Of course any devils are always in the detail, and detail was in relatively short supply as club owner and Chief Executive David Webb and chairman John Fry addressed an invited group of supporters at Huish Park last night. However, having had about seven weeks to look at his purchase, Mr Webb had decided the time had come to begin explaining his general philosophy and aims for Yeovil Town F.C.
Seemingly stung on hearing reports of the mutterings of discontent escalating into a smattering of openly antagonistic chanting at Huish Park last Saturday a Customer Charter Meeting was hastily arranged to start getting the message out and quell any potential mutinies.
So how does Mr Webb see the future? Firstly he wanted people to see he is here for a duration. A 'Five Year Plan' was mentioned several times. And the purpose of that plan is to allow the progress of the club to be sustainable. He expressed the view that the success on the pitch in recent years had outstripped the infrastructure of the club. Although he sees the club as financially sound he is looking to develop the stadium and facilities, both to enhance the profile of the club and to generate the revenue needed to provide the best possible team on the pitch.
With a declared intention not to take out loans or put the club into debt here we have the crux of the matter. To use a favourite analogy of a recently departed manager : can the juggler keep enough quality plates on the pitch spinning in the short term whilst the facilities that will eventually pull in the revenue streams to pay for them in the longer term are being developed? It is a circus act many a club has got badly wrong.
Mr Webb went on to give an indication of his thoughts on one area of development: the stadium. Here he sees the enhancement of the Copse Road End, possibly becoming the home end, and a new creation of a shop, bars and banqueting suite in the corner between that end and the Yeovil College Stand, as a way forward.
Ciderspace most certainly welcomes this example of dialogue between those who run the club and those who come to support it. Our quibble would be: apart from the stadium development ideas what was said that couldn't have been said some weeks ago? It's generally better to be pro-active rather than reactive. Plenty of communication is the best way to keep the troops on side.
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8 February 2006 : 
