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20 July 2012 : Caulker Makes Team GB Debut
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Former Yeovil Town loanee Steven Caulker continued his development on the big stage tonight, as he made his debut for the Team GB side. In a match against Brazil at the Riverside Stadium, Caulker was introduced at half time as a substitute for West Ham United centre-back James Tomkins.
Caulker played the whole of the second half in the centre of defence, with the Great Britain side playing out a goalless second period. However, the damage had already been done during the first half, with Stuart Pearce's side having already conceding twice to the Brazilians. The game is being used as a warm-up friendly for the London 2012 Olympics - the first time a Great Britain side has competed or qualified for the Olympic Games since 1960.
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20 July 2012 : Skiverton: Squad Recruitment Pretty Much Finalised
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Yeovil Town manager Terry Skiverton believes the club now are 'pretty much set' to start the 2012-13 season, in terms of squad numbers. At the start of pre-season training his boss Gary Johnson said that he wanted to set up a squad of 18 first team players. Yesterday's arrival of striker Gozie Ugwu on loan meant that the club reached that target.
The implication of the club now having those eighteen players is that the rate of incoming players, that has seen eleven new signings at the club this summer, will drop dramatically. Speaking to BBC Somerset, Skiverton believes that the Glovers are 'close' to drawing a line under their squad plans for the season:
"I don't think the gaffer has got his eye on too many more. I think we're quite close. The group is working really well together, and with the principles the gaffer is putting in place, the lads are taking it on board. So I think we're really happy with the group that we've got, and we'll only add to it as and when we need to. We've got a hell of a lot more contracted players this year, and I think that the loans that come in now will only be used as a back-up for injuries. So we're pretty much set now."
The one likely avenue that appears to be open is if midfielder Anthony Edgar's trial with League Two side Barnet is successful - if so then it may open the door for one of trialist defenders Aaron Downes and James Clarke to put forward their claim for the wages that would be freed up if Edgar leaves.
As for the current first team squad, all first team players, with the exception of injured pair Curtis Haynes-Brown and Dominic Blizzard have been involved in the two friendlies so far. Skiverton added that it was important to keep everyone involved during the games:
"They've all been involved in all the games so far. So for us, it's just a question of getting in as many minutes as we can into our players, and to keep nailing down the principles and the ethos that the manager wants to put in place. Hopefully we can get in a few decent results along the way. But the performance is the main thing that we're looking for, especially from the players."
Haynes-Brown is expected to make his first appearance during pre-season, as part of tomorrow's game against Plymouth Argyle, having been carrying a knock for the past couple of weeks. Blizzard will remain out, with a broken hand that will not allow him to get involved in contact training for another week or two. Downes is currently the only known trialist likely to feature tomorrow.
As a reminder for tomorrow's match, the game will be staged at Dorchester Town's Avenue Stadium, and NOT at Huish Park. Kick-off remains at 3.00p.m. Please note that admissions on the turnstiles will be CASH ONLY.
Link: Ticketing/Arrangements For Plymouth Argyle vs Yeovil Town.
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19 July 2012 : Quedam Centre Extends Ladies Sponsorship Deal
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The Quedam Shopping Centre, Yeovil has confirmed it is to extend its long running deal be the main sponsor of Yeovil Town Ladies FC for the 2012-13 season. The deal now means that the Quedam Centre has been the main sponsor of Yeovil Town Ladies FC since late 2004 - thought to be one of the longest running main sponsor deals in the English Women’s football. Commenting on the deal Quedam Centre Manager David Mills said:
"Yeovil Town Ladies FC continue to be great partners for us as they are the South West’s only FA Premier League side, making them one of the top 38 sides in the country."
The Quedam’s support for Yeovil Town Ladies FC has been well timed as since the Centre first backed the club in late 2004, the Ladies have won four Cups and three league titles, rising from fourth in the South West Women’s league to the heights of the FA Women’s Premier League. Last season the Ladies also won a national FA Respect Award.
Speaking on behalf of Yeovil Town FC, Commercial Manager, Dave Linney said
"The sponsorship from the Quedam Shopping Centre has played an integral part in the success of the Ladies team. Without this continued loyal support their position in the FA Premier League would not have been achieved. I wish everyone associated with Yeovil Town Ladies continued success for the forthcoming season."
Part of the deal will see the Ladies first team wear the new Yeovil Town home kit when playing in the FA Women’s Premier League, as pictured below.
[Quedam Yeovil Shopping Press Release]
| | | Yeovil Town Ladies Home Shirt for the 2012-13 Season.
Photo © 2012 Yeovil Town Ladies/Vandanel
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19 July 2012 : Crawley Boss Lasts Sixty Four Days
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He may have lasted considerably longer than Steve Claridge managed at Millwall, but Sean O'Driscoll is set to go down in legend as one of the few football managers to never actually take charge of a competitive game. His tenure at Crawley Town has lasted a total of 64 days, across the summer of 2012, with tonight's news that he has taken up the position of First Team Manager at the City Ground, returning there after working as a first team coach under Steve Cotterill last season.
At first glance, you'd think that the press release on Forest's website may come as a bit of a surprise to Crawley's Chief Executive Alan Williams, who told TalkSport Radio earlier today:
"I’ve not spoken to Forest and neither has Sean. Sean O’Driscoll is our manager and looking forward to the season with Crawley Town."
In the time it takes to drive around the M25 and up the M1, it appears that the move actually has been on the cards. Bizarrely in a statement on the Crawley website, Williams now speaks of "lengthy and intensive negotiations" between the two clubs to agree compensation for their manager. To add to the confusion, Williams has also had to deny that his Director of Football Steve Coppell was also heading to Forest. As yet there's no suggestion that he is likely to move. Earlier today, Williams told the Brighton Argus:
"Steve Coppell is our director of football and will be come the start of the season, the middle of the season and the end of the season. Simple as that."
O'Driscoll's tenure at Crawley was almost twice the length of the 36 days that Steve Claridge spent at the New Den in 2005, with Chairman Theo Paphitis stating that "we had a strong chance of being relegated under Steve" - having been in charge for four pre-season friendly fixtures.
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19 July 2012 : Skiverton And Hammond On Royals Loan Signing
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Yeovil Town assistant manager Terry Skiverton has said that he has been impressed with the way that new loan signing Gozie Ugwu has influenced proceedings on his first day in South Somerset. The Royals striker has signed on a six month loan deal today, that will see him play his football for the Glovers until January 1st 2013.
Aged 19 years old, Ugwu has yet to play first team football for the Royals, but will now compete with Reuben Reid and James Hayter for a front line role in the Yeovil starting line-up. Speaking to BBC Somerset today, Skiverton said that he liked what he saw of the player in training:
"He's very athletic. He's got some real strengths, with good hold up play and he's someone who is going to be really exciting for the supporters. He'll look to stretch the play, with very good pace, and I was very impressed with him in training today. Considering he's a young lad coming in, he really influenced the session, so I'm really excited to work with him."
Ugwu us the latest Royals player to come down to Huish Park, with goalkeeper Alex McCarthy and midfielder Lawson D'Ath being recent loanees at the club. With Reading managed by former Glover Brian McDermott, who played at Huish Park during its early days, there's a growing recruitment pattern there, and Skiverton felt that could only be a good thing:
"We've got a good relationship with Reading and they know that they can trust us with their players. They definitely get good game time, and they come here and learn from us as well. So it's a real good fit and it's one that the boy can't wait for, and it will be another player that Gary Johnson will give their Football League debut to, and he'll probably get his first league goal as well."
Reading chose today's loan to also announce that the Oxford-born player had extended his contract at the Madejski Stadium until the summer of 2014, after he spent two months on loan last season on loan at Conference side Ebbsfleet. Reading's Director of Football Nick Hammond has told his club's website that he has high hopes for the way that he is developing as a player:
"Gozie has done well over the last six months - he had a good loan spell at Ebbsfleet towards the end of last season and he's come back looking really sharp. It's really important that we secure good loan moves for our young players which will help them develop and there was a lot of interest in Gozie. This move is a good opportunity for him to go away and score goals at a very good level of football."
Link: Ugwu Makes Royals Loan Move.
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19 July 2012 : Farewell Cisse And Racine
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Yeovil Town have allowed trialists Salif Cisse and Aarran Racine to look elsewhere in their search for new clubs for the 2012-13 season. The French academy striker, and the former Southampton centre-back will not be involved in Saturday's match against Plymouth Argyle, which has been switched to Dorchester Town's Avenue Stadium.
The one and only trialist that appears to be left at Huish Park is former Chesterfield and Bristol Rovers defender Aaron Downes, who according to this week's Western Gazette is expected to get another chance to shine against the Pilgrims.
Oxford City's James Clarke hasn't explicitly been shown the door, but picked up an injury the day before Tuesday night's trip to Poole Town and so by default isn't currently under consideration. Former Swansea City pair Joe Walsh and Casey Thomas did not feature at Tatnam Farm and so are not expected to be seen again.
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19 July 2012 : New Sponsors Please
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Yeovil Town are now confirmed to be on the look out for new shirt sponsors for the 2012-13 season. Given the club's two pre-season friendlies have seen the players turn out wearing shirts without the name of Jones Building Contractors on them, the news that they are no longer the club's main sponsors has been fairly inevitable.
Glovers Commercial Manager Dave Linney has indicated in this week's Western Gazette that the company chose not to take up the option to extend their current deal, but may continue to sponsor the club on a smaller scale, presumably through individual match sponsorship agreements.
As such, we definitely know now that there will be a new logo on the shirts for this season. However, as yet no firm agreement has been reached with a new sponsor. Anyone wanting to stick in a late bid should contact Dave Linney as soon as possible.
The lack of a main shirt sponsor may go a long way towards explaining why there are no new replica shirts on sale at the club yet. Clearly any new sponsor will want their name on any shirts supporters purchase, and so it seems likely that the replica shirts will only follow once the main sponsorship has been agreed.
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19 July 2012 : Ugwu Makes Royals Loan Move
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Yeovil Town have made their 11th signing of the 2012-13 season this morning. He is striker Gozie Ugwu, who has agreed a six month loan deal with the Glovers. Born on April 22nd 1993, and therefore 19 years old, he has yet to make his Royals first team debut but scored four times as part of a loan deal with Conference National side Ebbsfleet during the 2011-12 season.
His first team experience at Stonebridge Road came as part of a two month spell in February and March 2012, scoring four times in ten appearances at Conference National level, but returned to Reading in April at his own request, with Fleet boss Liam Daish indicating that the teenager was keen to earn a new contract with the Royals. He has since got that, agreeing to stay at Reading until the summer of 2014.
At Reading, he has been with them since the age of 14, when he was co-opted into their Academy system, having impressed whilst playing for his local home town Oxford side. He suffered an injury-disrupted 2010-11 season playing for Reading Under-18s, but still managed to score five times and do enough to get a professional contract with the club in the summer of 2011. He is capable of playing both as a main centre-forward, as well as operating in slightly deeper positions. He has plenty of strength and pace, despite his age, and will doubtless look to build on his experience as he aims to make his Football League debut.
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18 July 2012 : Council Leader's Views On The Food Store Development
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On Monday, the BBC Somerset Breakfast programme ran a feature concerning the latest on Yeovil Town's plans to build a Food Store on land at Huish Park. With last week's reports suggesting the application was on rocky ground again, the BBC contacted South Somerset District Council leader Ric Pallister for his views on the plans.
The BBC indicated that the Glovers did not put anyone up for discussion on the subject on the programme, and so reran a clip of an interview from last November as a substitute. Presenter Matt Faulkner then interviewed the Council leader, with the conversation transcribed below.
MF: Now I understand the council met with the club and MP David Laws to iron out some of the issues. The club feel that you're not supporting them at all over this. Is that fair?
RP: I don't think it's fair, no. It really comes down to one fundamental basic fact - you can't buy planning permissions.
MF: Can you just say that again, as I think you cut out (due to noise on the line). I think you just said that you can't buy planning permissions? Is that right?
RP: That's correct. You can't buy planning permissions. There are huge hurdles that the club needs to overcome before we could be in a position to even look at this one in any great detail. The biggest hurdle to overcome is the fact that this application runs completely contrary to the National Planning Policy Framework.
MF: So basically you're just trying to follow procedures and that will take some time, I'd guess?
RP: Yes it will, and of course with planning because it's a legal process, we don't have any option other that to follow the process absolutely correctly on this one.
MF: What's the main stumbling block here? It's a fairly complicated issue, but is there anything to do with the fact that the club want to sell part of their land to a supermarket?
RP: No, that's all part and parcel of the thing. But the land upon which they wish the planning permission to be granted for the supermarket is indeed public open recreation space. So in selling that, it means that we've got to reprovide that somewhere else. But the biggest single problem that we start off with, is that there is a presumption now - from central government and all the way down - that we should not grant planning permission on out of town superstores if indeed there is a site close to the town centre and there is a clear demand.
