Yeovil Town held an open evening at Huish Park on Monday night, giving supporters the chance to have a chat with owner Prabhu Srinivasan and others involved in running the club, Jonathan Hooper was in attendance and here is his summary of the evening.
It wasn’t your usual fans’ forum. Instead, everyone sat around tables, with Prabhu, Director Bhavna Vohra, Head of Stadium Estates and Events Keith Weston, Chief Operations Officer Nicholas Brayne and Commercial and Communications Lead Dan Howell answering questions and discussing what’s happening behind the scenes.
I managed to get there for the second half of the evening, and there was plenty to take away from it.
Here’s a rundown of what was discussed, including a few bits shared by others who attended.
Financial Sustainability
One of the biggest talking points was how the club plans to become more financially sustainable.
Prabhu made it clear that we’re not going down the Wrexham route of throwing money at everything. As he put it, he hasn’t got “Bollywood money“.
The plan is to grow the club sensibly, with player recruitment being a joint decision involving Director Sahil Prabhu, manager Billy Rowley, assistant manager Darren Simpson and the recruitment team.
There was also an interesting point about where the club’s money comes from.
Prabhu used a simplified example to illustrate how heavily the club currently relies on matchday income.
If the club’s total income last season was represented as £100, approximately £90–£95 of that came from matchday-related revenue.
This season, the ambition is to grow that £100 to £125, with the additional £25 coming from outside matchdays.
So we’re not looking to reduce matchday income. The idea is to bring in more money through events, commercial activities and making better use of Huish Park throughout the week.
Nicholas also explained how with the football regulator coming in and the state of the game report how important this would become if we get back into the Football League, where financial regulations mean commercial income can have a direct impact on what we’re able to spend on the playing squad.
Huish Park Improvements
There are a few changes planned around the ground.
The fan zones are set for improvements, with £50,000 in Premier League funding expected to come through in the next couple of weeks, topped up by a further 25% contribution from the owner.
Plans include:
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More seating and covered areas.
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Large heated umbrellas, similar to what you see outside pubs.
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More food vendors, potentially around the Main Stand.
The perimeter wall around the Huish Park pitch is also expected to come down at the end of the season, with mesh fencing replacing it, similar to what’s at Forest Green Rovers.
There was also some good news for the pitch, with Prabhu apparently having his arm twisted into investing in a grow light.
The pitch at Wells will also be verti-drained as part of the club’s arrangements for the upcoming Somerset Men’s Premier Cup second round tie there next Tuesday night. It’s effectively in exchange for Wells agreeing to switch the tie from Huish Park to spare the surface from another 90 minutes.
All fairly small things individually, but they should make a difference.
Policing and Away Supporters
Another interesting point was the club’s relationship with the police and the Football Safety Group.
The club currently meets with them twice a week, working through various safety and matchday arrangements.
One thing they’re keen to improve is allowing more away supporters into the fan zone before matches.
The club’s safety rating has apparently improved recently, which is encouraging and hopefully gives them a bit more flexibility going forward.
The recent visit of Leatherhead supporters was discussed, with concerns raised about incidents that occurred when visiting fans were permitted into the fan zone.
It’s a shame really, as having both sets of supporters mixing before games is something I’d like to see more of.
Hopefully the club can continue making progress on this, although incidents like that certainly won’t make things any easier.
Training in Bristol
This was one subject that got plenty of discussion.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t sound like first-team training will be returning to Yeovil anytime soon.
The club explained that they’ve looked at local options but simply haven’t found anywhere that offers the same standard of facilities as SGS in Bristol.
I can understand the reasoning, although I do think having the players based away from the town isn’t ideal.
One positive is that the club is looking at arranging a supporters’ visit to SGS, potentially including a tour and an open training session.
That would be a decent opportunity for fans to see where the players train and what the facilities are actually like.
Huish Park Buy-Back
Another important update concerned the potential buy-back of Huish Park.
Bhavna is leading the discussions with owners Somerset Council, which are still ongoing.
From what was said, we should hopefully hear more during the first quarter of 2027.
It sounds like the process has been more complicated than expected.
When the current owners took over, things were done in a hurry because the club was facing the very real possibility of liquidation.
The club explained that the circumstances surrounding the takeover, and the complexities of existing agreements, have made the process more complicated than initially anticipated.
It’s frustrating that we’re still waiting more than two years later, but the impression given was that progress is being made.
Hopefully we’ll have something more concrete early next year.
