| Full name | Yeovil Town Football Club | |||
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| Nickname(s) | The Glovers, Giant Killers | |||
| Founded | 1895 (as Yeovil Casuals) | |||
| Ground | Huish Park Yeovil (Capacity: 9,665 (5,212 seated)) |
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| Chairman | John Fry | |||
| Manager | Terry Skiverton | |||
| League | League One | |||
| 2010–11 | League One, 14th | |||
| Website | Club home page | |||
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| Current season | ||||
Yeovil Town F.C. are an English association football team based in Yeovil, Somerset. The club play in League One after having won the League Two championship in 2004–05. The club is affiliated to the Somerset County FA.
Since the 2003–04 season they have played in green and white horizontal hoops.
They won promotion to the Football League as Conference champions in 2003, and had long been established as the most successful non-league team in the FA Cup – having defeated major Football League teams, most famously Sunderland in the 4th Round in 1949, going on to play in front of more than 81,000 against Manchester United at Maine Road.
Prior to breaking into the Football League, Yeovil won the FA Trophy with a 2–0 win against Stevenage Borough. Former Yeovil player Adam Stansfield, who died of cancer in August 2010, won man of the match in the final at Villa Park.
They play their home games at Huish Park, built in 1990 on the site of an Old Army Camp at Houndstone and named after their former home at Huish, itself famous for the notorious pitch, which had an 8-foot sideline to sideline slope. The new ground has a capacity of just under 10,000 but allowance has been made for future expansion to a stadium of up to 20,000.So far an extra 3500 seats and leisure facilities including a shopping centre has been planned.
The club released a record prior to the FA Cup third round tie against Liverpool in January 2004, sold only in shops in the town, "Yeovil True" reached #36 in the UK Singles Chart.[1]
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Yeovil Football Club was founded in 1890, and shared their ground with the local rugby club for many years. Five years later they were renamed Yeovil Casuals and started playing home games at the Pen Mill Athletic Ground. In 1907 the name Yeovil Town was adopted, which on amalgamation with Petters United became Yeovil and Petters United.[2]
The club came to national attention as 'giant-killers' during the 1948–49 FA Cup,[3] in which they defeated Sunderland 2–1 in the fourth round, in front of a record home attendance of 17,000. They were defeated 8–0 in the following round by Manchester United at Maine Road.[4]
Between 1955 and 1973 they were champions of the Southern Football League three times, with the runners-up spot being reached on two occasions.[5] During this period, Yeovil Town applied for election to the Football League on a number of occasions, coming within a few votes of being elected in 1976.[6] In 1979 the Glovers were founder members of the new national non-league division, the Football Conference. In 1985, they were relegated to the Isthmian League. Yeovil won that championship in 1988 and returned to the Conference.
There was success in the Bob Lord Challenge Trophy in 1990 and three years later Yeovil finished fourth in the Conference, their best finish ever.[5] In January 1995, former Weymouth and Spurs player Graham Roberts was appointed manager, but demotion back to the Isthmian League soon followed. Yeovil secured promotion back into the Conference in 1997 after winning the Isthmian League with a record number of points – 101.[5]
Colin Lippiatt became manager 1998 – 1999 and brought Terry Skiverton,to the club as a player. Gary Johnson took over as manager in June 2001 and Yeovil won the FA Trophy in his first season in charge with a 2–0 victory over Stevenage Borough in the final at Villa Park – the club's first major trophy.[5] Yeovil Town earned promotion to the Football League in the following season, by winning the Football Conference by a record 17 points margin, accumulating 95 points and scoring 100 goals, remaining unbeaten at Huish Park. Their team included many top players, some of which went on to play Premier League football. Notable players include Gavin Williams who moved to West Ham United, Lee Johnson, Chris Weale, Darren Way and Adam Lockwood.
Yeovil's first game in the Football League was a 3–1 away win over Rochdale. The Glovers finished their first season in eighth position, and reached the third round of the FA Cup before losing 2–0 at home to Liverpool. The following season Yeovil finished as champions of League Two with 83 points, earning promotion to League One. Partway through the season the club was sold by Jon Goddard-Watts to David Webb, taking over the role of Chief Executive from Chairman John Fry.
At the beginning of the 2005–06 season manager Gary Johnson left Yeovil for Bristol City, after having turned down job offers from both Plymouth Argyle and Derby County. He was replaced by his assistant Steven Thompson, and Kevin Hodges was appointed as his number two. At the season's end Thompson was demoted to first team coach and he was replaced by Russell Slade. Around this time John Fry had bought all Dave Webb's share of the club, becoming Yeovil Town's new owner.
Yeovil finished the 2006–07 season in fifth position, qualifying for the League One play-offs. In the semi-final Yeovil beat Nottingham Forest in the two-legged match 5–4 on aggregate, after losing the first home leg 2–0.[7][8] Yeovil met Blackpool at Wembley Stadium in the final, but were beaten 2–0.