MF: I guess you're not going to make yourself very popular with the Yeovil Town fans, but I suppose as you said earlier, you've just got to follow the process?
RP: Well, there's also the small issue of highways, and how we would get people in and out of that site, and where we would reprovide that public open recreation space. So we may not make ourselves popular with the fans, and I fully accept that. But this is about ensuring that actually everybody wins in the end. And we are. We didn't spend two and a quarter hours talking about nothing at the Football Club. It was really trying to tease out the issues from their side, and from our side. The Council will not thwart the ambitions of the club, if they are to get planning permission in the end. But that planning process isn't one that I'm going to be determining, as I'm not sitting on a planning committee. It has to go through the planning process. It is probable that it will end up in an appeals situation. But even if we were to grant it, there is a very strong chance that the Secretary of State would call the whole matter in for him to make a determination on it, because it breaches Government policy.
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17 July 2012 : Poole 0 Yeovil 2 : Pre-Season Friendly Report
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Two second half goals from Keanu Marsh-Brown gave Yeovil Town a 2-0 win over Southern League side Poole Town tonight. An evenly contested game, albeit one that saw the Glovers spurn a number of good chances, was divided by two goals in five minutes from the former Oldham Athletic winger, that ultimately settled the game.
As with Saturday's match, the first half saw a settled line-up, whilst the second period saw a number of changes made, with the majority of outfield players leaving the field at some stage. Of the trialists, centre-back Aarran Racine and Salif Cisse were the only two to appear from the weekend match, although James Clarke's absence appears to be down to an injury rather than necessarily a rejection by the club. Former Chesterfield and Bristol Rovers defender Aaron Downes was a new trialist within the ranks.
The first half saw both sides create plenty of chances, with Yeovil's best coming from Ed Upson, who headed over the bar from a Lewis Young cross that had been knocked back across the goal by Sam Foley. At the other end, Walker, Brooks and Baldacchino all went close for the home side with Marek Stech having to save with his legs on one occasion.
Reuben Reid and Rohan Ince both had second half attempts blocked by Dolphins defenders during the second period as the Glovers began to create pressure, and they finally got the lead when a breakaway move saw Keanu Marsh-Brown receive the ball and produce a classy finish into the corner to make it 1-0. Five minutes later and the same player got his second, as he made himself room on the edge of the box to fire home.
Under-18s pair Mitch Brundle and Will Agbo got useful experience in the final ten minutes as they were introduced as late substitutes, with the majority of starting players now sat up resting their feet amidst a flock of substitutions. For the home side, they had their best chances whilst the game was goalless but thankfully couldn't quite breach the Glovers defence.
Final Score: Poole Town 0 Yeovil Town 2.
Scorers: Keanu Marsh-Brown (0-1, 70 mins), Keanu Marsh-Brown (0-2, 75 mins)
Yeovil Town:
Marek Stech; Luke Ayling, Richard Hinds, Byron Webster, Jamie McAllister; Lewis Young, Rohan Ince, Ed Upson, Gavin Williams; James Hayter, Sam Foley
Substitutes:
Keanu Marsh-Brown (46 mins for Sam Foley), Reuben Reid (46 mins for James Hayter), Aarran Racine (57 mins for Richard Hinds), Nathan Ralph (57 mins for Jamie McAllister), Aaron Downes (57 mins for Byron Webster), Salif Cisse (80 mins for Gavin Williams), Mitch Brundle (80 mins for Ed Upson), Will Agbo (83 mins for Lewis Young).
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17 July 2012 : Downes Goes On Glovers Trial
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Yeovil Town have taken former Bristol Rovers loan defender Aaron Downes on trial. The 27 year old, who was on the books of Chesterfield four eight years, was a second half substitute in tonight's 2-0 win over Poole Town, slotting in as a central defender for the final half hour of the game.
Born in Mudgee, Australia on May 15th 1985, he was released by the Spireites at the end of last season, having spent pretty much his whole professional career on their books, clocking up 194 appearances and 12 goals for them. He started his career with Hampton and Richmond and Frickley Athletic before signing for the Derbyshire club in August 2004.
He has represented Australia at both Under-20 and Under-23 level. His loan spell with the Gas came during the second half of last season, making nine appearances during that time. In recent years, his career has been thwarted by a double cruciate knee ligament injury that kept him out for most of the 2009-10 season. He was released at the end of his contract at the B2Net season after the Spireites were relegated to League Two, and has recently been on trial with AFC Wimbledon.
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17 July 2012 : Team News For Poole Town vs Yeovil Town
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Yeovil Town have, as expected, named a strong line-up for tonight's second pre-season friendly against Poole Town at Tatnam Farm. With midfielder Dominic Blizzard being out injured, the starting eleven chosen is pretty much the eleven most experienced players available to the Glovers management team.
At present we don't know who the substitutes are. Western Gazette reporter Chris Sweet has indicated that trialists Salif Cisse and Aarran Racine are at the game, but at present don't look like they are planning to stick their boots on. The line-up is as follows (with a possible variation on where Gavin Williams and Sam Foley end up playing:
Yeovil Town:
Marek Stech
Luke Ayling, Richard Hinds, Byron Webster, Jamie McAllister
Lewis Young, Rohan Ince, Ed Upson, Gavin Williams
James Hayter, Sam Foley
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17 July 2012 : Ticketing For Dorchester Town vs Yeovil Town
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Ticketing information for Yeovil Town's pre-season friendly against Dorchester Town is now available. The match takes place on Tuesday 24th July at the Avenue Stadium with a 7.45p.m. kick-off.
Admission prices for the match are simply as follows:
Adults: £8.00; Concessions: £5.00; Under-16s: £3.00.
As well as the usual concessions for Seniors, Dorchester also allow NHS Employees, Armed Forces personnel and Students to gain entrance at a reduced rate.
For all other pre-season and League Cup admission prices, including tonight's (July 17th) match at Poole Town, follow the relevant links below.
Link: Admission Prices For Poole Town vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Ticketing Information For Home Pre-Season Friendlies.
Link: Argyle Friendly Gets Switched To The Avenue.
Link: Admission Prices For Llanelli AFC vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Admission Prices For Newport County vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Date And Ticketing For The Colchester Cup Match.
Link: 2012-13 First Team Fixtures and Results Page.
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17 July 2012 : Blizzard Facing A Month Playing Catch-Up
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Yeovil Town midfielder Dominic Blizzard is set to face another frustrating pre-season, after his manager Gary Johnson revealed that he could be playing catch-up for around a month due to injury. The 28 year old missed Saturday's match against Hereford United with a broken hand, after he fell in training, and that has left him unable to participate in 'contact' training for the time being.
Johnson told BBC Somerset that the break would probably put him out of training sessions for a fortnight, but like last summer Blizzard would then be playing catch-up with his fellow team-mates, and therefore it could be around a month before he reached full fitness:
"It's serious in as much that I think he'll miss two weeks of pre-season - not with training, as they can still train with a broken hand, but just with no contact (with other players). When he comes back, he's probably going to be four weeks or five weeks away from playing properly, with the cast. He's gutted, and we're gutted because we like him a lot as we think he is going to be a first team member."
Blizzard's replacement on Saturday was Chelsea defender/midfielder Rohan Ince who was signed last week on a six month loan. Johnson said that although the 19 year old had played most of his career in the back four, that he felt that the middle of the park could be his long term position:
"He's a decent player; he's a good player. He can play centre-half as well, and he's played most of his games at centre-half for Chelsea in their Reserves. But Chelsea and we feel that he's ready to come out (into a midfield position) now. You've seen that he's a big lad and he's an athletic lad. Again if you get those better players all around him, then I think you'll see the best of him as well."
Of the trialists, the one name in the line-up that Glovers fans knew little about was Salif Cisse, who played as a left-winger during his time at Edgar Street. Johnson pointed out that the player had very little experience of competitive football, but said that he was prepared to do it as a favour for Salif's older brother Kalifa Cisse:
"He just asked me to have a look at him, because he's only a young lad, and he's just come out of the academy system in France. He's obviously been playing five-a-side most of his life, if they're in one of those academies, and he didn't quite handle the eleven-v-eleven sort of thing - although he made the goal for Ed (Upson) with a decent pass. But he's only young and we're just looking at him at the moment for Kalifa (Cisse), who asked me to."
As mentioned on Sunday, Johnson added that he is likely to shelve the majority of his trialists by the time the players take to the field for tonight's match against Poole Town at Tatnam Farm. However, he said that 'one or two' might get a second chance to impress:
"You always learn a little bit more about your trialists in eleven-v-elevens in proper games and competitive games. Whereas some of them have done quite well in training, they've not done out here (at Hereford). So a couple of them might get another opportunity, but maybe three or four of them won't. That's where we are."
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16 July 2012 : Council Leader Questions Club's Store Plans
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South Somerset District Council leader Ric Pallister believes that Yeovil Town's plans for a Food Store to be built at Huish Park will not be passed unless the club can overcome some significant hurdles. Mr Pallister was interviewed by BBC Somerset today after last week's reports that former director George Smith had written to SSDC back in the year 2000, explaining why one of the land covenants existed at the ground.
Mr Pallister has told the BBC that he believes the club's application still falls down on the planning 'sequential test' that requires town centre space to be used ahead of an out of town development. In addition he highlights that replacement public open space that forms part of the Huish Park land has yet to be identified:
"There is a presumption from central government we shouldn't grant planning permission to out-of-town superstores. The land upon which they wish to seek planning permission for is indeed public open recreation space so selling that will mean we also have to re-provide that somewhere else."
SSDC wrote to the club's planning advisors MWA back in March asking for the application for the replacement open space to be provided to them. As yet this has not been made available, with a further communication from Area South Planning Officer Andy Cato on July 6th reminding MWA that SSDC were "still awaiting the supply of the Club's proposals for replacement/alternative provision of public open space and recreation."
Mr Pallister adds that he can see the club may choose to appeal any decision made by the Council, but points out that even if SSDC did let it through then national Government departments would step in and stop the application:
"It is probable that it will end up in an appeals situation, but even if we were to grant it there is a very strong chance that the secretary of state would call in the whole matter for him to determine because it breaches government planning policy."
The BBC indicate that Yeovil Town declined to provide a representative on the programme to provide a response to the SSDC leader's claims. However, the application seems unlikely to move until the replacement public open space is identified and submitted to the Council.
Last week's reports suggested that the revised target date for the application to be reviewed was now October 2012, although as with the original May target date, this may shift if the missing submissions are not received.
As yet, there has been no sign of an application for the 3,500 capacity stand that was part of the original plans unveiled in March 2011.
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16 July 2012 : Striker Expected - McLeod Not Expected
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Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has indicated the last main piece of his jigsaw for the 2012-13 season will be to bring in another striker. Excluding Anthony Edgar, who is on trial with League Two side Barnet, the Glovers boss has 17 contracted players tied up, and has indicated he wants a competitive squad of 18 players to be able to start the season.
Having brought in defender/midfielder Rohan Ince on loan from Chelsea just before the weekend, he has told the Western Daily Press that his next move will be to add in another striker.
Although Gavin Williams, Lewis Young and Sam Foley are capable of playing in the front line, only Reuben Reid and James Hayter are out-and-out strikers within the current squad, meaning that there are few options to change things in that area. Johnson has told the paper that this is the main area he is looking at:
"We have probably got one more coming in soon and that will be a striker, if we get the one we want, so we have got a little bit more competition in the striking front. Then we will have 18 (registered players) and we will judge it from that when we play our first team in pre-season friendlies."
One player it's not likely to be is former Barnet striker Izale McLeod. Despite being named on the rumourmill throughout the summer, the Portsmouth News have stated that he is part of an 18 man Pompey squad that have flown out of Gatwick this morning for a ten day training camp in Malaga, that will see them play two games out in Spain.
In addition to McLeod, Pompey are reported to have taken former Leeds United striker Lloyd Sam, who scored a hat-trick against Yeovil Town last season whilst playing for Notts County. They have also grabbed former Glovers loan midfielder Simon Gillett and former Reading midfielder Brian Howard.
Despite being still in administration, and owing creditors £58 million, and with their club's future still not secured, it appears that ten days for their whole squad in sunny Spain isn't a problem for their bank balances.
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16 July 2012 : Edgar Makes Bees Debut
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Further to Saturday's news on Yeovil Town midfielder Anthony Edgar, League Two side Barnet have given confirmation that he did play for them during their weekend pre-season friendly. The Bees opened up their schedule with a 6-0 win over Burnham Ramblers, with the former West Ham United trainee playing in the second half of a game where two different sides were selected for the trip to the Essex Senior League club's ground.
On the plus side, a goalless first half meant that Edgar was on the pitch for all six goals. The 21 year old provided the assist for Barnet's sixth goal, providing a chipped cross into the box for the final significant moment of the game.
