Chris Hargreaves (Page 5)

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Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves and his Torquay United counterpart Gary Johnson are looking forward to facing each other in the National League next season.

The pair are legends at their respective clubs with Hargreaves having been part of the Torquay side which won promotion back to the Football League in 2009, whilst Johnson guided Yeovil out of non-League and in to League One in his first spell as manager before returning to take us to the Championship.

Gary Johnson signing autographs for Yeovil fans on his return to Huish Park for the Legends match.

Speaking to Torbay Weekly, Johnson said: “I’m pleased that Chris has got the job there – I’m sure in his mind he always wanted to get back into it. He’s missed it, but he’s young enough to give it a right go.

“He’s got a bit of work to do there, but when you take over a club, it’s not a bad thing when you’ve almost got to start from scratch.

“There will be a professional rivalry between me and Chris, but there’ll always be a rivalry between the two clubs and everyone enjoys that.”

Hargreaves returned the compliment saying he was “really looking forward” to a return to his old stomping ground with his new club.

He said: “I’m really looking forward to it. I respect Gary for the fantastic job he did here, and for the way he’s turned things round at Plainmoor, but you’ve got to do things your own way.

“Both clubs need to be in the Football League. I played for Plymouth and Torquay, coached at Exeter, managed at Plainmoor and now I’m here, so I want all those old West Country rivalries back, and I’m sure the fans do.

“One thing’s for sure, I’m too long in the tooth, as Gary is, for anything to get personal next season, and that’s a good thing.”

Over the past three seasons since the Glovers dropped out of the League, the two clubs are level after six matches with Darren Sarll’s men getting the better of Johnson’s Gulls twice in 2019-20, each side winning their home match the following campaign, and then Torquay winning home and away last season.

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New Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves has revealed he has spoken with former Glovers’ favourite Ed Upson and loanee Josh Neufville about potential returns to Huish Park.

But, speaking on the latest edition of the Gloverscast the new boss said that neither player had committed to making the move.

Chris Hargreaves.

The new boss worked with Upson, a star of the club’s surge to the Championship from a decade ago, when Hargreaves was on the coaching staff at Bristol Rovers, and has spoken to him since his release by Stevenage.

Hargreaves said: “I know Ed, I worked with him at Rovers and had a great relationship with him and encouraged him to do what he does well.

“We have discussed things, I don’t know at this stage and that is for a number of reasons, one being the number of midfielders we already have.

“I like Ed as a person and a player, so I would never rule anything out. He’s someone I hold in high regard.”

Neufville is a huge fans’ favourite after two impressive loans from Luton Town and a recent social media post hinting at a possible return got fans’ excited about the prospective.

Hargreaves confirmed that he has spoken to him about coming back, but knows the 21-year-old will be looking to catch the eye of Nathan Jones, the ex-Glovers’ defender in charge at the Championship club.

The manager said: “I have spoken to Josh Neufville about a potential return to the club. With him, the manager will want him to go to the next level and he probably wants to show himself in pre-season, but he knows if there’s any glimmer of him coming back, he’s coming back.

“The door is open. The way he performed in some of the game, he looked like he gained from being here, so I would love him to be here.”

The club’s Head of Player Development, Marcus Stewart, is a former Yeovil Town team-mate of both Jones and Luton first-team coach Chris Cohen and Hargreaves was keen to point out that there was a connection there.

He said: “Marcus knows Nathan, I have spoken to Josh, Marcus has spoken to Nathan, so there is dialogue between everyone.

“I speak to Daz (Darren Sarll, Terry (Skiverton), I have spoken to a lot of people about the club and I’m hoping to gain something from everybody.

“I look at what Gary (Johnson) achieved with this club and I have been part of teams like that and what a fantastic thing to turn up and see yourself on the side of the stadium.

“I have to draw off those legends and they are all welcome, I don’t buy in to ‘those are the old times’, come through the door, let’s all be successful together.”

You can listen to the new Glovers’ boss talk about his hopes for the new season, his thoughts on his coaching staff, players and the future of winger Charlie Wakefield on the latest podcast, available – here.

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Yeovil Town have confirmed that former Eastleigh and Torquay Under 18s manager Chris Todd is the club’s new assistant manager.

Chris Hargreaves confirmed he would be adding to his coaching staff and this represents his first appointment.

Speaking to YTFC.net he said; “I’m very excited. It’s a new challenge and when I spoke to Chris, we had a good conversation. We discussed the future of the football club and I wanted to be a part of that. 

“I hope the fans are excited about the new journey that we’re on together. I will give 110% daily, as I know Chris will and the rest of the background staff.

“This is a good group and we’re trying to make them successful, if they’re successful the Club is successful and it’s a good moment for everyone.”

Todd was part of the England Colleges coaching system this season so has recently worked with the Glovers’ Ollie Haste already.

He represented Exeter, Torquay, Hereford and Forest Green Rovers as player with coaching and management roles at Gloucester and Eastleigh since.

