is going to be playing the normal 4-5-1, or, as he would put it, 4-3-3.
I’m wondering if he might be considering him as a replacement for Sonny Blu Lo-Everton.
Trialist C is now appearing on the official club website.
He’s noted as a left midfielder.
Make of it what you will!