At present, there's no post-match indication from the Barnet management team as to what their opinion was of his performance. Edgar remains under contract at Huish Park, with a year of his contract left to run, but it would be a surprise if the Glovers asked for a fee from any interested club.
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15 July 2012 : Johnson Planning Trialist Cull
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Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has said that he is unlikely to field all of his current trialists when the Glovers travel to Poole Town on Tuesday night. In addition to the club's ten new signings, the Glovers boss fielded five trialists in the side that drew 1-1 against Hereford United on Saturday, with three taking to the field during the first half, and two more players hoping for a contract coming on at half time.
With former Southampton centre-back Aarran Racine, Oxford City centre/right-back James Clarke and French winger/striker Salif Cisse being joined by former Swansea City duo Joe Walsh and Casey Thomas, the implication is that a number of them didn't do well enough to justify being kept on. Speaking to the Sunday Independent, Johnson explained that they had all done well in training but that he wasn't convinced by what he had seen from some during yesterday's game:
"You can always learn more about players who are on trial in a competitive game and that proved to be the case (against Hereford). Some of them had done quite well in training, but didn't do as well out there (on the pitch at Edgar Street) so won't get another chance."
As for Tuesday night's fixture at Tatnam Farm, Gary confirmed that he would be taking a strong side for the game against the Dolphins:
"At Poole on Tuesday, I'll put together what I feel is our strongest group, so the fans will see our better players."
Link: Ticketing/Directions For Poole Town vs Yeovil Town.
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15 July 2012 : 2012-13 FA Cup Prize Fund
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The Football Association have published the Prize Fund details for this season's FA Cup competition. Money from the competition pool is accrued for the winning clubs in each round and is separate from any fees relating to television broadcasts.
As usual, Yeovil Town will enter the competition at the First Round stage - for competition dates, see our earlier news item. The money at stake in each round is as detailed below.
Extra Preliminary Round winners : £1,000
Preliminary Round winners : £1,750
First Qualifying Round winners : £3,000
Second Qualifying Round winners : £4,500
Third Qualifying Round winners : £7,500
Fourth Qualifying Round winners : £12,500
First Round winners : £18,000
Second Round winners : £27,000
Third Round winners : £67,500
Fourth Round winners : £90,000
Fifth Round winners : £180,000
Sixth Round winners : £360,000
Semi-Final winners : £900,000
Semi-Final runners-up : £450,000
Final runners-up : £900,000
Final winners : £1,800,000
Link: 2012-13 FA Cup Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 FA Youth Cup Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 Key First Team Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 Somerset Premier Cup Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 Yeovil Town First Team Fixtures/Results.
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15 July 2012 : Taff's Gloversblog : Hereford 1 Yeovil 1 : The Start Of Something
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With the 2012-13 pre-season friendlies having opened up with a 1-1 draw against Hereford United yesterday, the question on everyone's lips was how the players were looking after the opening 90 minutes. Regular blogger Cruncher was at Edgar Street to witness the game, and has provided views on the team and how each individual performed in the latest Taff's Gloversblog entry.
If you were at Edgar Street and want to add your views then please do via the link below. Equally, if you're planning to go to any of the following friendly matches and fancy writing something similar for the site, then please drop us an email or a Tweet and we'll sort something out - the more views we get, the better!
Link: Taff's Gloversblog : Hereford 1 Yeovil 1 : The Start Of Something.
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15 July 2012 : Hereford 1 Yeovil 1 : Pre-Season Friendly Report
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Yeovil Town gained a draw in their opening pre-season friendly against Hereford United on Saturday afternoon, as both sides took to the field with new look sides. An Ed Upson strike looked to have won the match after it gave the Glovers a 41st minute lead they maintained for the bulk of the second half. But an error by goalkeeping coach Gareth Stewart gifted Lloyd Mackin an equaliser that on the balance of play the Bulls deserved.
Both sides went into the game with revamped sides for the game - in fact the Bulls included eleven trialists across the 90 minutes. For the Glovers things have been rather more settled with ten new signings in advance of the first friendly, and six of those were on display in the starting line-up, with former Southampton centre-back Aarran Racine, Oxford City defender James Clarke plus Salif Cisse - the brother of Kalifa Cisse - joining them as trialists. Only Ed Upson and Gavin Williams represented the old guard for the game. Dominic Blizzard missed the game with a broken hand sustained in training, whilst Curtis Haynes-Brown travelled but watched the game from the sidelines through injury.
Upson's opening goal came towards the end of the first period, with Cisse providing the build-up play, as he worked his way into the box before squaring the ball back to Ed Upson. The midfielder's shot took a deflection as it landed in the back of the net from the edge of the box, but was good enough to put the Glovers a goal to the good at the break.
Gary Johnson indicated that most players would only be able to last 45 to 60 minutes at this stage of the season, and he was true to his word at the break, leaving just Aarran Racine and Rohan Ince on the pitch for the second half, as nine substitutes entered the field, including former Swansea City duo Joe Walsh and Casey Thomas. Walsh slotted in as a left-back, whilst Thomas partnered Reuben Reid up front.
The second half side was less fluent than its opening counterparts, even if Sam Foley managed to land the ball in the back of the net three minutes after the break - only to have a linesman's flag deny him. With 15 minutes remaining, Racine and Ince became the final two players to be withdrawn - replaced by James Clarke and Lewis Young. This was an opportunity to try players in different positions - Clarke had played as a right-back in the first period but now switched to a centre-back position, whilst right-winger Young was given a chance in the full-back position on that flank. As a result Luke Ayling moved into midfield to cover Ince's withdrawal in that position.
With four minutes remaining, Hereford grabbed an equaliser, after Gareth Stewart was caught in possession, with Lloyd Macklin taking full advantage and curling the ball into an empty net. Not quite the the end result that Gary Johnson wanted and perhaps part of the reason why Gary Johnson described the game as having 'the good, the bad and the ugly' about it. With eight more friendlies to go before the real thing starts, thankfully there's plenty of time for retuning the parts that Johnson may not have enjoyed watching.
Final Score: Hereford United 1 Yeovil Town 1.
Scorers: Ed Upson (0-1, 41 mins), Lloyd Macklin (1-1, 86 mins).
Yeovil Town: (first half)
Marek Stech; James Clarke, Aarran Racine, Byron Webster, Jamie McAllister; Lewis Young, Ed Upson, Rohan Ince, Salif Cisse; Gavin Williams ; James Hayter
Yeovil Town: (second half)
Gareth Stewart; Luke Ayling, Richard Hinds, Aarran Racine, Joe Walsh; Keanu Marsh-Brown, Sam Foley, Rohan Ince, Nathan Ralph; Reuben Reid, Casey Thomas
Other Substitutions: Lewis Young (76 mins for Rohan Ince), James Clarke (77 mins for Aarran Racine).
Players Not Used: Mitch Brundle, Will Agbo.
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14 July 2012 : Hereford United vs Yeovil Town : Full Time
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Yeovil Town kicked off their 2012-13 pre-season campaign this afternoon with a 1-1 draw at Edgar Street. An edge of the box strike from Ed Upson on 41 minutes was cancelled out five minutes from time by a Lloyd Macklin equaliser for Hereford United.
The Glovers fielded entirely separate first and second half sides, with several trialists on show. The one unexpected face was French winger Salif Cisse who is the brother of Bristol City defender/midfielder Kalifa Cisse and has been invited to train with the club. He played on the left flank.
More to follow later tonight.
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14 July 2012 : Edgar On Trial With Barnet
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Yeovil Town attacking midfielder Anthony Edgar is on trial with League Two side Barnet in the hope that he can find a new club. The former West Ham United trainee still has a year left on his contract but has not been training with the Glovers. Manager Gary Johnson has confirmed today the 21 year old has been given permission to train with the North London side, with the player hopefully moving on if he impresses at Underhill. He is not expected to be part of Johnson's 2012-13 plans.
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14 July 2012 : Yeovil Town Prepare For Opening Bulls Friendly
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Yeovil Town kick off their set of nine pre-season friendlies this afternoon, with a trip to Hereford United at Edgar Street. Whilst the venue will be particularly familiar, the set of players that will set foot on the field will be rather less so. In the squad that steps out onto the field, only five players were regular first-teamers last season.
This summer has seen the club make ten new signings - nine permanent acquisitions plus one loan signing - see the Player Profiles section of the site for more detail on those people. Inevitably there will be a number of trialists featuring today, although hopefully far less of that than in other recent seasons.
As to who those players are - this could depend significantly on whether those players taken on by manager Gary Johnson on July 2nd are still at the club, and whether new players have arrived in their place. Oxford City defender James Clarke and former Southampton defender Aarran Racine were at Huish Park earlier in the month, and so may feature if they are still on trial.
In addition, the club had taken Swansea City youngsters Casey Thomas and Joe Walsh on trial - we presume both are still at the club at present. Both were released by the Premier League side over the summer. Walsh is a 20 year old left-back who can also play in the centre, and joined Swansea at Under-16 level having previously played for Cardiff College Celts.
Thomas is a 21 year old striker who can also play on the wing. Born in Port Talbot, he joined their Centre of Excellence set up from Afan Lido. He was given a professional contract by the club in 2009, and has had loan experience with Newport County, Port Talbot and Colchester United. He has played for Wales at Under-17, Under-19 and Under-21 level.
In addition, expect a few of Yeovil Town's Under-18s side to be co-opted into the line-up. We're aware that defender Mitch Brundle and midfielder Will Agbo have definitely travelled up to Hereford this morning.
Doubtless there will be a few other unexpected sightings around the game. If there are, then we will of course be doing as many Tweets and Retweets as possible via our Twitter Account during the day. If you're at the game please provide as many views as possible on how the players are performing and lining up for those who can't be there.
Link: Ex-Saint Racine On Glovers Trial.
Link: Clarke Heading For Glovers Trial.
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14 July 2012 : Glovers Legends Side Take On Terras
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A Yeovil Town Legends side will be travelling to the Bob Lucas Stadium later this month, as part of a Charity fundraiser. The game against Weymouth Legends will take place on Sunday 22nd July with a 2.00p.m. kick-off, and has been organised following the death of former striker Dave Platt, who played for both sides but passed away aged 55 after suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
Two charities will benefit from the match, with St Margaret’s Hospice having provided treatment and care for Dave during his later years. In addition the Purbeck Isle Memorial Fund has been set up in the wake of a disaster earlier this year that saw three Weymouth fishermen drown, after their boat sank in mid-May.
Weymouth's team will be managed by Stuart Morgan, and includes former Glovers midfielder Pete Conning, whilst the familiar face of Terry Cotton will be leading a Glovers side that includes many well known faces, including former player/coach/manager Steve Thompson and Glovers Commercial Manager Dave Linney as well as former Sherborne Town manager and Glovers striking legend Mickey Spencer.
Admission will be £3.00 for adults and £1.00 for under-16s. Team sheets can be purchased at £1.00 each.
Weymouth Squad: Stuart Morgan (player-manager), Paul Myers, Gary Borthwick, Pete Conning, Andy Bell, John Waldock, Micky Greeno, Brendon King, Willie Gibson, Alex Browne, Simon Browne, Pete Turrell, Andy Turrell, Phil Simkin, Pat Reader, Mark Robinson, Ian Hutchinson, Shaun Teale, Paul Arnold.
Yeovil Town Squad: Terry Cotton (player-manager), Tony Pounder, Gerry Pearson, Paul Thorpe, Steve Thompson, Dave Linney, Adrian Foster, Mickey Spencer, Gary Kember, Pete Copeland, Rex Buttle, Rick McQueen, Andy Bews, Simon Gale, Neil Coates, Matt Fricker.
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13 July 2012 : Twelve Year Old Letter Highlights Former Director's Land Concerns
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Yeovil Town's plans to build a new Food Store on land at the north end of Huish Park have suffered an unusual set-back, thanks to a twelve year old letter from a former director. George Smith was a Director of Yeovil Town Football Club from 1990 until 2003, and also served as Company Secretary during that time. Mr Smith was also involved in the club's ground move to Huish Park, and in the drawing up of the covenants that lie on the land and describe the restrictions that would affect any party trying to develop the Stadium and its surrounding land.
Whilst some covenants are held by external parties, such as Abbey Manor Group and the Ministry of Defence, one covenant is held by South Somerset District Council (SSDC), and prevents the land being used for residential or commercial development - the latter would clearly prevent the building of a Food Store whilst it is in place.
Mr Smith unfortunately died in January 2003, after a long battle with cancer, and in 2000 he wrote a letter to SSDC explaining that this particular covenant had been deliberately inserted to protect the long term interests of the football club. In this week's Western Gazette, they have published an extract of that letter, and quote the former director as saying twelve years ago:
"The whole purpose of the agreement was to tie up the site and prevent it from being whittled away. At the time I felt it very important that South Somerset District Council could not get emotionally blackmailed into reducing the overall site to relieve the club's financial pressures. If the site was not tied up, part would be sold off and instead of having a 25 acre stadium and car park and sports facilities complex, we would have a stadium, some car parking and very little else."