The 2007–08 was less successful, as Yeovil finished 18th in League One with 52 points. Russell Slade continued as Yeovil manager into the 2008–09 season, but he left the position in February 2009.[9] After 1 game with Assistant Manager Steve Thompson acting as caretaker manager, club captain Terry Skiverton was announced as manager until the end of the 2009–10 season, with Nathan Jones as his assistant.[10] The duo had to wait seven games before their first victory, which came against Swindon Town. The one-nil victory was vital considering Swindon were also flirting with relegation and it started a good run of form with two more wins and a draw against difficult opposition. Yeovil secured their League One status with a 1–1 draw against Tranmere Rovers on Saturday 25 April, an achievement which may not have been possible without the loan of Jonathon Obika from Tottenham Hotspur. It was Obika's four goals that kept Yeovil up. At the end of the season, Terry Skiverton had to discuss contracts with players such as Terrell Forbes and Lee Peltier. Securing these players was considered vital if Yeovil were to remain in League One in the future.
Yeovil had a good start to the 2009–10 season with a 2–0 win over Tranmere but then went 7 league games without a win. After this they went six games unbeaten including victories over Brentford, Carlisle United and Bristol Rovers before this was ended by a 4–0 drumming away at leaders Leeds United, on October 31, 2009. The return of fans favourite Gavin Williams, on a loan spell from Bristol City, combined with a free scoring Dean Bowditch, helped Yeovil end the season well. After being denied a memorable victory over Millwall by a late goal from former Glover Jonathan Obika, Yeovil achieved safety on the penultimate game of the season, with a 3 – 0 victory over Oldham Athletic.
Yeovil's first half of the 2010–11 season was horrendous and saw them bottom of the table at Christmas. However, new signings like Max Ehmer and Paul Wotton helped turn the season around starting with an unbeaten run in January which saw Terry Skiverton nominated for Manager of the Month and Paul Huntington, who had scored three goals during the month, win Player of the Month. In March, Yeovil recorded their highest away league victory with a 5 – 1 win over Leyton Orient. A six match unbeaten run at the end of the season including wins over Notts County, Colchester and Carlisle helped Yeovil finish the season in 14th their second highest league finish. Dean Bowditch was again Yeovil's top scorer with 15 goals (7 in the last two months of the season) and Andy Welsh, who moved onto Carlisle United at the end of the season finished with the most assists.
Due to the lack of large football clubs in Somerset, Yeovil have few strong rivals. Yeovil have their strongest rivalry with Weymouth, dating back to their non-league games. However the two have not met in competitive circumstances for some time, and with the two clubs moving in opposite directions in league standings, the rivalry has decreased over the past years.
Matches against Hereford United could be seen as a grudge game. There is a genuine bad feeling between both sets of fans, and due to both clubs being fairly well matched in their time in non-league there is history between them.
Both Bristol Rovers and Bristol City are considered rivals, but due to Yeovil only recently becoming a league club, the rivalry is not as intense as others.
Of late they played Exeter City for the first time in the league. The game ended 1–1. AFC Bournemouth could also be seen as current rivals due to their close geographical proximity compared to other League One clubs.
| Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Football League Trophy | Top scorer | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | P | W | D | L | F | A | Pts | Pos | ||||||
| 2003–04 | Football League Third Division | 46 | 23 | 5 | 18 | 70 | 57 | 74 | 8th | R3 | R1 | R2 | Gavin Williams/Kevin Gall | 13 |
| 2004–05 | Football League Two | 46 | 25 | 8 | 13 | 90 | 65 | 83 | 1st | R4 | R2 | R1 | Phil Jevons | 29 |
| 2005–06 | Football League One | 46 | 15 | 11 | 20 | 54 | 62 | 56 | 15th | R2 | R2 | R1 | Phil Jevons | 17 |
| 2006–07 | Football League One | 46 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 55 | 39 | 79 | 5th | R1 | R1 | R1 | Wayne Gray | 11 |
| 2007–08 | Football League One | 46 | 14 | 10 | 22 | 38 | 59 | 52 | 18th | R1 | R1 | R3 | Lloyd Owusu | 11 |
| 2008–09 | Football League One | 46 | 12 | 15 | 19 | 41 | 66 | 51 | 17th | R1 | R2 | R2 | Gavin Tomlin | 9 |
| 2009–10 | Football League One | 46 | 13 | 14 | 19 | 55 | 59 | 53 | 15th | R1 | R1 | R1 | Dean Bowditch | 10 |
| 2010–11 | Football League One | 46 | 16 | 11 | 19 | 56 | 66 | 59 | 14th | R2 | R1 | R1 | Dean Bowditch | 15 |
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
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| Position | Name |
|---|---|
| Manager | Terry Skiverton |
| Player-Assistant Manager | Nathan Jones |
| Technical Coach | Darren Way |
| Goalkeeping Coach | Gareth Stewart |
| Senior Physiotherapist | Phil Cole |
| Head of Youth Department | Scott Green |
| Centre of Excellence Manager | Vacant |
Southern League Western Division
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