A business controlled by Yeovil Town chairman Scott Priestnall has exclusive rights to buy back land surrounding Huish Park from South Somerset District Council, the authority has confirmed.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the council confirmed that Yeovil Town Holdings Limited has the option to buy-back the land which it acquired for £2.8m in May.
It follows days of pressure on social media led by Martin Hellier, the local businessman who has publicly stated his desire to buy the club.
The Gloverscast has also been in regular contact with the council regarding different aspects of the deal.
The statement said: “The proposal gives YTFC the option to buy-back the land the club occupies in the future when its financial outlook has improved.
“For full clarity, the option to buy-back is with Yeovil Town Holdings, the organisation that formally held ownership of Huish Park and its associated land.”
Yeovil Town Holdings Limited is the company set up by former owners Norman Hayward and John Fry in 2010 when they separated the ownership of Huish Park and the land around.
It was bought by Priestnall when he completed his takeover of the club in 2019, together with Yeovil Football & Athletic Club (YF&AC) which runs the club’s football operations and previously owned the land upon which Huish Park stands. However, as with YTFC Holdings, YF&AC owns nothing since all the assets of both companies were sold to the council in May.
YF&AC is also the business which club director Stuart Robins has a 20% shareholding in, and the one which Simul Sports, the group fronted by former Cardiff City director Julian Jenkins, was negotiating with Priestnall to buy up until it ended its bid earlier this year.
It has not been made public which company an unnamed “preferred party” in exclusive talks with Priestnall and the club is seeking to acquire – but only by buying YTFC Holdings would the owner be in control of the destiny of ni the land around Huish Park stadium.
Priestnall has been YTFC Holdings’ only director since the resignation of Glenn Collis last summer. There are a number of minority shareholders who hold a stake in the company, but the chairman holds a controlling share.