Given Mr Smith's letter, and the existence of the covenant on the land, Ric Pallister, who is leader of South Somerset District Council, has issued a briefing to his fellow councillors warning them that they need to prove clear demarcation points to prevent a conflict of interest within the Council. He states:
"For members it is necessary to try to split the matter into two specific areas even though the issues do not neatly split that way. We must do that so that there is clear blue water between the council as the planning authority and covenant holder. To muddle the two now that Yeovil Town Football Club have submitted the planning application has the potential to end up with us getting into a legal minefield."
To this ends, it appears that the Council's politically neutral Regulation Committee are to view the application. The Gazette now indicate that the verdict on the Food Store plans is now only likely to be given around October 2012. At present there are still a number of unresolved issues, with SSDC awaiting a submission from the club relating to replacement public open space and recreation facilities.
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13 July 2012 : Glovers Signing Sets New Trends
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It's not that often that a player signed for Yeovil Town starts trending on social networking site Twitter. This evening, new loan signing Rohan Ince's name is one of the top ten most talked about topics on Twitter after the 19 year old Chelsea defender/midfielder agreed a six month loan deal at Huish Park.
Not too surprising, the topic of 'Friday the 13th' turns up twice on today's conversations, but Rohan is being talked about enough to give him a surprise placing tonight, and most importantly he's being talked about more than Justin Bieber is - no doubt with a bit of help from fans of his parent club Chelsea.
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UK Twitter Trends - circa 8.20p.m. on Friday night
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Link: Glovers Sign Up Chelsea's Ince On Loan.
Link: January 2012 : Glovers Are So Trendy.
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13 July 2012 : Glovers Sign Up Chelsea's Ince On Loan
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Yeovil Town have made their tenth signing of the 2012-13 season. He is 19 year old Rohan Ince, who is on the books of Premier League side Chelsea and is the second cousin of Blackpool winger Thomas Ince, and thus also related to former England star Paul Ince.
Rohan was born in Whitechapel on November 8th 1992 and is a player who can operate in both defence and midfield - either as a central defender or a defensive midfielder. He has yet to make a Chelsea first team appearance, but became a regular in their Reserve Team side during the 2011-12 season, having made his debut at that level two seasons previously. He has also been representing Chelsea at Under-18 level.
Rohan has seen his career progress thwarted somewhat during the last few seasons. He missed the first half of the 2009-10 season after he suffered a serious knee injury that put him out until January. The following season saw a similar problem develop develop, whilst in 2011-12 some lesser injuries saw him spend time on the treatment table. In all three seasons, he came back strongly during the second half of the season, but obviously his progression was stalled somewhat during those years.
He is under contract at Stamford Bridge until the end of the 2012-13 season. Rohan stands at 6'4" and so adds plenty of height to the team. He has signed a six month loan at Huish Park.
Update: Chelsea's website indicates that the loan deal runs until January 12th 2013.
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13 July 2012 : Trawler Boys Still Discontent Over Haynes-Brown Deal
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Yeovil Town's issues with Isthmian League Premier Division side Lowestoft Town continue this morning, with their first team manager giving his views on the Glovers failure to arrange a pre-season friendly in Suffolk. Nine days ago, the Trawler Boys accused the Glovers of reneging on the contractual obligations that were established as part of the transfer of Curtis Haynes-Brown down to Huish Park.
Their Chairman Gary Keyzor claims that he has reported the Glovers to the Football Association over the issue. Director of Football Craig Fleming has been interviewed by today's Pink 'Un newspaper which covers the East Anglian region. He backs up his Chairman's views and points out that they had experienced problems with Yeovil Town when the original transfer went through:
"I’m really disappointed – we had a few wranglings with Yeovil when they actually signed Curtis and a key part of the deal was the friendly that came about as a result of it. We let him go really – the deal certainly wasn’t as clean-cut as we would have liked. It’s in an FA contract that a friendly against their first team would be part of the deal. They said that they could send their youth side but that’s not good enough."
Fleming adds that they had been hoping to centre their pre-season schedule around the visit of the Glovers and the return of Haynes-Brown to his former club, which they believe would have brought a large crowd to their Crown Meadow ground. With that now unlikely to happen, the club are pushing for compensation, using the FA to settle the issue between the two clubs:
"It’s very disappointing because we were basing a lot of our pre-season around it. We wanted to finish our pre-season campaign against them and we were all really looking forward to it. Obviously I look at it from a football point of view but the chairman is right to point to the financial side of it as well. We would have expected a bumper crowd to come out and welcome back a popular player to Crown Meadow and then you have to factor in all the bar takings and that sort of thing as well. I hope the FA can do something about it because it is just plain wrong."
As yet, Yeovil Town have not made any comment on the issue, in the nine days that have passed since Lowestoft issued their first statement.
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12 July 2012 : Pompey Heading For Ten Point Deduction
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The Football League have this afternoon published a lengthy statement concerning the future of Portsmouth Football Club, and their future in League One for the 2012-13 season. The Hampshire club are currently under administration, but have provisionally agreed a CVA, after former owner Balram Chainrai proposed to buy the club again, through his company Portpin.
That offer had a number of strings attached, with a current target of July 23rd set for the final provisions of the CVA, and with Portsmouth Supporters Trust waiting in the wings with their own attempt at a rescue plan. The main issue remains Pompey's huge legacy wage bill, with the Football League still refusing to allow them to sign players.
The League have now set about the conditions that they would expect a new owner to accept, and that includes a ten point deduction on the basis that Portsmouth's previous CVA set in 2010 had failed to be fulfilled, leading to creditors from that insolvency event facing a payback of less than a penny in the pound. The League have also insisted that all Football Creditors - including players - must be paid in full, unless those creditors are willing to accept a mutually agreed compromise in the form of a severance agreement.
The full statement reads as follows:
"The Board of The Football League has agreed to make an offer of membership to the eventual purchaser of Portsmouth Football Club.
The offer is subject to the successful bidder accepting a number of conditions that seek to ensure the sporting integrity of league football and the financial viability of the Club going forward.
The Football League Board has absolute discretion as to whether to admit any new company as a member of The League. In doing so, it has to strike a balance between giving a club another chance and the effect this has on sporting competition between clubs. Through its Insolvency Policy, The League aims to secure the continuation of the club in its local community. In seeking to achieve this it requires that:
a) all football debts have been settled in full (although these may be compromised by mutual agreement).
b) creditors have been given the opportunity to indicate their satisfaction (or otherwise) at the proposed arrangements (normally through the acceptance of a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA)).
In Portsmouth's previous administration, a significant amount of unsecured debt was compromised in a CVA approved by creditors in June 2010, with an anticipated outcome of twenty pence in the pound. In the event, these creditors had not had their claims settled prior to the Club's further administration in February 2012.
Under the new CVA these claims would be further compromised to less than one penny in the pound without creditors having the opportunity to indicate whether they find this acceptable. This is because the claims rest in the liquidation of the previous company and the liquidator of that company has voted to accept the terms of the new CVA.
Therefore, the Board were faced with the prospect of numerous unsecured creditors receiving less than one penny in the pound, without having the opportunity to indicate their satisfaction (or otherwise) in the normal way. In the Board's view, these arrangements do not respect a key principle of The Football League's Insolvency Policy (as described above in b).
Therefore, as a condition of membership, any new company established to apply for ownership of Portsmouth Football Club's share in The Football League will be required to:
1. Accept a deduction of 10 points in the 2012/13 season;
2. Agree that only a limited proportion of the secured debt from the previous club can be carried forward into the new company as secured debt.
3. Pay all football creditors in full, unless mutually acceptable compromise agreements are put in place.
4. Agree to a range of other restrictions on playing budgets, future borrowing and loan repayments for the next 5 seasons.
It will now be for the administrator to seek to finalise arrangements for the sale of the club with interested parties. The Board will consider the application for transfer of membership once the administrator has selected the final purchaser."
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12 July 2012 : Ticketing For Newport County vs Yeovil Town
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Ticketing information for Yeovil Town's pre-season friendly against Newport County is now available. The match takes place on Friday 3rd August at Rodney Parade with a 7.45p.m. kick-off.
Admission prices for the match are simply as follows:
Adults: £7.00; OAPs, Students and Under-16s: £5.00.
For all other pre-season and League Cup admission prices, follow the relevant links below.
Link: Admission Prices For Hereford United vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Admission Prices For Poole Town vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Ticketing Information For Home Pre-Season Friendlies.
Link: Argyle Friendly Gets Switched To The Avenue.
Link: Admission Prices For Llanelli AFC vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Date And Ticketing For The Colchester Cup Match.
Link: 2012-13 First Team Fixtures and Results Page.
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12 July 2012 : Johnson Pitches In With A Few Questions
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Yeovil Town's problems with their various pitches are continuing, with manager Gary Johnson questioning why a local school is able to offer facilities that are superior to a professional Football League side. The Glovers have been forced to return to Sherborne School once again, despite the first team now having taken over the usage of the main Community Trust pitch at Alvington. In addition, the club have had to move their opening home pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle to Conference South club Dorchester Town's Avenue Stadium
All the signs are that the current situation is to continue, and in this week's Western Gazette, Johnson seems more than a little bit disgruntled that the situation has developed. The Glovers boss expresses gratitude to Sherborne School for stepping in again, but tells the paper that he wants to understand why the Alvington pitches were not fit for purpose:
"I am very disappointed with the state of our training ground at Alvington. We have not been able to get anywhere near it and will not be able to get anywhere near it for a while. To be honest it is a very poor piece of ground at this moment in time and the club should have an enquiry to see why that is.
"It has been unbelievable at Sherborne and we have been out there in all weathers with the ground prepared properly for us. It is important that we thank the school and their ground staff because without it we would have been in the manure."
The club had only taken over the rights to the main pitch from Westland Sports this summer, amidst a row between the two clubs after the club declared that the two Top Pitches at Huish Park were "no longer fit for purpose", combined with their wish to build a Food Store on that land.
Johnson has also expressed his disappointment that the main Huish Park pitch is not going to be ready in time for the first team fixture against the Pilgrims, at a time when the likes of Sherborne School and Dorchester Town have been able to provide suitable pitches. He feels the club need to understand why that is the case:
"The season finished early and we cannot get a pre-season friendly on our pitch, of course I am disappointed. That was a good game against Plymouth and the club needs to have a look at it and see why that (Huish Park pitch) has not become available."
The club's first team pre-season friendlies against Bristol Rovers, Stoke City and Exeter City will continue to be scheduled at Huish Park, with the Rovers fixture due to take place one week after the Plymouth Argyle fixture at the Avenue Stadium. However, with the summer pitch preparation having fallen behind the planned schedule, this isn't good for the 2012-13 season, particularly given how wet the summer has been so far.
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11 July 2012 : Ticketing For Poole Town vs Yeovil Town
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Ticketing information for Yeovil Town's pre-season friendly against Poole Town is now available. The match against the Southern League Division One South and West side takes place on Tuesday 17th July at Tatnam Farm with a 7.45p.m. kick-off.
Admission prices for this fixture are as follows:
Adults: £8.00 ; Concessions: £4.00; Under-16s: £1.00; Under-10s: FREE*.
Concessions apply to Senior Citizens, NUS Card holders, Disabled Supporters and those aged Under-18. The offer for Under-10s is valid if entering the ground with a full paying adult - otherwise the Under-16s charge will apply.
We played Poole Town in a pre-season friendly last season. However, for those who are unaware or have forgotten, the Dolphins are currently playing their home games at Tatnam Farm, which is situated within the grounds of Oakdale South Road Middle School.
Since leaving Poole Stadium in 1994, shortly after reforming as a club, Poole have gone through Hamworthy United’s County Ground, Holt's Gaunts Common ground and Haskells Rec in Parkstone before making it to Tatnam Farm. Back in April 2011, they gained planning approval for a £2.5 million new stadium situated off Magna Road in Bearwood.
Back in March, their Vice-Chairman Chris Reeves suggested that they'd gained funding for around £1.6-£1.8m of the money that they need to go forward with the project, and are targeting the 2014-15 season for a ground move, assuming the remaining funding gap can be bridged.
For the moment, we return to Tatnam Farm a second time, with details as follows:
Address: Tatnam Farm, School Lane, Poole, Dorset BH15 3JR
The school is situated on the north side of Poole town centre and east of Holes Bay, midway between the A350 and A35 roads that work their way down into Poole town centre. Most supporters will vary their routes down into Poole depending on where they live, but head for the A35 which snakes around the north side of the town between Dorchester and Bournemouth. At the roundabout that intersects the A35 with the A349 and the A3049 take the turning into Fleets Lane, heading south towards Poole town centre, going past B&Q on your right.
