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Yeovil Town have announced the signing of Jamaican goalkeeper Dillon Barnes from Championship side Queens Park Rangers.

The 25-year-old signs as the club have depleted numbers in the goalkeeper position, due to Grant Smith’s two-match suspension. 

The announcement from Yeovil refers to it as “a short-term deal” whilst the keeper’s parent club confirms the loan runs until January 26.

Arriving with League experience, Barnes has made 25 appearances in the EFL in both League One and League Two for Burton Albion and Colchester United.

Last season, he spent a short spell in the Scottish Premiership with Hibernian, where made eight appearances in all competitions. 

Earlier this year, Barnes made his full international debut for Jamaica, starting in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

A quick check of the records shows that Barnes has come up against Yeovil twice in his career, both during the 2018/19 season whilst at Colchester.

A 3-1 Glovers win and a 1-1 draw at Huish Park, a game in which he was sent off, just before the hour mark.

After clashing with a Glovers player shortly after conceding… none of that kind of shenanigans please Dillon!

Everyone at the Gloverscast wishes Dillon well on his stay in Somerset.

 

 

 

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Yeovil Town midfielder Jimmy Smith will join the coaching set-up at Premier League side Chelsea after announcing his retirement from playing.

The 34-year-old, who began his career at Stamford Bridge back in 2005, confirmed that he will hang up his boots following the final match of the National League season against $tockport County at Huish Park on Saturday.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Smith said “I’ve had two very different seasons in my time at Yeovil. The first one was unbelievable, to play for this club I’ve always thought so highly of throughout my career was special.

Jimmy Smith in action for Yeovil Town.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

“I have a good relationship with the gaffer (Darren Sarll) and (assistant manager) Terry (Skiverton) and have learnt so much from them.

“What we created as a team, staff, and fans together was amazing, playing home and away, the fans are truly the 12th man, which is something we have missed this season.

“Sharing the moment with our fans is something will always stick with me, especially when we sing our song all together. I was gutted we couldn’t achieve promotion in the play offs.”

Asked about the player’s retirement in his pre-match press conference on Thursday, Sarll said that both Smith and full-back Carl Dickinson, who plays his final game this weekend before taking over as manager at Hanley Town, will be “sorely missed.”

He said: “Jimmy came to us in a winning period which always helps and then helped kick us on, but this year his contribution off the pitch has been fantastic. He is going to go in to a full-time coaching environment now and he is going to be a fabulous coach, he just needs to take his time and develop his practices and everything he wants to be known as as a coach. He is someone like Carl who wanted to be here. It is hard to attract those people who want to be here because we are not making anyone a millionaire. We are either on the back nine for some or just starting out, but Carl and Jimmy will be sorely missed because they are great pros.”

Yeovil Town will be the final club in Smith’s playing career which spans 15 years and includes loan spells at QPR, Norwich City and Sheffield Wednesday whilst on the books at Chelsea and long stints with Crawley Town and Leyton Orient.

He will now join another ex-Glover Anthony Barry among the coaching set-up at Chelsea. Barry, part of the Glovers’ side that reached the League One play-off final in 2007, is a first-team coach at the Champions League finalists.

He has played 51 times scoring seven goals for Darren Sarll’s side and everyone at the Gloverscast wishes him all the best in his next adventure – and would like to ask him to send the cream of the Chelsea academy crop to Huish Park!

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Alfie Lloyd has signed professional terms at QPR after a successful trial with the Championship club.

He joins Mark Warburton’s side for an undisclosed fee having spent six years in the Yeovil Town youth set up. This season the 17-year-old made his debut for the Glovers in November and he has been scoring plenty for the U18s.

In a statement on the official website Lloyd said: “I have enjoyed every minute of my time at Yeovil, especially the last year working with Darren Sarll & Terry Skiverton. It was a great opportunity to work with someone like Darren who has a great reputation for developing young players and I was able to experience that first-hand, Terry had valuable advice and experience of what it was like to play at the highest level. I would also like to thank Mark Challen for his great work with me and the rest of the youth team for the last two years.”

Congratulations Alfie, and best of luck on your exciting journey.