Parking at Huish Park
The car park and ParkingEye, which manages parking at Huish Park, also came up.
Bhavna explained that the club wants to bring parking arrangements back under its own control.
There wasn’t much more detail than that, but discussions are taking place and we’re told further news will follow.
I’m sure plenty of supporters will welcome any improvements there.
Making More Use of the Ground
There was quite a bit of discussion about getting more use out of Huish Park when we’re not playing.
One idea is to turn one of the cabins near the ticket office into a coffee shop, potentially selling lunches and refreshments during the week.
Prabhu was clear that this is something they’d like to do rather than a confirmed plan.
Another area the club is looking at is keeping the bars open after matches.
They actually tried this following the Tamworth game and a couple afterwards, but unfortunately only a handful of supporters stayed behind each time.
The club would like to keep the Alec Stock Lounge and bars open after games, potentially showing the evening’s football fixtures on the big screens to encourage people to stick around.
I think it’s a good idea, although changing supporters’ habits won’t happen overnight. Most of us have our usual matchday routines, whether that’s heading straight home or going elsewhere for a drink.
It might take a bit of time and some consistent effort from the club to get people into the habit of staying longer. Hopefully they keep trying, as it’s another opportunity to bring in revenue outside the usual matchday spending.
There was also a surprisingly lengthy discussion about making better use of the corners of the ground!
Ideas included additional areas for supporters to have a drink, although Keith and Nicholas explained some of the problems with that.
Emergency access has to be maintained, and the stadium needs to be capable of being evacuated within five minutes.
There are also issues around people potentially watching matches from areas outside the ground, which would mean additional fencing or screening.
So while there are ideas, it’s not quite as straightforward as sticking a bar in the corner and hoping for the best.
More Community Involvement
It was good to hear that the club is looking to do more within the local community.
There are plans involving local schools and the hospital, including player visits, with further announcements expected over the coming weeks.
The club also wants to put on more events at Huish Park outside matchdays.
This all ties in with the financial plans, but it’s also about making the football club a bigger part of the town again.
For me, that’s something we should absolutely be doing.
More Opportunities for Supporters to Have Their Say
Everyone attending was given a questionnaire asking what they’d like to see at Huish Park and how things could be improved.
Following a suggestion in the Green Army WhatsApp group, Dan Howell agreed to make this available online so supporters who couldn’t attend can also have their say.
There are also plans for a more formal event in the new year involving Billy, Sahil and Darren, which should be interesting.
Hopefully these evenings become a regular thing because it’s good to have the opportunity to speak directly to those running the club.
How Close Were We to Liquidation?
One thing that came across during the evening was just how serious the club’s situation had been before the takeover.
Prabhu and Nicholas described what they considered to be the very real threat of liquidation facing the club at the time of the takeover.
It’s easy to forget just how uncertain things were not that long ago.
He also had a few words about former manager and now Chesterfield assistant manager Danny Webb ahead of this weekend’s meeting in the FA Cup 1st Round Proper, joking about the situation but acknowledging that Webb’s departure ultimately led to Billy coming in.
Whatever your views on everything that’s happened over the last few years, we’re certainly in a different place now.
My Thoughts
Overall, I thought it was a really good evening, and fair play to everyone involved in putting it together.
It was nice to have a more relaxed setting rather than the usual fans’ forum format. Being able to sit around tables and have a proper conversation with those running the club worked well.
Prabhu certainly knows how to entertain a room! He’s passionate, has a good sense of humour and seems genuinely happy to spend time chatting with supporters.
It was also good to have Bhavna, Keith, Nicholas and Dan there, all happy to answer questions and listen to people’s ideas.
My only real disappointment was the attendance.
It was a shame more supporters didn’t come along, and I was particularly struck by the lack of younger fans. I reckon I was about the fifth youngest in the room, and I’m hardly a spring chicken!
We need younger supporters involved in these conversations. They’re the future of the club, and their views are just as important as those who’ve been going for decades.
Perhaps a bit more notice and promotion would help next time, as the event was only announced a few days beforehand.
I only managed to get there for the second half myself, but I’m glad I made the effort.
Hopefully the club puts on more evenings like this, and we see a few more faces there next time.
Fair play to everyone involved. A good evening and well worth attending.
This is my summary of the open evening on Monday 2 November, based on what I heard and what other supporters who attended have shared. Some of the plans discussed are still at an early stage and haven’t been formally announced by the club.