After half a mile, take the fourth left turn into Palmer Road, then take the first right into School Lane. Go through the school gates where you can park on match days. The pitch is on your right hand side as you enter the school car park.
By Rail: If you are travelling by rail, turn right out of Poole railway station, with Holes Bay in front of you and walk up Holes Bay Road. Take an immediate right turn into Sterte Road and walk up here, in parallel with the railway track, eventually crossing the railway. Shortly after you cross the railway, take a left turn into Stanley Green Road, then a second right into Palmer Road. Then turn right into School Lane.
Link: Admission Prices For Hereford United vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Ticketing Information For Home Pre-Season Friendlies.
Link: Argyle Friendly Gets Switched To The Avenue.
Link: Admission Prices For Llanelli AFC vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Date And Ticketing For The Colchester Cup Match.
Link: 2012-13 First Team Fixtures and Results Page.
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11 July 2012 : Yeovil Town To Take Up Bat And Ball
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Yeovil Town have agreed to swap football shirts for cricketing whites in a summer friendly match later this month. They will take on North Perrott Cricket Club on Thursday 26th July at their ground in an evening match that will commence at 6.00p.m.
The annual cricket match between the club and local cricketing sides dried up during Terry Skiverton's tenure, with the last match back in 2009 eventually being called off, due to injuries within the first team squad leading up to the fixture.
This one marks the return from Martock back to North Perrott for the first time in a number of years. There will be a bar open at the venue for those who maybe want to hover inside for part of the evening.
Yeovil Town's secret cricketing weapon used to be Craig Alcock, who regularly played for his local Wincanton side during the summer months. It now becomes Reuben Reid, who made appearances for the Gloucestershire Second XI, before signing a deal as a professional footballer with Plymouth Argyle.
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10 July 2012 : 2012-13 First Team Squad Numbers
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With Yeovil Town having made nine new signings for the 2012-13 season, and only a small handful of players remaining from last season's squad, obviously there are a large number of changes to the squad numbers for the 2012-13 season. Whilst the nine pre-season friendlies will no doubt shape who starts in the first competitive fixture against Colchester United, the choice of the numbers perhaps give an idea of a provisional pecking order in the squad, with the 'bigger' names taking the lower numbers in the squad.
If this is manager Gary Johnson's current thinking in terms of his squad, then it shows no surprises. Defenders Jamie McAllister and Byron Webster, winger Keanu Marsh-Brown and strike pair Reuben Reid and James Hayter get shirts that rank them in the traditional 'one to eleven' numbering. Meanwhile the more inexperienced Sam Foley, Lewis Young and Nathan Ralph get shirt numbers outside that range. As first choice goalkeeper Marek Stech takes the No.1 shirt.
There are four players from last season that have changed squad numbers from last year. Richard Hinds has taken the opportunity of a gap by taking the No.4 shirt. Meanwhile Anthony Edgar's shuffling from No.11 to No.18 is an indication of how his first team standing has changed since arriving at the club last summer. Meanwhile Gareth Stewart and Curtis Haynes-Brown have made more minor adjustments to their squad numbers.
Gary Johnson has indicated that he wants to sign up two more players with him yet to declare whether those will be permanent or loan signings. However, No.17 and No.19 are currently the lowest vacant shirts (assuming no-one has a craving for unlucky No.13).
The full list is on the Player Profile section below, which also includes full profiles of all nine of the new signings for those who have been on their holidays and may have missed a few of the announcements.
Link: Yeovil Town First Team Player Profiles.
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9 July 2012 : Kalala And Doherty On The Move
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Former Yeovil Town midfielder Jean-Paul Kalala is on the look-out for a new club, after being released by League Two side Southend United. The 30 year old was out of contract at Roots Hall, and a bad knee injury in February did not help his chances of a new deal, with that ending his season early, after 30 appearances for the Essex club.
Playing him in his traditional defensive midfield role, Shrimpers boss Paul Sturrock admitted that he had put in a decent standard of performance, but suggested to the Southend Echo that his departure was in part down to Sturrock's wish to change tactics for the 2012-13 season:
"JP did a reasonable job for us last season before getting injured but I think we need to bring in a different type of player. We need to bring in a midfielder who offers different things to what JP does because we have a few new ideas about systems for next season."
Whilst Kalala had two spells and just under 100 appearances for the club, another midfielder sits firmly at the other end of the chain. Tommy Doherty spent just eleven minutes on the field in a Yeovil Town shirt, back in March 2006, before hobbling off the field and disappearing.
He has now signed a six month contract with League Two side Exeter City, who seem to be accumulating their own collection of ex-Glovers, with Kevin Amankwaah and Arron Davies having signed up at St James Park over the summer. He dropped out of the Football League for the first time in his career last season, playing for Newport County and Bath City. He has told the Western Morning News that at the age of 33 years old, this is probably his last chance to break back into League football:
"I see this as my last chance, really. I don't think it puts any pressure on me, I'm just happy for the chance. People will want promotion and I want that as a player as well. I'm just happy to have an opportunity to get back into the game and hopefully I can get back in and stay there for as long as I can. I've played in the League all my life and I hopefully I can continue. I hope – touch wood – that it can become something longer and if I am playing, then things should come with that, shouldn't they?"
Link: Jean-Paul Kamudimba Kalala : Yeovil Town Statistics.
Link: Tommy Doherty : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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9 July 2012 : Ticketing Information For Home Pre-Season Friendlies
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Admission prices for Yeovil Town's home pre-season friendlies have been set. The Glovers are set to play Plymouth Argyle (now at the Avenue Stadium), Bristol Rovers, Exeter City and Stoke City in warm-up matches for the 2012-13 season.
Prices for the Bristol Rovers and Exeter matches at Huish Park (plus the game against Plymouth Argyle at Dorchester's Avenue Stadium) are as follows:
Adults: £10.00; Concessions: £6.00; Aged 16-21yo: £4.00; Under-16s: £2.00.
Prices for the friendly against Premier League side Stoke City are a little higher and are as follows:
Adults: £15.00; Vice Presidents: £20.00; Concessions: £10.00; Aged 16-21yo: £7.00; Under-16s: £3.00.
For all of the above tariffs, there is no matchday surcharge, and you can pay on the day of the game. However, allow for additional time at the Huish Park Ticket Office when purchasing your ticket if you choose to do so in the hour or two leading up to kick-off.
For the games against Bristol Rovers and Exeter City, only the Main Stand will be open for home fans. Away supporters will sit in the Screwfix East Stand. Neither terrace will be open for these two fixtures. For the friendly against Stoke City, all four sides of the ground are planned to be open.
Link: Date And Ticketing For The Colchester Cup Match.
Link: Argyle Friendly Gets Switched To The Avenue.
Link: Admission Prices For Hereford United vs Yeovil Town.
Link: Admission Prices For Llanelli AFC vs Yeovil Town.
Link: 2012-13 First Team Fixtures and Results Page.
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9 July 2012 : Date And Ticketing For The Colchester Cup Match
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Yeovil Town have set a date for the League Cup First Round home match against Colchester United. As expected, the game will be played on Tuesday 14th August at Huish Park, with a 7.45p.m. kick-off.
Admission prices for the game have also been set, and are as follows:
Adults: £15.00; Vice Presidents: £20.00; Concessions: £10.00; Aged 16-21yo: £7.00; Under-16s: £3.00.
There are no matchday surcharges for this game. This is an 'all pay' match, and will be the first competitive match of the 2012-13 season. If you do choose to purchase on the day of the match, allow additional time for queuing as you get close to kick-off.
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9 July 2012 : Argyle Friendly Gets Switched To The Avenue
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Yeovil Town have switched their pre-season friendly against Plymouth Argyle to a neutral venue. The match on Saturday 21st July will now be hosted by Dorchester Town at their Avenue Stadium. The change of venue has been blamed on 'adverse weather conditions'.
As a result, the match also has special arrangements for ticketing. Prices are as follows:
Adults: £10.00; Concessions: £6.00; Aged 16-21yo: £4.00; Under-16s: £2.00.
Admission will be possible on the day of the game against these tariffs, but on a cash ONLY basis. They are also available from the Huish Park Ticket Office for advance purchase via the usual means.
Vice Presidents must also make special arrangements - only 50 advance tickets will be made available, at the cost of £12.00, which will include entry to Dorchester's bar.
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9 July 2012 : D'Ath Grateful For Glovers Experience
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Former Yeovil Town attacking midfielder Lawson D'Ath has said that his experience at Huish Park has given him something different as he attempts to force his way into Reading's first team this season. The Royals have just gained promotion to the Premier League and the 19 year old is waiting to see if he will be part of a pre-season squad that will head out to Portugal next week.
D'Ath arrived at Huish Park in mid-February as one of a number of signings made by Gary Johnson, upon his return to the Glovers. The Oxford born player went on to make 14 appearances, scoring one goal as part of a three month loan spell, and told the Reading Post that playing for a club battling against relegation meant that at times he was playing a very different game:
"I learned so much at Yeovil. The whole experience was great. Yeovil aren’t the best team in League One and it was very different to what I was used to. In my youth team we always used to control games and it was good to experience being under pressure in a league game. It was good to play out wide as well and learn a new position."
Since returning to the Madejski Stadium, D'Ath has had his traditional summer break, and he reveals that he has been putting that time to good use, pointing out that despite his age he has one eye on the future:
"I went on holiday to America and did a bit of coaching out there with some kids who were aged nine to 14. I thought it would be a good experience and it’s probably something I will look to do every year. When it comes to the end of my career then I might look to do some coaching - it’s not too early to start planning."
At the end of last season, both Johnson and D'Ath gave hints that they would be happy enough to take out another loan deal if the opportunity arose. He added that he would be prepared to go wherever he could get regular football, but admitted he had one eye on making his Premier League debut in some shape or form:
"I would go out on loan again, the most important thing for me and Reading is to be playing football. The lads did terrific last year to win the league and I wouldn’t mind sneaking my way into the team this year, but we will have to see. It’s every boy’s dream growing up to play in the Premier League. It would be unbelievable if I could manage an appearance at some stage."
Link: Lawson D'Ath : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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8 July 2012 : McLeod Ready To Finalise Deal With Unnamed Club
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Former Barnet striker Izale McLeod says that he is on the edge of completing a deal with an unnamed Football League Club. The 27 year old has been conspicuous by his absence since leaving Underhill at the end of last season, and appears to have been linked with more or less every club at League One and League Two level over the summer months.
One such club has been the Glovers, with suggestions that he had been spotted in Yeovil around a month ago - although nothing has materialised since then, with manager Gary Johnson making moves for Reuben Reid and James Hayter, who are likely to be the main contenders for the front line pairing at Huish Park, for the coming season.
The Sky Sports website names Portsmouth and Crawley as being the main two clubs that have interest in the player, although there have been plenty more. McLeod himself will not reveal which one will get his services, but says he has more or less made his decision:
"Hopefully, I'll be signing for a new club shortly because I've been in talks with one in particular for a while now and we are very close to completing things, which is great because pre-season will be starting next week. I don't really want to say what club it is or what division they are in at the moment, but it is a club which match my ambitions for the upcoming season. There has been quite a bit of interest over the summer, but hopefully this one will be the one I sign for and it is just a case of dotting the i's and crossing the t's."
For what it's worth, if his suggestion that "pre-season will be starting next week" is to be taken literally, then that would tend to rule out the Glovers, given they have been back on the training ground for the past week. Johnson's remarks late last week also suggest that he is wanting to wait until he's seen his current crop of players and trialists in a couple of pre-season friendlies before he can decide where he needs to add extra blood for what he believes are two available positions.
Portsmouth are due to start their pre-season training schedule on Monday, although there are question marks over when they will be allowed to sign players, given that the Football League have refused to lift their transfer embargo, despite having only ten registered players, and no goalkeeper. With the club still in administration, and Tal Ben Haim on £36,000 per week wages, plus a £1 million per season image rights contract, administrator Trevor Birch still needs to lower their annual wage bill, which varies between £9 million and £11 million according to which source you read. Hence until they overcome that problem, they will be unable to agree anything other than a verbal deal with McLeod.
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7 July 2012 : 2012-13 Ladies Fixtures Released
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Yeovil Town Ladies have had their fixtures published for the 2012-13 season. The female Glovers are back in the FA Women’s Premier League after a twelve month absence, and will begin their season proper on Sunday 19th August 2012. They open with a home game against Lewes before travelling to Gillingham a week later. That is then followed by the first of a series of League Cup Group games, with the draw yet to be determined.
The Ladies have also put in plans for a number of pre-season friendlies that will be fully developed over the coming weeks. The current plans are as follows:
15/07/2012 : 14:00 : Oxford United (Home - venue TBC)
20/07/2012 - 22/07/2012 : Keele (Tour Matches)
29/07/2012 : 14:00 : Chelsea (Away)
05/08/2012 : 14:00 : Cardiff City (Away)
XX/08/2012 : Larkhall Athletic (Home - exact date TBA - evening kick-off)
12/08/2012 : 14:00 : Wolves (Home)
For the full Premier League season fixture list, head to the Ladies site, via the link below.