He was also diagnosed with a form of blood cancer in 2008, thankfully he recovered, he’s an author and an actor with a credit in a World War Two film and he’s performed in a national choir, is there anything this man can’t do!?

A quick look through the history books and I can only find one Chris Todd appearance against Yeovil as a player…

Torquay United’s 4-1 FA Cup win in 2008 which was shown live on the BBC, he scored the equaliser for the Gulls, cheers for that Chris.

Todd speaks to the BBC after knocking Yeovil out of the FA Cup

Welcome to the club, Chris!

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Yeovil Town boss Chris Hargreaves is expecting to appoint his backroom staff in the coming days.

The manager revealed there would be two appointments who he has worked with in his career arriving at Huish Park.

One hotly-tipped candidate who would fit the bill is ex-Glovers’ striker Marcus Stewart, who was assistant manager at Bristol Rovers when Hargreaves had a role at the Memorial Stadium.

Speaking to the club’s YouTube channel, Hargreaves said he expected the arrivals to bring “experience and different ideas.”

He added: “I know them both very well and have worked with them, so that’s another plus to take some of the workload.

“They know the size of the club and are looking forward to pre-season and get used to the players and the club.”

Stewart, who was part of the Yeovil side which reached the League One play-off final in 2007, was last in the professional game as number two to Darrell Clarke at Walsall, but left by mutual consent after a year saying he did not want to travel from his home in Bristol.

He is presently Head Coach of the Men’s Football team for Maccabi GB which works with the UK’s Jewish community on a range of sporting, educational and well-being activities.

In the interview, Hargreaves also said he had “probably 50 to 100 players” who he was looking at bringing to the club and said he hoped to be able to get “some over the line in the next couple of weeks.”

He said: “Now it’s about getting the right characters in and showing them what this club is about.

“We might not be paying the most money, but we have a history and a club and a fan base to offer them which is attractive.

“I’m hopeful we can get some over the line in the next couple of weeks, but more often than not it will be late because players leave their options open to the last minute.

“I’m hopeful there’s a couple on the horizon.”

In recent weeks, the club has announced a number of members of last season’s squad have committed themselves to Huish Park for the coming campaign with midfielder Matt Worthington the latest to do so.

He has been joined by goalkeepers Grant Smith and Max Evans, defenders Max Hunt and Morgan Williams, midfielder Lawson D’Ath and Josh Staunton and forward Tom Knowles, who have also extended their stays.

Only Staunton, who signed a two-year contract, is understood to have committed to staying longer than the 2022/23 campaign, and Hargreaves suggested he would be looking to keep them for longer.

He said: “It signals their intent because they want to stay. Some lads are contracted (for the coming season) and we have to make sure we either tie them down or get the best out of them for their own careers or for us going forward.

“There will be a few conversations to have in pre-season but I’ve spoken to most of them and they are committed to the cause so roll on pre-season.”

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Being able to develop young players through its first team will be vital to creating a “sustainable” Yeovil Town, according to new manager Chris Hargreaves.

The 50-year-old was appointed as the new number one at Huish Park this week having previously been academy manager at Bristol Rovers and in youth coaching roles at Exeter City and AFC Bournemouth.

Chris Hargreaves.

Speaking in his first interview with YTFC.net on Wednesday, he said: “Youth development is vital. I said to the players that want to stay at the club, I want to improve them as all coaches and managers do. We want to help them go and play as high as they can.

”It’s something that is very important to me, they have to produce for the club but we hope to be able to help them along their footballing journey.”

He added: “We have to be as sustainable as possible, so we need to develop our younger players and if the rewards are right for the club and for the player, then brilliant.

“That has to be a major part of it because producing players is a big part of what a club is about.”

The Glovers’ academy closed in 2020 following the club’s relegation from the Football League, but it has an Under-18s side, filled with players from the Yeovil College Elite Player Development Programme, and a number of age groups representing the Yeovil Town Community Sports Trust in the Junior Premier League.

He admitted the challenge of creating an academic would be “very difficult” without the funding available through being a League club.

Hargreaves said: ”I have a massive sympathy for any club that loses that funding, but there’s ways to get around it.

”I have a few ideas and discussions to have over the next couple of weeks and, over and above our own boys coming through, any younger players that come through we have to use the development they have had at other clubs to our advantage.

”But I understand there is no better feeling as a fan that to know you have got one of your own, so fingers crossed we can try and do that.”

Midfielder Toby Stephens, a product of the club’s Community Sports Trust and academic system, and defender Ollie Haste have both signed professional contracts with the club in recent seasons.

A number of players which featured in this season’s Somerset Premier Cup campaign have come from the EPDP.

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Chris Hargreaves has said he is confident he understands the off-the-field situation at Yeovil Town as he takes over as the club’s new first-team manager.