Link: Yeovil Town Ladies Website : Fixtures and Results Page.
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6 July 2012 : Johnson Taking Time On Last Two Signings
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Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has said that he is likely to 'take his time' over the last couple of players that he wants for his 2012-13 first team playing squad. The Glovers have so far made nine new signings over the summer, giving them a reasonably sized group of players to take them into the set of nine pre-season friendlies.
Johnson has told BBC Somerset that he is sticking to previously stated targets of having a squad of eighteen players for the season, but that the two more that he wants may not arrive until he has seen a few pre-season friendlies:
"We had to bring in new players and that's what we've done. We think that a squad of eighteen will probably be just about right, so we've got two places left really. We're going to have a look at that and we're going to take our time on those. We will see a few pre-season friendlies so that we can see if we need to strengthen in any particular area. Then we'll go out and do what we need to do for the last couple."
The current list of contracted players, plus links to profiles of the new signings, can be viewed below:
Goalkeepers: Marek Stech, Gareth Stewart
Defenders: Luke Ayling, Byron Webster, Richard Hinds, Curtis Haynes-Brown, Jamie McAllister, Nathan Ralph
Central Midfielders: Dominic Blizzard, Ed Upson
Attacking Midfielders: Lewis Young, Keanu Marsh-Brown, Sam Foley, Gavin Williams, Anthony Edgar
Strikers: Reuben Reid, James Hayter
Note: There is a slight mismatch between the number of players Gary believes he has contracted at present and the above list. The most likely explanation is that Anthony Edgar is not being counted in his plans, given that the midfielder was told to find a new club towards the end of last season, and has not been training with the club.
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6 July 2012 : Wealey Completes Shrews Move
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Former Yeovil Town goalkeeper Chris Weale has completed a move to League One newcomers Shrewsbury Town. The 30 year old was released by Championship side Leicester City at the end of last season, and has been reunited with Graham Turner, who was his manager during a short loan spell with Hereford United.
Wealey missed the second half of the 2011-12 season with a knee injury that required surgery, but the good news is that it appears that he is fit again. He has told Shrewsbury's club site that his new club's commitment towards him was a big influence in his choice of move:
"It was more or less a mutual decision that I left Leicester because I need to play football. There was no point me sitting there on the bench in the Championship hoping a chance would come. I need to play and get out and show what I can do. Hopefully it's a platform to do that here. When you're wanted by a club, and it's very aware that they wanted me, it makes the decision very easy."
Link: Chris Weale : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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6 July 2012 : Murtagh Makes Macc Move
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Former Yeovil Town midfielder Keiran Murtagh has signed a new contract with Conference National newcomers Macclesfield Town. The 23 year old has moved on a free transfer from Cambridge United after failing to break into the first team at the Abbey Stadium.
Macclesfield were relegated from the Football League at the end of last season, and Murtagh moves within that division after he made just seven appearances for Cambridge, spending the second half of the 2011-12 season on loan at Woking - his second spell with the Cards.
Despite being capped at Under-17 level for the Republic of Ireland, Murtagh has become a regular international player for Antigua and Barbuda, scoring his debut goal for his country against the US Virgin Islands last October. Last month saw him play in 2014 World Cup Qualifying matches against Jamaica and the USA, starting in both of the CONCACAF Third Round group games.
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5 July 2012 : Gary Talks About Marek Stech
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With Yeovil Town having signed up Marek Stech on Thursday morning, Glovers boss Gary Johnson spoke to the BBC about the deal. With questions from BBC Somerset reporter Dan Albutt, Gary's thoughts on that and the earlier signing of Byron Webster are recorded via the link below.
Link: Gary Johnson Speaks To The BBC After Marek Stech Signed.
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5 July 2012 : Admission Prices For Hereford United vs Yeovil Town
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Admission prices for Yeovil Town's first pre-season friendly of the 2012-13 season have been published. The game takes place against non-leaguers Hereford United on Saturday 14th July at Edgar Street, with a 3.00p.m. kick-off.
Prices for the match are as follows:
Adults: £10.00; Concessions: £5.00 ; Aged 10 and Under: £3.00.
Concessions are applicable to those aged 11-20 years old inclusive, and those aged 60 years old and over.
Link: Admission Prices For Llanelli Match.
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5 July 2012 : Caulker Signs New Spurs Contract
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Former Yeovil Town loan defender Steven Caulker has signed a new contract with Tottenham Hotspur. He is now scheduled to stay at White Hart Lane until the summer of 2016, after a season that has seen him fully establish himself at Premier League level through a season long loan at Swansea City.
Still aged only 20 years old, Caulker was called up to the Team GB Under-23 squad for the 2012 London Olympics earlier this week, as the youngest member of the outfield squad.
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5 July 2012 : Czech Out This Goalkeeper Signing!
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Yeovil Town have completed the permanent signing of former West Ham United goalkeeper Marek Stech. The 22 year old joins the Glovers as a free agent, following his release by the Hammers last month. Since then, Stech's name has been very much on the rumourmill and his arrival has now been formalised.
Considering how well liked he is by Glovers fans, it's worth noting that his loan spell with Yeovil Town during the 2011-12 season only lasted five games. He arrived in mid-October 2011 as a replacement for the injured Jed Steer and lasted just under a month before West Ham's refusal to let him play in the FA Cup, followed by a recall to Upton Park meant that his stay was curtailed. Three draws and two defeats meant the club never won a game during his time at Huish Park, but his performances helped gain points that in all honesty the rest of his team-mates didn't deserve.
Born in Prague on January 28th 1990, he started his career at Sparta Prague before being signed by the Hammers at the age of 16. The 6'3" keeper made three League Cup first team appearances for West Ham, and before his initial Yeovil Town loan spell, he also clocked up three first team appearances whilst undertaking loan spells with Wycombe Wanderers and AFC Bournemouth during 2009.
He sat on the bench for West Ham on around 30 occasions as part of their Premier League squads, but never got onto the field of play in a League match for the Hammers. There was the suggestion that a contractual dispute between West Ham and his old club Sparta Prague was at the heart of this, with a payment clause due to be triggered if he made it as a Premier League player.
Štěch is a Czech Republic Under-21 international goalkeeper who gained ten caps at that level, including a couple that were sandwiched around his 2011-12 loan spell. He has also been extensively capped at Under-17 and Under-19 level for his national side.
His first contact with the Glovers came in August 2011 when he played for Yeovil Town Reserves against Torquay United Reserves in a training match in Devon, during August 2011, but that did not materialise into anything until Steer's injury forced him back to Norwich City, and the move came to bring Stech to Huish Park on loan.
Since returning to East London, he has had a further two game loan spell with Leyton Orient, where he teamed up with Russell Slade at the tail end of February. But that was curtailed when he picked up an injury and as a consequence he stayed with the Hammers until his release in May 2012.
Marek joins Yeovil Town on a two year contract, and thus will be with the club until the summer of 2014.
Link: Marek Stech : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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5 July 2012 : Stech Is On His Way!
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Out of contract goalkeeper Marek Stech has confirmed that he is on his way to Yeovil Town to sign. The Czech Republic Under-21 keeper has tweeted this morning "on my way to Yeovil" pretty much confirming one of the worst kept secrets that he is about to sign a two year contract with the club.
Released by West Ham United back in May, the 22 year old is able to sign a contract as a free agent, and is expected to be unveiled later today.
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5 July 2012 : Davies Completes Grecians Switch
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Further to yesterday's news, League Two side Exeter City have completed the signing of former Yeovil Town midfielder Arron Davies. The Welshman was released yesterday by Northampton Town and has signed a two year contract with the Grecians, who had earlier this week also taken on Kevin Amankwaah.
There had been suggestions from the Northampton end that Arron was on his way to Yeovil Town, although that didn't quite add up given where the club's main squad recruitment needs lie. That said, Davies has told the Grecians club site that Johnson's departure from Sixfields resulted in him being frozen out by the Cobblers, hence why he was anxious to leave the club:
"I didn't kick a ball in the second half of last season after the change of manager which was frustrating, and as a footballer I'm hungry and my desire is to play football. I've kept myself fit and now I'm just buzzing to get on the pitch and play some football."
Link: Arron Davies : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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4 July 2012 : Lowestoft Cry Foul Over Haynes-Brown Deal
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Isthmian League Premier Division side Lowestoft Town have issued a statement claiming Yeovil Town to be in breach of a transfer agreement between the two clubs. The issue relates to the acquisition of defender Curtis Haynes-Brown a year ago, when he was signed on a two year contract following a short trial at Huish Park.
Trawler Boys Chairman Gary Keyzor has stated that the Glovers had agreed to play a pre-season friendly between the two clubs, as part of the deal that took Haynes-Brown down to South Somerset, but with the 2012-13 pre-season list now having nine friendlies lined up, he states that Glovers Chief Executive Martyn Starnes has told him that will not be possible.
The statement on Lowestoft's club website (with a cosmetic spelling correction) reads as follows:
"Yeovil Town have today breached the FA contract which took Curtis Haynes Brown to Huish Park. Written in the official FA Contract as part of the transfer was that Yeovil Town Football Club had to bring a first team squad to the Crown Meadow for a pre season friendly prior to the start of the 2012/13 season.
Martyn Starnes stated over the telephone that it was impossible to bring a side and used the reason that the manager had been changed since the original deal, even though Gary Johnson was installed as first team manager I believe on the 9th January 2012, and the club knew that the game had to be played as agreed. Although I cant see how that makes any difference as the deal was done club to club and not via managers.
Martyn Starnes did offer to send up a youth side if that was acceptable to us!!!!!
The matter will now be handed over to the Football Association first thing in the morning to deal with."
This is not the first time the Glovers have clashed with Lowestoft Town over Haynes-Brown's transfer - twelve months ago they accused Yeovil Town of making an illegal approach for their player, although there appeared to be a hint that Haynes-Brown's agent may have been partially responsible for that situation. The club completed an undisclosed deal later that month, with matters apparently having been resolved amicably.
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4 July 2012 : Webster Swaps Cobblers For Glovers
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Further to our earlier reports, Yeovil Town have completed the signing of Northampton Town defender Byron Webster. The 25 year old's had his contract terminated by the Cobblers earlier this afternoon, which tended to cement rumours that he was about to sign for the Glovers. Glovers boss Gary Johnson brought him to Sixfields and Byron was a regular at the start of the 2011-12 season.
With Johnson already wanting to being in a centre-back to replace Paul Huntington, the Leeds-born 6'3" player fits the bill in stature. He started his career with York City before having a varied career that took in Harrogate Town, Whitby Town and Czech club FK Baník Most.
In 2009 he returned to England and signed for Doncaster Rovers, during which time he had a brief loan spell with Hereford United. During this time he was a team-mate of Glovers striker James Hayter although struggled to hold down a place in the Championship side, making just three starts across just under two seasons, with eleven further appearances for Donny from the bench.
He moved to Northampton in March 2011, initially on a loan basis, before signing permanently for the Cobblers that summer. He started off as a first team regular for the Cobblers, but in September 2011, he broke a metatarsal and did not reappear again until January 2012, by which time Johnson had left the building and was on his way to Yeovil. Overall he made 16 appearances last season, to add to the eight he had made during his earlier Cobblers loan spell.
He is also listed as a midfielder on Wikipedia although it would appear that this mainly relates to his earlier career.
Byron joins Yeovil Town on a two year contract, and thus will be with the club until the summer of 2014.
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4 July 2012 : Admission Prices For Llanelli Match
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Yeovil Town's pre-season friendly opponents Llanelli AFC have set admission prices for their match against the Glovers. The match takes place on Tuesday 31st July at Stebonheath Park, and is one of two matches in South Wales that manager Gary Johnson has planned for that week, with the plan being to take his squad away from South Somerset for around three or four days.
Kick-off is at 7.45p.m. on the Tuesday night, and supporters can gain admission for the following prices:
Adults: £7.00; OAPs/Students/Under-16s: £5.00.
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4 July 2012 : Webster Released By Cobblers - Linked With Glovers
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Yeovil Town are being linked with a move for Northampton Town defender Byron Webster. The 25 year old's name was already getting mentions on social networks as being a target for the club, but this afternoon has had his contract terminated by the Cobblers. He was signed by Glovers boss Gary Johnson and was a regular at the start of the 2011-12 season.
With Johnson already wanting to being in a centre-back to replace Paul Huntington, the Leeds-born 6'3" player fits the bill. He started his career with York City before having a varied career that took in Harrogate Town, Whitby Town and Czech club FK Baník Most. In 2009 he returned to England and signed for Doncaster Rovers, during which time he had a brief loan spell with Hereford United.
He moved to Northampton in March 2011, initially on a loan basis, before signing permanently for the Cobblers that summer. He is also listed as a midfielder on Wikipedia although it would appear that this mainly relates to his earlier career.
As yet, this has not been confirmed by the club, although the expectation is that a centre-back and a goalkeeper, who are in their early 20s and mid 20s are the two players Johnson is aiming to announce in the next 24 hours. Byron Webster fits the bill of the first player, whilst Marek Stech is the most popular tip as the second player. We'll doubtless find out how good the rumourmill is shortly.
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4 July 2012 : Bye Bye Bondz
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Further to yesterday's news, Yeovil Town have now confirmed the departure of central defender Bondz N'Gala. The former Plymouth Argyle player has departed after 35 appearances and two goals and has penned a two year contract that will keep him at Broadhall Way until the summer of 2014.
The 22 year old had a year left on his contract and so the Glovers would be entitled to a transfer fee. However, no fee is mentioned by either club as part of the deal.
Link: Bondz N'Gala : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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4 July 2012 : Glovers Fix Llanelli Friendly
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Yeovil Town have arranged a second pre-season friendly in South Wales this afternoon, as part of a pre-season stay in the area. They will take on Welsh Premier League side Llanelli AFC at Stebonheath Park on Tuesday 31st July, before following that up three days later with the earlier announced Friday night match against Newport County.
In between, manager Gary Johnson will keep his players in the area, doubtless with the aim of a spot of team-bonding.
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4 July 2012 : Glovers Arrange Exiles Friendly
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Yeovil Town have arranged another pre-season friendly as they warm up for the 2012-13 season. They will visit Newport County at their Rodney Parade ground on Friday 3rd August, with a 7.45p.m. kick-off.
The Conference National side will get a chance to see midfielder Sam Foley in his new club colours, following his switch to the Glovers over the summer.
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4 July 2012 : Davies Freed Up By Cobblers
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Former Yeovil Town attacking midfielder Arron Davies has had his contract at Sixfields terminated by mutual consent. The Welshman has left League Two side Northampton Town midway through a two year contract with the Cobblers, and now becomes a free agent.
Perhaps inevitably, given Glovers boss Gary Johnson has signed the 28 year old up at Yeovil, Peterborough United and Northampton Town, news from the Cobblers end is linking him with a return to South Somerset, with him having clocked up 124 appearances and 27 goals across two spells at Huish Park.
However, prior to today's news, there had been strong rumours that he was about to sign for League Two side Exeter City, and with the Glovers already well stocked with attacking midfielders, this wouldn't appear to be an immediate priority for Johnson. We'll wait and see where he ends up next.
Link: Arron Davies : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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4 July 2012 : Former Glovers Duo Become Shakers And Pilgrims
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Former Yeovil Town loan goalkeeper Rene Gilmartin has found himself a new club, after being released by Watford at the end of the 2011-12 season. The 25 year old has signed for League Two side Plymouth Argyle on a free transfer.
Rene will team up with two former Glovers, with midfielder Paul Wotton and defender Darren Purse on their books. Rene made eight appearances for Yeovil Town across the middle part of last season, but returned to Vicarage Road upon the arrival of Gary Johnson at Huish Park.
Meanwhile, former defender Adam Lockwood will come up against the Glovers for the 2012-13 season, after he agreed a two year deal with Bury. The 30 year old has just ended a six year stay with Doncaster Rovers, and he will be reunited with his former defensive team-mate Efe Sodje, who is on the club's coaching staff at Gigg Lane, with Peter Sweeney also on the Shakers' books.
Link: Rene Gilmartin : Yeovil Town Statistics.
Link: Adam Lockwood : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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4 July 2012 : Johnson Confident With Rookie Pair
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Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has said that he is confident that rookie pair Nathan Ralph and Lewis Young can turn out to be 'very good players'. The duo are two of the Glovers' lower key signings this summer, with both coming from his former clubs, Peterborough United and Northampton Town respectively.
Of the pair, 19 year old left-back Ralph is the most inexperienced, having not made a first team appearance for the Posh, and with his main experience coming in non-league football through a loan spell with Kettering Town. Johnson told BBC Somerset that it would be a case of taking a batch of younger players and turning them into the finished article. However, he warned that Ralph's inexperience meant there would need to be patience:
"He hasn't played a League game yet, and I want three or four, or maybe five or six young lads that we can work with. Myself, Terry (Skiverton) and Darren (Way) work hard with our young players, and we think that we get them to their full potential, and these two are just exciting to us."
Young has somewhat more experience in the game, with the right-back having played 34 times for the Cobblers last season. He's also got a higher profile, due to him being the younger brother of England winger Ashley Young, and Johnson added that he had Ralph were settling in well:
"We thought that with a bit of work and a bit of knowledge that we could give them that they could turn out as very very good players. They've come in and they've looked the part straight away. I know them both very well. Obviously if Lewis gets anywhere near his brother Ashley, then obviously we'd be very happy!"
In the world of pre-season trialists, players come and go at a rapid pace, and we gather that former Dundee, Kilmarnock and Clyde goalkeeper Lucas Birnstingl has already been told after two training sessions that he will not be getting a contract with the Glovers, although may stick around to keep himself fit.
The apparent decision on Birnstingl, would suggest that Johnson is looking elsewhere for his goalkeeper needs, and there are rumours that a keeper will be one of the two players announced by the club later this week, with one described as 'significant'.
Whilst Johnson has made it clear that he would happily return for Chelsea stopper Sam Walker, last month's news that Marek Stech had been released by West Ham United has put his name on the rumourmill, particularly as the player has put a couple of Yeovil Town-related pictures onto his Twitter account during that time. Stech has yet to turn up at any club since his release, and also has not elaborated upon the reasons for his Glovers-themed tweets.
Meanwhile, it would appear that a couple of ther other planned trialists are from South Wales. Former Swansea City striker Casey Thomas is in Yeovil this week, and we can't think of too many other reasons for him to be visiting, other than him being down at the club on trial. Meanwhile former Cardiff City player Luke Jones has indicated on his Twitter account that he is having trials with Merthyr Tydfil and Port Talbot but is hoping to come down to Yeovil later in the month.
Finally, in addition to Bondz N'Gala, it appears that there is no sign of either Anthony Edgar or Michael Woods at this week's training sessions. In the case of Edgar, he's halfway through a two year contract, but Woods is a free agent, and his Twitter feed shows no sign of him having returned to Somerset this week.
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3 July 2012 : Cranie Rejects Sky Blues Offer
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Former Yeovil Town loanee Martin Cranie looks unlikely to come up against his hometown club during the 2012-13 season, despite having just spent three seasons on the books of recently relegated Coventry City. The 25 year old has announced that he is turning down the offer of a new contract at the Ricoh Arena, after 120 appearances for the club.
Cranie, who went to Buckler's Mead Community School, before becoming a successful graduate of Southampton's academy system, appears to be reluctant to drop down to League One level, and with the Sky Blues having been sent down to third tier level for the first time since 1964. Cranie, who signed for Coventry from Portsmouth back in 2009, has said that he aims to stay in the Championship:
"I wanted to see what was offered but I have always wanted to stay in the Championship. Obviously I like it at Coventry but I don't feel it is right for me at this time and I'm going to look elsewhere. I've had a great time but I think it's time for me to look for another club. The fans have been great with me, as have all the managers I've worked with. I've played in a few positions and this is the first time I have played week in, week out in a settled position and I'm grateful for that."
Talking of ex-Saints loanees, and indeed those with Coventry City connections, yesterday Leon Best completed a £3 million move from Newcastle United to Blackburn Rovers, signing a four year contract at Ewood Park. The 25 year old has dropped a level to team back up with his former Coventry assistant manager and admits that came into his thinking when he made the decision to leave St James Park:
"It is a good thing for me and a new start to my career coming here. I've been with Steve Kean before so I know what he's about, he's shown me a lot of loyalty and he's come in for me and I'm showing some back. I want to come here and work with him and the new players and hopefully we'll go straight back up. Blackburn is a massive club, a lot of big clubs have come into the Championship recently and gone back up so we've got to look at doing the same."
Best scored ten goals for Newcastle in his 17 months in the North East and will be remembered by their fans for scoring a Premier League hat-trick in January 2011 in their 5-0 win over West Ham United.
Yesterday, we mentioned that Jonathan Grounds had signed a two year contract with Oldham Athletic. In an interview today, the 24 year old reveals that he first made contact with Latics boss Paul Dickov only two and a half weeks ago, and so appears not to have had this offer on the table when he turned down the Glovers deal.
Grounds has told the Oldham club website that his experience through loans at Chesterfield and Yeovil Town helped him know what to expect when Dickov approached him:
"Before last season I didn't know much about League One but, after those two loan spells, I now know much about it. The way the manager spoke to me and how keen he was to get the deal done and get me here convinced me this was the club for me. He is really behind me and trusts me as a player and to showcase what I can do. Before last season I didn't know much about League One, but I now know much about it."
Meanwhile former striker Gavin Tomlin has revealed that he came close to leaving Yeovil Town, whilst Southend United manager was in charge of Plymouth Argyle. The 29 year old agreed a one year contract yesterday, bringing the pair together at Roots Hall. However he has told their club website that this could have happened much earlier, although implies that the Glovers turned down the approach from the Pilgrims:
"This move has been on the cards for about five years. Paul Sturrock bid for me when I was at Yeovil so he has liked me for a while and I can't wait to play underneath him. This is the first time we've had dialogue but I knew that he liked me and was interested so it is good to finally get to work for him."
Link: Martin Cranie : Yeovil Town Statistics.
Link: Leon Best : Yeovil Town Statistics.
Link: Jonathan Grounds : Yeovil Town Statistics.
Link: Gavin Tomlin : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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3 July 2012 : N'Gala Linked With Stevenage Move
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Reports from the Stevenage end suggest that Bondz N'Gala may have left Yeovil Town. At the Stevenage FC Supporters Association AGM tonight, Boro fans report that their Chief Executive Bob Makin has been a guest speaker at the event. As part of his speech, he has stated that his club have agreed a deal with the 22 year old, one year after he signed for the Glovers from Plymouth Argyle.
N'Gala is on a two year deal at Huish Park, and so the Glovers would be entitled to a fee for a player who made 35 appearances, scoring two goals last season.
As yet, neither club has said anything on the record about this one, so we'll wait for more formal confirmation. However, Bondz was not seen on the opening day of pre-season training yesterday, which might prove significant.
Link: Bondz N'Gala : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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3 July 2012 : FA Youth Cup 2012-13 Round Dates
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The Football Association have published the round dates for the 2012-13 FA Youth Cup today. As with all Football League clubs, their corresponding Under-18s sides get a bye until the First Round stage, meaning that the Glovers Youth Team will enter the competition around the end of October or first week in November, depending on when the tie is scheduled.
The full round dates are as follows:
Qualifying Rounds - To Be Played In Week Commencing:
Preliminary Round : Monday 3 September 2013
First Round Qualifying : Monday 17 September 2012
Second Round Qualifying : Monday 1 October 2012
Third Round Qualifying : Monday 15 October 2012
Competition Proper – To Be Played By The Closing Date:
First Round Proper : Saturday 3 November 2012
Second Round Proper : Saturday 17 November 2012
Third Round Proper : Saturday 15 December 2012
Fourth Round Proper : Saturday 19 January 2013
Fifth Round Proper : Saturday 9 February 2013
Sixth Round Proper : Saturday 23 February 2013
Semi Final 1 : Saturday 16 March 2013
Semi Final 2 : Saturday 30 March 2013
Final 1 : to be confirmed
Final 2 : to be confirmed
For other key dates for the 2012-13 season, follow the links below, which are also permanently linked from the 'Forthcoming Fixtures' section on the Home Page of this site.
Link: 2012-13 Key First Team Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 FA Cup Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 Somerset Premier Cup Competition Dates.
Link: 2012-13 Yeovil Town First Team Fixtures/Results.
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3 July 2012 : FA Cup 2012-13 Round Dates
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The Football Association have issued the planned dates for the 2012-13 FA Cup competition. The early preliminary round draws and lists of teams that have entered this season's competition are due to be released on Friday 6th July, covering those that start the 'Road to Wembley' at its earliest point.
As usual, Yeovil Town's interest in the competition comes in at First Round stage, with Saturday 3rd November having already been left blank in this season's fixture lists along with the Second Round stage.
Draw dates have yet to be identified, but usually the First Round draw is made one day after the Fourth Qualifying Round date - i.e. Sunday 21st October.