The former Bristol Rovers’ academy boss was confirmed in post on Wednesday and said he had spoken with club chairman Scott Priestnall about his ambition to appoint a new board of directors.

Chris Hargreaves, working for BT Sport at Huish Park this season.
? Aaron McLean

Almost a month ago, the owner said he had been speaking with “prominent local business people” about them joining the Huish Park board – but the new boss said his focus would be on the pitch.

Speaking to the media for the first time in his new role, he told the Gloverscast: “My focus is the squad, the team and players, that is what I can impact.

“The discussions I have had with Scott about him trying to form a new board and is in the process of doing that, but that is for him to do that, my job is the football. That is my sole focus.”

Asked if he was confident he understood the off-the-field situation to allow that focus, he added: “Absolutely.”

It was April 23 when Priestnall address a group of supporters ahead of the 2-1 home win over (now league champions) Stockport County, and told them of his plans to get a new board in place before the end of the season. The National League season finished last weekend.

Speaking then, the chairman said: ““I am pleased to say there has been some positive conversations on that part and I’m hoping to have a concrete framework around the board by the end of the season, so we are not in limbo during the summer. I do appreciate there has been a lot of limbo during the last few months.”

You can read more of his comments in our article – here.

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New Yeovil Town manager Chris Hargreaves is hoping to announce his new coaching team within “the next couple of days.”

The boss, who was confirmed in the post on Wednesday, has also confirmed he expects to have spoken with all the club’s players by the end of the day.

However, he admits the club may struggle to compete against clubs with bigger budgets for some of their players.

On his search for a backroom team, he told YTFC.net: “I’m speaking to a couple of coaches, not announcing them yet. That will be done in the next couple of days.

“There are complexities because some people are employed, so that needs to be sorted out but I know who I want with me and a lot want to work for such a club.”

On the playing staff, he added: “I’ve spoken to every player at the club to see where they are at and how much they want to be here.

“There’s an inevitability about some players because there’s only so far we can go with some of them. We can tell them we value them, but we can only go to a certain level (of financial offer)

“There’s nothing we can do if clubs blow us out of the water (with their offers) so we have to do our own business for this club. That’s for me to do that.”

Defender Morgan Williams and youngster Ollie Haste are the only two players who are known to be on contract beyond the end of the season, although chairman Scott Priestnall has said the club does have options to extend the stays of other players.

Hargreaves said he would be looking to bring in players but admitted this may not happen immediately, he added: “These conversations will happen over the next couple of weeks and in to pre-season, but all the deals will not be done super quickly.

“As a footballer, you want to get to the end of the season, relax and see what your options are.”

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Chris Hargreaves
? Aaron McLean

Yeovil Town’s new manager Chris Hargreaves might be more known for his role as TV pundit for BT Sport, but he has been in coaching and management positions within clubs for a number of years.

However, this is only his second ever first team managerial role after a spell in the hot seat with Torquay.

Following the sacking of Alan Knill, Hargreaves was given his first taste of management with the Plainmoor side in January 2013.

Sitting second bottom of League Two it was always going to be a tough task, and despite an upturn in form – including a first match win over Wimbledon and local derby successes over both Bristol Rovers and Exeter – Torquay dropped out of the Football League.

The following season back in the National League saw Torquay fail to bounce back up finishing in mid table.

That season included a six-match winning streak throughout August of 2014, but a trio of winless streaks in October, December and February 2015, cost them any hope of sneaking a play-off place.

That squad included a couple of front men who found goals into the double figures, Ryan Bowman and Louis Briscoe.

There was also a handful of appearances for Josh Wakefield who would go onto to spend a short time with Yeovil the following season.

The side finished 13th with 61 points, 15 points away from 7th.

Following the conclusion of that season, in early June, Hargreaves was placed on gardening leave after Torquay was taken over and the new owner offered him a ‘significant’ pay cut.

In total, he was in charge for 75 games, winning 27 and losing 33, with 15 draws.

 

 

 

 

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Yeovil Town have announced the arrival of Chris Hargreaves as the club’s new First Team Manager.

Somerset’s worst kept secret was reported ‘exclusively’ by BristolLive on Monday, and the club confirmed his appointment this morning.

The 50-year-old, who has signed a two-year contract, told YTFC.net: “It feels fantastic to be here. I’m delighted to be at such a brilliant football club. Yeovil Town has an immense fan base and a great history, I’m really looking forward to the challenge.”

The former Bristol Rovers Academy Manager has plenty of experience coaching at youth level and he left Rovers to step into a first team role.

His last first team appointment was at Torquay United between 2014 and 2015, when the club were relegated out of the Football League. He ended his playing career at Plainmoor including captaining them to victory in the National League play-off final in 2009.

You’ll also recognise Hargreaves from BT Sport’s coverage of the National League.

There are no details given around any team coming to Huish Park with Hargreaves, who faces the media for the first time this lunchtime.

Welcome to Huish Park, Chris!