The full list of round dates are as follows:
Extra Preliminary Round : Saturday 11 August 2012
Preliminary Round : Saturday 25 August 2012
First Round Qualifying : Saturday 8 September 2012
Second Round Qualifying : Saturday 22 September 2012
Third Round Qualifying : Saturday 6 October 2012
Fourth Round Qualifying : Saturday 20 October 2012
First Round Proper : Saturday 3 November 2012
Second Round Proper : Saturday 1 December 2012
Third Round Proper : Saturday 5 January 2013
Fourth Round Proper : Saturday 26 January 2013
Fifth Round Proper : Saturday 16 February 2013
Sixth Round Proper : Saturday 9 March 2013
Semi Final : Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 April 2013
The Final : Saturday 11 May 2013
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3 July 2012 : Johnson Still Targeting Two More Signings
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Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has said that he expects to still see two more faces arrive at the club on contracted terms by the end of this week. The Glovers boss made two signings yesterday, with left-back Nathan Ralph and right-winger Lewis Young after they were released by Gary's former clubs Peterborough and Northampton Town respectively.
Last week, Johnson said that he had offers out for three or four players to join the club, and with Ralph and Young now confirmed, he told BBC Somerset that his position had not changed, and he still expected two more to make their intentions known fairly shortly:
"By the end of the week, we should have a couple more lads in. That would give me around fifteen contracted players at that point, or contracted players that I want at the club, and then we'll just have to keep our eye out for anybody that we want to add to that. We'll leave a couple of places open for the 'Roy of the Rovers' that might come along in a couple of weeks time."
Gary's reference to player he doesn't necessarily want at the club no doubt refers to attacking midfielder Anthony Edgar, who was last season told to find another club, despite being only halfway through a two year contract. The list of first team squad players currently contracted at Yeovil Town (and also viewable in the Player Profiles section of the site) are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Gareth Stewart
Defenders: Luke Ayling, Bondz N'Gala, Richard Hinds, Curtis Haynes-Brown, Jamie McAllister, Nathan Ralph
Central Midfielders: Dominic Blizzard, Ed Upson
Attacking Midfielders: Lewis Young, Keanu Marsh-Brown, Sam Foley, Gavin Williams, Anthony Edgar
Strikers: Reuben Reid, James Hayter
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2 July 2012 : Canadian Keeper Given Glovers Trial
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Yeovil Town have given a trial to an out of contract Canadian goalkeeper as part of their pre-season schedule. Twenty-two year old Lucas Birnstingl is a former Dundee, Clyde and Kilmarnock player, who moved across to Scotland at the age of 19 in search of professional football.
Lucas was born on February 14th 1990, in Oakville, Canada and went to Iroquois Ridge High School. As a junior, he played for Oakville Blue Stars and the Toronto FC Academy and was part of their roster that played in the Canadian Soccer League, although only made it as far as the bench for their senior side.
In February 2009, he switched across the Atlantic Ocean, signing a three month contract with Dundee that gave him his break into Scottish League football. Birnstingl trained with Kilmarnock during the 2011-12 season, but signed a deal with Clyde in December 2011. He has also had trials with Darlington during his time in the UK. Overall he's yet to make a first team appearance on UK soil and is currently a free agent.
Whilst at Kilmarnock, he trained with Ross Lindsay, who is also known to be trialling at Huish Park. Other known trialists are listed below.
Link: Ex-Saint Racine On Glovers Trial.
Link: Ex-Kilmarnock Midfielder On Trial.
Link: Clarke Heading For Glovers Trial.
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2 July 2012 : Amankwaah And Tomlin Find New Clubs
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League Two side Exeter City have signed up former Yeovil Town right-back Kevin Amankwaah. The 30 year old has made the switch to St James Park for the 2012-13 season after leaving Rochdale at the end of last season.
He also played for Burton Albion during the first half of the 2011-12 campaign, but has returned to the South-West of England yet again, with the Grecians becoming the sixth club in the region that he has signed for - Bristol City, Torquay United, Cheltenham Town and Swindon Town have also had him on their books.
Meanwhile former striker Gavin Tomlin has penned a one year contract with Southend United today, after leaving fellow League Two side Dagenham and Redbridge. He signed a three year contract at Victoria Road after leaving Huish Park, and so has cut that a year short, after spending the end of the 2011-12 season out on loan at League Two Gillingham.
There had been plenty of rumours that Arron Davies was going to complete a move from Northampton Town to Exeter City today, but that has failed to materialise, although the Grecians first team are not returning to full first team training until next Monday.
Link: Kevin Amankwaah : Yeovil Town Statistics.
Link: Gavin Tomlin : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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2 July 2012 : Ex-Saint Racine On Glovers Trial
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Yeovil Town have taken on former Southampton academy player Aarran Racine on trial this week. The central defender is a free agent, who was born in Worthing, and was taken on by the Saints at Under-15 level, working his way through their youth levels. He was given a professional contract by the club during the 2008-09 season.
Born on October 30th 1991, the 21 year old had graduated to captaining Southampton Reserves by 2010, and was in their Under-21 side last season as well as featuring in a number of low key first team friendly matches, but was one of a large number of players released by the Hampshire side upon their promotion to the Premier League at the end of last season.
Aarran joins Ross Lindsay and James Clarke who are also known trialists at Huish Park this week.
Link: Ex-Kilmarnock Midfielder On Trial.
Link: Clarke Heading For Glovers Trial.
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2 July 2012 : Ex-Kilmarnock Midfielder On Trial
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Yeovil Town have taken on former Kilmarnock academy product Ross Lindsay on trial as part of their pre-season schedule. He is an 18 year old central midfielder who was released after three years at Rugby Park. Ross was previously on the books of St Mirren and has been playing for Kilmarnock's Under-20 side.
Ross used to play in the same Kilmarnock youth side as Kieran Agard and James Dayton. Obviously with another former Glover Lee Johnson having arrived back in Scotland five months ago, there's another connection there that may have tipped Gary off as to his availability.
He's not played any first team football up in Scotland, and so would definitely fall into the 'one for the future' category. He is spending the week down at Huish Park in an effort to earn a contract with the Glovers.
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2 July 2012 : Former Cobblers Winger Confirms Glovers Deal
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Further to our earlier news, Yeovil Town have completed the signing of former Watford and Northampton Town winger/striker Lewis Young. He is the 22 year old younger brother of Manchester United and England winger Ashley Young.
Lewis was born on 27th September 1989 in Stevenage and began his career at Vicarage Road, although to our knowledge he would have missed Gary Johnson's spell in charge of the Hornets Academy sides. He turned professional in 2008, and had a short loan spell with Hereford United before being released.
He then moved to Burton Albion for the 2010-11 season, following a trial with the Brewers, and during that season spent time out on loan with Forest Green Rovers, but was recalled after an injury crisis. He was released at the end of that season.
Lewis played under Gary Johnson at Northampton Town during the 2011-12 season, but was released by the Cobblers, having made 34 appearances, the majority of which were during Gary's time at Sixfields. He has signed a one year contract at Huish Park, and joins Nathan Ralph, who also signed for the club earlier today.
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2 July 2012 : Ralph Makes Posh Switch
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Yeovil Town have signed up former Peterborough United player Nathan Ralph for the 2012-13 season. The 19 year old has agreed a one year deal after leaving the Championship side.
Born on February 14th 1993, he is a left-sided player, who can play either as a left-back or further up the flank. Having trained with Tottenham Hotspur as a youngster, he spent four years with Ipswich Town as an academy player, before being snapped up by Peterborough at the age of sixteen on a two year scholarship after the Tractor Boys released him. He went to Helena Romanes School in Essex, and has had first team experience with Conference side Kettering Town, making 14 appearances for them last season.
Having not made any first team appearances for Posh during his time there, he's obviously of an untried nature, but manager Gary Johnson will have seen him at close quarters following his own spell at London Road.
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2 July 2012 : Caulker Named In Olympics Squad
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Former Yeovil Town loanee Steven Caulker has received a call-up for the London 2012 Olympics. The 20 year old Tottenham Hotspur defender has been included in a squad of eighteen players named by boss Stuart Pearce today that will represent the Team GB side in the football tournaments later this month.
Caulker has continued to show good progress since picking up the Player Of The Season Awards at Huish Park just over two years ago, spending a season each on loan with Bristol City and Swansea City, and having won four England Under-21 caps already, this will doubtless be another chance to prove himself.
Caulker is the youngest outfield player named in Pearce's squad, with only goalkeeper Jack Butland less advanced in years than the Feltham born player. The full squad named on the FA's website is as follows:
Joe Allen (age: 22, hometown: Carmarthen, club: Swansea City, Wales caps: 8)
Craig Bellamy (age: 32, hometown: Cardiff, club: Liverpool, Wales caps: 69, 19 goals)
Ryan Bertrand (age: 22, hometown: Southwark, club: Chelsea, England U21 caps: 16)
Jack Butland (age: 19, hometown: Clevedon, club: Birmingham City, England U21 caps: 6)
Steven Caulker (age: 20, hometown: Feltham, club: Tottenham Hotspur, England U21 caps: 4, 1 goal)
Tom Cleverley (age: 22, hometown: Basingstoke, club: Manchester United, England U21 caps: 16)
Jack Cork (age: 23, hometown: Carshalton, club: Southampton, England U21 caps: 13)
Craig Dawson (age: 22, hometown: Rochdale, club: West Bromwich Albion, England U21 caps: 7, 4 goals)
Ryan Giggs (age: 38, hometown: Cardiff, club: Manchester United, Wales caps: 64, 12 goals)
Aaron Ramsey (age: 21, hometown: Caerphilly, club: Arsenal, Wales caps: 21, 5 goals)
Micah Richards (age: 24, hometown: Birmingham, club: Manchester City, England caps: 13, 1 goal)
Danny Rose (age: 22, hometown: Doncaster, club: Tottenham Hotspur, England U21 caps: 21, 3 goals)
Scott Sinclair (age: 23, hometown: Bath, club: Swansea City, England U21 caps: 7, 1 goal)
Marvin Sordell (age: 21, hometown: Pinner, club: Bolton Wanderers, England U21 caps: 7, 2 goals)
Jason Steele (age: 21, hometown: Newton Aycliffe, club: Middlesbrough, England U21 caps: 1)
Daniel Sturridge (age: 22, hometown: Birmingham, club: Chelsea, England caps: 2)
Neil Taylor (age: 23, hometown: Ruthin, club: Swansea City, Wales caps: 9)
James Tomkins (age: 23, hometown: Basildon, club: West Ham United, England U21 caps: 10)
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2 July 2012 : Grounds Makes Latics Move
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Former Yeovil Town loan signing Jonathan Grounds has signed a contract with League One rivals Oldham Athletic. The 24 year old has penned a two year contract at Boundary Park, having already turned down a similar deal with the Glovers earlier this summer.
Having also played for Norwich City, Hibernian and Chesterfield as part of his loan spells with his home town club Middlesbrough, the left-back has opted to stay in the north and sign for the Greater Manchester side.
Link: Jonathan Grounds : Yeovil Town Statistics.
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2 July 2012 : Johnson Aiming For Enjoyable Pre-Season
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Yeovil Town manager Gary Johnson has said that he has hopefully got an 'enjoyable' pre-season programme set out for his players, as they return to Huish Park today. Yesterday saw a flood of activity via players Twitter accounts announcing their travel plans, or their arrivals back in the town, after many of them spent the summer away from the area.
With July 2nd being the first day that the squad will have met formally since May, it's now time for Johnson to up their fitness levels, and to get the five players that have already signed blending in with existing practices. Johnson told BBC Somerset that he regarded this stage of the summer as being highly important for developing that way of working:
"We've got a nice little programme for them, and we've got something that we think they'll enjoy whilst they're getting fit. But the main thing is that you've got to get a team spirit straight away. You've got to get a team philosophy, your club philosophy, and they've all got to buy into it.
"What you're going to do during that first couple of weeks is going to be very very important to make sure that they can't opt out later. They've got to buy into it, go with it, and make sure that - as I always say - the first few games are very very important to your League campaign."
Doubtless there will be a few new faces that haven't previously appeared on the radar. One of those that appears to be down in Yeovil is former Watford winger/striker Lewis Young. He is the 22 year old younger brother of Manchester United and England winger Ashley Young.
Lewis played under Gary Johnson at Northampton Town last season, but was released by the Cobblers, having made 34 appearances during the 2011-12 season. He has also played for Hereford United, Burton Albion and Forest Green Rovers.
One of the players relatives last night tweeted that they had bumped into the 'younger brother' of Ashley Young last night, whilst visiting Yeovil. Young Snr has two brothers, of which the other is Arsenal's Kyle Young, though as he is seven years younger than Lewis, that one is unlikely, particularly given Lewis has worked under Johnson before.
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1 July 2012 : Taff's Gloversblog : And So It Begins Again ...
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Monday morning sees the Yeovil Town first team squad reconvene for the start of 2012-13 pre-season training. Yes, it's the point at which we can say 'this season' rather than 'next season' without fear of confusion, and when new faces turn up to find out what Gary Johnson has planned for them.
In the latest Taff's Gloversblog, there's an update on how the squad is looking. Alternative views and thoughts are as usual welcomed at the foot of the article.
Link: Taff's Gloversblog : And So It Begins Again ...
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